This game was though to be unreleased, as it was not possible to find “Ernald” in the release list for SNES games, but after some researches by Pat & Robert Seddon (as you can read below the post, in the comment section) we have found out that this was just an early “translation” of the original japanese name (Elnard) for 7th Saga, released in 1993. Thanks to everyone! :)
Images:
Another round of beta scans, today from Cd Consoles n°3, a french game magazine from Jan 1995, thanks to Abandonware Magazines. I have found a couple of interesting images, that looks suspicius.. but maybe it’s just me. First one of the bunch is Metal Jacket for Playstation:
I did not find any infos or images from the final version, just an interesting video of a tech demo (thanks to Assembler):
Anyway, i’m sure that the final game looks more like this tech demo than the image in the scan.. maybe the one in the magazine was a shot from a FMV? Probably we’ll never know.
The second game is Gale Racer for the Saturn:
The mistery of this scan.. is that a game called “Gale Racer” do exist for the Saturn, but is really different from this one:
What? Where are the f-zero alike cars? That’s not Gale Racer! ..or is it? On MobyGames they say that “Gale Racer is a Saturn conversion of racing game Rad Mobile for the Sega System 32. Everything is similar except that this version turns your rivals into fully polygonal cars. It also adds Full Motion Video sequences, as well as a CD soundtrack. The scenarios are 2D and all of them correspond to various zones from the United States. The only available camera is the one inside the car, from where you can see the wheel and indicators (again, in 2D). Also, the game features weather effects, like rain, fog and night, for which you should use either the headlights or the windscreen wiper to succeed in the race. ” So… it would be really strange if they were making a port of the arcade game for the saturn, but with flying cars.. probably the magazine just mixed the name of the game, and those screenshots are not from Gale Racer.. but then, what game is it? Does someone knows?
The third game is… Lobos Sekei for Playstation? What? I have no idea.
This game does not seems to exist.. at least i could not find any info about it on google. And we all know that if there’s nothing on Google, it does not exist. Right?
The last scan for today is.. a Mega CD version of Alien Soldier?
Well, it was released for Genesis / Mega Drive.. so maybe this was only an error.. anyway, i did not played the game, but the screenshot looks strange.. beta or not?
Articolo originale su Lucasdelirium
A sette mesi dalla cancellazione di Full Throttle : Hell On Wheels (l’8 agosto del 2003), Sam & Max Freelance Police è stato cancellato dalla Lucas il 3 marzo del 2004. In questo secondo caso, però, il gioco procedeva sicuramente meglio del precedente, ma la crisi finanziaria della Lucasarts era ormai in pieno corso.
[A cura di Domenico “Diduz” Misciagna]
Sam & Max Freelance Police era il seguito di Sam & Max Hit The Road. Della trama non si sapeva nulla di specifico: Stemmle aveva parlato di sei missioni, tenute insieme da una trama generale “misteriosa”. Quattro le storie delle quali eravamo riusciti a venire a conoscenza tramite varie fonti: una si ambientava in una stazione spaziale abbandonata di quarta categoria, un’altra in un “baccanale neopagano” nel bel mezzo del deserto, un’altra ancora in una gara di ballo con baby-gang (che farà il verso a “West Side Story”) ed infine ce n’era una che si svolgeva durante un “destruction derby” tra i ghiacci. Che bello. :-(
Al suo annuncio nel 2002, questo progetto doveva fare il paio con il defunto Full Throttle : Hell On Wheels, cioè rappresentare un’ “evoluzione dell’avventura grafica” in direzione action-adventure. A dir il vero, nonostante nella press-release si parlasse molto vagamente di “azione”, all’E3 del 2003 il gioco fu a sorpresa definito nelle “Game Info” un “Adventure”, punto e basta. Simon Jeffery, l’ex-presidente della Lucas, confermò che saremmo stati di fronte ad un adventure PURO, mentre Stemmle parlò -udite,udite- di un’interfaccia punta & clicca! Un (gradito) ritorno al passato? Jeffery aveva anche aggiunto che il gioco era previsto per il solo PC, “perché le avventure grafiche classiche vivono essenzialmente su quella piattaforma”…quasi ci commuovemmo, ma si sa che i sogni muoiono all’alba. Non sarebbero mancati una dozzina di minigiochi arcade, sullo stile del “Ratto-Sfatto” del primo gioco: tiri a freccette con le vespe, autoscontri al Luna Park e via delirando. Il teaser trailer ci aveva stupiti per atmosfera e qualità dell’umorismo, fresco ed efficace come se dieci anni non fossero mai passati. Questo era forse riconducibile al fatto che Sam & Max Freelance Police portava la firma di due dei tre principali artefici di Sam & Max Hit The Road: il designer/capo progetto Mike Stemmle (anche coautore di Fuga da Monkey Island e responsabile dello strategico-gestionale demenziale Afterlife) e il mitico, insossidabile, fantasmagorico Steve Purcell, co-autore della grafica di tutte le avventure Lucas da Indy 3 a Sam & Max Hit The Road. Mancava solo Sean Clark, che del precedente episodio era capo-progetto insieme a Stemmle: all’avvio del progetto, Sean era infatti impegnato con Full Throttle : Hell On Wheels. La sfortuna ha accomunato le sorti dei due amici.
