Xbox

Microsoft, Xbox

Grabbed by The Ghoulies [Beta – Xbox]

monokoma
24-09-2011
2 Comments

Grabbed by The Ghoulies is an action game that was developed by Rare and released for the original Xbox in 2003. As we can read on Wikipedia, before any details of the game were publicised, it was widely considered that Grabbed by the Ghoulies would be the subtitle to the next Conker the Squirrel game, after Conker’s Bad Fur Day. The game was originally intended to be a much larger in scope open-world platformer but due to the Microsoft buyout in 2002 and time constraints a simpler design and concept was adopted.

Grabbed by The Ghoulies was initially going to be released on the Nintendo GameCube and in the final Xbox game you can unlock a trailer from E3 2001, that should show the project when it was still on the Nintendo console (you can find it below). Thanks to Rareware Archives we can see many concept arts and beta screens, that show early designes of the characters, unused enemies and other interesting differences. As we can read in their description for the Grabbed by The Ghoulies beta 2001 video:

A lot has certainly changed from the game we’re familiar with, as the video includes a few cut enemies mucking about, early working models for the Zombie Ghoulies and Coopers girlfriend Amber and a surprise from Gweneth, the sneering Ghouly at the end, who was ultimately cut as well.

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Microsoft, Others, PC / MAC, Xbox

Shade: Wrath of Angels [Beta – PC / Xbox]

U64 Staff & Contributors
14-08-2011
No Comments

Shade: Wrath of Angels is an action game for the PC and Xbox, developed by Black Element Software and published in 2004 by Cenega. Shade: Wrath of Angels’s working title was Nefandus and development Started in 1997 as isometric shooter based on Quake2 engine. The project was to be released by freeware, but distributors got attenttion, orginal concept was changed to 3rd person shooter with new storyline and title changed to Shade: Wrath of Angels. Game was finished in 2003, but developers didn’t fell they could succeed with the game concept and development started once again as hack’n’slash action with free moving camera, 1st person view and 2nd playable character the Servant, Mequon physics and DirectX 9 features added, story was brand new and final game released fall 2004 had nothing to do with previos version. Final game was to be ported to orginal Xbox and Nokia Ngage phone, but that never happened.

Final game was about saving main characters brother trough present, medieval, Egypt and Shadowland, but that has nothing to do with previous builds.

Post by Xerxesmv

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Videos (final version):
 

Microsoft, Xbox

DOAX: Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball [Beta – Xbox]

U64 Staff & Contributors
28-07-2011
No Comments

DOAX is a title most people don’t take very seriously, and I guess that’s fair in a way. Regardless of the nature/content of the game, I was curious to find out if there had been any interesting changes during the course of its development. While browsing the image archives of such sites as IGN.com, I stumbled across a few screenshots that depict early versions of certain items, etc.

Anyone who is familiar with the interface of the retail version of DOAX should instantly notice slight differences in the look of these early menus. It isn’t incredibly unlike the ones we have now, but the icons for the items/bikinis appear to be 2D as opposed to the 3D rotating models that appear in both the icon view and the main window of the final. The names for most of the items are quite different from what we see in the final game as well, not to mention sold at a drastically reduced rate than we are used to now (the devs must’ve had a VIP membership at Zack Island). For example, the “camisole” bikini is shown in one screenshot, and is listed at $900. Certainly a more realistic price than the released version (in a twisted way), as this same bikini is sold as “Ariel” in the final at a whopping $80,000… although, assuming that the Zack Island currency is based on yen, then the former price would have been a bit silly.

Anyway, it seems like at this stage of the game the developers were simply labeling the bikinis by type or style. Maybe they were cheaper just to make testing easier, or maybe there really wasn’t much of a reason at all. An entirely unused item can be seen in one screenshot, labeled as “cat ears.” Interesting that this was intended to be a separate accessory, because ultimately the devs instead included them as additional pieces to specific bikinis. In other words, they cannot be worn unless the player equips their character with a bikini like the “raccoon.” Regardless of this fact, the original cat ears accessory still remains unused because the color and exact texture is not found for ears as an addition on any bikini.

So, it’s safe to say we got shafted with the released version of DOAX, right?! Nah, just joking… it really isn’t much different.

Article by Trebla Yevrah

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Microsoft, Others, PC / MAC, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Cold Fear [Beta – XBOX PS2 PC]

U64 Staff & Contributors
25-07-2011
3 Comments

Cold Fear is a 3rd person shooter horror title developed for the PS2, Xbox, and PC. Developed by DarkWorks, published by Ubisoft and released in 2005.

Development:

Cold Fear didn’t start as a horror title, based on information and speculation, darkworks was working on several new projects with several publishing and developing houses. In 2003 when DarkWorks was working with Capcom thier project: Lost Mantis/USS  Antarctica was canned. In 2004 DarkWorks worked with Namco U.S. on a new title. The game was Time Crysis Adventure. However the game, much like Lost Mantis, was canned, but not before Ubisoft stepped in and took over the project. TC: Adventure evolved into the game Cold Fear. There are several Concept Art images that remain of Time Crysis: Adventure. You can view the Concept Art below:

Alpha Stage:

Prior to the games release Cold Fear orignally looked more detailed and gritty. The enviroments showcased in these screenshots are different in the final version – similar but different. The main chracter in this build was not from the USCG (United States Coast Guard) but part of the Navy Seals and was involved in the operation that invaded the russian ship at the begining of the game.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE THE SCREENSHOTS)

 

Tom Hansen Background

In the alpha build, Tom Hansen was a 29 year old captain of the navy seals – he wasn’t part of the USCG (United States Coast Guard). It can be assumed that – much like the final version – the navy seals was wiped out. Making Tom Hansen the last survivor on the russian ship. It’s possible that Tom was the leader of that Navy Seal group.

 

Microsoft, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Scooty Racers [PS2 XBOX – Cancelled]

Celine
23-06-2011
5 Comments

Scooty Racers is a cancelled racing game that was in development for the Xbox and Playstation 2. Rapallo (Italy) based publisher and developer Trecision announced in 2001 that it was working on this arcade racer for next generation consoles. In the game, players race agile scooters through large free-roaming environments depicted using a cel-shaded graphical style. For the project Ivan Del Duca from Milestone ( known software house specialized in racing games ) and Rick Gush from Westwood were hired by the italian company. In the later stages the game was adapted to the Popeye license and renamed Popeye: Hush Rush for the Spinach however all the efforts were wasted when Cryo, the french publisher, closed doors in 2002.

Trecision got back the full rights over the game however, the closure of Cryo hit Trecision heavily, as the shareholders decided not to sustain the company anymore. Trecision filed for voluntary liquidation in July 2003.

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