Now you don't see it, now you still don't.
by IGN Editorial Team

April 11, 2006 - Welcome to IGN's weekly countdown of the exceptional, fascinating, and absurd: something we like to call Top 10 Tuesday. Every week we'll feature the top ten games, characters, fashion statements or whatever else we can think of that in some way relates to gaming and its history. And just because it's called Top 10 Tuesday doesn't mean it's always going to be a list of the best -- we like to razz on stuff as much as praising it. From counting down the best consoles ever to revealing the worst use of fish heads in a videogame, this is where it's at.

This week's topic: Vaporware. That's right, vaporware. The cornerstone of most videogame "what if" discussions, vaporware is any product that's announced at one point in time, only to go through several delays before eventually coming out or getting cancelled before all is said and done. For the longest time, games such as Battlecruiser 3000, Perfect Dark Zero, and Kameo were among the no-show elite, but even they eventually saw release -- making way for a new (and in many cases, old) group of titles that are sure to get our hopes up with no delivery in sight. With that in mind, what are the Top 10 Modern Vaporware games active or cancelled? Read on to find out!

10) Warcraft Adventures // Blizzard (PC)

Lord of the Clans, otherwise known as WarCraft Advenures, was supposed to reinvigorate the faltering PC adventure genre. With a point-and-click interface and a darkly humorous storyline, WarCraft Adventures was also expected to bring additional personality and depth to an immensely popular RTS series that helped move strategy games to the front of retailer shelves. Almost half an hour of hand-drawn cartoon animation was planned for the entire quest, and a plot that followed Thrall the Orc was meant to show a more human side of the warring Orcs. Started in 1996 and still in production several years later, the game was expected to hit at the end of 1998. But due to a myriad of problems in just about every facet of Lord of the Clans' development (including an outdated presentation), the plug was eventually pulled just prior to the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo. What could have been will always remain a mystery.

9) Star Fox 2 // Nintendo (Super Nintendo)

One of the most technologically impressive Super Nintendo games of all time also had one of the most promising sequels that never made it out. Star Fox 2 was a monstrous space shooter in every sense of the word. The linear paths of the previous game were gone and free-roaming space-faring took their place. Using the next iteration of the Super FX chip, the game also boasted a large array of battleships, assault fighters, and highly-detailed bases, and players could even outfit different special weapons and transform into a giant walking robot with the push of a button. In hindsight, the project is a highly desirable one for fans of the series or shooters in general, but because of extenuating circumstances (including high production values, internal development issues, and the approach of the next generation), Star Fox 2 was shelved before it ever saw release. At least some of its ideas made it into subsequent Star Fox titles down the line, though.

8) The Lost // Irrational Games (Multi)

An ambitious project announced in 2000 from the same team responsible for System Shock, Freedom Force, and SWAT 4, The Lost was supposed to be one of the PlayStation 2's earliest artistic masterpieces (and later, for other systems). Loosely based on the tale of Dante's Inferno, Irrational's horror adventure brought several of System Shock's mechanics to the table, including flexible character progression, cinematic presentation elements, and a handful of RPG bonuses. At the forefront of its coolness, though, was the ability to switch forms into various creature types as situations and puzzles allowed for it. When combined with dark themes and great graphics, it quickly became one of the most talked about titles in the early part of the last generation. After four years of development time and other projects on the slate, however, Irrational Games is focusing on other projects -- though the game is still in joint-development with FX Labs.

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