Nel momento in cui la Lucasarts prospettò al team la cancellazione del progetto, Dan Connors (il producer) ribadì la possibilità che si potesse distribuire il titolo solo via internet, episodio per episodio. Nonostante infatti la maggior parte della grafica e del sonoro fossero pronti, l’assemblaggio del gioco era largamente incompleto e in qualche mese si sarebbe arrivati sicuramente a confezionarne le prime due parti. Travolti dal panico da quasi bancarotta, i dirigenti provvisori della Lucas decisero di staccare la spina del tutto. Connors, irritato, ha fondato la TellTale Games proprio allo scopo di dimostrare la bontà di quell’idea.
La nuova società di Connors annunciò lo sviluppo di una nuova serie di avventure grafiche basate sui personaggio di Sam & Max, realizzate e distribuite digitalmente come episodi a sè stanti. Il primo episodio, conosciuto come Sam & Max: Season One venne rilasciato nell’ottobre del 2006. Nel luglio 2007 dopo la fine dei sei episodi di Sam & Max: Season One la società annunciò lo sviluppo della Season Two, prevista per la metà del 2008. (Informazioni da Wikipedia)
A dispetto dell’impressione che ci avevano lasciato i primi due screenshot di preproduzione, la conversione in 3D di Sam & Max si prospettava come la più riuscita della storia Lucas: più di quelle (comunque sottovalutate) di Monkey 4 e del cancellato Full Throttle : Hell On Wheels. Come si evince dai due recenti screenshot qui sopra, gentilmente concessi da una rivista tedesca alla comunità (li avevano avuti dall’Activision), l’uso raffinato delle ombre e delle texture, specialmente nel caso dell’ufficio, non lasciano molti dubbi sulla qualità del lavoro svolto dal team grafico. La grafica 3D interamente in tempo reale (per la prima volta in un’avventura Lucas), avrebbe permesso il ritorno dei movimenti di macchina, penalizzati nei motori ibridi di Monkey 4 e Grim Fandango.
Il reparto grafico era affidato a Derek Sakai, già animatore in The Curse Of Monkey Island e a Graham Annable, veterano Lucas, direttore delle animazioni anche del recente RTX : Red Rock. Fra le immagini del gioco potete anche vedere un bozzetto di Steve Purcell in persona: non male come chicca, eh? ;-) Peccato che ormai….
Se volete spararvi qualche stralcio di sequenza, consiglio il sito dell’animatore Joe White.
Se la musica fosse stata della stessa qualità di quella, varia ed esilarante, che accompagnava il trailer, potevamo aspettarci grandi cose da questo titolo: l’autore dei brani era il nuovo arrivato Mark Griskey, che aveva già mostrato il proprio valore in Gladius. A doppiare i personaggi nella versione originale erano tornati, in sessioni di preproduzione, Bill Farmer (Sam) e Nick Jameson (Max).
Interfaccia punta & clicca. Da uno screenshot sfocato pubblicato su una rivista, sembra che il puntatore fosse concepito per richiamare dei menu contestuali relativi ad ogni specifica zona interattiva, in maniera non molto dissimile dal doblone di Monkey 3 e dal tatuaggio di Full Throttle: da notare, in questi menu, la finezza dei caratteri, in puro stile “lettering da fumetto”. La cancellazione del gioco, con questa premessa, non fa che rigirare il coltello nella piaga di noi appassionati feriti.
[Articolo a cura di Domenico “Diduz” Misciagna]
Ringraziamo vivamente www.lucasdelirium.it per la collaborazione!
