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If Project H.A.M.M.E.R. still existed, this would be a preview of it
NeoGAFfer Shiggy has posted some more screenshots from the vaporous apparition that once had the name Project H.A.M.M.E.R., this time focusing on the in-game perspective. It's strange how disparate the action scenes look from the shots of architecture we were given: those screens were crisp, stylized, and made use of heavy, thick shadows, while the "real game" is, well, blurry. But next-gen blurry! It's like they were making two different games. Or, we suppose, it's like they put two different games on "indefinite hold".As of now, it is still "indefinite hold" rather than "dead forever," so you can take these screenshots as a preview of a potential future game. At the very least, some guy is poking through the game getting some screenshots.
Laser TVs delayed again, SED begins to get envious
It seems that SED's reign as the most perpetually delayed television technology in recent memory may be getting a run for its money, as the Laser TV sets we were totally expecting (ahem) by Christmas aren't making it onto Santa's sleigh after all. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, vice-president of Arasor Scott Wilkie admitted that the sets wouldn't be available by the year's end, but he unsurprisingly passed the blame onto "other key component manufacturers" that "haven't quite ramped up as fast as was expected." Still, Frank DeMartin, vice-president of marketing and product development at Mitsubishi Digital Electronics, supposedly stated that we could see some Laser TV-based announcement at CES 2008, but we wouldn't be shocked if it was simply an updated timetable and a subtle plea for patience. January's just around the bend -- hopefully this will get sorted out soon enough.
Call/Recall boasts of 1TB optical disc, reeks of vaporware
Our vaporware alert hit yellow earlier this year when Call/Recall bragged about a multi-terabyte optical storage solution while providing no real proof that it existed, but now we're afraid that's been ratcheted up to orange. The latest from the company -- which still seems to believe that no pictures are necessary to substantiate its claims -- is the "industry's first 1TB optical disc." This device has reportedly been developed and tested behind closed doors, and unsurprisingly relies on its own 2-Photon-3D technology. Additionally, the company purports that it is "entering into product design and discussion with leading manufacturing partners," so we ought to see something coming down the pike relatively soon if all of this is legit.[Via PCLaunches]
McPerson's 37-inch I-TV does it all... or nothing
There's a select group of red flags that appear when a product is, or is dangerously close to becoming, vaporware, and we've seen just about all of 'em when looking at McPerson's I-TV. Apparently, this so-called do-it-all LCD TV first appeared last year, but now it sports a different look and a flashy website that will make you wish your speakers were inoperative. The set supposedly functions as a home automation controller, DVR, DVD player and Media Center PC, and just in case you doubted its prowess, this thing is somehow Viiv-certified and able to run OS X. Specs wise, you'll find a 37-inch 1080p panel, dual 40-watt speakers (um, right), 7.1-channel audio out, built-in WiFi / Bluetooth, gigabit Ethernet and a slew of ports. Considering McPerson threw nearly everything in here save for the proverbial kitchen sink, it's not all that shocking to find a £3,924.49 ($8,235) pricetag floating around the intarweb, and if anyone has any proof that this thing will actually ship if ordered, feel free to dash our doubts in comments.[Thanks, Giorgio]
Phantom Entertainment returns, aims to infiltrate hotel rooms
Those terribly saddened by the recent drought of Phantom Entertainment news now have something to celebrate, as the current king of vaporware has seemingly inked an utterly worthless marketing agreement with ProGames Network to "place the Lapboard and Phantom Game Service content in [select] hotels." Reportedly, the two have agreed to place Phantom's not-yet-available wares into hotels found in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia (fancy, huh?), but to no one's surprise, neither firm mentions a target launch date.
First trailer for Project Offset
Remember Project Offset? The tech demo that blew your socks off back in 2005? Well, it's back and this time it's a game! As mysterious as ever, this hybrid of first and third person combat claims to sport five unique classes, rideable creatures, squad based multiplayer and more. Now if they'd just let us know who's publishing this beast, that would be fantastic. Naturally, there isn't a release date in sight, just pretty graphics. We're going to assume that this is still coming to the PC and maybe Xbox 360.
