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Babylon 5: Into the Fire [PC – Cancelled]

Babylon 5: Into the Fire is a cancelled space combat simulation that was in development by Yosemite Entertainment, an internal division of Sierra FX / Entertainment, based on the cult TV series. The main story would have been placed after the war against the Shadows, but an in-game simulator was supposed to allow fights against their ships, as well.  As we can read in Wikipedia, work on this game ended on September 21, 1999, when, as part of a corporate reorganization, Sierra cancelled it and laid off its development staff when the Babylon 5 was only a few months away from release.

The game was going to let players to pilot of a Starfury fighter craft, giving the opportunity to “move up through the ranks,” and eventually take command of capital ships and even fleets. Christopher Franke composed and recorded new music for the game, and live action footage was filmed with the primary actors from the series.

In the old Babylon 5 website we can still read some more info about the project:

What ships can we fly?

In the single-player game you’ll be flying for the Earth Alliance. That means that your primary ships will be the Starfury and the Thunderbolt. The Minbari Nial, the Centauri Sentri, the Narn Frazi and the Drazi Sky Serpent fighters will be available in multiplayer mode. The Whitestar may also be added as a special case ship.

Will this game be multiplayer?

From day one, the game has been designed with a robust multiplayer mode. B5’s mulitplayer mode has been shown at 1999’s E3, Gencon and a few other events where gamers have been able to test the multiplayer demo.

Thanks to Brackynews and derboo for the contributions! (scans from from PowerPlay 7/1998 and PowerPlay 9/1999)

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Space Fantasy Zone [PC Engine – Cancelled]

Space Fantasy Zone is a cancelled shoot ’em up planned for the PC-Engine, as a weird mix between the original Fantasy Zone and Space Harrier. The game was in development in 1991 by NEC Avenue, but for some reasons it was never released. A playable version was eventually leaked online so if you are interested to know more about the game, you should be able to easily find it with google.

Thanks to Celine and Guilherme Miranda for the contribution!

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Fallout: New Vegas [X360 PS3 PC – Beta/Cut/Debug + DLC]

Fallout: New Vegas is an action FPS/RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Before the game was released changes were made to the game near the end of development. Most of what is documented below can be found in promotional screenshots, videos, and developer diaries.

During initial development, Fallout 3 super mutants appeared in the game as placeholders. Possibly until the New Vegas super mutant variant was created. For example; Neil – a friendly super mutant you meet at Black Mountain – originally appeared as a Fallout 3 super mutant in the beta. You can compare what Neil looked like in the beta to what he looks like in the final below this paragraph.

BETA:

Screenshot of Neil in the final product from: http://www.fallout.wikia.com

FINAL:

Another character that was changed in New Vegas is Mr. House. Mr. House uses a master computer to communicate to the player in the Lucky 38 casino. At the time, Mr. House appeared different on the computer screen in the video: developer diary #4 – factions.

Screenshot of Mr. House in the final product from: www.fallout.wikia.com

BETA:


FINAL:

The final character that was changed in New Vegas is Sunny Smiles. Sunny wears the same armor in the final like she does in the beta, however her appearance in the game changed somewhat. 

Super Star Soldier 3D [PC-FX – Cancelled]

NEC/Hudson unveiled a new hardware board, codenamed IronMan, in mid 1992 that would replace the aging PC-Engine. During the announcement they showed some  tech demos and between them there was a polygonal-based flying shooter game that later was known as Super Star Soldier 3D. However NEC didn’t release the new system that year because the PC-Engine was still quite popular in Japan.

Only with the approaching of new rivals like 3DO, Saturn and Playstation NEC decided to release a successor to its popular platform using as the base the old board showed two years before ( it’s still unknown the difference between the original Iron Man and the final PC-FX ), but Super Star Soldier 3D was never finished. The project is of particular interest because PC-FX never had any polygonal-based game.

Scans from Consoles Plus issue 11 and 19, article by Celine

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The Incredible Shrinking Character [Cancelled – PSX SAT PC]

The Incredible Shrinking Character is a cancelled action adventure game that was in development by Go-Go Interactive Studios and that would have been published by Cyberdreams for the Playstation, Saturn and PC in 1996. The plot involved a crazy doctor that shrinked the main character with an experimental potion. Players would had to explore the (now) huge laboratory resolving puzzles, to find a way to return to normal. As we can read at Bill Narum’website, former owner of Go Go Studios:

The year is 1959. You are a Private Investigator hired to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Julie Caldwell, daughter of a wealthy east-coast industrialist family. The subject, in her early twenties, was last reported heading to visit the home and laboratory of Dr. Warren Franklin. […]

On the afternoon of January 30th, you head off to the doctor’s castle for the interview of a lifetime. Unknown to you, Dr. Franklin has laid a trap, and you awaken in a stupor to find yourself only 3 feet tall and gradually shrinking. You realize now that finding Julie will be no simple task. […]

Another reoccurring sound you can’t help but notice is that of a female screaming, most likely the victimized Julie. The volume and intensity increases as you approach the dungeon. You must find the antidote and save Julie soon, but first you must evade becoming dinner for the doctor’s house cat, and numerous other deadly creatures, bats, rats, roaches and ants, etc. that inhabit the mysterious castle.

They planned at least 10 levels in the game, in which the main character would have shrinked more and more each hour, leaving us to deal with big ants and size-based puzzles. A short preview of The Incredible Shrinking Character with some screens were published in NextGeneration magazine issue 14 and some more info on the project can be found at Bill Narum’website. You can even download a playable beta demo for PC! Huge props to Bill for preserving some documents of this lost game!

Thanks to Celine for the contribution! Thanks to Ari for a backup of the demo!

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