Introduction

Several days ago we posted up an article that looked at upcoming game titles that we labeled as "Black Ops Games". Technically these games have been announced via press releases, interviews and job listings but so far very little has been revealed about what these games will be like. Today we have a new list of "Black Ops Games" covering a wide variety of titles and developers, both large and small. While most of these games will not be released this year we think some of them could be very memorable based on the reputation of the developer and the tiny snippets of data that has been revealed. By the way, none of the developers on this list responded to our request to comment for this article.

Irrational Games' Unannounced Title

What We Know: Irrational Games’ Boston studio is working hard on BioShock, their long awaited first person action-RPG that's already generating a lot of pre-release hype. But the 2K Games-affiliated developer also has a studio in Australia and based on job listings they are working on their own unannounced title. At the moment all we know about the game is that it will be based on Epic's Unreal Engine 3. One rather large hint from one of the job listings; the game might be a return of a well remembered game franchise.

What We Think: We think Irrational Games has one of the best track records of any game developer out there. If they are working on a game that might be a revival of a classic game series, that's good enough for us. Hopefully we will get more concrete info on this title around the time BioShock is released this summer.

Midway Austin's Unannounced Title

What We Know: The Austin, Texas based developer just announced they are working on BlackSite: Area 51, a more serious take on Midway's sci-fi shooter series. But as Midway Austin design head Harvey Smith revealed to us last week at Midway's press event, the studio is working on a second game as well. Smith only told us that the game will be very different than BlackSite: Area 51.

What We Think: When BlackSite: Area 51 is finished, Smith will head back to work on this unannounced game and we have to think that the designer who spearheaded the Deus Ex series is going to come up with something very memorable. We don't expect to learn more about Midway Austin's next game until sometime in 2008.

Wingnut Interactive's Games

What We Know: Just like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, film maker Peter Jackson has now taken the leap and formed his own New Zealand based game developer called Wingnut Interactive. Currently the team has two projects in development; one game is known to be an original property but the second has something to do with Bungie's Halo franchise.

What We Think: Filmmakers have mixed results when crossing over into games (Enter The Matrix, anyone) but Jackson seems sincere about making a good impression in the game development world. With the backing of Microsoft, Wingnut Interactive could be set to create some interesting game projects. The one we are most curious about is the Halo game which based on the wording on the official press release doesn't sound like it will be a first person shooter title.