I’m not sure if online there were already some videos for the Playstation 1 version of Aeon Flux, but i do not remember any.. so maybe this one is the “first” video of the game in action, take a look and be happy.. or sad. Wikipedia says that “A game based on the original animated series was announced on April 9, 1996 for the PlayStation and Windows 95. The game, which was loosely based on “The Demiurge” episode, was being developed by Cryo Interactive and published by Viacom New Media. The game first made an appearance at E3 that same year, and commercial advertising was even included in the 1996 VHS release of the animated series.
Video:
Viacom New Media would merge with Virgin Interactive midway through the game’s development. The merger would ultimately lead to the cancellation of Viacom’s in-development games and subsequently leave Cryo without the rights to use the Æon Flux property. The game’s assets weren’t lost however, but were reworked into the 1997 title Pax Corpus, having been stripped of all copyrighted association with Æon Flux. Pax Corpus does retain many obvious similarities to the original animated series. Specifically in plot to “The Demiurge” and also in many design details, which bear a striking resemblance to examples found in the show. For instance, the female protagonist of the game wears a purple and black outfit not unlike Æon’s.
For this little movie we should give lot of love to those lovely french geeks @ www.abandonware-videos.org ..thank you guys for your great videos archive!
For old images of the game, check our Æon Flux PSX page
Dirty Harry/Dirty Harry Extreme was a cancelled third person shooter action game that was first in development at The Collective, Inc. and was intended to be published by Warner Bros. Interactive in the first half of 2007 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Additional versions were planned for Nintendo Wii, DS, Xbox, PSP, and PS2 to be released that same year.
The first conception of ‘Dirty Harry’ is believed to date back to around June 2004. Around this time, multiple sources such as Eurogamer reported that license holders, Warner Bros. had started to privately invite developers to pitch their ideas for a Dirty Harry video game. It is unknown how many other developers responded to the offer, but it was The Collective, Inc. who delivered the successful proposal and was granted the license in late 2004.
Scripting work on the Dirty Harry game started around January, 2005. Eastwood had signed on to reprise his titular role, lending his voice and likeness, as well as being a creative consultant on the project. Actors Laurence Fishburne, Lucy Liu and Gene Hackman were also planned to feature.
The reveal of the Dirty Harry video game came in February, 2005. At the time, it was being targeted for a release in 2007 to coincide with the release of the HD-DVD Dirty Harry film collection. This was part of a marketing push by Warner Bros. to resurrect the franchise and the video game, in particular, was intended to give the series greater relevance among to younger audiences.
“Creating Dirty Harry video games will also introduce this memorable film character to new generations on a medium they appreciate.” – Clint Eastwood
Its first public announcement came in the form of a press release from Warner Bros. Interactive. At the time, details on the game were scarcely available. No trailer, screenshots or information about which platforms it would be made for other than multiple unspecified “next generation consoles” was attached. This was because production on the game had not even began at this point, but WB had great confidence in the project; to the point at which they’d announce it so prematurely. It would be a while, too, before the core of development would start. WB, The Collective and Eastwood spent the remainder of the year steadily refining the script and producing concepts of set pieces.
The game took place between the first and second films, Dirty Harry and Magnum. Little information on the narrative was ever revealed, but according to the initial press statement, its aim was to add more depth to the protagonist.
Concept art:
It was in February 2006 that the game, then still going under the working title of ‘Dirty Harry’, was finally put into full development. It was being worked on for the Xbox 360 and PS3.
It was initially undecided whether or not the title was going to feature an open world San Fransisco, one former developer told us, but by the start of the year, it had been decided that it would instead take on a mission-based structure. It then became a ‘duck and cover’ third person shooter with melee combat elements.
The storytelling of the Dirty Harry game was linear, but featured a “reputation system”, as one ex Collective developer described. Players would be given the choice how to deal with criminals: they could either knock them unconscious with a melee attack or straight up shoot them with Harry’s trademark .44 magnum. The NPC’s in the game would then react dynamically to these actions. For instance, developing a high kill count or firing on someone unnecessarily could land you in hot water with the chief of police. Conversely, being too lenient on crooks could cause them to take the detective less serious, mocking him and considering him less of a threat.
In-game environments and misc. assets:
By April 2006, the game was progressing steadily at The Collective, but was not yet ready to put on display to the public. Warner Bros., on the other hand, had been talking it up to various outlets for some time and was keen to show it off. The solution to this was a trailer, which was produced by an external company. Initially, it was only shown behind closed doors to the press at E3 2006 in May, before being released online shortly thereafter.
