New Cancelled Games & Their Lost Media Added to the Archive

MegaMan X7 [PS2 – Beta]

Megaman X7 (Rockman X7 in Japan) came to the American PS2 in october of 2003, and brought with it some of the biggest changes the X series of Megaman games has seen. For the first time, players could control X and Zero in 3D worlds, as well as switching back to 2D at times. It also brought with it, a new face to the series, Axl, with the ability to completely transform into certain enemies.

Players could now switch between 2 characters of their choice in any given level, with the Intro stage, being the only exception, considering that for the first time ever, X, was an unlockable character, instead of being available right from the start. However, it seems this wasn’t always the case. Take a look at these beta videos and screenshots taken from before the game was released. Read more

Laguna Cool [PSX – Not Cancelled]

Update: thanks to Susumu and Matt we found out that this obscure RPG was really published in Japan with the name “Lagnacure” by a company called Artdink. You can find more screens of the released version at Snesorama!

Laguna Cool is a cancelled (?) RPG that was in development by Sony Music Entertainment in 1996/1997 for the original Playstation. The game was available at the Tokyo Game Show 1997 but we dont know if there was any playable demo or it was just a video. A single screenshot of this RPG was found by Celine in PSM magazine #3. There are pratically no info on the project, at least with the Laguna Cool title: could this game have been released with another name in Japan? If you recognize this screen, please let us know!

Thanks to Celine for the scan!

Image:

Laguna-Cool-PS1-PSM3-TGS-97

Jurassic Park: Trespasser [PC – Beta]

Jurassic Park: Trespasser is a FPS developed by DreamWorks Interactive, which was released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows after much hype and anticipation. The game had a development period of more than three years. Money was the biggest hurdle in the development of Trespasser.

The game severely went over-budget several times throughout its development. Second only to money was time, as the game had to be ready to meet the release of the The Lost World: Jurassic Park film. Originally the game was to be released in the fall of 1997. However due to a number of problems the project was delayed by a year. The rush to release the game caused many features to be either cut, or left unfinished and unpolished.

Due to difficulties coding the behaviour of both arms together developers had to ditch the left arm entirely. A late shift in development effectively changed the game from survival horror to action shooter, and contributed to the many complaints the game received. Lack of experienced management and the use of artists who were unfamiliar with basic game development processes and 3D modeling has also been identified as a cause of problems. Developers struggled for more than two years on some problems and in the end released a game that is set within a very large, attractive, open, outdoor environment. [Info from Wikipedia]

In december 2009, ASSEMbler from the Assembler Games Community, was able to preserve and share an early beta of the game, in which it’s possible to explore the removed Pine Valley level, a Test area and see many other differences. The beta is available to download at the Assembler Forum.

As we can read in the videos descriptions:

This beta show the original far more sexy female character, who has a cut off tank top on, complete with sideboob and cleavage you can look between. The game’s life bar (tattoo) is moved, the breasts more detailed than the final version. The game has less physical objects in it, and runs much faster than the final version.

Videos:

Equinox (Solstice 2) [SNES – Beta]

Equinox, also known as Solstice II, is an isometric 3D action / puzzle game developed by Software Creations and published by Sony Imagesoft in 1994 for the Super Nintendo. In some early beta screens (1991?) published in EGM issue 27, we can notice that the sprite of the protagonist was completely different from the one in the final version.

Final Game:

equinoxfinal

Beta:

equinoxbeta01

Thanks to Celine for the contribution!

Images: