wired-vaporware posts

It's not exactly a shock but the latest (some might say infamous) annual entry in Wired's Vaporware List is topped this year by StarCraft II. Blizzard's long awaited RTS game was first announced in 2007 and at one point was targeted for a late 2009 before Blizzard quickly changed that to a release sometime in the first half of 2010. It certainly deserves the top spot this year.

Two other PC games made the list. At number seven is Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode 3. The third chapter in the comic strip-based adventure game from Hothead Games has been a no show this year despite the first two chapters being released in 2008. The other "game" mentioned on the list is actually a mod. At number four it's Black Mesa, which has been trying to do a total Source Engine graphical remake of the first Half-Life game. We question why Wired picked a mod to be on this list since by its very nature mod teams tend to be on the flaky side when it comes to actually releasing a game.

Oh and what about Duke Nukem Forever which has appeared on practically every year on the Vaporware list? Wired feels that 3D Realms' shut down earlier this year means that it would not be fair to put the first person shooter on the list without a clear idea if the game has been canceled or not.

Wired's annual Vaporware list of tech-based products that should have been released but haven't has hit the Internet tubes today and as always there are a few PC games that make their line up. 3D Realms' Duke Nukem Forever once again takes the top spot as it has for nearly the entire existence of the Vaporware list. 3D Realms' George Broussard is quoted as saying, ""There's a lot of mistakes and lessons we had to learn But most of all, there's also been a lot of World of Warcraft."

Also on the list is StarCraft II, which Blizzard first officially announced in mid 2007. Oddly enough the list also adds an MMO game called Hero's Journey, a little known game from Simultronics that been in development for almost 10 years. The game is still apparently under development but Simultronics has concentrated its efforts mostly on licensing its Hero Engine to third parties like BioWare. Quite frankly picking a game that very few people have heard about for the Vaporware list is baffling. There are other higher profile game titles that haven't been released that would have made a better fit (Alan Wake comes to mind).