Namco Hometek

Unseen News

Dead to Rights: Reckoning [PSP – Beta]

FreeckyCake
09-04-2025
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After the release of Dead to Rights 2, work on a spin-off entry titled Dead to Rights: Reckoning began. According to programmer Kim Randell, this entry started life as 100 Bullets by Acclaim before being cancelled, and some of its assets were used to make DTR Reckoning. The very early screenshots of Dead to Rights: Reckoning led many to believe this entry was just going to be a direct port of Dead to Rights 2, but in the end, it wasn’t. Fun fact: Dead to Rights: Reckoning was Namco Hometek’s last-ditch effort to utilize assets from the cancelled Dead to Rights 2: Hell to Pay. The original sequel of Dead to Rights.

Credit: GTW

Below, you can see a collection of images showing the early build of Dead to Rights Reckoning: 

Unseen News

Dead to Rights [PS2] — Beta

FreeckyCake
22-01-2025
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Dead to Rights was a fantastic third-person shooter inspired by many Hong Kong and action noir thrillers. The game sold more than 500k copies in its prime and was well-received by critics and players alike. This article takes a trek back to the past, covering some of the changes as seen in the E3 2001 footage.

Some of the changes are the following:

  • Different running animation
  • Different combat moves
  • Different clothes
  • Different environment
  • Special finishing moves are absent from the final game
  • Different HUD for both your HP and weapons
  • Different aim pointer

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Video

 

Unseen News

Kill.Switch [PS2, Xbox, PC] Beta and Cut Content

FreeckyCake
31-12-2024
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Kill.Switch is a third-person shooter developed by Namco Hometek and published by Namco in 2003 for PC, Xbox, PS2, and the Game Boy Advance. The game revolutionized the TPS genre by introducing several groundbreaking concepts that ultimately influenced high-profile titles like Uncharted, Gears of War, and Rainbow Six Vegas.

Despite its influence, Kill.Switch sadly didn’t receive any nominations or awards. However, its legacy is deeply embedded in the DNA of modern third-person shooters.

Before its release, the game underwent several changes, as seen in E3 and beta footage. One striking difference is the HUD, which was originally green instead of blue. In another clip, Nick Bishop—the game’s protagonist—had a different running animation. Additionally, early concept art reveals plans for a female lead character, though this idea was ultimately scrapped.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much information about Kill.Switch’s pre-release development beyond E3 and demo footage, as well as a few bits of trivia. Fun fact: Kill.Switch was supposed to have a follow-up titled The Adversary: City Under Siege. Unfortunately, the project was cancelled around 2004 and never saw the light of day.

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A documentary about the inception of Kill.Switch and the cancelled sequel

 

Microsoft, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

Pac-Man World 4 [Cancelled – Xbox 360, PS3]

monokoma
17-03-2021
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After releasing Pac-Man World 3 in 2005, between 2008 / 2010 Namco America (Namco Hometek) were working on a “Next Gen” Pac-Man 3D platformer for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. While this “Pac-Man World 4” was never officially announced, fans of the series found a concept trailer created for the project by a former Namco animator. Gameplay looked similar to previous Pac-Man World chapters: Pac-Man would have been able to roll and run around the levels, transforming itself into different forms such as a propeller and some kind of spiky drill.

We don’t know why this project was never completed and fans had to wait till 2013 for another Pac-Man platformer, when Namco released Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. Concept art created for this lost game are preserved below, to remember its existence.

Thanks to Paruko for the contribution!

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Playstation, Sony

Pac-Man Ghost Zone [PSX – Cancelled]

monokoma
14-11-2010
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Pac-Man Ghost Zone is a cancelled platform game that was in development in 1996 by Namco Hometek for the original playstation. This would have been the first 3D Pac Man game to be released for home consoles. Ghost Zone was previewed in various old magazines and it seems that it was even shown in some form at E3, but after a while Namco decided to kill the project for quality reasons. As we can read on the Playstation Museum:

We built a playable demo and even though there was some fun gameplay, the game just never felt right. The environments all felt too much the same and it was lacking a sense of grandeur found in other games like the recently released Mario 64. Japan must of felt the same way too – when we flew to Japan and presented it to Namco president Nakamura-San, he was very displeased. As a result, almost the entire team – save 1 designer (myself), 1 programmer (Gil Colgate) and 1 artist (Neil Strudwick) – were fired and we had to start again on what eventually became Pac-Man World.”

Thanks to Celine for the scans! (GamePro #100, Console+ #78, GameInformer #53)

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