on-rails shooter

3D Laser Blaster [3DO – Cancelled]

3D Laser Blaster is a cancelled game that was in development for the Panasonic 3DO. When 3DO system was  first announced, goggles for stereoscopic 3D were shown as a prototype. 3D Laser Blaster (a shooter?) was the game planned to be the pack-in for this peripheral. However neither glasses or game were ever commercialised.

Below you can see images about the 3D glasses prototype for 3DO and game taken from EGM VideoGame Preview 1993.

Images: 

Star Blade: Operation Blue Planet [Arcade – Cancelled]

Star Blade: Operation Blue Planet is a cancelled arcade on-rails shooter that was being developed by Namco. It was supposed to be a sequel of the first Star Blade, originally released in 1991.  A proto of the coin-op was playable at Amusement Machine Show in 2001, but the game got quietly canceled, probably because the cabinet was too expensive.

Star blade cabinet

Star blade image

The cabinet was known as “Over Reality Booster System” (ORBS). Its main feature was a special lens that projected a 180 degree image in order to create a very immersive experience for the player.

 

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles [Beta – Wii]

Resident evil: Umbrella Chronicles is a rail shooter, released in 2007, and developed by Capcom for the Nintendo Wii. This is the first installment of the Resident Evil Rail Shooter titles for the Wii – with the sequel being Darkside Chronicles. Before the game’s release, an early beta gameplay video was released on the web. The gameplay video demo is titled “Gamer’s Day Version” and certain aspects of the game shows various beta differences not in the final product.

Here is the list of differences as seen in the video:

Note: Some of these differences are placeholders, while other differences can be considered beta.

1) Dialog:

Chris and Jill’s Dialog in this video is different in comparison to the final product. It can be assumed that their Voice-overs were re-recorded before release.

2) Different HUD:

In the video it shows the HUD with the health bar on the left-hand bottom  of the screen and the weapon selection system is on the upper left-hand corner. In the final product the HUD is all in one (health and weapon selection) and is located in the left-hand corner of the screen in the final product.

3) Forest Zombie Placeholder:

During the video, Chris and Jill scream in “Horror” when they run into Zombie Forest. Zombie Forest isn’t seen in this video and that a normal zombie enemy is in it’s place. It can be assumed the zombie forest model wasn’t completed before this video was recorded.

4) Placeholder sound effects:

If you listen carefully you can hear Resident Evil 4 grunt and death sound effect used (Zombie and Zombie Dog grunts and death grunts). It can be assumed that these sound effects are placeholders.

5) Different Counter Animations:

In the video, Chris has a different counter. The counter animation shows Chris stabing and then kicking the zombie down. While in the final product it was changed slightly – In the final it shows chris sticking a knife into a zombies head and then kicking the zombie down. Not much of a change, but it’s different.

6) Cross Hair:

The cross harl is slightly different. In the video it’s just a cross hair. While in the final product it shows not just the crosshair but how much ammo you have in your weapon. The same cross used in game (as shown in the video) can be seen in the final product as a way to navigate the menu.

7) Different Zombie Locations:

One difference can be noted in the video is on the walkway in the main hall, before the giant snake battle. Bellow chris comments: “I thought we already killed them?!” The camera then pans over to the zombies in the main hall, showing the player what chris is talking about. In that very same video you can normal zombies, as opposed to the crimson head zombies seen in the final product.

You can watch the entire Gamer’s Day Video below:

 

Panic Museum [Beta – Arcade]

Panic Museum is a on-rail shooter developed by Taito and GameWax, released in arcades in 2010. The game is a bit like a cross between the House of the Dead and the film Night at the Museum. Kieran played a beta version of Panid Museum at blackpool in the UK, and he noticed some differences:

The original name of the game was to be called haunted museum but was changed possibly due to copyright reasons (not sure why)
In the final version of the game the crosshairs was left out but was in the beta version.
Another difference is that you were set to go in a certain order starting with the mummy Egyptian level and then the library etc but in the final version you now have 3 stages to choose from in any order you like apart from the ones that need unlocking going upwards.
The aquarium level is the last level to be unlocked in the final version but wasn’t in the beta version
In the library level the deck of card monsters ran at you too quickly but now their speed have been reduced in the final version thus making the animation more in line with everything else.

Thanks to Kieran for the contribution!

Video from the final version:
 

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles [Wii – Beta]

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is a rail shooter developed and published by Capcom in fall of 2009.

In one of the gameplay trailers, Claire uses Leon’s Handgun in the chapter Game of Oblivion (Code Veronica).

E3 2009 Stage Demo:

At E3 2009, gamespot.com posted a video of a stage demo that was playable at the event. The stage demo presented at E3 shows different character and chapter selection screens.

Final note: the E3 demo’s pause menu had an option called “Equipment Screen”. It was changed to “status” in the final product.

 

In an interview – posted on videogamer.com – MK was asked about Darkside Chronicles (scrapped) online co-op:

VideoGamer.com: Will you be able to play co-op online?

MK: No, unfortunately not.

VideoGamer.com: Why?

MK: Time lag. Especially wi-fi connection is not that stable. The time lag issue is the main reason that’s stopping multiplayer online. Having said that we have introduced a wi-fi ranking system, so you can compete your score with other people around the world.

Source: http://www.videogamer.com/wii/resident_evil_the_darkside_chronicles/preview-1839.html

In another article, kotaku writes how the first person camera for Darkside chronicles was toned down due to some complaints of how the camera shook around too much.

Source: http://kotaku.com/5342088/resident-evil-the-darkside-chronicles-on-steadier-ground

Developers recently toned down the shake of the camera in documentary-styled shooter Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles to make the upcoming Wii title a bit easier to play, Capcom developers say.

“It was a bit of a trial and error, this shaky cam,” said Masachika Kawata during a meeting at this week’s Gamescom convention in Cologne. “It was probably a little too much, so it’s a little toned down now.”