Playstation 2 (PS2)

Dealer: Chronic, Pills & Coke [XBOX/PS2/PC – Cancelled]

Dealer:  Chronic, Pills & Coke is a cancelled action game / third person shooter that was in development by Nagual Games in 2004, for Playstation 2, Xbox and PC. As we can read in the original press release, the game was set in a huge metropolis, with a lot of driving and shooting,  a gameplay similar to GTA, in which the player was able to take part in the bloody and amusing adventures of a drug dealer.

The main object of Dealer was to build up a prosperous, illegal distribution network with one of the four characters available: the player had to expand the business by buying a drug lab, a cellar to grow mushrooms or even a marijuana plantation. The extra money were used to buy extraordinary cars, weapons , whore houses and luxurious properties.

Some of the unseen features:

  • Drugs, weapons, and sex – unpredictable and explicit story + free game course;
  • Prevention – the game demonstrates the effects, traps and dangers of various drugs;
  • Adult content – Night clubs, junkie prostitutes and sexy women;
  • Completely lifelike, enormous and elaborate city (Ghetto, Harbor, Downtown, Beach, Suburbs, Hills, Luxury seashore etc.)
  • Different drugs – different effects (Depending on the type of drug and consumption and use: morphed tracks, +/- health, speeding up/slowing down time, +/- susceptibility to injuries, freshness/tiredness, bent walking, falling asleep, addiction etc. – even lethal overdose).
  • 60 different NPCs;
  • 40 different controllable vehicles, controlled by AI;
  • 20 complex missions from the storyline +10 hidden or optional missions;
  • Multi-play
  • 40+ hours game play

The game was developed on the BioGraphic Inc. Gamebryo engine, a 3d-game engine used for other titles as “Morrowind”, “Dark Age of Camelot” “Axis & Allies”, but sadly there are no in-game screenshots from Dealer:  Chronic, Pills & Coke preserved yet, only few artworks in the gallery below.

The game was cancelled for unknown reasons, but we could speculate that Nagual never found a publisher interested in the project.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

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The Magical Ninjya: Jiraiya Kenzan [PS2 – Cancelled]

The Magical Ninjya: Jiraiya Kenzan (also know as Magical Ninja Ji Rai Ya) is a cancelled action game / platform that was in development in 2002 / 2003 by Capcom Production Studio 3 for the Playstation 2. The project was announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2003 but it soon vanished from Capcom’s release list and in the end Jiraiya was canned for unknown reasons. The gameplay would have probably been similar to the Mystical Ninja Goemon series or  i-Ninja, with an interesting coop multiplayer mode for 2 players.

Players would also been able to summon beasts to help in battles, and earn new beasts by beating the game’s bosses. The 2° player in coop mode could have chose if being another ninja or if using one of these beasts.

Originally Capcom released few screens, some artworks and a trailer of Jiraiya Kenzan, but sadly only the images are preserved in the  gallery below. The trailer (that was once available at Capcom’s official website) it’s now gone, so if you still have a high-quality copy of this (the file was named jiraiya_320.mpg), please let us know! The game’s characters were designed by Susumu Matsushita, the artist responsible for the design in Capcom’s Maximo series.

Thanks to Userdante, Celine, Maik and Sam Jones  for the contributions!

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Black [PS2/XBOX – Beta]

Black is a FPS developed by Criterion Games and published in 2006 by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Thanks to a playable demo released before the game was completed, DCodes7 noticed various beta differences, listed in the gallery below. Also, as wrote by Satrialeson the NeoGaf Forum, originally Black had a “challenge mode” where you would run around the levels shooting targets within a set time, but this was removed in the final version.

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Ratchet and Clank [PS2 – Beta]

Ratchet and Clank was the first game in a series that would become a cash cow for Insomniac Games. The main goal of the game, is to blow up anything that moves, while exploring large levels for hidden items. The series is also known for it’s comical approach, with weapons such as the Morph -o- Ray, which turns enemies into chickens. There were some changes made to the final game however, one of which, involves the farm friendly foul.

In this video, can be seen what appears to be a mashup of different betas. To start with, at 0:22, it’s rather fast, but pause it and you’ll see the beta bolt meter, but in the top left part of the screen. In all Ratchet games, it’s in the top RIGHT. It can be seen there in another part of the video, but also in it’s proper place as well. At 0:49 can be seen a strange weapon icon, a no chickens sign. The HUD is still beta here, and the no chicken sign is too.  

Road to Sunday [PS2 – Cancelled]

Road to Sunday is a cancelled football game that was in development by 989 Sports (the Sony America Sports Studio) in 2004 / 2005 for the Playstation 2. The game had an interesting career mode, in which the player would have been able to follow a deep story mode, in which to learn more about the causes of a misterious murder, to pay back the cash owed to a criminal boss and to win on the football field at the same time.

As we can read in the Gamespot preview, there were many ways to rise more money in the game:

This is where another NAFA–the North American Fighting Association–comes into play. By entering members of your football team into these underground fights, you can hope to earn the cash you owe the boss by the end of the season. Gambling also plays a part in your bottom line, as you’ll be able to play games like Texas Hold ‘Em and Blackjack, or even hit up the local sports bookie and place bets on that particular week’s games.

Sadly the game was officially cancelled in july 2005, when Ron Eagle, public relations manager for SCEA Sports at the time, explained to Gamespot that:

The game has been officially canceled. It basically did not measure up to our first-party quality standards. In the course of development, it was not meeting our standards for where a product should be in its development cycle. It was purely an internal decision.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

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