[E3'13, Multi] Wolfenstein: The New Order's E3 trailer features alternative history

[E3'13, Multi] Wolfenstein: The New Order's E3 trailer features alternative history

So, what if things had gone a little bit differently with the Nazi's? That seems to be the question that Wolfenstein: The New Order is pushing with its E3 trailer.

Hit play to check it out; it features Nazi's on the moon and some dangerous looking robots.

Wolfenstein: The New Order is due to release on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 this holiday season; the game will also release on PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Written by: Kyran Morrison

User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

View the original article here

Activision Blizzard sees 'best performance in history' during 2012

by Jordan Mallory on Feb 7th 2013 4:49PM

Activision Blizzard and its many, many franchises brought in $4.85 billion dollars in net revenue over the course of calendar 2012, with $1.76 billion of that hitting its coffers during the three month period ending on December 31, 2012. Digital sales represented 32 percent of that total annual new revenue, raking in $1.54 billion.

As far as actual profit is concerned, Activision Blizzard reports net post-tax income of $1.14 billion for the year and $354 million for Q4; a 5.8 and 257 percent year-over-year increase, respectively.

"Activision Blizzard delivered the best performance in its history," CEO Bobby Kotick said in the financial statement. "In the short-term, we expect to continue delivering strong profitability, but below our record setting 2012 performance, due to a challenged global economy, the ongoing console transition and a difficult year-over-year comparison because of Blizzard's record-shattering Diablo 3 success in 2012."

In addition to said Diablo 3 success, Activision Blizzard also lists Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 2 and Skylanders among the many reasons that it had such a successful year, with Skylanders as a series having crested $1 billion in lifetime sales.

Looking forward, Activision Blizzard anticipates total net revenues for calendar 2013 to ring up at $4.08 billion, with $1.16 billion of that being generated during the year's first quarter.

View the original article here

History of Nintendo at E3 (1995-2010)

It is almost here. Soon, we will see the next home console from Nintendo. It will surely be a big day in the history of the gaming company. As the big day gets closer and closer, I thought it would be fun to look back at the history of the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Since its inception in 1995, we have witnessed many great announcements and debuts. Despite the changes E3 has made through the years, including moving to different cities, shrinking, and growing, many console manufacturers and game developers have used E3 to show off many of their new equipment and games. Here is a brief history of Nintendo at E3.

1995
Nintendo talked about its next home console, known at the time as the Ultra 64. The big news was the company’s unveiling of the Virtual Boy. This attempted venture into the world of 3D ended up as Nintendo’s only “commercial failure.” SNES games Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong 2, and Earthbound were also highlighted.

1996
Nintendo unveiled the Nintendo 64 and the first 3D Mario game, Super Mario 64. Pilotwings 64, Shadows of the Empire, and Wave Race were also featured. The Virtual Boy got a significant price drop, and the Gameboy Pocket was shown.

1997
Nintendo featured Nintendo 64 games such as GoldenEye 007, Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

1998
Nintendo shows off the final version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64, which goes on to be a hit among Zelda fans, and arguably the best Zelda game. Perfect Dark was also announced as a follow-up to Rare’s Goldeneye 007. The Gameboy Color was also given a release date, and Pokemon was featured.

1999
Nintendo 64 games Star Wars Episode 1 Racer and Donkey Kong 64 were shown. The Gameboy game, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is also featured. Near the end, Nintendo gives a sneak peak at the development of their next home console, codenamed Dolphin, which would use DVDs for games instead of cartridges.

2000
Nintendo kept quiet about their upcoming Dolphin console. Instead, they focused on Nintendo 64 games like Conker’s Bad Fur Day and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. They also said little about the upcoming Gameboy Advance.

2001
Nintendo featured their newest console, the Nintendo GameCube. They also showed off games, such as Luigi’s Mansion, Pikmin, Wave Race: Blue Storm, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Cel Damage, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, Super Monkey Ball, and Star Fox Adventures. A large focus was placed on the Gameboy Advance and games like Super Mario Advance, Advance Wars, and Golden Sun.

2002
Nintendo GameCube games Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Star Fox Adventures, Timesplitters 2, Resident Evil Zero, Wario World, Phantasy Star Online, and 1080° Avalanche were all shown along with the Wavebird wireless GameCube controller. Gameboy Advance games The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland, Doom II, and Super Monkey Ball Jr. were also shown. Nintendo also demonstrated the Gameboy Advance connection cable for GameCube.

2003
Nintendo put a focus on expanding the Mario franchise on GameCube with Mario Tennis, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, and Mario Kart Double Dash. Also shown were F-Zero and Pikmin 2.

2004
Nintendo features the Nintendo DS as the third tier, even though it went on to eventually replace the Gameboy Advance. The first trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was also shown. Other GameCube games like Advance Wars: Under Fire, Paper Mario 2, and Donkey Konga (with the bongo peripheral) were displayed.

2005
Nintendo unveils its newest home console, codenamed Revolution (later to become Wii), but they did not reveal the motion controller. The Gameboy Micro was also shown, which turned out to be the final design of the Gameboy franchise.

2006
Nintendo stole the show, according to many new outlets, with their display of the Wii. Along with their display of many Wii games, they chose not to unveil the final price. They also announced a release date for the Nintendo DS lite.

2007
Nintendo demoed three new peripherals; the Wii Balance Board (with the game Wii Fit), Wii Zapper, and Wii Wheel (with the game Mario Kart Wii). Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl were both given release dates.

2008
Nintendo announced Wii MotionPlus and Wii Speak peripherals. Wii Music, Shaun White Snowboarding, Animal Crossing: City Folk, and Wii Sports Resort were also announced for Wii. GTA: Chinatown was also highlighted for Nintendo DS.

2009
Nintendo unveiled the Wii Vitality Sensor, which to this day, has not been seen again. New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Golden Sun DS, WarioWare D.I.Y., Wii Fit Plus, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Metroid: Other M were also shown.

