CODE:Inferno is a cancelled action RPG that was in development for the Playstation 2. In mid 2001 From Software announced its software lineup for all the major consoles of the time. Among the titles cited there were some that never seen a commercial release like Gold Star Mountain and Gaia Blade.
Another game that would be cancelled soon was CODE:Inferno for PS2, an action-RPG where players assume the role of a masked warrior named White Demon, who wields a giant cross called the Holy Key as his weapon. Little else is known about this mysterious project but you can see some artworks that appeared back then in a japanese magazine.
Thanks to Susumu for the translation of a Famitsu article.
The game originally began life on the 32-bit PlayStation, off the back of Porsche Challenge. After having made an acclaimed circuit driving game, Team SOHO – like many other developers at the time – felt that a free roaming vehicle game was an interesting concept worth exploring. The title was prototyped and playable missions were made, but it then evolved into a Playstation 2 (PS2) project. However the original code was kept and there was talk of including it on the finished game, which would ultimately not happen. Apart from several screenshots printed in the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, the original version would never see release.
The hype surrounding the project began in earnest just before E3 2000, when a series of screenshots were published online. They revealed an amazing level of detail, clearly showing the very identifiable streets near Team SOHO’s studio. Though it has been argued that these shots were actually mock-up pre-renders, it is possible that they were taken from actual PS2-spec hardware running in real time. However, it is clear that these early screen shots include vehicle and character models which are more detailed than those in the final game, as well as higher-resolution textures and a much greater level of anti-aliasing than may be possible on PS2 hardware. [Info from Wikipedia] You can see these early PS2 screens in the gallery below.
As David has made us to notice: “The Getaway had alot more cars in the beta version, but some of the companys didn’t want part in the game, (probably because of the controversy over killing and GTA styled games) and were removed from the final version.”
Breaker is a cancelled online coop shooter that was in development by Tecmo for Playstation 2. Players would cooperate in a 4-man squad vs hordes of toothsome xenomorphs, with an arcade based weaponary set. The only footage released for the game was probably from a target render and Breaker soon vanished from Tecmo’s release list, without any official reasons. We can speculate that PS2’s online network was not popular enough to justify the investment in this kid of game.
[Thanks to David Costa Mano and Ross Sillifan for the contribution!]
At E3 2003, Nintendo showcased two Zelda games that would make use of the Game Boy Advance connectivity, Four Swords and Tetra’s Trackers. In December of the same year, it was announced that the two games would be sold together on a single disc, Four Swords +, along with a third game, Shadow Battle. Four Swords Adventures was released in Japan with Hyrule Adventure, Shadow Battle, and Navi’s Trackers as three individual games bundled together.
In Navi’s Tracker (formerly planned as Tetra’s Trackers) multiple players use a combination of the television screen and Game Boy Advances to search for members of Tetra’s pirate gang in an attempt to gain as many stamps as possible within a given time limit. Action takes place on a Game Boy Advance used by each player, while the television screen shows a basic map and Tetra narrating the action. Unlike most other Zelda games, players can enter their name and choose their gender; however, they play as one of the Links regardless. A single-player mode is also available, which allows players to either collect alone or compete against Tingle, the aspiring fairy found in other titles in the series such as Majora’s Mask and The Wind Waker.
It was later announced on June 7, 2004 that Hyrule Adventures and Navi’s Trackers would be sold as two separate titles in the United States, while the retail status of Shadow Battle was still unknown. This decision was later changed – Hyrule Adventure and Shadow Battle would be bundled, while Navi’s Trackers would not be released in the United States. [Info from Wikipedia]
In the beta version of “Four Swords Adventures” it appears that Nintendo had planned on using the Link sprite from “Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past”, but later changed it to the new “Toon Link” character design, as seen in the GBA version of Four Swords. The sprite was less detailed in the early build and looked like it was from an SNES game, but the final version’s Link sprite was improved.
Gabrielwoj have found an unused sprite of the Old Styled from the SNES game. Let’s see it:
Located at: GC4Sword/result.arc -> timg/link_dot_01_test.bti
At Nintendo’s Space World event in 2000, various videos were shown promoting Nintendo’s upcoming console, the Gamecube. One of the videos Nintendo presented was a short clip of a swordfight between Link and Ganondorf.
This clip led many fans to believe there would be a darker, more realistic Zelda on the horizon. Many other clips shown later became announced as full games (such as Metroid Prime), so it was fair to assume that this was the direction Nintendo was taking for their next Zelda project.
However, at E3 2001, Nintendo’s formal debut of the next Zelda surprised many players. Shown for the first time was a trailer that showcased a cel-shaded Link and much more cartoon-inspired art direction.
At this point, it’s likely the game had little content beyond essential gameplay mechanics and graphics. There was most likely little to no story in place at this time. The bulk of development would have occurred after this point.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Beta
The development process of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was heavily influenced by the last two console Zelda projects: Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. In a sense, Wind Waker widely acted in part as a tech demo for everything the Zelda team could not accomplish on the Nintendo 64. Things such as weather and a lack of loading screens in the overworld were all planned from the beginning.
Much of Wind Waker remained unchanged from initial concept to final release, largely due to the game being so concretely planned beforehand and not facing any major developmental issues, unlike its predecessors. What the game essentially started as was a technical showcase of everything the development team wanted in their last two titles. If anything, the largest changes pertained to the game’s storyline.
Wind Waker’s original story was much more related to the original story of Ocarina of Time (seen above), which initially followed Link undergoing his coming-of-age ceremony. While Wind Waker’s final story was quite different, many thematic elements of the game’s story relate to the concept of coming-of-age.
This method of storytelling was originally going to be something visually apparent in the game, where Link would visibly grow older as the game progressed. Many pieces of unused game elements have been recovered from the Wind Waker game data. While many of them are merely alternate versions of things that made it into the final game, there are still many oddities worth examining.
Unused Wind Waker Assets
Development Screenshot
Perhaps the game’s most discussed element is its cel-shaded art style. The Zelda team explained that they believed this approach allowed for much more emotion to be communicated by the game’s characters, as a realistic art style makes it much harder to convince a player of emotion. Resulting from this was a large amount of highly detailed and expressive characters throughout the game, as well as a very emotionally-driven story.
On this page you can see images taken from the various beta builds of Zelda: the Wind Waker, as well as old art of the characters that would later populate the world. As you can see, the differences are clear: in the first video from Space World 2001, which aroused so much buzz because of its original style, the Link design was even more minimalist than the final version’s design.
Another interesting detail is the color of Link’s shirt; it changed from brown, the color he wore in the first game of the series, to light green. The HUD and button layout were changed over time for many times. The old character concept art clearly shows a different Link design from the released version of the game. It’s interesting that Nintendo originally planned to use an “older” Link design for the story, even if he was always in cartoon-style.
Thanks to Jayand 8PM for the english corrections! Thanks to Bryan for the updated description!
You can find more info about The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker in the Zelda Wiki!
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