It’s easy in this generation of immense marketing hype to find yourself focusing on one or two games that are on the horizon. Maybe it’s money, or just the brand name of an IP or developer, that dictates which titles are given the most attention. For instance those of us who follow MMORPGs probably already know a great deal about BioWare’s The Old Republic even though the game’s probably around six months from release, or that Blizzard’s Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft will be adding five levels to the game while reworking many of the old world zones.

These high profile games are great for the industry in that they attract a lot of mainstream gaming attention, but bad in that they tend to swallow up a lot of the smaller titles in their wake. These lesser talked about games may be pushing out plenty of information (or in some cases maybe not), but due to any number of reasons it seems as though you rarely hear much about them… and we wish that wasn’t the case. Though assuredly many of the following titles are just quiet because there’s not a lot set in stone yet, that doesn’t mean we can’t wonder what’s to come. In the interest of giving the little guys more of a spotlight, here’s a list of games we wish we knew more about and why.

Have your own thoughts on the titles listed below, or think we missed a few games at that? Let us know by leaving a comment!

5.) Copernicus

This isn’t exactly a small project. Some extremely big names are tied to Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios, not the least of which are creative masterminds like R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane. When three big names like this, not exactly known for their ties to gaming, band together and begin work on an epic MMORPG it’s hard not to take notice with piqued interest and not a small hint of trepidation. We’re beginning to see the shape of their MMO form in the single-player RPG Kingdoms of Amalure: Reckoning. Though perhaps a tad cliché at first glimpse, it would be unwise to write off an epic RPG experience led by the creator of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. KoA: Reckoning should set the tone and scope of the MMO, so players interested in seeing what kind of MMORPG Curt Schilling and his mercenary team of developers can come up with should keep an eye on the upcoming 2011 release. The fantasy theme may be well represented in the genre, but it can always be improved upon, and there’s no doubt that this is what 38 Studios is hoping to do.

4.) Jumpgate Evolution

JGE went dark not long ago when the title missed its original intended release date and much of the game underwent significant reworking. As Scott Brown told us, the game just wasn’t quite where they wanted it to be and they wisely decided to err on the side of caution and go dark for a while, giving the team time to collect their thoughts and approach the design from a different angle. Now with a distinct focus on three-faction warfare, massive battles, and an ever-changing landscape (space-scape?), JGE is once again making its way towards release. And yet, there’s still plenty left to be discovered about how this Wind Commander-esque title will play. How much emphasis will there be on PvE and PvP? What about crafting? How will the economy work with the three factions? With a beta expected to ramp up this fall, I’m sure it won’t be long until a lot of these questions and more are answered.

3.) Undead Labs’ Zombie MMO

With one of the more curious projects on the horizon, Undead Labs is a studio that was formed precisely to create a persistent online MMO for consoles that’s all about surviving the zombie apocalypse. There’s little to no details yet released about the studios Zombie MMO, but the team isn’t completely inactive when it comes to posting on their website. In a June post, one of the developers goes to great lengths to discuss how his team will dispel the theory that a console MMO can’t really work and cleverly (or heavy-handedly I suppose) uses the “strikethrough” to show that people once said the same things about console FPS games just ten years ago. In the post we’re told that there will be a real focus on hand-to-hand combat (chainsaws, crowbars, etc.), destructible environments, vehicular combat, freedom of movement, and of course social tools for the players. But these serve as a sort of bullet-list of things one should hope to expect in a post L4D or Dead Rising gaming world. What will really be interesting is when Undead Labs starts showing us just how their game is coming together, and how it will work as a persistent online offering.

2.) Red 5 Studios’ Untitled MMO

Red 5 Studios, who was recently bought by Chinese developer and online game operator The9, has been kicking around for a couple of years now, quietly developing their first MMORPG. And that’s actually about all we know. Back in 2007 the newly founded company even hunted down blogger Tobold to discuss possible job opportunities. But other than some vague concept art, all we know is that the guys and gals are working on an MMORPG that will reportedly be in some ways both action-oriented and geared towards a more casual playerbase. That basically means it could be anything, if you ask me. But if their homepage is to be believed, I’m sure we’ll finally know a little something more about their mysterious project in just about month when they show up at PAX in September.

1.) Warhammer 40K Online: Dark Millennium

Vigil Games, makers of the excellent Zelda-like Darksiders, finally gave gamers something to drool over at this year’s E3 when they showed the first footage of their Warhammer 40,000 MMO, Dark Millennium. From the footage, one can deduce that there will be a heavy focus on gunplay, cover and flanking mechanics, and that organized groups should do well in PvP. We know that both the Order and Destruction sides are represented, and that there will obviously be a huge slant towards competitive gameplay. But developers also stated that the usual MMO trappings will be present, such as NPCs, cities, an economy, and so on and so forth. And while that’s all well and good, there was little revealed about how the game will actually play. Vigil Games will be making a serious appearance at Gamescom in Germany soon, however… and maybe then we’ll get some real meat on this dark and gruesome MMO.