This blog post is dedicated to the masses who have waited in vain for a game title so elusive, it’s starting to become this decade’s answer to Duke Nukem Forever. (And don’t give me, “Wasn’t DNF this decade’s answer to DNF?” Because, well, you’ll have to figure that shit out on your own…)

Anyhow, back in November of 2005, I was a young, wide-eyed college student at the University of Michigan. As the Xbox 360 was released, I was in a pickle that so many other student gamers had seen so many times before. I had a tough decision to make: Do I spend a whopping 300 dollars of hard earned student loan money on this new multimedia gaming device?

I thought about my conundrum for a while and decided to research upcoming games. In my search, of the few that really caught my attention, there was one that stood out. A game that was slated for release in mid-2006 that looked very intriguing. It had high-resolution gameplay, colorful graphics, and some of the most amazing shadows I’d seen yet in all my years as a console and PC gamer, along with the promise of an entirely new genre to gaming: The Psychological Thriller. Sure, we’d had the Silent Hill series and games like it in the past, but according the game’s creators, this was going to be something special.

The game I’m referring to is, of course, Alan Wake, a project by Remedy Entertainment, makers of the hit Max Payne games (and not-so-hit movie starring Mark Wahlberg.). At the time, I thought that I would enjoy the game and used it in making my final purchase decision.

Fast forward three years, multiple release date changes, and even a publisher change (Microsoft). We still have no Alan Wake and a current projected release date of Spring 2010. The game has also been shelved indefinitely for the Windows platform. The big question that’s starting to be asked is: Will this game ever come out? Is the above trailer nothing more than the equivalent of the infamous Vegas DNF trailer of long lost? I mean, not one, but TWO Microsoft O.S.’s will have been released simply during the first and (supposedly) final release dates of this game. Is it really easier to complete Vista and Windows 7 in the time it takes to finish this game? (Alright, I’ll give you Vista… but not Windows 7, too!)

I’ve loved Remedy Entertainment for years now, ever since their debut with the original Max Payne way back in 2001, but I’m beginning to have my doubts on this one…

What do you guys think?