While I may get most of my gaming information from websites nowadays, I still like to pick up a print gaming magazine every now and then. Being the pack-rat that I am, they litter my floor and occasionally a page wafts open. A solitary game catches my eye and all of the sudden I'm racking my mind trying to remember 'Where did that game go?' Behold, the attempt to put my brain at rest for five of these mysteries.

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The Lost (PS2)
First announced in 2001 for a June 2002 release, then pushed back to an August 3rd, 2003 release date, The Lost has been in development by Irrational Games for quite some time. It even received quite a few in-depth previews some time ago, including the Game Informer look captured above and this Extended Play preview, and rightly so as this survival horror game is being brought to life by those that brought us System Shock 2. And while a trip through Dante's nine levels of Hell sounds like perfect gaming fodder, well, apparently Irrational Games are too busy with Freedom Force to care much about getting The Lost out on the shelves. As of right now no current news about it exists anywhere, hasn't been any since 2002 as far as I've been able to dig up. Even the official The Lost website is incomplete.

I'm horribly tempted to make a quip about purgatory, but our readers deserve better than that.

Gaia Blade (Xbox)
Hyped at the 2001 Xbox Conference, this Xbox Action/RPG where you micromanage troops migrated to become an online game at the 2002 Xbox Conference, but nothing has been heard of it since. Apparently, it's From Software's baby but they appear to have their hands full with the Tenchu franchise and Otogi 2 right now. In fact, Gaia Blade is listed no where in their software lineup on their website. I'd say it's pretty safe to say this game has been canned.

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Orchid (PS2/Xbox)
You guys remember Malice? It was supposed to be the blowaway platforming mascot for the Xbox, voiced by Gwen Stefani of No Doubt fame and developed by Argonaut Games. Microsoft became disappointed with the game and it's perpetual delays, then let Argonaut go off to find others with a higher tolerance for slacking and ever changing whitepapers. Vivendi picked up Malice while Namco agreed to bring out two of Argonaut's non-Malice games, Orchid and I-Ninja. Now, we all know about I-Ninja (a quaint & cute ninja-based platformer coming out soon for the Gamecube) but what about Orchid? Well, it was to be a third-person brawler with tinges of the supernatural, if screenshots are to be believed. Unfortunately, Namco deemed Orchid unfit for distribution and trashed it in May 2003 - right around the same time Vivendi ditched Malice.

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Space Channel 5 Part 2 (PS2)
Sega's Space Channel 5 for the Dreamcast was a quirky, original rythmn game with more style and character than five Grand Theft Auto sequels. Unfortunately, the American folks that actually owned and purchased Dreamcast games weren't ready for the AM9 created grooves of Ulala, and piles of Space Channel 5 disks went straight into bargain bins. Space Channel 5 sold quite well in Japan though, enough to make a sequel for the Dreamcast in 2001 and to subsequently port it to the PS2 in 2002. Previews after previews of the imported PS2 sequel were displayed in print and television, and Part 2 was initially slated to come out in Q4 2002. Well, close to a year later we still have seen zip & zilch. Fortunately though, we have a tentative happy ending - according to the Electronic Gaming Monthly (Nov. 2003), and thanks to Rutilcaper for pointing out that Gamepro #182 mentioned it before I read the EGM article, Agetec will release a Space Channel 5 Special Edition for the PS2 containing a port of the original as well as the ubiquitious sequel in November, and it will only be $29.99! Happy days are here again!