Wired News: 2002's Greatest Vaporware 398
Quill writes "Wired News has once again compiled a list of last year's greatest (worst?) pieces of vaporware. The winner (I won't spoil the surprise) has been on the list three times now! The nomination process was mentioned a few weeks ago on Slashdot."
hmm (Score:3, Funny)
Re:hmm (Score:2, Funny)
Re:hmm (Score:3, Interesting)
Point: Its kinda keeping pace at 3/4's the speed.
Side note/rant: Personally, I'd rather have a 133 32bit frontside 1.0Ghz AMD than a 100 32bit frontside 2.4 Ghz Intel. Who gives a shit about the difference between 10 and 24 multipliers. What, so the cpu can wait 2.4 times more clock cycles to actually get something to do? Unless of course your PC is doing nothing but "i++;", etc. Then it can run off the cache.
Hell, I've got a P-classic 233mmx underclocked to 225mhz with a 75mhz fsb instead of 66mhz and it smokes most PII's(except the ones that have an fsb faster than 66mhz of course)
tf2 (Score:5, Funny)
[December 18, 1998] - I Want My TF (TM) II
Well folks, Team Fortress (TM) 2 will be here shortly and community sites are popping up all over the web. Clans are starting to form, Tournaments are being planned, and information pages are being posted. If you haven't checked out the sites yet, be sure to visit our links section or visit PlanetFortress.com for more information.
Gee, I hope none of the tournaments have filled up yet, my clan was just getting off the ground.
2002's Greatest Vaporware (Score:5, Funny)
Re:2002's Greatest Vaporware (Score:5, Funny)
How is that vaporware ? No one expects it in the first place.
Re:2002's Greatest Vaporware (Score:2, Funny)
Most likely an oversight.
The real moderation menu, once fixed, should read like this:
"Normal"
"Wrong"
"Dumb"
"Stupid"
"Slow
"Right"
"Correct"
"True"
"Funny because it's True"
"Karma Whore"
"Friend of a Friend"
I think I'll make a post-it note of those so I can tape it on top of the mod menu whenever I need to moderate.
Game-to-be-left-unmentioned (Score:5, Interesting)
It has been said before but bears repeating: the games of yesteryear had something that all these new games, with their fancy graphics and supposedly advanced AIs, still can't seem to replace. Repeat after us Mr. Game developers: it's all the gameplay.
Re:Game-to-be-left-unmentioned (Score:2)
This speaks volumes for guys like Carmack who not only design great games, but do so in a timely manner PLUS do it from scratch.
It's just pathetic these guys have taken so long when the single hardest and most complicated part i.e. the engine, was designed YEARS ago by another company.
Re:Game-to-be-left-unmentioned (Score:5, Insightful)
Go create a single, high-poly, production-level model, including a bunch of animations, and then multiply by about 10,000 and you'll get a feel for the effort involved.
And while I'm sure he was in on the design process, its not like Carmack sat around doing everything himself, surrounded by a chorus of yes-men-and-women, cheering him on. I'm pretty sure most everything outside of the graphics is done by others, please correct me if I'm wrong. Take a look at Armadillo Aerospace, and you'll see where he's been spending his time (and money, yikes!).
And as for needing to sell a copy to every computer user, at an inflated price - do the math and you'll see that's a bit off. Say, $100, and 100 million computers in the country, which makes for a nice cool $10 billion if my maths (as the brits say) are correct. Its a moot point anyway, I'm sure the Duke Nukem' group have made so much cash off the old franchise, that its pretty much a rich-person's hobby at this point.
Hell, I'll be incredibly impressed if they do get a good-quality game out the door any time in the next decade. Give me $50 million or so, and I don't think I'd ever get anything done again, especially not something as demanding and intense as game development.
I'd just get stuck at the stripper motion capture sessions the press has mentioned
Not to mention.. (Score:2)
The only yes-woman I'd need (Score:2)
};>
mostly (Score:4, Insightful)
Super Mario Sunshine : exceptional gameplay
There are still fun games being released. Good gameplay isn't gone, it's just being drowned out by all the crap out there.
Of course they're the minority, like in anything. How many movies came out this year that were focused on viewer enjoyment rather than glitz and flash?
Re:mostly (Score:4, Insightful)
Metroid Prime: horrid control scheme
Sure, but it's nothing new. It's just Mario 64 with fancier graphics and a water gun. That doesn't mean it's not fun, just that it's nothing new.
