News on Cancelled Video Games & Lost Media

Titanium Angels is a cancelled action adventure that was in development in 2000 by Mobius Entertainment (now known as Rockstar Leeds). As we can see in the screenshots and the video below (that show a 40% complete build), the player would have used a girl named “Carmen Blake”, a bounty hunter with an armored spider vehicle named Titan. Titanium Angels was cancelled after two years of development when Mobius was purchased by Take-Two Interactive. In april 2004 the studio was officially renamed Rockstar Leeds.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

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Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Silent Hill 2 [PS2 – Beta]

yota

28-11-2009

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Silent Hill 2 is the second installment in the Silent Hill survival horror series. The game was released in late 2001 on Sony PlayStation 2 and was ported to the Microsoft Xbox later that year and PC the following year. The original European edition also included a second disc: a “Making-of” DVD video featuring beta trailers, an artwork gallery and a documentary on the title’s development. [Info from Wikipedia]

For more info about the beta differences in these early screens and videos, read the full article: Silent Hill 2 Beta Analysis! A beta version of the game is in the hand of some collectors and as we can read at Letter from Silent Heaven, it has some nice differences:

The sign says “WELLCOM!” (instead of its later version, “WELCOME!”).
The background on the cutscenes where you talk with Angela at the cemetery received an update. It appears the depth-of-fog was increased for the final build.
A first aid kit was once found on the lobby floor of the apartments.
At one time, the “hit” sound effects for both the Lying Figure and Mannequin were the same but later changed so each would have their own unique cries of pain.
Even the famous “Pyramid Head and James in closet” cutscene has seen a few changes. The sound effect revolving around Pyramid Head was revised. Also note the second mannequin’s legs are visible in the kitchen in the early build.

Some more info about the beta cuts from the Silent Hill 2 beta were shared thanks to an anonymous developer that worked on the game:

MARIA DEATH BETA:
In the very early prototype, instead of Maria die at the hospital, she was to die at the Prison. The part where james jumps down the hole in the prison into the hole with no door, Maria was to be impaled on a spike, but removed that scene because we thought it not fit Lore.
EDDIE BETA SCENE:
In the early prototype, we have very different eddie scene in apartment. James was to walk into apartment and witness eddie murder a man, then drag body to fridge and beat body while the man screaming until death. After, Eddie runs into bathroom and pukes, and james then meets for first time eddie.
Additionally, we had other scenes written in early script but got removed in re write. 3 Scenes remember:
1. A scene was written for James to enter Silent Hill in car. He was to pass through another town and stop at gas station to ask for direction. This scene was later remade for the Silent Hill 2006 movie.
2. Angela had other cutscene cut which was her being found in hospital. She was in script to be found in the second floor hallway and attack james but stop when she sees its him.
3. Final scene is a cut ending. Another ending was show epilogue for “leave” end. If leave end gets, James was to adopt Laura and bury Mary.

Thanks to Il’ya P, Megalol and silverpen for the contributions!

Some more interesting differences can be found hidden in the game’s code, as some unused weapons found by DeepGameResearch:

Most weapons differ from their final counter parts:

Pistol= Pretty close to final.
Wooden plank= Has a different menu model.
Steel pipe=No menu model, more attack frames than the final animation
Shotgun=No menu model, No sound effects
Hunting Rifle=No menu model,Does not use ammo (Unlimited clip,Never reloads), Uses pistol sound effects.
Spray Can(s)=No menu model,Glitched ready stance,No damage frames
Giant Knife=No menu model,Uses shotgun walking animation. So many more frames in the attack animation it makes the game look like it’s lagging, When the knife hits the ground it causes a loud screeching sound to play until the player enters the start menu.

Also even if the Doctor’s lounge and Examination room are inaccessible to normal players, DGR was able to found them both using the room jump in the debug menu. You can read more on Silent Hill community Forum! You can see more SH2 hack videos from DGR in his Youtube Channel.

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Nintendo, Nintendo 64 & 64DD

Quest 64 II (2) [N64 – Cancelled]

monokoma

28-11-2009

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Quest 2 is the unreleased sequel of one of the few Nintendo 64 RPGs, that was in development at Imagineer in 1998 / 1999. The game was going to be set 100 years after the original Quest 64 and this time the player would have been able to choose between 2 different characters: Leohn, a magician, and Sophia, a swordswoman. Both characters would also had a sidekick known as “the Guardian” to use it as a vehicle or to help in battle (we can speculate that it was going to be something like a Chocobo from the Final Fantasy series). Sadly Imagineer went into financial troubles and they had to cancel Quest 2 and another project that they had in the works for the 64DD, Desert Island 64. Only a few artworks remains from this game.