The trailer, seen below, has been subject to some debate over the years. Some fans believed it was entirely pre-rendered and not representative of its in-game visuals, while others thought it could be an actual look at the engine itself. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. The Collective had given their game assets to ACMEfilmworks, including character models and engine schematics. ACME, under the direction of filmmaker Tigar Hare, then used these to render the trailer. Thus, it gives us a somewhat accurate portrayal of what it would have looked like in motion; albeit with a slight up-resing treatment.
As we have come to understand, Eastwood had yet to record any voice work for the game at this point, so the trailer used audio lifted directly from the original movie for the voice of Harry Callahan.
High quality direct feed screenshots of the trailer:
It was never formally announced, but in late 2006, Warner Bros. Interactive had hired the now defunct Sensory Sweep Studios to create multiple versions of Dirty Harry for other systems. These plans included Nintendo Wii, DS, PS2 and PC.
Ambitiously, the developers were aiming to deliver the same third person shooter experience across every platform. Whereas the PC release would have been a straight port of Collective’s 360 game, the DS title was built from the ground up; as were the ones for PS2 and Wii. The Wii version was never put into full production, but would have been an “up-port” of the PS2 game with the additions of IR pointer aiming and motion control for melee attacks.
PS2/Wii Version models:
DS Game environment screenshot + model:
Up until the start of 2007, development on the title had been progressing “smoothly”, one developer recounted to us. The game, which had been renamed to ‘Dirty Harry Extreme’ towards the end of 2006, was on schedule for release within the next 7 months. One source told us that Extreme was about 70% complete, when in March, it met an abrupt end.
Representatives of publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive, visited The Collective to check up on the project and were unsatisfied with the progress they had made. The former devs we quizzed are quiet about the specifics of what exactly went wrong, but the product had failed to meet the standards of WB. In the interests of protecting the brand, the company revoked the team’s access to rights, cancelling their game. Sensory Sweep’s projects were also terminated shortly thereafter.
One reliable source who was close to WBIE attributed the demise of the project to a shift in their upper management, including the installation of a new president. An internal review lead them to revise their plans for the game, the source claims.
Subsequently, The Collective had to lay off the entirety of their Dirty Harry team of around 30 people. This was, at first, denied by a representative of the studio, but as time went on and more former employees came out of the woodwork, it became apparent that this had been the case.
Foundation 9, the parent company of Collective, said that the redundancies were part of an effort to “optimise” the studio’s development capabilities. While these statements were by no means untrue, our sources disclosed that it was, in actuality, a direct result of Dirty Harry’s failure; a truth thinly veiled by the PR cover-up. The loss of the contract with WB meant that Foundation 9 no longer was financially secure enough to keep them on board.
One ex employee alleged that staff at The Collective were mislead by the publishers into thinking that the project had been outright dissolved at this juncture – it had not.
After The Collective had been taken off the project, it was widely assumed that it was dead. Rumours of its end began to circulate when WBIE’s president, Samantha Ryan, released a statement to reassure fans that this wasn’t the case:
“We are moving forward with the Dirty Harry next generation videogames and will be changing our development plans in keeping with the best interest of the franchise legacy. WBIE is dedicated to creating a game that will bring Clint Eastwood’s legendary Detective Harry Callahan character to the interactive space with a new story and great gameplay.””
The extent of these supposed plans was never divulged to the public, but Ryan and the rest of their management were indeed looking for another developer to take up the reins. It was towards the start of 2008 that TimeGate Studios, fresh from launching F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, was brought on board to complete the game.
TimeGate, however, could not simply pick up from when the previous developers had left off. Up until this point, it had been running in The Collective’s in house engine known as ‘Slayer’ with the Xbox 360 as its lead development platform. However, as Warner had no claim to use the engine without them, the game was rebuilt.
The production was subject to a major overhaul, involving the implementation of full two player co-operative gameplay for the entirety of the story mode, a former designer told us. The title of ‘Extreme’ was abandoned, as well, as it reverted to its prior working title of ‘Dirty Harry’. Monolith Productions of Shadow of Mordor notoriety had also been contracted to do additional work on the project externally.
Ultimately, despite years of toiling away behind the scenes, the Dirty Harry video game was not meant to be. In mid 2008, its final cancellation came about after its short-lived revival. A former artist from TimeGate said the decision was made by WBIE simply because “it wasn’t very good”. After several years of sinking money into a project that wasn’t turning out as they had hoped, the publisher ceased all work on it. Unlike detective Callahan, WB had no last shot left to fire, as no further attempts were made to pursue a new development studio.
Since the game vanished without a formal statement from Warner Bros. on the game’s status, various fan movements such as “Bring Back Dirty Harry The Game” have been established online in an attempt to resurrect it.
Alternative video link: