Games to be declared M.I.A.

We're coming up and out of the slump called summer and into this wonderful thing called the "Holiday Season" aka, Autumn and Winter. If there is a worthwhile purchase to be made, it will be done here. Now, we KNOW what is coming out for these months, these dates have been nailed down but, a more interesting question is what WON'T we be seeing any time soon and try to establish where they are at currently. Duke Duken forever (and ever and ever and ever...) aside, what's hot products are frozen in time:

Splinter Cell: Convinction

Ah, Splinter Cell. You're black-and-white stealth mechanics made for a brilliant experience for those blessed with the gift of patience and you were fortunate enough to notice them becoming stale, unlike other developers in the past (read as EA). Light and dark is released to crowd blending mechanics and Sam Fisher, no longer an NSA agent or even a Double Agent, on the run for one reason or another. Like the brilliant Hitman series. However, SC:C has now become like a girlfriend who really doesn't care about you. You had those really great times together, stuck together through the smooth and the rough gradually before the calls just stopped coming and you were left wondering how you ended up at this point.

Current Status: A few claims of a Q2 2009 release from a while back is about it. It's worrying that such a high profile game, nah, franchise like SC is getting so little time in the sun. Apparently they've had to go back to the drawing board so you can expect that date to shift. I'm now less worried about when the game is come but what state it's in. Advice to Ubisoft? Get in touch with the boys at IO. Sure, they screwed up Kane and Lynch but the mechanics in Hitman are exactly what you should be aiming for but on a bigger scale.

Alan Wake
Challenging Splinter Cell for "New Biggest Joke in Games" crown, or maybe even the current holder, Mr. A. Wake (for those who have spent the last 3 years trying to work out the pun) has been absent from just about every gaming event since TGS... 2006. Not to say that we have not been without information there's been more than one apology over the delay. I think we're at a six count here. From what footage and other information has been revealed, none of which tells us how it will be playable, is saying that it's Silent Hill meets the Shining.

Is it time to get up: No. Quite simply. This one isn't getting started in any way. Promo flyers told us that we could be seeing it at TGS 08 ended up being flyers from a year ago. That's how bad things have gotten with this game. In April we were told the media blackout wouldn't be much longer and there have been some mag features but other than that, nothing. It's even having a knock on effect with Max Payne 3, originally a Remedy product, rumoured to be shifting back to Rockstar due to the work being done on Alan. To Remedy, I hope if and when this is released it was worth it and end up with a product you're proud to have worked for so damn long on.


White Knight Chronicles

It's not all about Xbox MIA's, oh no, there are some PS3 ones too. White Knight, or "Shirokishi Monogatari" for you Japanophiles out there, was annouced back when the PS3 hype was at it's peak. That's right, before it's, and the Wii's, launch. Since then, we've not nessacrily been drip fed more than scrounged like hungry hyenas for information on what could be an FF beating title. Result- uuuhhhh, not much. It's worrying when the official website hasn't been updated since July, 2007. There have been some shots of a town upon the back of a turtle and other equally impressive visuals but not alot else. No footage since TGS07 either

When's levelling up: Another grey date of the end of Q4 08 (that's March to us common people). It's also rumoured to be at this year's TGS (which makes sense as that as that was when it was last spotted). Seriously Sony, why aren't you getting behind this? It's an exclusive game that looks freakin' fantastic and has the potential to actually show what you're machine does! Finger out, now!


Ghostbusters

Upon searching for big Wii titles to hit delays (and moving through the mountains of shovelware to include Wii Fitness and Wii Excercise. No joke, they're there... disturbingly), I decided that there were no already annouced future big titles, which swings both ways in the fan boy war, and will instead talk about Ghostbusters.

Why? Well, with Activision/Vivendi merger, this game has been dropped by the publisher. To which I mentally and verbally said, "Waht?!" This is a fully licensed game from one of the biggest movie franchises of the late '80s - early '90s. Dan Akyroyd and Harold Ramis writing. Bill Murray's likeness and voice. You've been given a license to essentially print money if it's done right. So you drop it? It didn't meet the Acti-Blizz standards along with a number of other sierra products including Brutal Legend (Jack Black in alternate Psychonauts inspired rock-iverse = surely win?) and left with dying stars, Crash and Spyro and promising Prototype. My main punt at why these games have survived is the potential sequels.

When's it gonna call: 2009? Maybe? To be fair, it's been having good coverage up until recently and it looks half decent, with the prospect of wielding a proton pack with the Wiimote too tantalising to bear. Sony are rumoured, a word I use bluntly, to be publishing this as they have the movie rights but, luckily Sony Pictures (and not SCE) are looking for a publisher. With the anniversary coming up, blu ray movie special editon? Again, it's on you Sony.


These are just 4 big ones that stick in the fore front of my mind. I'm certain there are plenty more where those game from. If I missed out any important ones you want me to cover, I am more than happy to revisit this topic.

Are the dice finally in Sony's hands

After a solid 2 years of the Internet telling Sony how much it's having it's ass handed to it by Microsoft's hardcore crowd and Nintendo's mainstream assault, Sony have the chance to strike back come October and it's all down two 3 words. Or is it one?

Littlebigplanet.

The game has probably seen more hype shoved behind it than Halo 3 and more potential than Portal. We've all heard the talk; Littlebig for the win, Sackboy for president and even as an entertaining way to rally off Sony stats but these last two months, Sony and Media Molecule need to get their heads down and shut the hell up.The best way to kill any game is over hyping, particularly with the critics.

Metal Gear Solid 4* is the great example with the concept of nowhere to hide, giving us visions of fully destructable environements, being quickly reduced to hiding in plain sight, merely a (technically sound) reworking of MGS3's camo system and a team mechanic which was dropped for latter stages. Or, if you want a better example of hype over kill, Haze.

Lesson for today? It's fine to say that you're game is great and show it off because if you don't, you'll get another Okami but hold off one saturating the market with promos until those precious sales figures get in.

*Note: Love MGS4, honest :)