DS

Halo DS
Fanboys worldwide were more than suspicious when news was leaked last year that the Halo franchise could be making its way to the Nintendo DS. Then came the proof: a video showing off a fairly robust handheld interpretation of the titanic Xbox series. However, this ultimate meeting of Microsoft and Nintendo was actually a speculative pitch delivered to Halo developers Bungie, which was unfortunately never picked up.

 
Black & White Creatures
A spin-off of classic god-and-giant-cow sim Black & White, Black & White Creatures would have used the DS’s stylus to help train and discipline (read: beat) your huge animal avatars as you plotted to conquer the world. The fate of Black & White Creatures fell into doubt when Microsoft bought developers Lionhead, and it’s unlikely to ever be released. Seeing as how initial press releases said it would be out in early 2006, a non-appearance seems certain.

Katamari Damacy

What could have been the ultimate meeting of game and handheld is also the one game on this list we know the least about, having suspiciously materialised two years ago on a Nintendo release schedule to little fanfare. Since then, it’s been all quiet on the rolling-stuff-into-a-ball-to-make-a-planet front. But with a Katamari game looking set to make its way onto the Wii, we could hear a bit more about this in future.

Wii

Could Project HAMMER go the way of the dodo?

It was supposed to be a Wii launch title. And then it got pushed back. And back. And back. Until here we are, two years later, speculating on whether or not the hammer-flingin’ action game will ever be released. Nintendo at large says no, but the head of a Nintendo subsidiary says he and his team are still working on it. Believe us, we’ll be the first to tell you when HAMMER’s back on track.

Sadness causes gamers no end of sorrow

A lot of folk are rather upset about the eerie silence surrounding Sadness, an adult-orientated game that promised to be the Wii’s answer to Silent Hill. It doesn’t help that the developer, Polish group Nibris, won’t tell us the identity of the mysterious publisher who’s refusing to allow them to release any screenshots. But then we got a press release dated April 14 trumpeting the game’s graphics engine, Gamebryo. Again, no screenshots, tentative release notes or otherwise tangible news. It all smells suspiciously of a game destined for the graveyard…

May 30, 2008