2010
Nintendo unveils their newest handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS, and surprised attendees by allowing them some hands-on time with the console. One of the biggest announcements was a Kid Icarus game for 3DS. They also demoed The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Sports Mix, Wii Party, Goldeneye 007, NBA Jam, Epic Mickey, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Metroid: Other M, and Donkey Kong Returns for Wii. Nintendo DS games Dragon Quest IX and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn were also highlighted.

Tweet

Hochiminh Rant Day 6

Jimmy Fallon in Dark Void Zero

Nerdy Shirts: Nintendo family tree

The History of Dark Void Zero – Part 1

Top ten best-selling games led by Nintendo, Activision

View the original article here

History of Cancelled and Unreleased Video Games - Part III

Donkey Kong Racing
Platform(s): GameCube
Developer: Rare, Ltd.
Publisher: Nintendo
Cancelled: 2002

What was it?: No, that isn’t a typo, there was indeed to be a successor to the popular 1997 Nintendo 64 racer Diddy Kong Racing. It was, however, to be a significantly different game than its predecessor. Instead of carts or mini-planes, characters would saddle up on the backs of the series’ popular animal friends such as rhinos, swordfish, and ostriches to race through lush jungle environments as well as races in the sky and the sea. The animals could consume food and other items during the race to evolve into fierce, unstoppable brutes of force. Players would need to strategically choose their animal to race with, as each track offered branching routes that only certain animals could utilize. Furthermore, Rare hinted at the possibility of switching animals mid-race. Obstacles like swarms of bees or a school of piranha were added as challenges to slow down competitors during the race. A full roster of characters was never revealed to the public, but Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, and Taj the Genie were shown as competitors. It seems likely that the rest of the roster was fleshed out primarily by members of the Kong family and other characters familiar to the franchise.

What happened?: When Microsoft purchased developer Rare for a record $375 million in 2002, Donkey Kong Racing was left in limbo. While Rare’s other GameCube title in development at the time, Star Fox Adventures, was permitted to be released on Nintendo’s purple box after the purchase because it was already near completion, Donkey Kong Racing was still early in development and was thus left unfinished. Nintendo retained the rights to the Donkey Kong IP so Rare was unable to shift development over to the Xbox as was done with Perfect Dark Zero.

Will it ever come out?: Very little was shown or even said about the game prior to its cancellation, indicating it was probably still very early in development. If Donkey Kong Racing is ever to be resurrected by Rare, it would have to be on a handheld, due to Microsoft’s ownership of the company that restricts console releases exclusively to Microsoft platforms. Otherwise, a different development studio would have to re-envision the project. Both scenarios seem highly unlikely.

Earthbound 64/Mother 3

Platform(s): Nintendo 64
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Cancelled: 2000

What was it?: Intended to be the sequel to the 1995 SNES game Earthbound, Earthbound 64 was going to be a rare breed on the Nintendo 64: a first-party turn-based RPG. Set a decade after the events of Earthbound, the plot followed a cast of 10 playable main characters as they confronted the Pig Army who was attempting to enslave mankind. With fantasy, medieval, and futuristic settings, Earthbound 64 followed a familiar formula of most other RPGs in the gameplay department, with the turn-based battles experienced from a first-person perspective. The game was intended to provide a unique experience for each player, offering multiple methods of conquering obstacles and different consequences for dropping items. Developers claimed the game would take over 40 hours to complete for experienced gamers. It was originally intended to be released for the Nintendo 64 hardware add-on called the N64DD in order to maximize the utilization of technology in the game, but was eventually moved back to the Nintendo 64 cartridge format.

What happened?: Press who were able to see and play early builds of Earthbound 64 were actually thoroughly impressed with the RPG. While the gameplay and story seemed to be progressing well, problems in development may have first been encountered when development was forced back to the Nintendo 64 cartridge after the N64DD hardware was cancelled. The development team was also inexperienced at making 3D games and allegedly struggled with the steep difficulty of developing for the Nintendo 64. The game was delayed several times, causing fan interest to wane due to the excitement for the forthcoming GameCube console. It was finally cancelled in the summer of 2000.

Will it ever come out?: It did already, albeit in an altered form. There was significant interest from several Nintendo executives to salvage Earthbound 64 after its cancellation, including Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata, as well as a sufficient appetite from fans to see the title resurrected. Mother 3 was eventually released for the Game Boy Advance in 2006, utilizing many of the gameplay and design features of Earthbound 64 retrofitted for the handheld, albeit with a drastically different visual style. Creator Shigesato Itoi has apparently stated that the GBA version of Mother 3 is vastly different than its N64 counterpart, but details on the actual differences are unclear. Obviously we will never see Earthbound 64 in its original form.

Fear Effect Inferno

Platform(s): PlayStation 2
Developer: Kronos Digital Entertainment
Publisher: (none)
Cancelled: 2003

What was it?: Inferno was to be the third instalment in the critically-acclaimed Fear Effect series and the first on the PlayStation 2. Few details were ever released, although Inferno was said to be based on the best ending one could achieve in the original Fear Effect. One of the series’ sexually-promiscuous protagonists, Hana, is captured by demons disguised as doctors and nurses and taken to an asylum where experiments are performed on her, triggering hallucinations that force her to complete ancient tasks while her friends attempt to get her out. Completion of these challenges would grant Hana the power to escape from her demon captors and rejoin her fellow bounty hunters Deke, Rain, and Glas. The four would later find themselves fighting off the remaining minions of Hell. Based on images and videos of the game, several gameplay changes and additions could be noticed, although the core action-heavy, run-and-gun gameplay remained from previous entries. Players could map separate firearms to the circle and X buttons, allowing for a huge variety of weapon combinations. In addition, evasion moves would be improved, characters could use environmental objects for cover, quick-time events would be utilized during cut-scenes, and a “Fear” meter was added, although its functionality is unknown. Inferno would obviously be the best-looking game in the series, utilizing the cel-shaded technique and pre-rendered backgrounds common to the series, all with a fresh coat of next-gen PlayStation 2 paint.

