In the gaming industry, a prospective title is said to be most equal to being pop culture in the way it generates interest and a following while still in development. Fans eagerly wait for their anticipated titles to come out, spurred by teaser trailers and dev team interviews.
However, there are some developers who get stuck in what those in the gaming community call a "development hell," and it all goes downhill from there. The eagerness of waiting fans become a painstakingly slow torture, with them scrounging the Internet for bits and pieces of why their listed title is still not available.
One game that stands out in this category is "The Last Guardian." First announced in 2009, Team Ico's dream project was slated for release in late 2011. However, numerous delays and development concerns have hindered this title's unveiling.
While there is no official announcement to confirm its development, fans are still holding on to bits of hope. The latest indicator that "The Last Guardian" is still in development is the update by Sony on its application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It was previously reported that the term "The Last Guardian," a trademark owned by Sony, has been abandoned since no one from the company filed for an extension. However, Sony updated the patent on March 12, fueling rumors that the title is still alive and kicking.
Another game that ends in most gamers' bucket list is "Half-Life 3," or at least, the continuing episodes in "Half-Life 2." Speculations on how much the next game's development is already finished keep on making their rounds, but game studio Valve continues to be mum about anything remotely connected to the game.
However, video game journalist Geoff Keighley was able to talk to Valve co-founder Gabe Newell.
When asked about any thoughts on the next "Half Life" game, Newell said, as reported by Polygon, "The only reason we'd go back and do like a super classic kind of product is if a whole bunch of people just internally at Valve said they wanted to do it and had a reasonable explanation for why [they did]."
He added, "But you know if you want to do another Half-Life game and you want to ignore everything we've learned in shipping Portal 2 and in shipping all the updates on the multiplayer side, that seems like a bad choice. So we'll keep moving forward. But that doesn't necessarily always mean what people are worried that it might mean."
