Games that failed because they were ahead of their time.

[shadobeni]

As for games.

Maybe system shock and magic carpet?

[Pulsar_t]

I thought Magic Carpet did pretty well. It was indirectly Intel's golden goose for promoting their Pentium processor as a viable gaming platform (not that there was much competition at the time), and the game was hyped in many magazines. When I played it I felt it was more of a tech demo.

Perhaps the OP's criteria should be expanded to include over-ambitious title which served more as tech demos and such?

[jp1]

Some good choices.

I was thinking about Silver Surfer (NES) as well. It was an UBER hard shooter before those were really popular. Admittedly I'm not a big shooter fan...but it seems like something that would do well if it were released now.

[jp1]

I think the penultimate example of "Failed because it came to soon" is I, Robot.

To quote the Wikipedia article:

Released by Atari in 1983, I, Robot was the first video game ever to use 3-D polygon graphics, and the first that allowed the player to change camera angles. It also had gameplay that rewarded planning and stealth as much as reflexes and trigger speed, and even offered players the option, instead of playing the primary game, of selecting a sandbox mode called "Doodle City," where they could make artwork by playing around with the polygons. Today, I, Robot is frequently described as a game that was too far ahead of its time; polygon graphics, player-controlled camera angles, and even sandboxes are now commonplace, but in 1983 gamers and operators who were used to much more straightforward fare like Galaga and Pac-Man didn't know what to make of it, and it became one of Atari's biggest arcade flops as a result. Production estimates vary, but all agree that there were never more than 1500 units made at most.

The game sounds cool. I wish I could try it.

[jp1]

Another game I remember getting the "groundbreaking" feel from was a Samurai/Ninja type fighter on PS1 that had randomly generated areas that seemed to go on forever. I wish I could remember the name of it.

Also, I don't really know if Daggerfall was a commercial success or not. But what was accomplished with the hardware and space limitations of the time is still impressive to me. I spent so many hours trolling the woods to get bit by a vampire. I never did manage to become a werewolf though.

[RCBH928]

I think Shenmue is the obvious answer here
It can either be something like Heavy Rain with jaw dropping graphics
or it might be something like MMORPG , because it is all about experiencing the world, right?

[Pulsar_t]

Shenmue is unlike any MMO because it has only NPCs and you cannot interact with other people. However there was a Shenmue MMO in the works but got cancelled for a multitude of reasons. Pity, that.

[Curlypaul]

NiGHTS, I can't imagine life without NiGHTS. I know people are going to come along and say Shenmue but Sega would not be around if they didn't not show something besides Sonic. And NiGHTS is it.

Yes, we got a poor sequel with the Wii but all 3D realm games owe a large page from Sega. Even though Mario 64 came out a couple days before in Japan I still love and breath NiGHTS and am running through Christmas NiGHTS just to get into the holiday spirit early.

I remeber showing NiGHTS to my friends at the time it was out and none of them were all that impressed with the idea of constantly repeating the same few levels trying to get a better score. We all thought that high scores beating was outdated and we wanted to see a different level each time we played. Funny how the game has aged so brilliantly. Only the short draw distance lets it down.

[Ivo]

Haha, forgot about that, though it wasn't first either. The old Commodore 64 flight sim Echelon had the "Lip Stick" which worked the same. It was simply a fire button you talked at. See it on the box scan here.

Something advertising a "lip stick" is unlikely to sell well to a male audience, no?

Ivo.

[jp1]

Haha, forgot about that, though it wasn't first either. The old Commodore 64 flight sim Echelon had the "Lip Stick" which worked the same. It was simply a fire button you talked at. See it on the box scan here.

Something advertising a "lip stick" is unlikely to sell well to a male audience, no?

Ivo.

Probably true back in the time of Commodore 64. These days though, who knows.