What happened?: Inferno was first shown at E3 in 2002 and was intended for release later that same year, but details remained scarce throughout its brief lifespan. Eidos Interactive published the first two games in the Fear Effect series, but around the time Inferno was being developed the publisher adopted a more strict quality assurance stance. Rumours suggest that Inferno was one of the first victims of the program, as Eidos initially stated that it wasn’t satisfied with the quality of the game and told developer Kronos to keep working on it before eventually rejecting the game altogether. Kronos pitched the game to other publishers but surprisingly was unable to find any takers. The title was cancelled in 2003 and soon after the developer met the same fate, as all of its other game ideas were rejected by publishers as well.

Will it ever come out?: With developer Kronos long gone and Fear Effect Inferno never having gained any interest from publishers, it is obvious that the project is dead. That being said, Eidos Interactive, now a subsidiary of Square Enix, still has the rights to the Fear Effect franchise so perhaps there will one day be a new Fear Effect game.

This is Vegas

Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Developer: Surreal Software
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Cancelled: 2010

What was it?: Contrary to popular belief, not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. This is Vegas was to be an open-world game designed to allow players to indulge themselves in the immoral offerings of Sin City, minus the real-life consequences. Players fill the shoes of a man who arrives in Las Vegas with almost no money to his name and looking for a one-night bender to forget his woes. Afterwards, the protagonist decides to build connections and make money to advance his social status while completing other missions to prevent a corporate big-wig from fulfilling his goal of making Vegas a completely family-friendly destination. Obviously gambling would play a major role in the game, offering slots, blackjack, and poker for players to try their hand at. There was even a system that allowed players to cheat in order to gain an edge, although careless use of such a system could warrant a visit from casino security thugs. Beyond the casino floor players could head into clubs where they could go dancing, serve drinks, control the hose for wet t-shirt contests, get into bar fights (featuring an in-depth combat system), or just throw back a few wobbly-pops. Each of these activities was a mini-game of sorts, with various payoffs rewarding your success or punishing your failure. It was even rumoured that players could partake in a male-stripping mini-game. Outside of the casino resorts, driving was another major aspect of the gameplay, although specific details are unknown. Collectibles would be scattered throughout the city along with various side missions in a vast world to explore, featuring many of the real-life Vegas resorts slightly re-imagined due to licensing rights. Initially your character would be staying at sleazy motels, but progression would graduate the player to penthouse suites and luxury cars to cruise the Strip in.

What happened?: It has been reported that initial publisher Midway Games spent up to $50 million on development for This is Vegas. This probably contributed to the company’s crippling financial woes that forced them to file for bankruptcy in 2009, with Warner Bros. Interactive purchasing most of Midway’s assets shortly thereafter, including developer Surreal Software and their title This is Vegas. The game initially had a release date of late 2009, but after the takeover news on the title became extremely scarce. Early in 2010, Warner Bros. announced that there would be significant layoffs at several of their development studios, including Surreal Software. Although This is Vegas has not yet been officially cancelled, the layoffs at Surreal Software combined with the fact that nothing new has been shown in more than a year have led most to believe that the project is dead.

Will it ever come out?: Given that there has never been an official cancellation, there remains a small sliver of hope that This is Vegas may yet resurface, especially given the vast amount of resources that were sunk into its development. However neither Surreal Software or This is Vegas have been heard from since the layoffs in early 2010, suggesting that that the title has either been cancelled or is far from completion.

Thornado

Platform(s): GameCube
Developer: Factor 5
Publisher: (none)
Cancelled: 2002

What was it?: Thornado was intended to be a spin-off of the Turrican game series (although it didn’t utilize the Turrican brand because of legal issues), a 3D shooter inspired by genre leaders like the Metroid, Contra, and Bionic Commando games. Development began for the Nintendo 64 but was later shifted to the GameCube, headed by Rogue Squadron developer Factor 5. Players would be able to play as one of two selectable characters, one a man named Thor and the other a woman, defending the Earth from a destructive invasion from a repulsive and aggressive alien force. While the title relied primarily on heavy action elements, exploration-based gameplay would be present as well. The protagonists could use wind-based attacks, such as tornadoes, that could blow enemies and obstacles out of their way, and also had a grappling hook and an arsenal of other massive guns and weaponry at their disposal. Environments were said to be enormous and richly detailed, ranging from futuristic urban Earth environments to battles in outer space. Thornado was expected to be an early showcase for the power of the GameCube.

What happened?: Thornado was in development for a very a long time, although little was ever shown to the public. A significant amount of development was performed for the Nintendo 64, but Factor 5 decided that its high ambitions for the game would be better suited for the much more powerful GameCube. It is unclear how much development took place on the GameCube, but it is suspected that Thornado was put on the backburner while the studio focused on getting Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader out in time for the Cube’s launch, and Rogue Squadron III shortly thereafter. Thornado was quietly put on indefinite hold but was never really heard from again.

Will it ever come out?: Press that got to see the brief demo in 2000 were blown away by the game’s intense action and incredible visuals (at the time), so it is a shame that we never got to experience Thornado. It is surprising that so much development would go into a game without ever seeing release, although some elements were said to have been borrowed for the future Rogue Squadron games. Thornado seemed to be forgotten and the US studio for Factor 5 has since closed its doors. The Turrican franchise is hardly relevant anymore, so any kind of resurrection is very unlikely.

