Microsoft

Red Dead Redemption [X360 PS3 – Beta / Tech Demo]

Red Dead Redemption is a Western open world action adventure, developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in May 2010. A trailer of the project was sent to a select number of people at a Sony conference in 2005, promoting the release of the PlayStation 3 system. The trailer was a tech demo of RAGE set in a western setting referred to as Old West Project and a direct sequel to Red Dead Revolver. [Info from Wikipedia]

In this tech demo video we can see like an early version of Armadillo, and the character it shows looks nothing at all like the John Marston we have now, most notable difference is the character in that video has blonde hair.

The comments in the Youtube page point out some more differences:

Looks like the town is an earlier rendition of Armadillo, with buildings similar to the ones in the MacFarlane Ranch. And the duster is an early rendition of the duster outfit that can be unlocked in RDR.

I’d say you are right, it sure does share great similarity to Armadillo building wise. Interesting to see the layout differences of some of the buildings. If you look closely at around 0:11 also, you can see what appears to be animals (possibly horses?) moving around the fenced building to the top-left. I’m guessing that was the original idea of the fenced horse area in Armadillo next to the Salon in the final game.
I always find it amazing, watching this video.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

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Project Offset [X360 PS3 PC – Cancelled]

Project Offset is a cancelled fantasy action adventure that was in development by Offset Software, initially planned for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. As we can read on Wikipedia, in February 2008, Intel acquired Offset Software and the game became a PC exclusive. After a couple of yers, Intel officially canceled the game in July 2010, citing “recent changes in our product roadmap” as the cause for the decision. The founders of Offset Software have moved to a new game development studio named Fractive LLC.

As we can read at Super Download, it seems that the changes in Intel’s product roadmap in the statement most likely refer to the company’s decision to cancel the high-end graphics chip product code name “Larabee” that was shut down as a commercial hardware product last December.

Some more info about Project Offset can still be found in the official website:

Q: Has the game gone back to the drawing board since you last saw it?

A: In some ways…Yes. We have a had a design scrub post Intel acquisition. The gameplay footage you have seen in the past was from a prototype. However we did not throw away all work or assets from that effort. We will share all we can as soon as possible and when ready. […]

Yes it has been a while, and yes this project and team started small and was then acquired by Intel. The tech and engine have been in development for some time, and post the acquisition did need some re-work to target Intel Architectures in the best way possible. We also took some time after completing the prototype of the game, which was created before acquisition, to look at the size of the team, our resources, the games out on shelf currently and our target hardware architectures, and did some re-working on design and gameplay mechanics. […]

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After Burner [X360 – Concept]

In 2005 Juice Games had an idea to develope a “next gen” Flight simulator / Shooter, probably for the soon-to-be released Xbox 360. To easily find a publisher and funds they tried to pitch their flight project to Sega, as new game in the After Burner series,  but without any success. As the After Burner pitch was unsuccessful, Juice Games decided to use an original IP for their Flight Shooter and the project became Stormbirds for the Xbox 360 and PS3. In the end Stormbirds was canned by THQ, Juice Games’ publisher.

Only few concept arts remain to preserve the existence of this project.

Thanks to Hey Hey for the contribution!

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Roman Bloodsport [XBOX – Cancelled]

Roman Bloodsport is a cancelled action / racing game that was in development by Dynamic Animation Systems for the original XBOX in 2003. The player would have been able to engage in gladiatorial events in many places across the empire of ancient Rome. As we can read in the official press release:

From gruesome fights to the death in arenas to dangerous high-speed chariot races, the player must master a multitude of different skills to survive and ultimately be victorious. Roman Bloodsport Live! extends the gameplay of the single player game presenting the player with the opportunity to compete against other online players in ladder and tournament games, eventually becoming the leader of his own clan of warriors.

* Arena combat and chariot racing together in one game
* 10 diferent arenas and 10 different chariot race tracks
* Exotic opponents from the far reaches of ancient Rome
* Role-playing elements allow the player to customize and upgrade their equipment as they gane wealth and fame
* XBox Live! game play extends the role-playing elements of the single player campaign

In the end Roman Bloodsport was never released, maybe because they did not find a publisher interested in the project.

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Gumshoe [PC / XBOX – Cancelled]

Gumshoe is an adventure game that was in development by Hiding Buffalo in 2002 / 2003 for the PC and the original XBOX. As we can read in the original press release:

The concept for the game along with a working prototype were created as Hiding Buffalo’s entry in the 2002 Dare to be Digital competition, which challenges groups of students to create a new and original piece of digital content. Entries are judged by a panel of industry experts on their originality and commercial potential. Gumshoe was chosen by a majority of the judges thanks to it’s unusual concept, naturalistic dialogue system and innovative gameplay and episodic approach.

In the end, they never found a publisher interested in the project and so Gumshoe was cancelled. It’s interesting to notice that Hiding Buffalo did released a flash version of the game in 2006, even if it looked much different from the PC and Xbox version.

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