Thanks to Pantalytron we have a translation of the Nintendo Fun Vision article:

SOME LINES OF TEXT ARE MISSING FROM THE JPEG, marked with […]. Guess it can’t be that much, maybe one or two lines of each stanza.
This translation tries to be as literal as possible, so some formulations are clumsy – but I can tell you that the German original text isn’t that skillful in telling the story in a pseudo-medieval style to begin with. Translated on 10.01.2017
Swift Follow-up
Imagineer is already working on Holy Magic Century 2
IMAGINEER. Holy Magic Century isn’t out yet in Germany and already there is information about the follow-up! Imagineer bets on a big success of the first part of its role playing game – and it can’t be bad to start the development of the follow-up! In our newsletter you exclusively find out about the story of (and interesting details about) Holy Magic Century 2. [It is] likely that you can put this game in 1999 on your Christmas wish list.
Everything goes back to the grim and distant past, when people depended on the mercy of nature and forces of nature and wild animals still were impregnable foes. But […] were responsible and learned to benefit from the goods of nature. Many centuries live went by this way. Then appeared creatures that were able to control the magic powers of nature. The greatest and most important of these “spirit slayers” was Brian.
The story begins one hundred years after the legendary Brian has lived… spirits only exist in uncharted forests, on secluded lakes, atop high mountains or in desolate deserts. The legends of spirit slayers that ignated torches or made it rain with their magic spells are considered as fairy tales. In a big kingdom in the west of the island Celtland reigned a ruler called Tibelius who was very popular amongst his subjects. But after his death the realm was threatened to be overrun by barbarians – if there had not been Julius, who knew how to prevent that.
The people thanked him by crowning him as their ruler and transferred the reign over the realm. But the celebrated hero turned into a tyrant, let people be incarcerated who opposed obeying him and even did not shy away from murder. After a while the despot began to build the “black temple“. The people suffered but had no other choice than obey Julius. That is the situation in which the two heroes of the story, Leohn and Sophia, grow up!
Leohn is a ten year old boy who lives with his stepfather on the island Lodeal. The islanders consider him as a bit strange, but he is popular [nonetheless] because of his innocence and his good nature. One day his stepfather Shmeon disappears who belongt to the spirit slayers. According to a legend the boy, who has the ability to speak with spirits, departs on a quest for an almighty spirit. He finds Brian and receives […] Julius receives information about […]-abilites and he commands to bring the boy and other spirit slayers to him by ship.
Upon exactly this ship Leohn meets Sophia, a twelve-year old girl. Her big, magical-appearing talent in wielding the sword lead her to be in Julius’s services; her stepfather Patricius, too, works as a custodian of the city Larwena for the king. In [her] fight with an hermit who incites the people she comes in contact with Brian and receives magical powers from him; the girl receives the ordert to go on board of the ship where Leohn is.
The adventure begins when the ship overturns in a storm. The two heroes are separated, but their goal will be the same soon [after]: To stop Julius! The city prospers by the power of the captured spirit slayers, but in the countryside the people suffer more than ever. In the black temple Leohn and Sophia meet […] So much for the [story] of the role playing game which will be designed for one play and shall offer fun for at least thirty hours. The first part already gets praised for it’s graphic, [but] the follow-up shall be even better. Furthermore [is it planned] in the second part to choose between two characters, namely Leohn and Sophia. Each of the two has his own abilities, of course – but not exactly in the “classical” [way of] type casting!
Leohn uses mainly his magical power to reach his goals. Tactical considerations are more his deal than physical fight, magic spells are more his weapon than swords. Things are different considering Sophia: She is a duel ace and does not shy away from confrontations. With her enormous power she can knock out multiple enemies in one blow.
Both heroes have a patron who follows them through the whole world of the game. He guides them, gives them advice when they enter battle and (from a certain point in the game on) he can carry the hero on his back! Money will play an important role: Who slays monsters can collect their belongings and fill his purse. That way, nothing stands in the way of a bulk purchase.
The world of the game was inspired by the Byzantine empire of the early middle ages, it is residing around the Mediterran Sea and the Aegean, Greece, Turkey, Rome and Egypt up to North Europe. The clothing of the citizens comes from another peroid of time; it approximately matches the style of the eleventh to 14th century.
Well, did you become curious? Then play the first part at first and keep Holy Magic Century 2 in mind for the long winterdays of […]

Thanks to Celine for the contribution! Thanks to Mario for Nintendo Fun Vision News scans (issue 8 1998)!

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Unseen Articles, Unseen Features

Silent Hill 2 Beta Analysis

Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror developed by Konami’s Team Silent and originally released for the Playstation 2 in 2001. Unfortunately we don’t know much about the development of the game, but in this page we’ll try to analyze some beta screens using all the informations at our disposal.

[Article written by Yota]

Beta Neely Street

Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Disney’s Atlantis [PS2 – Prototype]

monokoma

27-11-2009

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Atlantis is a prototype for a game based on the Disney film of the same name, that was created by Ubisoft Canada in 2000 / 2001. As we can read on Wikipedia, the movie begins with a reenactment of the sinking of the legendary city of Atlantis, but the main story begins thousands of years later in 1914, when Milo James Thatch, an aspiring young cartographer/linguist/explorer, believes he has found the secret to the location of Atlantis.

While some Atlantis games were released for the GBA, PSX and PC, a PS2 version was never published. It seems that Ubisoft tried to pitch their demo to Disney, but for some reasons they decided to not give the permission to use the Atlantis license for a Playstation 2 project.

Thanks a lot to Stephane for his help in preserving some screens from the prototype!

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