Witness the emotive power of Private William Hudson.

A few of you (okay maybe one) may remember my mention of Aliens: Colonial Marines, an potentially awesome looking game set for release this year or next on Xbox 360 and PS3. It sounds incredible. The squad-based first-person shooter (not unlike the sublime Rainbow Six Vegas series) is set directly after the film Alien3, in which a bunch of marines perform a dangerous search-and-rescue operation of the USS Sulaco, the ship featured in the second film. 

Investigating the ship for Ripley, Corporal Hicks and other survivors of the incidents of planet LV-426, the marines naturally come across some shit. Warriors, Scouts and of course, the Queen will all make an appearance. Perhaps the most exciting feature is that the game will have NO heads-up-display (HUD) adding to the immersion in a way that has only really been touched on by last year's brilliant Dead Space. Right, got all that? Well, there's been some hiccups.

Hudson is somewhat concerned.

But let's back up a bit. In 2001, Electronic Arts announced a Playstation 2 game to be released entitled Aliens: Colonial Marines. And then promptly shitcanned it before release.

Hudson is angry.

In 2008, Gearbox Software and Sega (yes, that Sega) announced a totally different game entitled Aliens: Colonial Marines that would apparently blow your head off with its awesomeness. They even hired a concept artist named Syd Mead, who actually worked on the James Cameron 1986 masterpiece.

Hudson is pleased.

 In November of last year, game developer Obsidian cancelled their planned Aliens RPG game. Or according to Sega, 'indefinitely suspended'. Details of whether this game was connected in any way to Aliens: Colonial Marines were sketchy at best.

Hudson is angry.

Well, that's all we've heard. Until now, UK game magazine Powerstation teased at their next issue recently with this strangely underplayed bombshell...

Squint and look at the bottom-right corner...

So what does this mean? Is the game coming out this year? Next year? When can I get my hands of this gut-punchingly good game? What kind of marketing department has Sega got nowadays? Is this the company who wheels out Sonic the Hedgehog's bloated corpse every fucking year for yet another disappointingly underdeveloped adventure that nobody likes? But give them an awesome license like the Aliens franchise and what do they do? They vaguely announce that it may still exist and if it does, we're working on it. What kind of company is this? Have they digressed from a financial powerhouse in the 90s to some kind of rabble only responding to base desires for food and shelter much like the Macra from Doctor Who? (obscure esoteric reference specifically targeted at R. Alcock). 

What's their problem? Do we jump up and down with glee? Or do we wait patiently to see just how badly this game is going to disintegrate before ever seeing the light of day? If everything was fine and things were going ahead as planned, don't you think they would just hold a press conference and say "Yeah that's right motherfuckers! We're making the definitive Aliens game and it's gonna rock! You may as well get out your wallets right now! Wooo!". 

I remain wary and unconvinced.

Hudson is, like me, unsure as to what to make of this information.