Winter

Platform(s): Wii
Developer: n-Space
Publisher: (none)
Cancelled: 2009

What was it?: Winter was a Wii-exclusive survival-horror title from developer n-Space, perhaps best known for their work on the supernatural GameCube shooter Geist. Players step into the shoes of a woman named Mia, who wakes up finding herself in a wrecked ambulance and in the midst of a violent snowstorm in a small town in the Midwest that has effectively cut the town off from the outside world, with no recollection of the events that led her here. Mia would be forced to find warmth and shelter from the frigid temperatures by finding ways to light fires, finding methods to start vehicles and run the heaters, or cut open the belly of dead creatures to utilize their remaining body heat. The rapidly accumulating snow dropped by the storm would present another obstacle, blocking doors and other routes. This isn’t any ordinary severe snowstorm either, as she notices strange creatures stirring within the storm. It is this combination of natural and supernatural elements that would create an exceptionally desperate situation for players. Winter was an attempt by n-Space to give real meaning to the term “survival-horror,” avoiding the recent shift in focus toward action-heavy gameplay in horror titles such as Resident Evil 4. n-Space was also committed to making Winter the best-looking game on the Wii graphically speaking, and to make full use of the Wii’s motion controls.

What happened?: Despite having a small team of barely a dozen people working on the title and only six weeks to get a demo up and running, Winter was met with extremely high praise from publishers and media alike when presented at the Games Developer’s Conference in 2007. Despite the enthusiastic reception, n-Space worked tirelessly for months to find a publisher to support the title, but no one was willing to get behind the project despite its high quality, simply because the Wii was not considered to be a strong platform for games targeted at mature audiences combined with the always-risky proposition of releasing an original IP. Early in 2009, some of the lead talent working on Winter told IGN in an interview that the title was being halted due to the lack of a publisher.

Will it ever come out?: n-Space maintained as recently as 2009 that the team still had a strong desire to finish the game if they could find a publisher. A small team was even assembled in 2009 to improve the old demo with updated graphics and visual effects and to add WiiMotionPlus support, but little other progress has been noted in the past two years or so, leaving prospects looking relatively bleak. It would be a shame to see Winter fall by the wayside, as all early reports indicated that the title featured very solid gameplay and impressive visuals, and the developer was obviously very committed to bringing a rare mature-themed title to the Wii.

Read the other parts of our unreleased games feature:
Part I
Part II
Part IV (Coming Soon)
Part V (Coming Soon)

Written by: Mike Glubish

View the original article here

History of Cancelled and Unreleased Video Games - Part II

Castlevania: Resurrection
Platform(s): Dreamcast
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Cancelled: 2000

What was it?: A good 3D title has always been been difficult to come by for the Castlevania series, although last year’s Lords of Shadow was a strong effort. After the legendary Symphony of the Night was released on the PlayStation in 1997, Konami naturally expressed great interest in bringing the series to 3D in order to catch up with the rest of the industry. After a couple of mediocre attempts on the Nintendo 64, Konami decided to try their luck on the Dreamcast with Resurrection. Very little is known about the title, other than that the story was to focus on vampire killers Sonia and Victor Belmont prior to the events of the original Castlevania, summoned to fight off the evil countess who has paved the way for the return of Dracula. It was to be very objective-driven with little or no free-roaming adventuring, attempting instead to emulate the success from the action-oriented gameplay of the traditional side-scrolling titles.

What happened?: Art director Greg Orduyan is the only person to shed any light on the doomed fate of the project. He claims that Resurrection was nearing completion when it got the axe in early 2000. There are conflicting reports on just how good the build of the game was: early reports expressed disappointment with the initial demos, but later builds seemed to show some promise. Orduyan gave his own opinion on the project, stating that he felt that the game looked and played better than most Dreamcast titles at the time. Several reasons are cited for the cancellation, such as conflicts between Japanese and American teams that hindered development progress. It seems most likely that Resurrection came under the guillotine due to the impending death of Dreamcast and the imminent launch of the PlayStation 2. In fact, Resurrection was cancelled on the same day that the PS2’s release date was announced, prompting Konami to shift its focus to Sony’s juggernaut.

Will it ever come out?: There isn’t much reason to try to bring this one back to life, although perhaps there is a small chance that it may someday surface as a downloadable game since it was apparently near completion anyway. Konami chose not to port Resurrection to the PS2 because of the steep difficulty in porting a game to another console late in development. Konami has since repeatedly failed at making a solid 3D Castlevania, but 2010’s Lords of Shadow finally offered a worthwhile experience.

Dead Phoenix

Platform(s): GameCube
Developer: Capcom Studio 4
Publisher: Capcom
Cancelled: 2003

What was it?: GameCube owners may recall publisher Capcom’s bold announcement in 2002 that they would bring five exclusive titles to the little purple cube (branded the “Capcom Five”): P.N. 03, Killer7, Resident Evil 4, Viewtiful Joe, and a mysterious flight-action game called Dead Phoenix. Capcom gave very scant details on Dead Phoenix and showed only a single, albeit impressive trailer showcasing the game. Players would control a winged man armed with some heavy weaponry in a huge, open world over a dynamically-changing floating island, battling through hordes of creatures resembling dragons and demons. The protagonist’s arm cannon would continually evolve into different forms of an energy cannon during gameplay, eventually transforming him into a phoenix, hence the title.

What happened?: Nintendo faithful may also remember the disappointment that followed the elation of the Capcom Five announcement: only P.N. 03 remained a GameCube exclusive (and it wasn't very good) while Resident Evil 4, Killer7, and Viewtiful Joe were all eventually ported to PlayStation 2 and Dead Phoenix quietly vanished into vapourware. People were shocked and dismayed when Dead Phoenix failed to appear at E3 in 2003 after the debut trailer created so much buzz a year earlier. As months drifted by with no mention of the game, rumours of cancellation began to circulate. While Capcom would never officially acknowledge that the project was dead, its fate appeared to be sealed by the end of 2003. Further rumours suggested that the title had evolved into the next iteration of Kid Icarus, but such rumours were unfounded.

Will it ever come out?: Dead Phoenix developed a cult following in its short time in the spotlight, many of whom held hope for quite some time that the game would still be released since Capcom never officially cancelled the title. The reality is that with so few details ever being revealed, development probably never progressed very far, and the concept has been long forgotten with no hints of a resurrection.

