New Cancelled Games & Their Lost Media Added to the Archive

Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Ratchet Deadlocked [PS2 – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors
15-12-2009
No Comments

Ratchet Deadlocked (Ratchet: Gladiator in PAL regions, also known as Ratchet & Clank 4) is an arena style shooter from Insomniac games, released on 10/25/05 for the Playstation 2. This game strayed the most from the standard gameplay of the Ratchet and Clank series, being the first and only Ratchet game to be based upon the idea of arena fights instead of exploration.

Combat bots at one point were supposed to have legs instead of their hover base. This changed how they affect gameplay, mainly because flying lets them get a better angle than they could by walking. Also to be seen here, is that when given a command, that command appears above their heads. This can be seen at the very start of the video. The combat bot on the left to be precise. Also here, is a beta version of the ammo crate. It’s orange here, but the final version is green. And also, the ammo refills are the Gadgetron ones, and they are cylinder shaped. The final versions, are more box shaped, and green and black in color. Finally, notice that Ratchet has two combat bots here, and rescues a third. It is not known if the third battle bot would have affected gameplay or not.

Evan Hanley found even more differences in the early trailers shown at E3 and Tokyo Game Show:

  • The Eviscerator lacked his leg pads.
  • Ace Hardlight has a different missile glove.
  • The combat bots had legs at one point.
  • The Landstalker had different missile sound effects.
  • The HUD was different.
  • The health bar was different.
  • The weapon icons look slightly different.
  • The number text for the health bar, ammo and bolts was different.
  • The minimap is different.
  • The robot ability box is a different shape.
  • There is no level text for the weapons.
  • The EXP text is different.
  • The EXP bar is smaller and harder to see.
  • The Weapon EXP bar is different and in a different position.
  • The Landstalker’s health bar is different.
  • The Flail Whip has no hit sound effect.
  • The Electric Mine Launcher has a different sound effect.
  • Ratchet doesn’t grunt when hit.

The Online Multiplayer footage has pretty much the same differences as the Tokyo Game Show Trailer but has different HUDs and activity texts for different modes.

Thanks to Evan for the contribution!

Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Ice Nine [PS2 – Cancelled]

monokoma
15-12-2009
2 Comments

Ice Nine is a cancelled FPS with tactical elements (inspired by the film “The Recruit”)  that was in development by Torus Games in 2002 / 2003 for the Playstation 2. The project would have been published by BAM! Entertainment, but for unknown reasons they never released it. During the missions the player would have been able to make choices that would have ultimately impact the multiple endings of the game. A GBA version of Ice Nine was released, but it was obviusly a different game from this one.

Over at Gaming Target we can read an old interview with one of the developers, that has some more info on the game:

AH: The enemies have an ‘awareness cone’ which is visible on the HD, showing you when they’ll spot you. The cone is not static however, and is affected by player actions. Knock an enemy out and grab a disguise and the enemies relax, meaning their cone will shrink. If you start shooting wildly, the enemies will go on alert and their cone will grow.

The system is designed to make the game feel more dynamic than most shooters – we wanted it to have more depth than just running and shooting, and allow the player to work through each level in their own way, making sure they got feedback from the enemies for each of their actions.

AH: There are twelve playable levels, each of which has at least two different art styles and three to five load sections. Each level is unique – we were very keen to make certain that there was a lot of variety through the game. We have forests, mines, submarines, office buildings and more.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

Images:

Videos:

Leaked, Unseen News

Werewolf: The Apocalypse (Saturn) now leaked!

monokoma
14-12-2009
No Comments

About a month ago SEGA Saturno in cooperation with Hidden Palace, announced a fundrising campaign to be able to release a “new” prototype for the Saturn. A couple of days ago, finally they reached the amount needed and they released Werewolf: The Apocalypse, a playable demo of the cancelled action RPG that was in development by Capcom in 1995 / 1996!

You can download the file at Hidden Palace

Huge props to the Sega Saturno community for their efforts in preserving all these lost games for the sega consoles! You can find more info on this release at Sega Saturno (in Spanish).

Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony

Pixeljunk Shooter [PS3 – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors
14-12-2009
No Comments

Pixeljunk Shooter, is the fourth in a series of games made by Q games for the Sony Playstation 3. Your main goal in the game is to save the scientists that have been sent to investigate a planet, and solve puzzles while doing so.

In a prerelease video, we can see the difference between the unfinished game, and the final release.

To start with, the ship design. You can’t tell to well in the video, but it’s somewhat rounded. In the final version, it looks almost like a yellow fly.

Also, the scientists are colored more yellow in the final version. Here, they’re orange. The final version of the scientists are also more detailed.

Also, the temperature bar is VERY different from the final. The final is more segmented. For that matter, the entire HUD is beta here. There’s no display of how many gems you’ve found, it shows how many lives you have left when in the final there’s no way to tell, and the area that shows the scientists at the bottom right, shows how many are in the current area, and thier current status. Either saved, deceased, or still missing. Also, the  final version of the HUD is sort of a yellow and gold mix, and is designed and arranged slightly differently in the final.

Also to be seen in the video, Are somewhat of a beta version of the bats. They barely look LIKE bats at all in the beta. And also, the doors that bar you from leaving the section you’re in are different in design.

Also beta here, is the “water bomb”. It’s rather large. The final version, is at least HALF the size. This is not to be confused with the sponge however. Water bombs explode with water all over the place upon being dropped. The sponge sucks up water it’s been dropped in, and then releases over time upon being picked up. However, on the subject of the sponge, in the beta, it releases one steady stream of water. in the final, it realeases the water steadily, yes, but in a 5 way spread.

In the beta, the “points” the enemies leave behind are yellow. In the final, they are a deep red orange.

Back to the men in destress again. In the beta, most have a flag. In the final, most don’t. In fact, only 1 per level does. On another note, upon being put under water, the men will begin to swim in the beta. In the final, they just continue to stand there.

And lastly, the enemy life meters are red and white. In the final, they are red with a yellow border. Also, when an enemy dies in the beta, they make the same sound that the standard flying enemies in Pixeljunk Monsters do when they die.

Images:

Videos:

Unseen News

RS Links: the unheard burps in Tapper

monokoma
13-12-2009
No Comments

tapperlinks

As we can read on Wikipedia, Tapper is a 1983 arcade game released by Bally Midway. The goal of the game is to serve beer and collect empty mugs and tips. Robert Seddon has linked us to an article on Edge Online, in which they talk about some removed content from the game:

Sometimes good ideas turn bad when you actually hear them. Such was the case with the burps in Tapper. Wanting to take advantage of a brand-new digitising chip from Texas Instruments, Meyer and Morrison thought it would be a good idea to add a burp every time a character finished a drink.

So, to create the source audio, a group from the Tapper team went into a conference room with a bunch of soft drinks, beers and microphones, and just started burping.

Looking back on the misguided notion, Morrison says: “We put it in, and it was disgusting.” The game was so fast and the drinks were being finished so quickly that you heard constant belching. In the end, the duo didn’t bother installing the burps or the TI chip, although Morrison admits that passing by their office during that phase of development was a treat for all within earshot.

tapperlinks2