Medison promises money back if it can't deliver... in three months
That $150 Medison Celebrity we glanced a few days back seemed to smell a bit fishy from the get-go, and a recent press release from the firm does a fairly terrible job of assuring us all otherwise. Typically, one's in dire straits if it has to address mass concerns of scamming, and Medison is now blaming the unexpectedly large amount of orders and "tremendous" amount of website hits and support calls for an apparent "shift in the time frame" in which customers will receive their orders. Granted, the company still promises that it will deliver, and now claims that your money will be returned if your machine isn't received in three months. Ah well, it's not like you had better things to do with your cash than let someone else earn interest on it while you fret over ever seeing it (or a laptop in its place) ever again, right?[Thanks, Valdi I.]
Phantom inks $1.3 million in funding to do more nothing
There's just no way to celebrate the ushering in of a new CEO than to ink a loan agreement worth some $1.3 million, right? Just a day after Phantom Entertainment's, um, head honcho, stepped aside and gave the reigns of the vaporware wagon to Greg Koler, the outfit has now announced that it will be using the newfound fundage to "manufacture product lines this year with Alienware and IONE Technologies." We know, it's hard to stifle the chuckling, but apparently Phantom really believes that this time will be different, as it's busting out radical plans to "initiate marketing, sales, and distribution of the Phantom Lapboard." We'd feel sorry for the lenders, but they should have known better.
Timothy Roberts steps down as Chairman, Director of Phantom, which has yet to do something
You can't keep a good snake oil salesman down -- well, until he jumps right the hell overboard from his company. Maybe possibly actually on the eve of -- gasp -- actually shipping something, vaporware stock scamming pump and dump frontrunner Phantom Entertainment (aka Infinium Labs, aka the dudes Gizmondo like sooo looked up to) announced today that its founder, Chairman, and Director Tim Roberts is peaceing out just in time to not screw up their non-sales during this week's E3 conference.Lovely fluff ensues: "'We are grateful for Tim's vision and his service in helping to guide the Company since its inception' noted Greg Koler, CEO and President of Phantom Entertainment, Inc. 'We will miss Tim's counsel and insightful views on the direction of technology and we wish him well with his new endeavors.'" Vision? In producting what, bupkis? Service? In doing what, leaving the company in 2005 with a booty load of stock making the whole business look like a scam? Man, you can't even make this shlock up.Read - press releaseRead - CNN says dude's a crook (2006)Bonus: check out dude's LinkedIn profile. He really seems to believe he's a "Proven Leader in Sales." Sales of what, exactly?
ZAP announces mysterious high-performance electric car
ZAP (which stands for Zero Air Pollution) announced another new entry to its electric car stable, an as-yet-unnamed sedan that will apparently sell for $30,000. The California based company claims their new model will reach a top speed of 100 mph, and will have a 100-mile range between charges. But here's where this story gets really interesting: ZAP announced a different model back in January which still hasn't seen the light of day, and AutoblogGreen questions whether the company has been using press releases as a method of increasing their stock price for short term cash-flow. Competitors like Tesla have prototypes on the road, but no such luck with ZAP, which certainly raises a number of questions, and definitely gets you thinking about the word vaporware.Read -- ZAP press releaseRead -- AutoblogGreen's take on ZAP
New Sadness artwork is not screenshots
Oh, Nibris. We recently had some real-looking videos of what appeared to be a real game on the DS. But all we've had about their Wii game Sadness recently is bad news (and responses to bad news). Well, they seem to be back on track with Sadness, or at least they're back on their uniquely Nibris track of showing a few tidbits of artwork, but no screens and no evidence that there is any game at all.For what it's worth, the artwork looks okay. We're glad work is being done on this game at all. Do you think the issue with Sadness is that Nibris has been unusually transparent with the earliest stages of their game design, leading to the impression that it's been a really long time without seeing anything? Or is it just that they're really late getting to showing any real content? Check out the artwork after the break, and feel free to discuss what has become an impromptu Wii Warm Up in the comments thread.
