At E3 last year, Konami announced that its Castlevania franchise would finally be entering the final frontier - Xbox - with the new entry Curse of Darkness. The game introduced a brand new storyline, a new hero in Hector, and, of course, new villains. But instead of a bang, Curse of Darkness produced a whimper. While earning some decent reviews from both fans and critics, the game simply never took off for Konami on any of its platforms, including Xbox, and is generally considered a disappointment.

Star Wars: Battlefront II

The sequel to Star Wars: Battlefront was one of the top 10 best-selling games in 2005 according to NPD Group, and it wasn't released until November 1. Impressive - most impressive. Clearly, the E3 2005 hype worked here. Star Wars: Battlefront II is a prime example of a publisher and game developer recognizing their target audience, building demand around a popular franchise, and delivering on their promise with an excellent sequel.

Imperator

"Seize the day, save the future." That was the tag line of Imperator, a sci-fi massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) that tantalized attendees at E3 last year. It promised not only enticing visuals but a delicious story and irresistible premise: Rome never fell and is now a galactic empire. Mythic Entertainment's game sought to put players in a futuristic Roman society to do battle with the Mayans, another ancient civilization that also survived in this alternate history and became a galactic superpower itself.

Sadly, less than two months after Imperator had sufficiently stimulated the appetites of legions of PC gamers, Mythic announced that it had indefinitely postponed the title - which was slated for a June 2006 release - after an internal review of the project. Mythic moved on to other projects, and Imperator is still in limbo. But in an alternate universe somewhere, I have a feeling that a lot of PC gamers are playing one amazing MMORPG...