The Wired top ten vaporware list includes Tribes 2 at number 10, Warcraft 3 at number 6, Black and White at number 3, and Duke Nukem Forever at number 2.

So what's your nomination for vaporware of the year?

Gotta be DNF. It is on the cover of the December 1999 PCGamer, and that story mentions it has been in development for two years. "Yeah, as soon as we finish up Prey, we will get right on that DNF release." My only hope for it is that Half-life was junked and redone, and look how it turned out.

Yeah, DNF has been in development for a long time. I think I'm most surprised that Tribes 2 didn't make it out. Two years ago at E3 they had code up and running. There's no real single-player game. If ever there was a game you could turn around quickly, I think it would be this one.

Its slipping probably has more to do with key people leaving and Sierra's layoffs, etc.

Max Payne.I don't even think it's a real game,just some sort of Finnish prank.

-Monkeybutt

700 MHz G4. It was promised to us by Motorola in October of 1999 -- but there's no sign of it yet; at this point they're thinking the fastest G4 we'll see any time soon is 650 MHz.

Prey, Duke Nukem Forever and Max Payne...

I submit 3D Realms as the Steam Boiler Of The Decade.

"Max Payne.I don't even think it's a real game,just some sort of Finnish prank."

Heh -- I think you're on to something there. Those guys killed me when they came to the US to research the "hood" and had to walk around with bodyguards. Maybe they should stick to making a game about something they know, like ice fishing.

Maybe a Business Sim such as "Mobile Phone Tycoon".try to outdo Nokia or something like that.Maybe a Reindeer herding game.

The last one was a joke...mostly.

-Monkeybutt

The Ultimate Finnish game would be...

Koskenkorva Tycoon :).

Create the ultimate Vodka and compete with those nasty Swedes (Absolut) and others like Smirnoff, Stoli etc.

In addition you would have to design the best brown paper bag to go with it.

And just like the Vodka bottle it would vaporize very quickly.

Marcus

Okay, I know the point to this is to gripe about games not shipping on-time, but isn't that preferable to shipping a game that's only half-finished and full of bugs? Personally, I prefer it that Blizzard has chosen to devote more time to perfecting Warcraft 3 -- which I eagerly await -- and ship a little later than was originally planned, as opposed to following the recent trend of shipping on time, but with a buggy game. Maybe that's just me...

"Okay, I know the point to this is to gripe about games not shipping on-time, but isn't that preferable to shipping a game that's only half-finished and full of bugs?"

Yeah, I agree. I'm more bemused than full of complaints. Some games slip because of the very reasons you mention -- a desire to get it right. Others slip due to internal problems, which is probably at least part of the reason behind Tribes 2 not appearing this year. Then there are others, like Duke Nukem Forever, that you just have to scratch your head and wonder just what is going on with 'em.

It is not that I want stuff to ship full of bugs, it is that I don't want them to turn on the hype machine too early. I was purging the house today & found some more old PCGamers. The September 1998 issue had an article about the "Top 10 Games of 1999." I always hear they have a 3 mo. lead time, so this was written in June? Actual release dates are taken from the review on Gamespot where applicable. The list is comical in retrospect:

Anachronox - still hasn't shipped.
Black & White - still hasn't shipped.
Giants - shipped 12/2000.
Max Payne - still hasn't shipped.
Wargasm - shipped 12/31/98 (but crap).
Beneath - canceled (1999 or 2000?)
Fleet Command - shipped 4/30/99 (average reviews IIRC).
Good & Evil - canceled, IIRC. Anyone know for sure?
Urban Chaos - shipped 11/99 (OK reviews IIRC).
X-Com Alliance - still hasn't shipped.

So, only three of the alleged 10 best games of 1999 actually shipped that year (or the last day of 1998), and only one more has shipped since then! Like I said, turn off the hype machines and tell me about games I might actually see in the near future.

Heh -- this is funny:

"Anachronox - still hasn't shipped.
Black & White - still hasn't shipped.
Giants - shipped 12/2000.
Max Payne - still hasn't shipped.
Wargasm - shipped 12/31/98 (but crap).
Beneath - canceled (1999 or 2000?)
Fleet Command - shipped 4/30/99 (average reviews IIRC).
Good & Evil - canceled, IIRC. Anyone know for sure?
Urban Chaos - shipped 11/99 (OK reviews IIRC).
X-Com Alliance - still hasn't shipped.

"So, only three of the alleged 10 best games of 1999 actually shipped that year (or the last day of 1998), and only one more has shipped since then! Like I said, turn off the hype machines and tell me about games I might actually see in the near future."

Good and Evil is dead. It died with Cavedog. X-COM Alliance is probably dead. Some are speculating that GOD will dump Max Payne because the developers are taking too long to finish it.

You're 100% right about the hype machine, but readers seem to like previews better than just about anything else.

Tom and I are a bit anti-hype too, but we have to acknowledge the market. That's why our previews are short and to the point. We don't feel like writing a lot of stuff about games that may never even be finished.

We do plan on some longer previews, but we'll pick our spots. Mostly, I want to do longer pieces about games we get playable builds of. Then we can talk about our impressions.

BTW, do you have the latest issue of PC Gamer? What's this I hear about Coconut Monkey Fight Club? Did they rip off Tom's Shoot Club column? I don't have the issue yet.

If they did borrow from us, I'm going to have chilled monkey brains for desert pretty soon! :)

Despite some of the brainiac comments in the Q3TA thread, I like your abbreviated approach to previews. It seems a good balance between a six page "Scoop" and silence.

I do have the new PCGamer. Page 49 (the start of the reviews section) has Coconut Monkey Fight Club. It isn't like Shoot Club though, in that it doesn't involve computer gaming, isn't funny, and is just more Coconut Monkey knob polishing. Shockingly, they included a Gravy Trader joke elsewhere (p. 42). As Daffy Duck once said, "Ha, ha, it is to laugh."

Finally, after going on about how Medal of Honor Allied Assault features authentic WWII weaponry, they include a screenshot (p. 34) of German soldiers wielding M1 Garands (the standard issue American rifle). Sigh. It may still be a fun game, I will just have to play with my glasses off.

"I do have the new PCGamer. Page 49 (the start of the reviews section) has Coconut Monkey Fight Club. It isn't like Shoot Club though, in that it doesn't involve computer gaming, isn't funny, and is just more Coconut Monkey knob polishing. Shockingly, they included a Gravy Trader joke elsewhere (p. 42). As Daffy Duck once said, 'Ha, ha, it is to laugh.'"

Heh -- ok then. They need to retire Coconut Monkey. Even Taco Bell dumped the dog after awhile.