Sonic X-treme

Platform(s): Saturn
Developer: Sega Technical Institute
Publisher: Sega
Cancelled: 1996

What was it?: Just as every Nintendo console needs a Mario game (or thirty), every Sega console needed a Sonic game. After the success of the Sega Genesis and the subsequent launch of Sonic the Hedgehog as its primary mascot, Sega launched the ill-fated Saturn console, and in 1996 Sonic X-treme was announced as the blue hedgehog’s flashy 3D debut. Gameplay shifted away from the traditional side-scrolling method toward free-roaming 3D environments mixed with fast-paced tube-like areas for Sonic to cruise through. Sonic X-treme was supposed to utilize a “fish-eye” camera style in order to provide players with a more complete view of the surroundings. It is also alleged that there were to be four playable characters: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and a new character named Tiara; each with his or her own unique gameplay styles and abilities. There were apparently to have been six new stages and a final boss stage, and Sonic was to be equipped with an arsenal of new moves that allowed to him throw rings as weapons and execute a downward dash.

What happened?: X-treme actually began development on the Genesis, but then moved to the Sega 32X add-on and eventually to the Saturn for its more powerful technology. There is a long and complicated history of drama and technical difficulties for the development of Sonic X-treme. The game changed platforms and underwent a change in game engines, key members of the development team were either removed from the project or left, and a lack of manpower strained the development team. Add in the fact that there was a lot of miscommunication between Sega executives and the development team, Sonic X-treme had quite a stressful development cycle. Aiming for a Christmas 1996 release, game designer Chris Senn became seriously ill while pushing exceedingly hard to complete the title before the deadline, causing further delays. Inevitably the game would miss the December ’96 release date. Sega decided to nix the project early in 1997, opting to port Genesis game Sonic 3D Blast to the Saturn instead. An attempt was made by an ex-member of the team to make Sonic X-treme into a PC title, but this idea was also shot down.

Will it ever come out?: Obviously it is much too late for a commercial release, and the game was never completed to a point where it is likely to ever become a downloadable title. There are internet bootlegged versions available for download off the internet, although they are only very primitive versions of the game.

StarCraft: Ghost

Platform(s): PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
Developer: Nihilistic Software, Swingin' Ape Studios
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Cancelled: 2006

What was it?: Rooted in Blizzard’s StarCraft universe, better known as the setting for the 1998 strategy title, Ghost aimed to please console gamers as a third-person action title, giving players a more intimate experience with the creatures and vehicles featured in StarCraft. Players would take control of protagonist Nova, a young woman whose family is murdered, triggering a violent eruption of her mental powers that kills hundreds. She is then taken in and broken down into a ghost agent, but little else was ever made known about Nova’s motivation in Ghost. The gameplay was to feature plenty of gunplay with a variety of unique advanced gadgets and weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, some vehicular combat, and stealth elements. Nova also had psionic abilities at her disposal, as well as an athletic prowess that allowed her to perform acrobatic manoeuvres like traversing ledges, hanging and swinging from pipes, and sliding down ziplines. Ghost was to feature an ambitious multiplayer component that focused on team-based gameplay through traditional game types like deathmatch and capture the flag, as well as original game modes. The aim was to give players an on-the-battlefield perspective of the StarCraft battles experienced in the strategy game.

What happened?: Development of StarCraft: Ghost began way back in 2001, and was revealed to the public in 2003. The title made appearances at E3 in both 2003 and 2004, garnering high praise from the majority of the press lucky enough to get their hands on it. To everyone’s surprise however, after several delays developer Nihilistic Software was pulled off the project in 2004. Blizzard put newly-acquired developer Swingin’ Ape Studios on the project and it reappeared at E3 2005, but failed to impress attendees due to its general lack of polish. The GameCube version of the game was canned, with the console’s lack of acceptable online capabilities cited as the primary reason for the cancellation. Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions would soon meet the same fate however, as the game was put on indefinite hold in early 2006. The game has never been officially cancelled, but little has been heard about the project in the last five years.

Will it ever come out?: While StarCraft: Ghost has never actually been cancelled, most gamers and gaming media have written off the possibility of the game resurfacing. However, as recently as a couple of years ago Blizzard outright refused to acknowledge the death of the once highly-anticipated title, so it seems there might remain at least some appetite from the company to make Ghost a reality someday. It would certainly require a complete makeover since technology has evolved greatly since its last appearance in 2005, so don’t expect it anytime soon if you’re still holding out hope for a revival.

The Lost

Platform(s): PlayStation 2, Xbox
Developer: Irrational Games
Publisher: Crave Entertainment
Cancelled: 2002

What was it?: The PlayStation 2 was a haven for horror games, and The Lost was supposed to be one of the headliners (it was also supposed to come to the Xbox). Players would control protagonist Amanda, a distraught young woman who has lost her only daughter in a tragic car accident. Amanda makes a desperate deal with the devil that would permit her to descend into hell to retrieve the soul of her deceased child. Influenced heavily by Dante’s The Divine Comedy (Dante’s Inferno), players could transform the main character into different playable “Entities” (Light, Shadow, Instinct, Corruption), each one of which would offer unique abilities and distinctive physical appearances that aid her in traversing the dark corridors of hell. Shadow offered special stealth abilities, Corruption enabled the use of powerful damaging magic, Instinct turned Amanda into a close-quarters combat specialist, and Light allowed her to use defensive and healing spells.

What happened?: Developer Irrational Games seemed to struggle with The Lost throughout its development. It has been suggested that the concept proved too ambitious for the inexperienced team’s abilities, which may seem surprising when considering the studio’s more recent work on classics like BioShock and SWAT 4. The game changed graphics engines during development, and while media were impressed with the direction the title was headed, demos of the game often sported shaky framerates and clunky controls. Publisher Crave Entertainment also changed its publishing model from a traditional model into a budget model mid-development, which caused more friction in the development. Some legal issues began to arise until the plug was finally pulled before the game could be completed.