Happy 10th un-birthday Duke Nukem Forever!
Hold on, Wii! Your name isn't the only thing celebrating a birthday today! Well, it's not so much a "birth" day in this other case, seeing as how we're still waiting for the baby to drop ... So, happy 10th un-birthday Duke Nukem Forever! CVG reminds us that ten years ago, on this very day, you were conceived and hurriedly scribbled into tiny notebooks (computers weren't even invented yet!) and from there typed up into magazines (remember them?) the world over. Sure, a lot of things have happened in the last ten years (no, seriously, A LOT) -- including some awards, you assiduous devil -- but we still remember where we were when you were announced to the world. Find out where after the break:
OQO confirms Model 02 delays, EV-DO modem to blame
While OQO has certainly had its share of ups and downs over the past few years -- from us calling the Model 01 the "heavyweight champion of vaporware," to literally having a market segment spring up around the devices -- things looked to be headed decidedly up with the release of the 3G-capable Model 02 at the start of the year. But as always with the San Francisco company, the transition between announcing a product and actually shipping it is proving to be a little difficult. With shipping delays stretching to 16 weeks, an OQO rep recently confirmed the problem and pointed the finger of blame: "All orders with Sprint and Verizon customers are on hold while some issues are ironed out with the WWAN product line." Engadget pal Boy Genius says his experience bears that out -- his commercially-purchased Model 02 has no software support for the supposedly-present Sprint modem, and to make it worse, the unit he received is covered in nicks and scratches, more evidence of hiccups along the OQO production line. Although we enjoy talking to the guys over at OQO, it sounds like they really need to get their ducks in a row with the Model 02. Peep the full Boy Genius rant with photos of his nicked-up Model 02 at the read link.
Metareview - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Just months after the glitz and glamor of its inaugural debut on Wired's annual Vaporware awards, the long-delayed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. cozied up on retail shelves next to other evidently non-vaporous games. Yes, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a real boy now and it's more than a little exciting to see that the ambitious title made the journey from idea to interactive game more or less intact. Sure, the years in limbo didn't do much to help the once impressive engine, but reviews praise the title's innovative aspects -- namely the open-ended, and S.C.A.R.Y., gameplay. Yahoo! (90/100) offers a poop metaphor that actually makes us want to play the game ... albeit alone ... and with a fresh pair of drawers nearby: "given all its troubles we're fortunate to have a game at all, let alone one this good. Its setting is superb, its gameplay tense and convincing, and it boasts what are definitely the best fill-your-pants moments in a PC game for quite some time. It's hard to see how it could have turned out better." GameSpot (85/100) loves the open-endedness, and gives us the mash-up genre descriptor we've been waiting for: "At its heart, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a first-person survival game that blends action with role-playing. This isn't a linear game, like Half-Life or Call of Duty, where you basically are restricted to a straight path and are taken for a tightly controlled and scripted ride. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s huge environments and open-ended gameplay make it more like a role-playing game, as you can go where you want and do what you want if you're willing to live with the consequences." Eurogamer (80/100) offers easily the most compelling review, despite its lower score: "For some people the odd rough brokenness of Stalker will frustrate and annoy. It isn't finely polished, and it's not Hollywood; this is more like an antidote to the Americanised way of doing things. It's a warped behemoth from the Ukraine, and one of the scariest games on the PC." Sold! We've been hungry for a first-person shooter that requires mandatory underwear changes as part of its design; System Shock 2 was so long ago, and Bioshock is delayed. We want this sort of experience.
