Editing Vaporware (section)

==== Duke Nukem ====
[[File:Duke Nukem Forever at PAX Prime 2010 (4956509224).jpg|thumb|''Duke Nukem Forever'' booth at [[PAX Prime]] 2010]]
Vaporware also includes announced products that are never released because of financial problems, or because the industry changes during its development.<ref name=jenkins1998/> When [[3D Realms]] first announced ''[[Duke Nukem Forever]]'' in 1997, the video game was early in its development.<ref name=Thompson2009>[[#refThompson|Thompson (2009)]].</ref> The company's previous game released in 1996, ''[[Duke Nukem 3D]]'', was a critical and financial success, and customer anticipation for its sequel was high. As personal computer hardware speeds improved at a rapid pace in the late 1990s, it created an "arms race" between companies in the video game industry, according to ''[[Wired News]]''. 3D Realms repeatedly moved the release date back over the next 12 years to add new, more advanced features. By the time 3D Realms went out of business in 2009 with the game still unreleased, ''Duke Nukem Forever'' had become synonymous with the word "vaporware" among industry writers.<ref name=kesten2009>{{cite news |first=Lou |last=Kesten |date=14 May 2009 |title=Developer's demise is death of 'Duke Nukem Forever' |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/business/technology/article43999164.html |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref name=Iwa2009>{{cite news| ref=refIwa| first=Yukari Iwatani| last=Kane| date=7 May 2009| title=Duke Nukem Nuked| work=The Wall Street Journal Blogs| publisher=Dow Jones & Company| url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/05/07/duke-nukem-no-more |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The game was revived and released in 2011. However, due to a 13-year period of fan anticipation and design changes in the industry, the game received a mostly negative reception from critics and fans.

A company notorious for vaporware can improve its reputation. In the 1980s, video game maker [[Westwood Studios]] was known for shipping products late. However, by 1993, it had so improved that ''Computer Gaming World'' reported "many publishers would assure [us] that a project was going to be completed on time ''because'' Westwood was doing it".<ref name="cgw199308">{{cite news|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=109 |title=Westwood Studios Partnership Hits Jackpot |magazine=Computer Gaming World |date=August 1993 |access-date=12 July 2014 |pages=32 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714154744/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=109 |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref>