Its 10 PM… do you know where your intellectual property are?

With all of the excitement and glamour that E3 brings each year, it is easy to forget that some games out there have been missing in action since their coming out party at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Last year’s E3 showcased a number of promising titles that have been under wraps for a whole year. For some of these games, virtually nothing has been seen of them since their initial reveal at E3 last year.

Of course, there is no reason to discern that these titles have been cancelled at all. But sadly, there is no way to confirm nor deny anything of that magnitude either. With E3 2012 starting in a few hours at the time of this writing, perhaps it is best to give these missing children a second look, in preparation for the off chance they will be spotted in the crowd once more.

Scheiße

If Inglorious Bastards and Team Fortress 2 had a love child, Furious 4 would be the results. The game has the looks and style to be a possible sleeper hit in the gaming industry, if the backlash surrounding it was not so overwhelmingly negative. Fans of the Brothers in Arms series; a series that is often noted for its serious tone regarding the interpersonal relationships between the soldiers of your company.

Instead of that, the reveal trailer shows four crazed American stereotypes slaughtering Nazis in a German beer hall. Quite the change of pace, going from somber to ridiculous in one game. It is clear that Ubisoft and Gearbox Software were going a different direction for the series, but the negative fan reaction possibly stopped them in their tracks. Well, that and the fact that the trademark for the name expired at one point lead to speculation that the title was cancelled. Although that is now not the case, as Ubisoft has purposefully let it run out so it can be refiled.

In any event, there is no way of knowing what will happen to Furious 4, other than the fact that the game is still out in some foxhole chucking tomahawks into the back of Erwin Rommel. At this stage, I can only guess that we shall see some sort of demo for Furious 4 at best to showcase some new gameplay, but that is best case scenario for the title.

Major Tom to Ground Control, i'm stepping through the door…

The MMO EVE Online by CCP Games is a success story worthy of merit; attracting a hardcore following in a fictional space world where capitalism reigns supreme. EVE Online has been an exception to the rules of MMO’s, offering a hardcore space simulation that rivals World of Warcraft in its dedicated fan base.

However, CCP Games is looking to expand the universe with a PlayStation exclusive Dust 514. Using a free-to-play model, Dust 514 is toted as a the ground war experience of EVE Online, a FPS with some strategic elements attached to it to allow a fluid gameplay experience between the stars and the planet battles for the first time in the series. Dust 514 will also be attached to EVE Online in other ways, such as the in-game currency and the fact that actions done in both games would affect who holds what territory in each game world, making conflict more dynamic and simulating real life some respects.

Dust 514 is shaping up to be a unique experience, but the game has not had much of an update as of late, with the exception of a showing at the annual EVE Fanfest back in March. Out of all the games on this list though, Dust 514 is perhaps the only singular title that is likely to see the light of day in 2012, with a promised release date of June 30th of this year. So I would be surprised if Dust 514 does not make an appearance during the Sony press conference this year.

Пропавший без вести.

The now cult hit Metro: 2033 is going Hollywood with its first official sequel, Metro: Last Light. The sequel to the game based on Russian novelist Dimitry Glukhovsky’s seminal work, Last Light had a strong showing at E3 last year, and then nothing more but a live-action trailer since then, retreating back to the underground subway passages of Mother Russia for the time being.

The game is being published by THQ, which is going through terrible financial difficulties at the moment, although it is unlikely Last Light got the axe in secret. One thing is for sure though, Metro: Last Light will not be coming to the Wii-U as it was originally reported, at least initially, which puts the release of the title being in 2012 more unlikely at the moment. If anything does come through, I would expect a release date of March or April for Last Light, as this winter it feels like THQ is going to take some time off after Darksiders II is released in August, and focus efforts on restructuring the company and releasing an annual WWE title. But definitly look for more regarding Last Light post E3, I’d say.

It's not like they are really missing, but still…

Pikmin 3. Luigi’s Mansion 2. Paper Mario 3D. Fire Emblem. Each of these titles have one thing in common: they were all confirmed by Nintendo last year, but were not seen on the show floor to play. Of course, many of them have been confirmed since E3 as definite titles for the Wii U and the 3DS, but not all of them have been visible since the initial reveal, or in the case of Pikmin 3, visible at all.

Nintendo has a habit of showing many games and tech demos, but never releasing them as an actual game. The famous Spaceworld 2000 version of Zelda comes to mind, as does the fabled Super Mario 128 demo, long rumored to be a Gamecube exclusive back in the day. However, with the Wii U literally around the corner for a release this year, and the promise of some exclusive titles to go with it, Nintendo is likely going to give many of the games mentioned above some love they richly deserve, by giving them a demo on the show floor for the fans to drool over. And you can bet your bottom dollar Nintendo will ensure that they will be ready to announce some new exclusive titles in tandem with the known releases….

I bet she likes it stirred over shaken…

With a wry smile on his unshaven chin, the character Dalton Brooks began speaking hushed tones to a muffled intercom voice with a sarcastic wit that would put a smile on any spy fiction fan’s face. Overstrike, a stylized, team based game being created by Insomniac Games, was a title that has been on my watch list since its E3 reveal last year, a bona fide sleeper hit if I ever saw one.

Sadly, since that reveal Insomniac has been tight-lipped on the progress of their first multiplatform release. There is literally nothing known about the game other than the Insomniac style seen through it; quirky weaponry, huge robots, a cel-shaded edge, and the promise for four-player co-op. But other than the reveal trailer, and a promise for a summer 2012 release, we have seen nothing else to suggest that Overstrike is still in existence.

So the question becomes one of Insomniac finishing the title? I think the answer is, of course, a resounding yes, but I am optimistic like that. Still, a mention would be nice at E3 this year, but if we don’t see anything else regarding Overstike, I think it would be safe to say our spy team was KIA sadly.