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Vaporware is a term to refer to products that are never released but never cancelled. It can also refer to products that are released far behind schedules, and also heavily promoted products that don't actually exist.

Hardware

Video games

  • Starcraft: Ghost – announced in 2002, after numerous production issues caused Blizzard to announce the game on an "indefinite hold" in March 2006. Sources such as IGN and GameSpot show the game as cancelled.[4]
  • Elite 4 – Started in 2000 only to be abandoned,[5] "nearly finished" in 2008,[6] and will resume development "after The Outsider has been completed"[5] – which is also vaporware and has been abandoned.
  • Connie Talbot: Over The Rainbow – announced in August 2008,[7][8] and was scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2009,[9] but copyright issues with the songs to be used in the game hampered its release.[10]
  • Project Milo was announced at E3 09 to demonstrate Microsoft's Kinect technology. It was never intended or announced as a real game, but some sources erroneously reported that it was.[11]
  • Anarchy Online's new graphics rendering engine, announced in June 2007[12] with a planned release date of mid-2008 which was later pushed back to end of 2008. On 22 May 2009 it was announced that work on the OGRE engine had ceased and work had begun on converting Anarchy Online to use the updated version of Dreamworld engine, used in Funcom's more recent MMORPG, Age of Conan,[13] with a predicted release date of sometime in 2009. The engine was then scheduled to enter a testing phase by the end of Q2 2011,[14] a date which passed without mention. In January 2012, Funcom envisioned for the engine to be released by the end of 2012.[15] In March 2012, a one minute trailer was released showcasing the game for the first time in the updated version of the Dreamworld engine. In May 2012, Funcom were said to be working for the engine to enter an external beta in the coming months.[16] Although no concrete release date has been specified by the developers, screenshots of renderings from an emulated engine environment of the work in progress are periodically being released.[17][18] On 1 September 2012 producer Ilaliya announced Funcom was hoping to have the engine in open beta by early 2013.[19] On 25 January, producer Ilaiya have noticed that upgraded graphics engine should be released in 18.7 update, which is going to be available for open testing few months later due to Funcom's restructuring process.
  • Lost Colony – A dynamic, episodic MMOFPS by Red Planet, LLC., announced in 2006, with gameplay similar to SOE's PlanetSide in which 3 races are fighting for control over a persistent world. Lost Colony was first hyped as "The Next PlanetSide" with rough, extremely buggy "demos" being supplied to those that pre-paid $20 for access to the beta program which only released clients that were pre-alphas quality. Many were anticipating the move from PlanetSide to Lost Colony to be a game changer for PlanetSide subscribers. This never happened as the pre-alpha releases stopped in mid-2007 and official updates ceased on the official forums. Players were offered the choice to have their funds returned, however, the timeline did not exist very long for the program to reach all of the subscribers. The website for the game and Red Planet, LLC. are no longer available for service.[20]
  • Microsoft Train Simulator 2, announced in 2003 but canceled in 2004, it was again announced in 2007. It would be the last time because the game was later cancelled in 2009 after the studio closed ACES
  • Shenmue III – The Shenmue series were planned for 16 chapters, 6 of which were presented in Shenmue I and Shenmue II, the latter of which has ended with a cliffhanger with familiar "to be continued.." at the very end. Since then a continuation was mentioned numerous times[21][22] and even Yu Suzuki (of Sega) himself mentioned that Sega might let him finish the game but proper fundings are an issue.[23][24] However according to a 2009 article in a Japanese magazine Famitsu Shenmue 3 tops as the second most wanted video-game sequel.[25]
  • The Last Guardian -- a third game in the Ico Universe. It started development in 2007. In 2009 at E3 it was announced as a Playstation 3 exclusive and had a trailer;[26] during the 2013 E3, it was announced that the project was "on hiatus".[27]

Software

  • Ovation – An integrated software package for DOS that was announced by Ovation Technologies in 1983. Written about in many computer magazines at the time, Ovation was never released, and probably never existed.[28]
  • Textmate 2.0 – a popular text editor for the Macintosh by Macromates. Development stalled in 2006. As of December 2011 it had yet to be released, but a public alpha was made available for download on the TextMate blog.[29]

Surfaced vaporware

Products which once were considered to be vaporware which eventually surfaced after a prolonged time:

  • 3G[30]
  • Bluetooth[31]
  • Daikatana[32]
  • Windows Vista (then, "Windows Code Name 'Longhorn'")[32]
  • Windows 2000[33][34]
  • Mac OS X, the long-awaited "next generation Mac OS" that finally shipped replacing the announced and later abandoned Copland, Gershwin and Taligent operating system attempts.[35]
  • Warcraft III[31][36]
  • Prey was announced in 1995 and took 11 years to be released.
  • Mother 3 was originally announced in 1996 for the Nintendo 64DD and was cancelled following numerous release date pushbacks and a shift to the Nintendo 64 alone. The project was eventually announced to have been revived for the Game Boy Advance in advertisements for Mother 1+2 in 2003, and was released on 20 April 2006 (but only in Japan).
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl – Originally announced in 2001, the game experienced numerous delays.[37] Beta builds of the final product have been distributed to numerous game review sites.[38] On 3 March 2007, THQ announced that the game had gone gold and was released on 20 March 2007, though it was leaked three days earlier.
  • Team Fortress 2[32] was announced in 1999 and took 8 years to be released. With a complete change in gameplay and art direction, the North American release took place on 9 October 2007.
  • Darkfall Online was announced on 29 August 2001, and was released in 2009.
  • Duke Nukem Forever was announced on 28 April 1997. It went on to be a six-time winner of Wired's Vaporware Award, and a winner of their Lifetime Vaporware Achievement. On 3 September 2010, it was officially announced to be released sometime in 2011.[39] Due to be released 3 May 2011,[40] it was further delayed to 14 June.[41] A demo of the game had been released on 3 June 2011 for those who pre-ordered it or purchased Borderlands Game of the Year Edition. The demo was released on Steam, Xbox360 and PS3.[42] Using the North American release date, the game took 14 years, 1-month and 17 days to be released.[43]
  • I Am Alive – Originally announced in 2007, nothing further was revealed of the game despite being set for a 2008 release. Three years later, Ubisoft released another trailer that promised a Winter 2011 release. The game was released in early 2012.
  • Diablo III – Development began in 2001, and the engine was upgraded multiple times. Updates were few and far between, with Blizzard frequently saying that "it's done when it's done". However, it was finally released on 15 May 2012.[44]
  • Black Mesa – Development originally began some time in late 2004. In late 2008, the developers announced they were targeting a release some time in 2009. However, in December 2009, it was announced that the mod would not be able to make a 2009 release. Following that, all further media releases and statements would only be published on the official forums, but in June 2012, a significant new media release, containing 8 new screenshots. 3 months later, it was finally announced that the first release of the mod would be released on 14 September 2012. On 14 September it actually was released, although the game content was missing the Xen level which was still being developed.
  • Kirby's Adventure was a Kirby video game developed by HAL Laboratory, and published by Nintendo. The game immediately started development after the success of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. The game, however, underwent a very long development cycle that lasted for over a decade[45] Finally a trailer was released for the Nintendo Gamecube that was first demonstrated at E3 in 2005. The gameplay was uploaded to YouTube about a year later.[46] The game had similar game play to Kirby Superstar by allowing the player to create a helper (a player or CPU controlled ally that is based on the power that Kirby had). The game was to have an additional gameplay element that allowed the players to stack on top of each other. Programming complications with four-player eventually led to the game's demise. Two other builds of the game existed. The second placed Kirby in a 3D environment with open world-style gameplay, and the third returned to side-scrolling gameplay but had the graphical style of a pop-up book. The game was believed to be cancelled after suffering several delays (appearing and disappearing on upcoming games lists) until it finally saw a release under the new title Kirby's Return To Dreamland first released on 21 October 2011 in North America for the Wii and the new stacking ability was finally revealed. It allowed all four players to shoot one big, white cloud that could wipe out anything in its path. The game stayed the same as its original concept, with the only notable difference being the characters playable by friends. Instead of undergoing with the original helper system they replaced it with three characters, Waddle Dee, Meta Knight, King Dedede, that could be selected individually by each player. There is a fourth character option available that is simply another Kirby, albeit in different color.