Will it ever come out?: In a strange twist of fate, a company from India called FXLabs bought the rights to The Lost, and actually released a completed build of the game in India on the PC. The title was changed to Agni: Queen of Darkness and the art style was changed, but the core story and gameplay elements remained relatively intact. Sparse reviews seem to indicate that it is actually a pretty decent game. FXLabs has another version of the game titled Inferno on their website, perhaps indicating a western release might be in the cards, but there is no indication of when or if the game will ever become available in other territories. Meanwhile, developer Irrational Games has gone on to bigger and better things (including the upcoming BioShock Infinite), so don’t expect them to have any further involvement with this project.

True Fantasy Live Online

Platform(s): Xbox
Developer: Level-5
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Cancelled: 2004

What was it?: There were two Holy Grails for the original Xbox: a massively-multiplayer online RPG, and a game that would bring attention to the Xbox in Japan, a region where the big black box was selling miserably in comparison to the rival PlayStation 2 and GameCube. True Fantasy Live Online was meant to provide an answer to both. Set in a cel-shaded fantasy world, players would assume roles as both common citizens and grand adventurers. After creating your own unique character and heading online to join thousands of other players, you would be able to choose from different professions, join guilds, buy and decorate your house, and interact with other players’ characters. While there would always be plenty of activities to indulge in around town, players could also join up with up to nine other people and go out adventuring. Classes and professions could combine to give each character unique abilities, allowing for numerous gameplay options (ie. Mage/Chef vs Mage/Shop Owner, etc). The goal was to create an experience that emphasized both basic lifestyle aspects as well as classic RPG adventuring in an MMO environment.

What happened?: TFLO was among the most highly anticipated Xbox titles from the time it was announced in 2002 until the project was cancelled in 2004. Despite high praise from those who had the opportunity to get their hands on the game, development was allegedly plagued with difficulties. Developer Level-5 apparently had difficulty implementing vital online elements like network coding and voice chat. Level-5 and publisher Microsoft apparently had severely conflicting fundamental aspirations for the game that ultimately spelled its demise: Level-5 struggled to meet the intense demands of Microsoft, and Microsoft became frustrated with the developer’s lack of progress. Initially slated for release in late 2003, it was quietly delayed into 2004. Shortly after the E3 conference in 2004 where the game was suspiciously absent, Microsoft officially announced its cancellation despite allegedly being near completion.

Will it ever come out?: Six years have passed since TFLO was cancelled, and much has changed within the industry over that time. MMOs are becoming increasingly popular and more feasible than in the early days of online console gaming, and Microsoft continues to search for ways to increase their presence in Japan. Both Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino and former GM of Microsoft Game Studios Shane Kim have expressed interest in realizing TFLO, perhaps even on the Xbox 360. While the original project is definitely dead, it is not unlikely the concept may be revisited, especially considering that it is among the most highly-anticipated games ever to fail to reach store shelves.

Read the other parts of our unreleased games feature:
Part I

Written by: Mike Glubish

View the original article here

History of Cancelled and Unreleased Video Games - Part I

Chances are that over the years there has been one or even a number of games that caught your attention, only to slip away into oblivion. Some of them more high profile than others, but there is always a sense of mystery and curiosity about these games that we never got a chance to play. We will look at some of these titles that never made it to store shelves in a multi-part series that will provide some insight on what these games were about, what happened to cause their demise, and if there is any chance that we might still get to play them.

B.C.

Platform(s): Xbox
Developer: Lionhead Studios (formerly Intrepid Games)
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Cancelled: 2004

What was it?: First announced back in 2001 when developer Lionhead Studios (then known as Intrepid Games) was beginning to make a name for itself in the console world working on the now immensely popular Xbox-exclusive Fable series, Peter Molyneux’s ambitious team was simultaneously plugging away at perhaps an even more highly anticipated and ambitious Xbox exclusive, simply titled B.C. As the title would suggest, B.C. was to explore a world in a prehistoric setting. Part action/adventure and part god-simulation, the player was to take control of a tribe of primitive humans on the brink of extinction. In order to ensure survival and the continuity of the human species, the player must guide the people in hunting and gathering food, discover and connect with other tribes, overcome a rival simian race, and defend against dangerous creatures (dinosaurs, duh), among a variety of other missions, with the ultimate goal of the progression of the human race. In gameplay terms, the player could control a single character or a small group of characters in order to complete tasks. The game was to boast a complex eco-system as well, with each creature populating the game world having its own food, water, and safety needs, whereby the individual organisms would have to independently fulfill these requirements by hunting and/or defending itself against larger predators in order to survive. It was also possible to capture and train these prehistoric beasts to use in combat against rival tribes. Furthermore, the game was to feature a dynamic weather system that would affect the behaviour of the tribe.

What happened?: Microsoft and Lionhead appeared so confident in this project that they actually announced a sequel before the first game came out. Suspicions about the stability of the project began to arise in 2003, when a key member of the development team, Ben Cousins, abandoned the team and the project for unknown reasons. Still, the studio maintained that the title was on track for a late 2004 release. In October 2004, despite rave reviews of the game’s ambition and originality from the press and unbridled excitement from Xbox owners, Molyneux announced on the developer’s website that development on B.C. was being put on indefinite hold, but that they hoped to revive the project sometime in the future (six years and counting). Specific reasons were not cited, but rumours suggested that the project was simply too ambitious and too complex to achieve a high quality final product on the Xbox.

Will it ever come out?: Since the announcement that development was suspended was made back in 2004, B.C. has rarely been mentioned, much less credibly suggested as making a comeback. Lionhead appears to be solely focused on the Fable franchise, so don’t expect a revival anytime soon. Still, gamers swooned in anticipation of B.C. prior to its supposed impending release seven years ago, and with the power of current consoles the premise still seems original and appealing enough to remain feasible. Recent rumours have even suggested that Lionhead may once again be working on B.C. as a follow-up title to 2010’s Fable III, however a recent issue of Game Informer magazine declared the project dead.