Now, how about Splinter Cell? It has the graphics thing down cold (mmm ... real time dynamic lights and shadows, soft body physics ...), and the gameplay is new and interesting (okay, so it's not revolutionary either, being an evolutionary step from games like the Metal Gear series and previous Tom Clancy games).
Exactly. This is something that the retro guys always forget -- they're looking back through rose-colored glasses. For every Super Mario World, or Legend of Zelda, or original Metroid there were hundreds of stinkers, rip-offs, and copies. There were tons and tons of games with terrible gameplay and no redeeming qualities. But, because it's the past, we don't remember those. We only remember the good games. Same goes for movies and for music. The past wasn't any better than now, it's just that time has made you forget the horrendous crap that was released.
Re:prime's control setup (Score:2)
If you're going to approach it as a "Halo killer" or and Quake rip-off, then of course the controls are going to suck for you, but approach it as a 3D Metroid, and the controls are blissful.
Don't get me wrong, I thought the controls sucked too, but once I actually played the game for an hour or so, they started to feel right. Anyone who's missing strafing and freelook, has clearly missed the target lock-on feature - the controls are right for the job.
Re:prime's control setup (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm sorry, but no. The game is fun, and the control scheme is serviceable, but it's also quite bad, and could've been much better. I own the game, and have played a number of hours in it, and I still dislike the controls. I know about the lock on trigger, and the freelook trigger, and I think they're a solution to a problem that never should've existed.
And I know what type of game Metroids are, I don't expect the game to be a Halo killer or a fast-paced Quake. But that's still no excuse for a poor control scheme.
Re:Game-to-be-left-unmentioned (Score:5, Insightful)
Let me quote from the article:
That pretty much says it all: they had no plan, they're making all of the classic mistakes of software development [stevemcconnell.com], and they are burning through the cash as if it were marshmallows at a boy scout outing.The least they can do is hire a competent project manager to slap those ho's back on track.
Way I figure it, if they had 3 developers and one manager working full time for five years, they've already burned through close to two million dollars and have nothing to show for it. Hope they figure they can sell enough copies to *cough* at least break even. Do'o!
Re:Game-to-be-left-unmentioned (Score:2)
If, however, all the technical issues have been solved and you just need to put it all together (often a huge task in itself), then you can get a project manager on the payroll.
The actual problem is not poor project management, but out of control marketing. When the programmer says that they don't know how they're going to solve all the anticipated problems (never mind the unexpected ones) don't start hyping the final product. Wait until the technical people actually agree that the project is possible.
Re:Game-to-be-left-unmentioned (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Game-to-be-left-unmentioned (Score:4, Informative)
$25 / 2 = $12.50 (half for retailer, half for publisher)
Of that $12.50 that the retailer doesn't take, it is common for the publisher to take 50%, and divide up the rest among whoever is left. Now, Max Payne was developed by Remedy Entertainment, produced by 3D Realms, and published by GodGames.
So, GodGames got 50% of that $12.50, or $6.25. The remaining $6.25 was divided up between Remedy and 3D Realms. Exactly HOW it was divided up is unknown to me, but let's assume that each got 50%.
Therefore, for every $25 copy of Max Payne sold in a retail store, the developers (Remedy Entertainment) got about $3.12. Now, for a while the game cost $40 or $50, but most publishers pull all sorts of shenanigans so that they can stiff the developer out of their share of the money. Even if the publisher is as honest as a Boy Scout, that's still not a lot of money.
If Remedy was smart, they demanded royalties from the movie rights, console and Macintosh port royalties, etc., but hey, who knows, not everybody has good business sense (and some have downright horrid business sense).
Re:Game-to-be-left-unmentioned (Score:3, Informative)
I should become psychic (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I should become psychic (Score:5, Funny)
Come on, even miss Cleo saw this comming.
segway (Score:5, Informative)
Amazon claims they're selling, but isn't releasing any numbers.
Wasn't this supposed to have changed every american city by now?
Re:segway (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, I dunno if they will be the last, but San Francisco has already moved to ban [yahoo.com] them from sidewalks.
Re:segway (Score:3, Interesting)
Shared frustration (Score:2, Funny)
Regardless, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one waiting, perhaps in vain, for the Oqo. Like the author, I was more than ready to whip out any number of credit cards for one when it was first announced. If I were to get one now, it'd probably just be a remote control to my HTPC.
SPOILER...sort of. (Score:2)
I jusr love the fact that they are still not willing to scrap DNF.
I can here them chanting in the office now...."Keep hope alive"
for the article:
"In the end all that matters is the quality of the game," he continued. "So, lessons have been learned, and progress is being made, and we're working as quickly and quietly as we can. You're completely justified in calling us 'turtleware,' at the very least, but the release date is still 'when it's done.'"
Geforce FX ? (Score:4, Interesting)
Vaporware ?
Granted, it's not out yet.
But its delayed, not "vaporware".
It was demonstrated a few weeks back and is set to be released in 5-6 weeks.
Re:Geforce FX ? (Score:2)
Delay + Delay + Delay + Delay = ? (Score:5, Informative)
And QuarkXPress for OSX (7), MOO3 (5, has to have been demoed at some show), and the Neverwinter Nights mac/linux client (2) certainly exist somewhere as actual code.
Only Electronic Film (10) and the Oqo (4) are candidates for "don't really exist even as prototypes", either of which may have been seen by somebody other then me and joining the first list.
The thing is, the term "Vaporware" still covers these things because by and large, these things won't ever come out. Generally they are cancelled. The Wired list is a bit of an exception in that it covers highly hyped products, which by the nature of the hype improves the chances of actually seeing the product come out; normally "vaporware" just sort of vaporizes.
So yes, the nVidia card qualifies. Many products have been demo'ed and "mere months" from release and still end up axed. (I still regret "Secret of Vulcan Fury.")
Re:Geforce FX ? (Score:2, Insightful)
Vaporware is something where after waiting long enough, something doesn't materialize.
The Geforce FX was demonstrated in 2002.
They had manufacturing problems at TSMC, which is why its not on shelves right now.
Not the same category as vaporware.
Re:Geforce FX ? (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes, but there is no fruition in sight.
Geforce FX was designed and demonstrated in 2002. Manufacturing issues has delayed the launch to 6 weeks after end of 2002. That's hardly vaporware.
LOL! (Score:2)
It's too bad that so many companies do this - I'd much rather not see any quotes than see what Bob had to say in 1995. I wonder if the Enron site has any quotes...
VaporStory (Score:3, Funny)
The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:5, Insightful)
Why? Because technology moves too quickly and your game looks old fast. If you write a game with a target for release in two years, you write for the highest end kit, make sure your engine scales, and hope for the best. But what if when two years have passed, you need another year to finish the title? Your title immediately looks old!
What if Red Alert 2 ran a year late? It'd look like an old clunky piece of crap. Okay, it's still an excellent game, but it was more cutting edge in 2000 than it possibly could be in 2001.
So, when titles run even just a year late, the developers have to rush and scramble to make their graphics engine look up to date.. but that introduces new bugs, so they become even more delayed.. then they need to upgrade the engine AGAIN, and repeat ad nauseum.
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:2)
There is no excuse for being this late.
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:2)
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:3, Informative)
Then switched to unreal.
They also likely rewrote the unreal engine to add in features they wanted. As the article says, they rewrote the engine more than once.
Of course now the unreal engine is obsolete, so they likely need a new engine.
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:5, Informative)
Also, like with id Software engines, when you license the Unreal engine, you get access to the updates. 3D Realms may decide not to use them, but they have access to them.
And before you say anything else stupid, the Unreal engine isn't obsolete. Unreal Tournament used it (there is NO Unreal Tournament engine; it's just a much later build of the Unreal engine than the version that shipped with the game Unreal), Unreal Tournament 2003 used it too IIRC.
You see, instead of writing a new engine from scratch for every game, Epic built a solid foundation (the Unreal engine) which they could easily update to include the latest graphic technology. All they do is keep updating the same engine, adding stuff to take advantage of newer graphics cards and faster CPUs.
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:2)
(Yeah, I know, I've done better, but hey, I gave it a shot.)
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:5, Insightful)
So find another niche to play in. Actually invent a new game, and it will look new.
But what if when two years have passed, you need another year to finish the title?
This sounds cruel, because the market is cruel, but your product then deserves to die. Schedule estimates off by 50% are rarely survivable.
