"The rights to the ‘Heroes’ video game have reverted back to NBC Universal," said a decisive Jaime Cottnic, Ubisoft's PR director, "Ubisoft will no longer produce a video game based on the TV series.”

It's a bit of a shame - especially as Ubisoft can seemingly bang out games about all kinds of random subjects on a seemingly daily basis - but perhaps understandable now that Season 3 seems to be dropping Nielsen points like they burn it's very flesh.

While the overcooked time travel plotlines and surfeit of characters with daddy issues could do with a trim on TV, I can't help but think that it would work really well as a multi-character RPG or thoughtful action adventure. Any developers out there want to pick this one up for cheap?

Ubisoft Drops Plans For ‘Heroes’ Game [MTV Multiplayer]

[Thanks, Veras Gunn]

He told GameHead host and Entertainment Weekly interviewer Geoff Keighley about what the game, once known as Project HL, was meant to address.

Heartland was the story of China invading America. It was a first-person-shooter where you played a soldier debating whether to stay and fight for America or go AWOL to meet up with your family. We were trying to put in a lot of gameplay that would evoke emotion. You had sequences where you'd go into homes and your commanding officer would tell you to shoot innocent Chinese-Americans. It was very dark and was meant to cause players to consider what it's like to live in America and be an American today.

Jaffe goes on to explain that the personal investment required to finish Heartland had an impact on the decision to shelve the game, calling God of War development "very depressing, very difficult", and was sad that the game never saw the light of day. Emotional indeed!

Read on for info bits on the planned God of War movie, Jaffe's casting choice for Kratos and further awesomeness. Michael McWhertor

The 'War' Within [Entertainment Weekly via 1UP]

But then I got this in the mail this afternoon:

Thank you for your recent visit to BestBuy.com. Unfortunately, your pre-order for the PlayStation 3 gaming system will be cancelled. Our system was not intended to take pre-orders on the PlayStation 3 gaming system. BestBuy.com will not be taking pre-orders for this item. Your pre-order will be cancelled and you will not be charged. If you used a Gift Card for this order and no longer have it, please call us toll free at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289) and we will send you a replacement. If you have any questions concerning our policies, please review the "Conditions of Use" which are found at www.BestBuy.com.

Oh, how the tears flowed! Why must I be made to suffer? Hast thou forsaken me, Lord of Consoles? I guess it's back to camping out. The full, heartbreaking cancellation e-mail after the jump. Michael McWhertor

Dear Best Buy Customer,

Thank you for your recent visit to BestBuy.com. Unfortunately, your pre-order for the PlayStation 3 gaming system will be cancelled. Our system was not intended to take pre-orders on the PlayStation 3 gaming system. BestBuy.com will not be taking pre-orders for this item. Your pre-order will be cancelled and you will not be charged. If you used a Gift Card for this order and no longer have it, please call us toll free at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289) and we will send you a replacement. If you have any questions concerning our policies, please review the "Conditions of Use" which are found at www.BestBuy.com.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Because you are a valued customer, we would like to offer you a $10 Digital Coupon* toward a future purchase at www.BestBuy.com. Your coupon code is:

[SOMENUMBERSANDLETTERSHERE]

Digital Coupons are easily redeemed when you shop online. Simply enter the 17-digit code listed above during checkout. We apply them to your purchases, up to the total purchase amount. The Digital Coupon must be used prior to the expiration date: 11:59 p.m. (CT), February 5, 2007. This offer is limited to one per customer, excludes gift cards, and is nontransferable. Please review full details below.

We look forward to your next visit to one of our stores or to www.BestBuy.com. Please do not hesitate to contact us toll free at 1-888 BEST BUY with additional questions.

Thank you for your loyalty,
The Customer Care Team

Fresh from Destructoid, this trailer for what could have been is both impressive and discouraging. Come on, Microsoft. Why you gotta hate? Eliza Gauger

Over at Powet.tv, they've combed YouTube to find as many pictures-in-motion as possible of Gamecube games that never were, or were, but ignominiously cancelled. For example, the above promo video, 'The Nintendo Difference', which details games like Raven Blade, Donkey Kong Racing, Kameo and many pre-rendered concept footage of Mario Kart and Metroid Prime. Florian Eckhardt

GameCube: A Video History That Never Was [Power.tv] (Thanks, Yab!)

In the wake of the execution-style slaying of E3, a peal of protest has gone up from those who really enjoy the temporary sterility, epilepsy and astigmatism that is the result of more than five minutes spent on that infamous showfloor.

Over at Penny Arcade it looks like a new era is dawning, as PAX (pictured at right, being hardcore) and E3 were the two big game conferences and now that the king is dead, long live the king. Says Gabe:

I personally never thought of E3 as our competitor. The two conventions had very different goals. Now E3, at least as we know it is gone but the focus of PAX has not changed. PAX is about gamers not publishers and geek culture instead of multi-million dollar business deals. We have no desire to turn PAX into a new E3 so don't worry about that. The only place I think we might see a noticeable change is in our exhibition hall. It's already quite a spectacle but I think that the lack of an E3 event means our exhibition hall is going to get f***ing nuts.

Hopefully not too nut-f***ing. Although if PAX becomes truly decadent, we can look forward to the tightlipped, impeccably-ponytailed soccer moms that make up 80% of the Bellevue, Washington population being mistaken for booth babes on their breaks at the local Uwajimaya, with hilarious results. Eliza "Crossroads Mall" Gauger

Read more [Penny Arcade]
Official PAX Website! (reg stays open until the 3rd) [PAX]

According to the German THQ site, there will no longer be a PlayStation 3 SKU of THQ's WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007. Despite being announced in May for the PS3, the game appears to have been shelved for the time being. Or has it? A site admin for the German THQ site had this to say:

WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2007 will not be published for the PS3: the title is still coming for PlayStation 2, PSP, and Xbox 360. The background is that the PS3 version became substantially delayed and would be finished much later, so the development team would rather concentrate their resources on the three other platforms. Future games in the SmackDown! series will appear, however, for PlayStation 3. Still if something should change in the present planning, it will be announced here.

Okay, I'm with you. That's me paraphrasing a Babelfish translation of a message board post from the German Web site of THQ. Not exactly what I'd call a definitive source, but it still smells a lil' fishy.

True, there is no PlayStation 3 tab (no graphic even exists for such a tab) at the game's official page, but THQ's other announced PS3 game, Frontlines: Fuels of War has no Web site presence at all. And THQ has no PlayStation 3 section on their site. Plus, IGN just published a preview for the PS3 version of the game this past Friday, a day after the "announcement".

Would I be surprised that the PS3 version is substantially delayed? Nope. Would I be surprised that it would lead THQ to cancel the game outright? Maybe. Will I wait for an official announcement before proclaiming the PS3 sky is falling? Yesch. Michael McWhertor

Thanks to David and SF for the heads up.

Depressed about Blizzard dragging Starcraft: Ghost behind the shed? Don't be: it was a Terry Schiavo style mercy euthanization.

Still, in case you're regretting that Starcraft: Ghost tattoo you perhaps prematurely tattooed into the meaty flesh above your nose, not all is lost. Bizarrely enough, a novel by Keith R.A. DeCandido called Starcraft: Ghost - Nova is coming out shortly, serving as a prequel for the cancelled game.

Here's a snip of the plot, from a Firing Squad interview:

The game was going to be a first-person shooter, in which you-the-gamer play Nova, a Ghost — basically a powerful telepathic and telekinetic assassin with excellent martial arts and weapons skills. What NOVA the novel does is tell the character's backstory and show how she got the point she's at in the game.

Nova Terra started out as a scion of the Old Families on Tarsonis. Because of her family's position, her telepathic talents have been kept a secret — both from the Confederacy of Man and from Nova herself. At least, it's kept secret until tragedy strikes the Terra family, and Nova finds herself in the worst part of Tarsonis City, being chased by a Wrangler, a special agent trained to seek out telepaths to be brought into the Ghost program. The novel follows Nova's tribulations in "the Gutter," and the Wrangler's attempts to track her down.

'Nova Terra'? Jeez. Florian Eckhardt

Starcraft: Ghost Novel Interview [Firing Squad]

News from Tina Wood's blog confirms that G4TV.com has been cancelled by the "gaming" network. The cast will be filming their last episode on Friday and then moving on. Must've been love, but it's over now.

G4TV.com ... No Longer [Tina Wood's Blog]

I guess floppy-haired, scruffy, nerfherders don't translate well in Japanese. Star Wars: Galaxies is being cancelled in Japan according to Slashdot. Displaced players who have paid through the end of 2005 will be offered a chance to go to a US/EN server. This hits harder than last week's news of Jek Porkins' actor William Hootkins passing away.

MMOG Fortunes Rise and Fall [Slashdot]

Remember the fan made King's Quest game that Vivendi shut down? Eh, don't feel bad. Regardless, there's a group of troops trying to keep the game's release. Their plight and cause can be seen at Save King's Quest IX. From a business perspective, they are asking an awful lot of Vivendi to release their game or the rights, but it's probably worth a shot. Won't this just get released over the Internet sooner or later (if it hasn't already leaked), anyway?

Vivendi doesn't want you making sequels to their property. A group of developers had been working on an unlicensed sequel in the long-as-hell King's Quest series, were served with a cease and desist order from Vivendi. It all ties in with Vivendi releasing a King's Quest compilation. Sequels of officially licensed intellectual property are obviously illegal, but it still would've been cool to play Phoenix Studio's version of a King's Quest game.

Return of the King [Loony Blog]