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2003 Vaporware Awards
7x7 writes "Wired News has the 2003 Vaporware Awards available for your perusal. Winning the Lifetime Achievement Award, if you hadn't guessed already: Duke Nukem Forever!"
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let us have a moment of silence. (seriously).
that was such a kick in the nuts.
-fren
"Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?"
Perhaps someone should comprise a list of things that should of been vaporware, for the sake of corporations that stupidly put them out and consumers who shelled out cash for them. NGage anyone?
Mike
...do these awards, erm, ever get presented? :)
These sigs are more interesting tha
Winning the Lifetime Achievement Award, if you hadn't guessed already: Duke Nukem Forever!
How do you think it got its name in the first place?
"I turn away with fright and horror from the lamentable evil of functions which do not have derivatives."
I would have voted for "SCO's Evidence Against Linux" had the thought crossed my mind.
Trolling is a art,
GNU Hurd didn't make it into the list. Odd....:-)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Duke Nukem Forever
/anon
10. RadioShark (Griffin Technology)
9. Amiga OS 4.0 (Amiga)
8. Wrist PDA (Fossil)
7. HDTV TiVo (TiVo)
6. RealPC (FWB)
5. Wi-Fi SD Card for Palm (SanDisk)
4. Team Fortress 2 (Valve)
3. Phantom Gaming System (Infinium Labs)
2. Fallout 3 (Black Isle Studios)
1. Half-Life 2 (Valve)
Lets give it up for WMD ladies and gentlemen!
*cough* Well, I did say it was Vaporwar. :-)
Come on, out of who knows how many votes for AmigaOS 4, they picked me?
Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
I think Team Fortress 2/Half-Life Fortress should take that spot, if one really feels the need to slam Valve. Fortress was preselling at the time of HL's release. It then disappeared, sorta re-appeared as the free TF mod, and was re-confirmed with the announcement and subsequent E3 showing of TF2. Then it re-disappeared again, and apparently is gone, now that HL2 is soon to be up to bat?
HL2 had the source code stolen thing, and that's an understandable delay in shipping. TF2 just makes no sense... (particularly given how impressive the technology demonstrations were at E3 however many years ago that was, 4?)
I think I might have pre-ordered DNF, but I have moved 4 times since, and have a feeling some lucky person will end up with my copy in 2054.
Holy crap, think about, all those people that pre-ordered will end up buying another copy just because they forgot they preordered.
huh?
HTML standards-compliant Slashcode. ;)
Does anyone here know the story of why Duke Nukem Forever has become vaporware? I'm interested in the seedy underbelly of the gaming industry.
.... of why you shouldn't Pre-Order stuff.
I'm still waiting for Gran Turismo 2000 to hit the shelves.
Software Etc. will listen with empathy about my loud proclamations of GT2K == GT3-Aspec, and the sales weasels will agree with me. But the mgmt. shall not, will not, could not would not refund my money, nor give me a store credit until:
1) A game called Gran Turismo 2000 ships.
2) Official word from Sony arrives that the game is canceled.
bastards.
do() || do_not();
I think we should take a poll to rename the word "Vaporware" to "Duke Nukem".
Then next year we can have " the 2003 Duke Nukem Awards"..
Ahh, just a thought...
A long time ago, the EQ2 FAQ said that EQ2 would be out Q32003. Then, it said Q42003. Then it said Q12004.
Now, it simply says:
n will EverQuest II be released?
EverQuest II will launch in 2004.
I know that EQ2 will arrive eventually, but it definately fits in the group of "all those eagerly anticipated gizmos in 2003 that were put off, put away or quietly put down."
Isn't EQ a big game, relative to anyone that would be playing Duke Nukem, even if it had come out?
is actually coming out it looks like: models to be available
About six years ago I got a response card thingy from one of the publishing companies. They were telling me that I could sign up then to buy Vol. 4 of Knuth's Art of Computer Programming. So I guess that can't count as last years vaporware. Their optimism should have counted for something though.
1) anounce game, setup preorder
2) delay game so long that people forget they pre ordered and buy another copy.
3) Profit!
Its a real busness plan.
JACEM
DOC Disinformation Obfuscation and Confusion
The carrot to FUD's stick
I've recently begun work on the next-generation game engine called "WMD Hunt". Current version is 0.0.001-pre-alpha. Notable changes include leveraging multiple synergies across player groups and enabling your gaming buddies to achieve your goals via graft and military-industrial contracts. Some degree of randomness has been added to account for the "lone strikers" play meme. I'm still trying to speedup and optimise the UN code though - it's slow enough that most players won't be able to use that option. Also, the "relative agression level" needs to be more fine-grained; You could be agressive towards your own relatives, or turn your level down instead of simply having a blanket policy. As opposed to a *real* blanket, if your home was recently destroyed.
C|N>K
[drumroll.....] ....catchy huh?
.
"Little Piggies That Should Never Have Went to Market"
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A goal is a dream with a deadline
E3 is not for consumers. If you don't want to hear the buzz, don't listen. E3 is for publishers and other vendors to present their products to retailers. E3 is an industry trade show that is not open to the public. If you are disappointed by something that occurs based on E3, you have noone to blame but yourself.
Now, something announced in a press release is another matter entirely.
Jesus Christ, Half Life II? Doom III?
I for one am extremely stoked that game studios have finally adopted the "Its done when its done" mantra of releasing games.
Let's not forget that 'etched-in-stone' release dates are responsible for most of the really atrocious games inflicted on us over the last decade.
Blizzard, id, & Valve deserve enormous kudos for sticking firm to their convictions, and holding their corporate masters at bay while producing games that are polished and bug free.
Vaporware suggests that these companies have promised something that has not, and will not be delivered. We should keep in mind that at *no* point have any of these companies offered firm release dates. And they should be commended for not doing so.
What's funny is the really guilty party -- that is, the party which has most frequently made false promises of "what's coming down the pipeline" *has* to be Wired Magazine.
My 2 cents.
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
I have to agree. Black Island never got people's hopes up. Many knew that Fallout 3 was in the works, but it was under a code name, and never officially announced.
This list they have up is kind of lame actually this year, since many of the things that were on the list were announced ONLY this year. HL2 and Doom 3 both garnered votes (with HL2 making the top spot), but honestly, it is not like this game is really late. They just got the ball rolling for it this year, and all of a sudden it is considered TOP VAPORWARE?!?!?!
How about the HDTiVo? Announced in Jan 2003, and by Dec 2003, it is top 10 vaporware? UGH.
I think that Wired really needs to make put up some limits on what actually is considered "Vaporware." IMnsHO, the first thing is that the product must have been announced at least over a year ago (ie, 2002 for these awards). Just my $.02.
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
I wonder if they'll put that on the box, if/when it ever comes out:
"Duke Nukem winner of _many_ vaporware awards!"
in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
I'll post one shortly ! Don't anyone else respond to this, because you'll be wasting the effort.