Please don't think I'm attacking you or your project, or that I'm saying I can somehow do better. I'm just saying that when trapped in a rat race with otherwise identical competitors, you must either do the job better than anybody else or create a new job entirely.
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:2)
All the more reason to bank on good game-play rather than flashy graphics from the beginning. This, along with the growing installed base, is one of the things that draws developers to the Game Boy Advance. It's just a raw art and design problem. You aren't going to get engineers finding clever new ways to exploit the hardware (at least, not like you would on a PC or even a modern console.)
If it's cutting-edge technology that's driving your game, as the parent post suggested, you've got the ticking of the technology clock constantly reminding you that you'd better hurry up, better cut those design corners, better add that new feature you saw at E3...
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:2)
You know, I wish developers would worry less about how many polygons they can push and put together a good storyline and give me stuff to do besides kill everything/find the switch.
Half-Life is a good example of a game that came out late and sold well even though there were better looking games around. People still play it for the great storyline and creative gameplay.
Good gameplay will compensate for old-looking graphics every time.
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:3, Insightful)
Sorry, but that's a cop-out reason. Other developers manage to get their products out on time, and with high-tech graphics to boot. There's no reason a team of 50 can't get a game out in under 5 years, even if they are all volunteers. There's even less of an excuse for a professional development team.
Re:The obvious reason for vaporware games (Score:3, Insightful)
That is why id Software engines are so popular. For example, by licensing the Quake III engine, you get access to all updates to it for something like a year. Then all you need is a few programmers to write the non-engine code for your game, modify the engine to suit your needs, integrate the latest engine versions, etc.
Epic has been doing this with their own engine for years. Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Unreal Tournament 2003, all used THE SAME ENGINE. The only difference was that UT used a later build than Unreal, and UT 2003 used a later build than UT. Whats more, anybody who licenses the Unreal engine gets access to the latest build. So anybody who made an Unreal-engine game around the time of UT was using the same engine as UT, and anyone who makes an Unreal-engine game now would be using the same engine as Unreal Tournament 2003.
Therefore, theoretically, Duke Nukem Forever could have fairly decent graphics, assuming they updated their version of the Unreal engine to the latest build.
Duke Nukem Never (Score:5, Informative)
They're going to have to write it again for the new Unreal engine, and then when they're done with that, they'll have to redo it again for the Doom 3 engine.
It's a vicious cycle. Bets that this game won't see the light of day?
Re:Duke Nukem Never (Score:3, Funny)
Don't tell me, don't tell me... (Score:5, Funny)
It's Daikatana, right?
Glad Duke Nukem is taking forever.. (Score:5, Interesting)
They've updated the engine a few times and started over a few times.
Any coders out there know that sometimes intense modification or starting over is just what has to be done to make your program what you want. Or you could take the easy route and compromise your program concept to account for a mistake. A poor analogy would be that this is like shoveling all the crap in your roomunder the bed instead of cleaning up.
Re:Glad Duke Nukem is taking forever.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes, in many cases a rewrite is better than reuse. However, you do not discover major faults in your code that require a rewrite (much less "a few times") in the middle of development. To do so indicates that your team does not understand the code base it was to reuse, or did not understand the requirements. Either form of incompetence rightfully results in failure, especially in a cutthroat market like games.
Also, "started over a few times" does not say "taking time to do it right" to me. It says they don't know how to do it right, and are just fumbling in the dark.
Note that I am not familiar with their actual development practices, so I am assuming your description is accurate, and basing my comments on that.
Re:Glad Duke Nukem is taking forever.. (Score:3, Insightful)
If they really wanted to do a game with the unreal engine, I'd say put it off until Duke Nukem Forever and Ever.
Technology does not a good game make.
Quality artwork is better.
Quality AI is better than artwork.
Quality game play is supreme.
Re:How do you explain Daikatana? (Score:2)
Speaking of which, the Mac "port" is supposed to be out shortly. I have an XBox I do most of my gaming on though. And Halo2 is definitely coming out soon. Still, it is cool.
Re:How do you explain Daikatana? (Score:2)
At first glance of the sig I saw NoPoopie... housebreaking tools on Slashdot? Click Here! to rid your kid of those pesky diapers?
Re:Glad Duke Nukem is taking forever.. (Score:2)
Mozilla itself is fine. The consequences of the delay, however, are not.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Glad Duke Nukem is taking forever.. (Score:5, Insightful)
"It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I'm all out of bubblegum."
-Duke Nukem 3D
"I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I'm all out of bubblegum."
-They Live (a John Carpenter movie starring Roddy Piper and that black guy from Platoon), release in 1988
A great many also came from the Evil Dead movies, and sounded much cooler when spoken by Bruce Campbell. I guess that's what happens when you get a radio DJ to do the lines for your game.
What's worse, George Broussard said in a magazine interview that all the sayings and such in Duke Nukem 3D and Duke Nukem Forever were original. In the same article, there were screenshots from DNF where Duke Nukem loses his hand and puts a chainsaw in its place (a la the Evil Dead movies). Message for Mr. Broussard: open mouth wider and insert other foot...
Re:Glad Duke Nukem is taking forever.. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Glad Duke Nukem is taking forever.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Quark (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Quark (Score:4, Insightful)
Here's hoping IBM delivers the 970 soon and that Quark won't release something as bad as I think they will. Not because I'll use Quark, but I know how the "trickle down" effect works. By the same reasoning I didn't own Global Crossing or Enron stock, but their screw ups affected me nonetheless.
Gotta toot my own horn, here... (Score:3, Interesting)
Lo and behold, not only is it #7 on the list, but they quoted me in the article!
To quote Bart Simpson, "There's only one thing to do at a moment like this: strut!" <cues up "Stayin' Alive" [snowcrest.net]>
~Philly
Don't worry, no deadlines (Score:2)
So he's saying that if you released a great ground-breaking game a few years after it's great and ground-breaking, that's still ok.. Sign me up! I'd love to work for a company like that. Until they run out of money, that is.
Re:Don't worry, no deadlines (Score:2)
So he's saying that if you released a great ground-breaking game a few years after it's great and ground-breaking, that's still ok.
Um, a game doesn't have to be `ground-breaking' to be good, it just has to be good. See the GBA for countless proofs of this.
Indeed, sometimes companies forget this, and fixate on `ground-breaking' at the expense of `good' (I think the FF movie is an example
[hmmm, maybe having switched engines so many times is evidence that DNF is making the same mistake...]
What exactly is "vaporware"? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's pretty cut and dried... (Score:4, Insightful)
Companies can demo it and say it's 'almost ready' all they want, but until you can get product in exchange for payment, it's vaporware.
~Philly
Re:It's pretty cut and dried... (Score:3, Insightful)
You mean like the Mona lisa?
The Eiffel Tower?
How about the Giza pyramids?
"Vaporware" the latest craze? (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, I know vaporware has been around for a while. In fact, if I look right here I see 10 other companies have allready brought Vaporware products to market. If you guys read the more informative literature, like Wired here, instead of, what is that you have, IEEE conference proceedings? Whatever. Anyway, if you guys could put in the work required to keep up with the state of the art, and bring this stuff to my attention sooner, we might get in ahead of the curve? I'm not criticizing anyone, I just want to see you guys make the improvements that will justify the decision to retain you in this downturn! You're all replaceable now, you know.
Where was I? I've been reading up, so I'll spell it out for you. "Vaporware" is technology that is so awesome no-one believes it could be real. Like microwaves, or stealth bombers.
Okay, Bill, you've got a comment.
Uh-huh. Did everyone here Bill? He says everything in our last prosepectus was Vaporware. That's the consensus? Good. The thing I want to know is - why wasn't it marketed as such?
Yes, I agree, marketing shares the blame in this. The point is - marketing doesn't know what we're selling. Stop laughing, Ed, this isn't funny. The point is - you have to tell them. If we've got something in development, and it's Vaporware, we need the world to know. Our advertising budget has been cut enormously, we need all the free publicity we can get. When wired puts out there top ten list next year, we can be number 1! Let's do this thing.
So many games (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd like to hear from some ./'ers involved in bioinformics, kernel hacking etc ... Someone posted about a late "Intel's 512-bit high-end graphics card" but nothing from the scientific establishment, which, IMHO, is probably where the action is. Is everything coming out on time?
Number one vaporware in history is from Science. (Score:5, Funny)
Tim
Re:So many games (Score:2, Insightful)
I think what it is is that games get an enormous amount of public hype very early on in their development, consumer and business software gets less and scientific software, especially university-developed software, gets none.
I'm sure there's some grad student reading this thinking about how many years behind schedule his project is, but no one has heard about it except him, his advisor, his girlfriend and his parents.