Robotech: Crystal Dreams

Platform(s): N64
Developer: GameTek
Publisher: (none)
Cancelled: 1998

What was it?: Robotech: Crystal Dreams was intended to be a killer-app launch title for the highly-anticipated Nintendo 64 console in the mid-90s, promising visuals as good as or better than any other console game to date. Early “gameplay-target” renderings were released to the public in 1995, sending gamers into a frenzy over its potentially incredible visuals. Crystal Dreams was to be a simulation-style take on the popular Robotech franchise, allowing players to take a cockpit view of the titular robots as they traversed across space. Developer GameTek claimed that everything in the game would be rendered in 3D with no pre-rendered backgrounds, and that the game world was so huge that it would take six months in real time for players to fly from one end of space to the other, dynamically encountering various missions along the way. The game was also to feature more than 30 controllable functions at the player’s disposal, multiple branching missions, a four-player battle mode, and over 40 minutes of in-game voice dialogue.

What happened?: Crystal Dreams was a huge order for the relatively small and unknown studio at GameTek. The team began work on the project well in advance of the Nintendo 64’s launch, when it was still unclear what the capabilities of the console would be and how much capital was required to develop and release such an ambitious title. The game slipped past its original N64 launch window release date and, without a publisher, GameTek fell on difficult financial woes. In 1997, the studio filed for bankruptcy, but managed to keep its head above water. They released Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune 64 to help keep money flowing in, but sales were not enough to fully fund the studio’s signature project, Crystal Dreams. Things started to look up when publisher Capcom signed a deal to distribute the title and GameTek announced they would publish the game on their own. However, just days after making an appearance at E3 in 1998, the developer closed its doors for good along with their Robotech game as the studio had simply run out of money.

Will it ever come out?: Word has it that Crystal Dreams was in pretty rough shape when the media last had the chance to play it in 1998, even in supposed later stages of development. Controls were clunky and the visuals were unpolished and out of date. Obviously there would be little motivation today to see such a game resurrected, and with the developer long gone, there is zero chance of that happening anyway.

Sadness

Platform(s): Wii
Developer: Nibris
Publisher: (none)
Cancelled: 2010

What was it?: Sadness was one of the first titles to be announced for the Wii, a psychological horror title from relatively unknown Polish developer Nibris. Set in an isolated area of Eastern Europe in the early 1900s, Nibris was always timid when it came to releasing specific details regarding the game’s story. What we do know is that players were to control a woman as she wandered the Ukrainian countryside, facing a variety of psychologically-induced obstacles, such as monsters that supposedly existed only in her damaged psyche, in a feeble attempt to protect her son. The intent was to scare players with a haunting atmosphere rather than gratuitous violence, confronting them with scenarios associated with narcolepsy (abnormal sleep patterns), nyctophobia (intense fear of darkness), and paranoid schizophrenia (chronic paranoia and delusions). A lack of actual weapons like guns in the game would force players to find more creative ways of defending themselves, like using a piece of broken glass or a broken chair leg as makeshift defence mechanisms. The game was to sport a unique gothic, photorealistic visual style featuring exclusively black-and-white graphics, and would culminate in one of several alternate endings.

What happened?: Sadness was first announced several months before the Wii was launched in 2006. The project seemed low on credibility from the get-go, with no publisher announced and an unknown developer heading up the ambitious project. Still, the mature theme and original concept of the game got many anxious gamers excited for the title’s undetermined release. While a teaser trailer was released in 2006, Nibris indicated that a gameplay trailer would be released before the end of 2007, but failed to make good on the promise. With no new details or screens of the game coming out, media outlets suspected the game was cancelled, or outright doubted the game’s existence. In 2008, Nibris’ website claimed that they would make an appearance at the Games Developer’s Conference, but unsurprisingly they were no-shows. In late 2009, a source close to Nibris confirmed that Sadness was still alive, but in need of a publisher. Finally in April of 2010, a music composer for the game mercifully confirmed to N-Europe that the project had been cancelled. In an N-Europe interview with a scriptwriter for the game, Adam Antolski indicated that the game never really left the conceptual stage, with little or no actual development ever occurring, at least to his knowledge. The title’s ultimate demise was attributed to an extremely small development team that was low on experience and resources, and had fundamentally opposing ideas on key elements of the game.

Will it ever come out?: Extremely unlikely. Nibris failed to ever produce an actual Wii title, and while Sadness definitely had a cool concept, it was obviously much too ambitious for this developer. It sounds like despite all the talk, Sadness was more or less conceptual and never really experienced any actual development. If there is any glimmer of hope to be found, it would be in that Nibris’ projects are said to have been handed to another developer after the developer closed shop in early 2010.

Star Fox 2

Platform(s): SNES
Developer: Nintendo, Argonaut Games
Publisher: Nintendo
Cancelled: 1995

What was it?: Following the success of the Super NES hit Star Fox in 1993, Nintendo set out with the next iteration of the Super FX chip (the technology that made 3D graphics possible on the SNES) to make a sequel. The formula was considerably different than its predecessor though, with the linear flight paths scrapped in favour of more free-roaming space. Players would navigate the Lylat system on a map screen (think Mass Effect’s navigation screen) until they encountered a group of enemy fighters or a captured planet, at which time the game would switch to the more traditional action perspective for classic Star Fox battles. The goal was to rescue planets (particularly Cornelia) from annihilation and to destroy enemy battleships and installations. More missions were added every time you would kick up the difficulty level as well, actually significantly altering the experience between difficulty levels. Players were apparently also given the ability to custom outfit their craft with weapons and even transform into a giant walking robot with the press of a button. The game was to make some technological advances as well, with more enemy types, bigger battles, and detailed bases above and beyond what was possible in the first Star Fox.

