First I hear that True Fantasy Live Online has been killed permanently. Then another magazine tells me it’s been pushed back to 2005. So which is correct? o_O
On top of that, Starfox 2 has been pushed back to 2005 as well as Jungle Beat, but this is nothing new, coming from Nintendo.
Ive read in reputable publications that it has indeed been cancelled. Why? Microsoft says development took too long. Imagine if PDS had been cancelled for similiar reasons (took 2 years didnt it?). But I s’pose I can see the validity in that, with thoughts turning to the next generation of consoles some may deem it too late to launch a MMORPG (a genre thats dependant on a large number of punters) with a fading life span. BUT STILL what a wasted opportunity, it coulda garnered some great support in Japan, LIVE is apparently really solid and stuff but it coulda used the experience of such a game to identify potential issues that LIVE could have.
matters little to me as im not a LIVE user nor really appreciate the ideas of MMORPG, but its an opportunity gone begging, especially the effect it may have had in Japan. Speaking of Japan Xbox developments, how about that Video Chat thing? Surely that’ll get Japan interested in Xbox
It hasn’t been that long.
Duke Nukem Forever has been in production since 1997. 3D Realms still says it will be out someday.
Eh, 2 years is not a long time at all especially for an RPG PanzerPants, games don’t grow on trees 
On the other hand Duke Nukem Forever is a different case since it’s re-started development a number of times and each time on new technology, it’s basically almost the same as if they kept canceling a game and starting another one… Except that it’s a legendary series and the company is counting a lot on getting a new title out at SOME point in time even if it’s currently not in development (dunno if it is, I haven’t heard anything about it in a LONG time), if it was a title noone had ever heard about they’d have canceled it for good if they kept running to the same problems as with DNF.
Anyway, if TFLO got canceled because of time issues then it doesn’t have to mean that they feel it has taken long so far but also that they saw it would take too long from now on. And things are rarely so simple, there could be other issues as well (for example realising Live couldn’t handle it, or having bugs that would require complete rewrite of parts of the code thus causing an even longer development cycle, or running out of funds that they had available for the specific project, or seeing the game is just not any fun in the end and needs a complete overhaul, or a billion other potential reasons)
Oh I know, I was more than happy to wait years for Halo2 and the like, but because True Fantasy Live is a game that is heavily dependant on the LIVE infrastructure MS may feel that the game may not be out soon enough in the event that LLIVE for Xbox is discontinued to pursure LIVE for Xbox2, which i assume will happen. Like I said it’s a lost opportunity and a weak reason, but from a bean-counting perspective I can see why such a decision would be made. I reckon it shouldnt have been cancelled, but I wouldnt have played it anyhow.