The No-Shows of E3 2012: Noticeable Games that Did Not Make An Appearance (with Videos)

A week ago, E3 2012 rolled into town, lighting up the Gamersphere for four whole days (I know. I was covering the news then). And just like that, it's gone, off to join its predecessors in the annals of gaming history. While maybe it wasn't the best of what the event has produced, this year certainly had its memorable moments, with not just a few glimpses into the future of gaming. Most importantly though, several new games were announced, laying the groundwork for the expectations for the gaming community for the rest of the year and the year to come.

However, while the announcements of new games were plenty at this year's show, there were also plenty of games that didn't show up for any sort of reason, be it developmental troubles, cancellation beforehand, or that they just weren't ready to be shown off to the world. Since there are too many such games to count, let's narrow it down to some of the most noticeable. 

Let's begin with one of the games that has been making some of the most recent headlines…

The Last Guardian

Who knew creating a game around a boy and a dog-cat-bird-hybrid-thing would be so hard?

First announced officially in 2009 (!), Sony and Team Ico's latest is, without much argument, the most well-known of the games on this list. In development for over six years, The Last Guardian's original 2011 release came and went without any indication that the project was coming along. Last we heard, the game was slated for a release later this year, though complications such as the departure of director Fumito Ueda from Sony (don't panic, he's still working on it via a contract position), leave little room to hope that the game could possibly meet that deadline. Also most recently, SCE Worldwide Studios' chief Shuhei Yoshida said the game was dealing with "technical difficulties".

As mentioned above, the game centers around a boy and a cat-bird-dog ("Catirdog", perhaps), and how, through their interactions, they make their way through some mysterious ruins. It goes without saying, but this game looks to continue the legacy of Shadow of the Colossus, and that can hardly be a bad thing. Now if only they'd release it once and for all.

Agent, from Rockstar Games

Another title announced in 2009, Rockstar's PlayStation 3 exclusive titled Agent suffers from the curse of development limbo more than The Last Guardian on the grounds of one simple fact: we know nearly nothing about it. Even today. The only things revealed about the game, aside from a James Bond-esque logo and some screenshots dating back to 2009, is that the game will take place in the world of Cold War era espionage. It was also said that it could have been released as early as 2010 (a moment of silence, please, while I snicker).

As time goes on, and Rockstar continues to say nothing about Agent's progress (the last update on its development came in May 2011, for goodness' sake), it looks more and more like the game has faded into the realm of vaporware, the land where games announced but never realized go to weep. How sad.

With Rockstar fresh in our minds, let us move on to…

Grand Theft Auto V

One of the biggest reveals of late 2011, currently one of the most anticipated releases on any platform, and it doesn't even show up at E3? Seriously? Now granted, there were reports not long before E3 that Rockstar wouldn't be showing the game off at the show, but it was assumed by many that they would forego that for a big title such as Grand Theft Auto V. 

Apparently, however, Rockstar stood by their guns and held back on revealing anything about GTA V, and I doubt fans are too happy. Hopefully, thoughts of Watch Dogs and Splinter Cell: Blacklist will keep them occupied for the time being.

Nearly every game coming soon to the PlayStation Vita

Okay, so maybe that is an exaggeration. After all, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation had a pretty strong showing at E3, and Sony did show off the newly-announced PS Vita version of their Smash Bros. clone PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Not to mention, a few titles that were playable at the show.

However, among all those games, only Assassin's Creed and PS All-Stars had any sizeable presence at the show. So, what about the titles that haven't been announced yet for the system? Surely, there are games Sony and other developers are working on at the moment that have yet to be revealed. Alas, where were they at E3?

In a time when the Vita is struggling to gain its legs, Sony missed a perfect chance to give the handheld a much-needed boost and convince the public that it is a system worth owning. And while it is too soon to say with certainty that the Vita will fail, if Sony's silence (as well as that of all the other developers, really) is any indication, troubling times may be ahead for the PlayStation Vita.

(Continued on the Next Page...)