What happened?: Star Fox 2 was actually nearly (perhaps fully) completed by the time it got canned in 1995. Nintendo never gave a reason for the cancellation, but a programmer later claimed that Shigeru Miyamoto axed the project because it was too close to the impending launch of the Nintendo 64. Miyamoto wanted a long enough break between the 3D games on Super NES and the Nintendo 64 games in order to clearly define the technological leap between consoles. Ironically, the Nintendo 64’s launch was pushed back until the middle of 1996 in Japan and late 1996 in North America, so there would have been well over a year between the release of Star Fox 2 and the launch of the N64 anyway. Several of the ideas from Star Fox 2 were eventually utilized for the N64 hit Star Fox 64 in 1997, and some of the game's programming elements were utilized in Super Mario 64.

Will it ever come out?: Those who have played beta versions of the game were generally extremely impressed with the title, which makes it all that more difficult to let go. We can always hope for a Virtual Console release, but Nintendo is yet to indicate that they have any interest in a VC release. There are forged versions of Star Fox 2 available on the internet from fans who acquired the code for the game and added their own patches and debug codes.

Thrill Kill

Platform(s): PSX
Developer: Paradox Development
Publisher: Virgin Interactive/Electronic Arts
Cancelled: 1998

What was it?: Thrill Kill was the fighting title that was to one-up the controversial Mortal Kombat games with its own brand of insane over-the-top violence and sexual innuendo. Up to four combatants could face off against one another on a single stage, with the idea to build up your character’s “bloodlust” until you could finish off your opponents with the titular “thrill kills”. Since the characters are actually dead souls rotting in hell, characters could not actually be damaged so the traditional health bar was replaced by a “kill meter” which would fill up bit-by-bit with each attack. Once the meter was full, players could finish off an opponent with one of a variety of brutally violent thrill kills (the game’s answer to Mortal Kombat’s “Fatalities”). Examples of these finishing moves included tearing an opponent’s limbs off and then beating the opponent to death with them, and decapitating an opponent, drinking the blood from the severed head, and eating their arm. Once a character was killed, the kill meters would reset to zero and the process would begin again with the three remaining combatants. The twelve characters, who are portrayed in demonic forms according to their sins, ranged from a cannibal to a pyromaniac and a murderous librarian/housewife. The game’s story indicated that the winner of this cruel tournament would win reincarnation from Marukka, the Goddess of Secrets, as their reward.

What happened?: With an industry that generally craves blood and gore in its videogames (especially in the late 90s), Thrill Kill gained some impressive hype prior to its cancellation. The title was actually completely finished and ready for release when Electronic Arts gave it the axe in 1998, deciding it was too senselessly violent to publish. The ESRB still has the title listed on its website, sporting the rare “Adults Only” rating due to its extreme violence. Electronic Arts even deemed it so repulsively offensive that they wouldn’t sell the game to another publisher for release. Times have changed: anyone play EA’s Dante’s Inferno or Dead Space 2? Yeah...

Will it ever come out?: Since the game was actually finished, former members of the development team predictably released full versions of the game to the public via the internet after its cancellation, and bootlegged copies flooded the web for anyone interested in getting a taste. Beyond that, Thrill Kill will never see a commercial release. Don’t get too upset though: despite the hype, word has it that the gameplay wasn’t very good.

(Watch the video at your own discretion, as it contains extreme violence)

Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans

Platform(s): PC
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: (none)
Cancelled: 1998

What was it?: With the Warcraft franchise having already established itself as a premier RTS franchise with Warcraft and Warcraft II, Blizzard Entertainment decided they wanted to flesh out a more detailed storyline for the series. Warcraft Adventures was to be a point-and-click adventure game for the PC (inspired by other popular point-and-click games like Monkey Island), following the story of Thrall, a young orc who was raised by a human lieutenant who intended to use Thrall to build and control a powerful orc army. Thrall ditches his human overlord and seeks out more of his kind in an attempt to find out more about orc heritage and history and to build a resistance against their human oppressors. While the story sounds fairly serious, it was to be presented in a dark-comedic fashion, with plenty of funny dialogue and colourful characters.

What happened?: Blizzard sank quite a bit of resources into the development of Warcraft Adventures, including the expensive outsourcing of a large team from experienced company Animation Magic to build the animated sequences. Originally planned for release in late 1997, the game slipped into 1998 while the developer reconstructed many of its elements because it wasn’t reaching their standards of quality. In the meantime, LucasArts released their own point-and-click adventure, The Curse of Monkey Island, to rave reviews, and also announced plans for Grim Fandango, which took a similar gameplay approach into 3D. Blizzard quickly realized that Warcraft Adventures was not able to perform at the same level as these titles, deeming their own project to be outclassed and outdated when compared to the current precedents in the genre. Even though it was close to completion, the studio needed significantly more development time and resources to bring the title up to snuff, but decided to nix development instead of incurring more delays or releasing a substandard product.

Will it ever come out?: A petition from fans of the franchise was circulated shortly after the game’s cancellation, demanding that the project be resurrected, but Blizzard was unwilling to comply for the reasons cited above. The storyline in Warcraft Adventures was eventually adapted to the novel Warcraft: Lord of the Clans, written by Christie Golden in 2001. Protagonist Thrall also later played significant roles in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos in 2001 and World of Warcraft in 2004. With Thrall’s story having been told, along the decline of point-and-click adventures and Blizzard’s current focus on World of WarCraft and StarCraft II, it is very unlikely that we will ever see Warcraft Adventures resurface.

Written by: Mike Glubish

View the original article here

The (admittedly incomplete) history of gaming in 4 minutes

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jan 20th 2011 12:00AM

An (almost) one-shot video chronicling the evolution of console gaming by design students from Germany may be incomplete (they acknowledge as much), but it's the clever presentation that makes it worth watching. The piece hits major points by kicking off with the Oscilloscope from 1958, the NES from the 80s and then does its best to keep up after the 16-bit generation kicks in during the '90s.

Remember, it's a student project that was assembled in a brief amount of time. However, if some souls out there think they can do a better, professional full-scale version, we'd love to see that -- heck, we bet everyone would.

View the original article here