Vaporware from Wired hits on MMOs but still misses a few.

Wired Magazine has listed their top 10 for "Vaporware 2008: Crushing Disappointments, False Promises and Plain Old BS" and there is one MMO listed. Of all the games that didn't ship this year, Wired chose Hero's Journey as vaporware. And while the game did not ship this year, it is hardly a surprise. Hero's Journey seems to be more of a proof of concept that Simutronics created to show off their HeroEngine. After E3 in 2005, Hero's Journey was being developed and if Simutronics hadn't landed BioWare (for Star Wars: The Old Republic), and MindFuse (for Gatheryn), we would probably be playing Hero's Journey today. As it is, the Simutronics crew was probably too busy setting up their core product for licensing than finishing the game.

Here is what landed Hero's Journey on 2008's Vaporware list according to Wired:

Duke Nukem had better watch his back. This graphical MMOG — made by Simutronics, the people behind cult fave MUDs like Gemstone IV and DragonRealms -- has been in the works for almost a decade. Hero's Journey's promise of an open game world that responds to player decisions earned raves at the gaming trade show E3. That is, it earned raves at E3 2005. The official FAQ claims that the game is "actively in production and does not have a set release date."

I am not sure which people would rather have Simutronics working on, Hero's Journey or helping BioWare with their product as much as they are able. To read the rest of the list that includes, Star Craft II, Duke Nukem and Sony's Home, go to Wired Magazine's 2008 Vaporware special. If they were looking for MMOs, wouldn't Stargate Worlds have been a better choice for "All Hat and No Cattle?"