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Retro-Active: Consoles That REALLY Never Made It » Way of the GeekWay of the Geek. Wayofthegeek.org (31 October 2007).
  3. ^ Kahney, Leander (7 January 2005). "Vaporware Phantom Haunts Us All". Wired News. Archived from the original on 31 January 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
  4. ^ StarCraft: Ghost. Xbox – IGN (17 January 2006).
  5. ^ a b "Q&A: David Braben-from Elite to today" GameSpot.com (22 November 2006).
  6. ^ Elite 4 technology almost finished, says Braben. Develop-online.net.
  7. ^ "Connie stars on Wii". Express & Star. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
  8. ^ "Connie Talbot Singing on Wii Soon". DS-X2.com. 18 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
  9. ^ Mason, Kerri (10 October 2008). "Record buyers head-"Over"-heels for 7-year-old". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
  10. ^ "Connie's Nintendo Wii Game". Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  11. ^ Yin, Wesley. (23 September 2010) Rumour: Project Milo cancelled News • News • Xbox 360 •. Eurogamer.net.
  12. ^ Letter from the Game Director Anarchy Online Bulletin Board]. (27 June 2007).
  13. ^ Friday with Means – May 22nd, 2009 Anarchy Online Bulletin Board]..
  14. ^ Friday with Means – February 25th, 2011 – The dust is settling Anarchy Online Bulletin Board]..
  15. ^ Monthly Development Update: January 2012 Anarchy Online Bulletin Board]..
  16. ^ Monthly Development Update: May 2012 Anarchy Online Bulletin Board]. (30 May 2012).
  17. ^ Friday with Means – November 25th, 2011 – Less words more screens Anarchy Online Bulletin Board]. (25 November 2011).
  18. ^ Friday with Means – November 4th, 2011 – Late at night Anarchy Online Bulletin Board]..
  19. ^ A Small Update Anarchy Online Bulletin Board]. (1 September 2012).
  20. ^ "Game List and Directory – Discontinued – Lost Colony". Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  21. ^ Video Games Daily | News: Exclusive: Shenmue 3 Ready for Next-Gen. Archive.videogamesdaily.com (23 August 2005).
  22. ^ Sega talks Shenmue's Future in Famitsu. NeoGAF.
  23. ^ Yu Suzuki: 'I think Sega's going to let me' make Shenmue 3. Joystiq (2 March 2011).
  24. ^ 'SEGA will probably let me make Shenmue 3,' says Suzuki – PlayStation Universe. Psu.com (3 March 2011).
  25. ^ Famitsu lists most wanted sequels of all time in survey. Destructoid.
  26. ^ http://kotaku.com/5964547/kotaku-timeline-the-last-guardian
  27. ^ http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/ulnvnz/playstation-4-e3-2013--jack-tretton-drops-the-mic--stream-
  28. ^ "Famous Vaporware Products". BYTE. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  29. ^ Calore, Michael (21 December 2009). "Vaporware 2009 – Inhale the Fail". Wired.
  30. ^ The Real Reason 3G is Vaporware. Wired.com.
  31. ^ a b "Vaporware 2000: Missing Inaction". Wired. 2001. Retrieved 2007-10-31. The bona fide beginning of the new millennium is almost upon us, but some things never change: The tech industry continues to whip up excitement by promising amazing new technologies, only to crush our spirits by delaying, postponing, pushing back or otherwise derailing the arrival of said goods – sometimes indefinitely.
  32. ^ a b c "Vaporware '99: The 'Winners'". Wired. 3 January 2000. Retrieved 2007-10-31. The last year of the last decade before 2000 has come and gone, but the Vaporware 1999 "winners" are still a dream to some, and a nightmare to others.
  33. ^ "Vaporware 2002: Tech up in Smoke?". Wired. 3 January 2003. Retrieved 2007-10-31. As 2002 ends, there is a lot of unfinished business in various corners of the tech world. We are referring, of course, to vaporware: hot, must-have products promised but never delivered.
  34. ^ "Vaporware 1998: Windows NT Wins". Wired. 1999. Retrieved 2007-10-31. Each December, Wired News petitions its readers for the year's most egregious examples of vaporware. This time last year, our research team was busily running down broken promises, empty hype, and slipping ship-dates all over the technology kingdom.
  35. ^ Vaporware: Why Apple Doesn't Blog. Roughlydrafted.com (7 December 2006).
  36. ^ "Vaporware 2001: Empty Promises". Wired. 7 January 2002. Retrieved 2007-10-31. Whatever you like to call it – the New Economy, the Dot-Com Economy, the Clinton Years – one thing is now clear about the period of prosperity that began in the mid-'90s and was snuffed out early last year.
  37. ^ Top 10 Tuesday: Modern Vaporware. Pc.ign.com (11 April 2006).
  38. ^ First impressions – S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Eurogamer
  39. ^ High, Kamau (3 September 2010). "Controversial 'Duke Nukem Forever' Will Finally Be Released". The Wall Street Journal.
  40. ^ http://www.2kgames.com/#/games/duke-nukem-forever
  41. ^ Andy Robinson (24 March 2011). "Duke Nukem Forever delayed again (really)". Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  42. ^ Nelson, Randy. (16 May 2011) Duke Nukem Forever demo lands June 3 for Borderlands GOTY owners and pre-orders [update. Joystiq.
  43. ^ http://www.timeanddate.com/date/durationresult.html?d1=28&m1=04&y1=1997&d2=14&m2=06&y2=2011
  44. ^ Diablo III – PC. IGN (25 March 2012).
  45. ^ "Iwata Asks: Kirby's Return to Dream Land". Nintendo. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
  46. ^ "Kirby's Adventure". YouTube. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
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