Re:So many games (Score:5, Funny)
Girlfriend? A grad school programmer with a girlfriend? Hmm, if the list was written by programmers, Girlfriend 1.0 would be the ultimate vapor...
Re:So many games (Score:3, Insightful)
Hmm that reminds me of the greatest vaporware of all - fusion energy, its been continually 30-40 years from being used for power generation.
Half the list is games - what's this say about... (Score:2)
On one hand I suppose it indicates just how complex game development has become.
On the other hand, it suggests that the greatest customer demand lies in computer gaming, rather than, for products suporting some other grandiose application of the future. Perhaps the great demand for computer games reflects a simple need for escapism in light of world events, but the fact that most are networked multiplayer enviroments again brings to the fore, the dusturbing trend of avid computer users replacing real human interactions with interactions behind the mask offered by networked gaming enviroments.
--CTH
Well Done (Score:3, Funny)
"Stick a fork in 'em, they're done."
Don't blame them for price increase (Score:2, Insightful)
Look like they've overlooked the license fee of Windows XP in the initial estimation.
New Amiga (Score:4, Informative)
It's shipping, people have the new motherboards up and running. See Eyetech's (who are making the boards) announcement at http://www.eyetech.co.uk/amigaone/oct252002a.php [eyetech.co.uk], or the discussion at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amigaone/ [yahoo.com]. The OS itself isn't out yet, but the boards run Linux PPC just fine.
Because 3D Realms is tricksy... (Score:5, Funny)
They've always been honest about their release date, and posted it openly since day 1. It's not their fault if the public can't read properly:
Duke Nukem Forever
Alongside the Oqo... (Score:2)
OK, first and last time. (Score:2)
The article that this comment is attached to is the awards. You know, the part that comes AFTER the vote.
A -1 redundant on all who state otherwise.
I'm surprised they didn't mention.. (Score:3, Informative)
March 12, 2002 - Prey, its very name is the definition of vaporware, and is even perhaps responsible for a lot of the Duke Nukem nay saying. You see, Prey was to be 3D Realms' grand first-person shooting triumph. What it promised to sport in 1997 was a new engine with better than Unreal looks, Max Payne radiosity lighting, and Red Faction environmental interactivity.
It was only after sometime that the reality of lacking technology sunk in and Prey, along with its Turok reminiscent story of a Native American gone alien abductee superhero was axed. From then, DNF was put in full swing, and has still yet to arrive, leading conspiracy theorist gamers with way too much time on their hands to always expect the worst.
correction in slashdot dept (Score:4, Funny)
from the I-want-new-shiny-things-to-distract-me -from-my-mind-numbly-unfulfilled-life-and-I-want-i t-now! dept.
I admit, I'm guilty of this too.
Better make it good (Score:2)
While a lot of people (myself included) are privately theorizing that this game will never make it out (Duke Nukum, Never), if it ever does arrive I have the feeling it will sell rather quickly. Over 5 years waiting tends to add to the hype, and, as mentioned, they've done a lot of overhauls. I will gladly wait 8 years for a game that turns out really good, rather than have them crank out another lame clone after a few just to meet a deadline and stop the complaints about delay.
That being said, I wonder how the upcoming release of D3 will measure up against a possible DN forever. Which would be better, and/or more anticipated
Ah, the memories of the hidden doom marine in DN3D, will we see a dead duke in D3, or perhaps some jokes about the delay.
They forgot one... (Score:5, Funny)
GNU Hurd
Couldn't resist!
autopr0n game-hyping system (patent pending) (Score:5, Funny)
step 2. Keep working on other projects and spend a few hours a month working on more mockups and prototypes.
Repeat step 2 for a couple years, show the 'game' to reporters. Hype relentlessly, but gradually taper off.
Wait a few more years, occasionally report problems 'we switched engines' etc. everyone laughs, you become the quintessential vaporware, etc. Tell everyone you're waiting because the game is going to be perfect. Ship the games you were actually working on
After 4 or 5 years of this, start working on the game. Everyone's heard of it, everyone knows about it. And when you're finished (in a year or so) everyone downloads the demo, even non-hardcore gamers. Of course, you'll need to make sure the game is fun, and polished, but if you succeed you'll have huge mindshare already, and probably a hit.