Vulcan FlipStart escapes vaporware status, gets reviewed
It's always fun to see a bit of vaporware finally come into existence -- if only for the clever Duke Nukem Forever jokes that invariably ensue. Well this time it's Vulcan's time to show up all the naysayers and finally get the FlipStart out the door... almost. There's actually no word on availability yet, but PC Mag got a review unit of the chubsy E-1001S and even has a pricetag for the beast: $2000. The specs are almost respectable for the size: a 5.6-inch 1024 x 600 screen, Pentium M processor, 30GB HDD, 512MB of RAM and built-in. There's touchpad up above that QWERTY keyboard, which is a nice addition in such a cramped space, along with a pointing stick for double the cursor moving pleasure. Unfortunately, PC Mag seems to have pulled the review, so we don't have much of an idea how it stacks up against the competition yet -- a certain OQO Model 02 comes to mind -- but we're sure we'll be hearing more soon.[Via Crave]
PDC's Guide Dog gets real, loses parking and Bluetooth
Sure, we don't mind the impossible happening every once in awhile, but as with our favorite flavor of vaporware, if it sounds too sensational to be realistic, it (almost) always is. PDC hasn't quite pulled a no-show like the lapboard, but the firm's handheld conglomerate most certainly isn't everything it claimed it would be. NaviGadget caught up to PDC while at CES and got some first looks at the Guide Dog, which is now referred to as the PDC-668C, and while it does pack a SiRF Star III receiver, 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD, directional pad, two pre-loaded games, adjustable backlight / volume controls, PAPAGO R12 navigation software, and SD / MMC / PSd memory slots, this Windows CE 5.0-powered navigator (unsurprisingly) lacks the far-fetched parking sensor and Bluetooth capabilities it previously boasted about. Moreover, it's grown quite a bit since its puppy days, garnered a coat of glossy white, and picked up a "suggested price of around $450 to $500," but the firm is still looking for a North American distributor to get these things moving.
Vulcan posts FlipStart teaser page; will they finally release something?
The long-promised FlipStart mini PC has been on the vapor tip for a ridiculously long time, but could Vulcan be finally close to launching it? To be honest, we're not sure what's up -- we've been hearing about this thing for so long now that they may as well call it the FalseStart -- but they have put up a new teaser page for it. With any luck it means they're getting close to rolling something out, let's just hope it's not that hunk of junk they were beta testing a few years ago. [Via Carrypad]
Wired News: 2006 vaporware awards
Wired News racks up its annual list of the top 10 vaporware products -- items that have been promised but haven't shipped -- with almost half of them being long-delayed games. Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, Gran Turismo 4 Mobile, and Spore earn spots nine, seven, and four, while Duke Nukem Forever clocks in at number one. Again. Duke's nearly 10-year development time have earned it six mentions in the nine-year history of the list, including this year.We've lost track of DNF and are holding our interest until its launch, but we did want Spore. Which games have you missed this year?
Gran Turismo Mobile's life as vaporware
Remember Gran Turismo 4? The often cancelled and un-cancelled game that proved to be one of PSP's crowning technical showpieces. Game|Life takes a look at the long, torturous development hell this still-highly-anticipated game has gone through. The copy written for the game still haunts PSP fans to this day:""Gran Turismo Anywhere" -- Gran Turismo 4 Mobile, coming from the Gran Turismo series, is the PSP version of the real driving simulator. Its product quality is not at all inferior to its PS2 counterpart, and is compatible to competition over wireless LAN, a unique feature to the PSP."
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. actually getting released?
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl fell into a nice little category along the likes of Duke Nukem Forever in being an oft-delayed (yes, that does say 2004) game that many assumed would never see the light of day (as well as rumors of a full-on cancellation). Announced first in 2001 and sporting an original release date of 2003, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. suffered numerous delays, all without an end in sight. However, it takes a video found on YouTube to give us some hope that the game is actually going to be released; the release date is ever so soon. In the above video, we see a collage of Chernobyl video with a few hints of in-game play. At the end of the video, we see what appears to be "We opened the gates to hell" written in German followed by a tantalizing March 2007. Not only are we getting a release date, it is coming very soon. This is certainly a great Christmas present for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans ... assuming it isn't some cruel hoax. [Via ThatGameBlog, Thanks jake]
