Vaporware: Nuke 'Em if Ya Got 'Em

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,61935,00.html' target='_blank'>http://www.wired.com/news/technolog...2,61935,00.html</a><br /><br /></div>"Now in its seventh year, Wired News' Vaporware Awards celebrates all those eagerly anticipated gizmos in 2003 that were put off, put away or quietly put down. And, of course, those that existed merely as a figment of someone's imagination. The "winners" were chosen by our readers. A call for submissions went out in December, and we're pleased to report that the volume of responses this year was among the largest ever. Once again, the list of shame was dominated by games, a reflection of the overly competitive industry and its reliance on hype as a marketing strategy. Several game companies earned a spot, but one in particular, Valve, enjoyed a spectacular year -- from a vaporware point of view. The company managed to propel two titles onto the MIA list. A third title earned a dishonorable mention..."<br /><br />Ah, what a great article - companies who promise things and don't deliver. Give it a read - it gave me a good laugh. :lol:

[Jeff Rutledge]

Don't mean to fuel any flames here, but I chuckled when I read this:

Dishonorable shout outs also go to...the Oqo minicomputer, which came in at No. 4 last year and is now so vaporous that no one is looking forward to it anymore.

[Macguy59]

Have you checked out the forums at any of the game pages? Hysterical stuff being posted. The group mentality seems to be "so what if it takes 6 years or 10 years. If it's good people will buy it, if not they won't" I especially like the excuses of code theft. Great marketing plans :roll:

[bjornkeizers]

I found this yesterday through planet Half Life. Great little article. The only real PPC related news is the OQO - but we already knew that :D

Also on the list are:

Duke Nukem Forever [6 years of vapor and counting]
Team Fortress 2 [5 years]
Half Life 2 [Not vapor, but enough strange stuff going on to make it on there]

And the Phantom pc/console .. thing.

[`helios]

Does anyone know what happened to DVD-ROM?? When the drives came out, there were promises of games, etc.. being released on DVD with more content. DVD-ROM penetration is pretty high (yes, I said penetration)

Anyone know when there's going to be a major release on DVD? I think Myst was released on a 3-DVD set, but that's all i've seen

:?

[AhuhX]

Does anyone know what happened to DVD-ROM?? When the drives came out, there were promises of games, etc.. being released on DVD with more content. DVD-ROM penetration is pretty high (yes, I said penetration)

Anyone know when there's going to be a major release on DVD? I think Myst was released on a 3-DVD set, but that's all i've seen

:?

Actually Sony is polling Everyquest players to see if they would like to see Everquest 2 come out on 8-10 CD's or 2 DVD's. Shows you how big that game is going to be... LOL

I thought it was unfair of them mentioning Longhorn. It's not like MS promised it last year, and If they wanted to they could just go to the developer site and see exactly how far that product is coming along at any point in time. Just seemed the usual MS bashing to me.

Now WinXP SP2...

[aroma]

Now WinXP SP2...

FYI, this has been out in beta since last month, so shouldn't be too long now...

[PDANEWBIE]

I would have changed

I wouldn't be surprised if dictionaries actually began printing it: 'vaporware: n. See Duke Nukem Forever.'"

to

I wouldn't be surprised if dictionaries actually began printing it: 'vaporware: n. You won't see Duke Nukem Forever cause it won't ever be relased.'"