Unreal was delayed and delayed, and since it was pretty good it sold well. Daikatana took forever, but it was shitty. If it had actually been a good game, it probably would have done well. We'll have to see what happens with DNF, but I bet it would have sold well if it was good.
With my plan, you'll have years of hype and anticipation waiting for a game that only cost a year or so of development costs.
and licensing my patent will only cost you 4% of the development costs!
Should be vapor games (Score:3, Interesting)
The best piece of vaporware still goes to Microsoft for .Net. A software product that doesn't exist but MS claims to be anything and everything at the same time.
I hate to complain about posts but, Slashdot belongs in the "King of the misleading headlines department" lately.
P.S. - you can't really mod me down for being off topic, this whole damn story is off topic.
Greatest movie vaporware (Score:2)
Half this list is games! (Score:3, Interesting)
Glad Wired is sorting this out for us... (Score:3, Insightful)
I couldn't help it. Dammit, I'm already accruing coal in my stocking for 2003...
QuarkXPress (Score:3, Insightful)
> Stuart Long. "It's the one app holding back the adoption of an
> amazing Unix OS."
First off, the only thing holding back adoption of OS X is time; as
people replace their old Macs with new ones, and as new apps and
versions of apps are released that do not support Classic, adoption
of OS X is a foregone conclusion. No one app matters, really. It
can make the difference of a couple of years for some people, but
in the long run it doesn't fundamentally change anything.
My other comment about this is that for Apple to buy out Quark in
order to get XPress out would probably disgruntle Adobe, which is
probably not something Apple particularly wants to do.
Re:So glad they didn't spoil the surprise. (Score:3)
Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA (Score:2, Funny)
(Somehow I think the Offtopic mod was unfair, the humor in that "joke" is also vaporware....)
Re:D00000000P! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:(spoiler for #1 spot) (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, I used similar reasoning to comfort myself while waiting for Diekatana, and that game sure was worth the wait in the end...
As (I believe) Nintendo once said (Score:5, Insightful)
In any case if you're going to put "Forever" in your game's title you have to expect a certain amount of jokes about it.
Re:(spoiler for #1 spot) (Score:2)
Re:(spoiler for #1 spot) (Score:3, Insightful)
3D Realms, IMO, is living on their legacy created by Duke 3D. Granted they've spent some time helping other games get out the door (Max Payne, Duke titles for consoles, etc.), but I think someone above summed it up best : their outfit comes across more like a rich man's hobby. Were it not for the reputation of 3D Realms, I think you'd see Duke Forever getting the same treatment as Daikatana, Ion Storm and John Romero got a while back. If you think about it, there isn't much difference between the two except that Romero had a track record with a different company. Let's all hope that Duke 4 doesn't come out as flawed as Daikatana.
So now that I've said my piece, yeah, I think it's cool that 3DR can laugh about the progress made on their latest game. But I would prefer that they quit laughing and joking and actually ship something that even halfway meets the hype they've built. At least the hype has died down in the last year or two, giving them a much lower hype-target to hit!
Dated != not fun (Score:3, Insightful)
If true, that's a huge relief since any game coming out now using the original Unreal (or UT) engine will look _very_ dated.
*GWOE (Games With Older Engines) is not dying
Pac-Man is dated. Pac-Man is still fun. Therefore, in some cases, dated is still fun. Namco still sells copies of Pac-Man on Game Boy Advance. Therefore, in some cases, dated sells. This correlates with the fact that games that remain fun continue to sell.
However, notice that in auto racing, "DNF" stands for "Did Not Finish".
Re:Dated != not fun (Score:2, Interesting)
The problem with the latest greatest game is that is requires the latest greatest hardware. Not to mention the cost of the game is high.
Plus there is the problem gameplay, like another post pointed out games like Pacman are still popular while I have trouble keeping interested in teh latest real time because of simple flaws in the interface.
To quote fight club "I say let's deevolve, let the chips fall where they may". Screw the thousand gibs, the blowing wind on the open field and all the other eye candys and give me a game with the complexity and maturity of empire. Or how bout one that improves on the gameplay and tweeks problems with the UI? Or even better a game that could be played on older hardware and would scale properly on new hardware. That way the guy with the neon bulbs in his case and twelve cooling fans on his graphix card could host for everyone running on their trusty old laptops.
But then again, I'm just a guy with a computer and a few bytes to send.
Wait (Score:2)