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Xbox

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (also know as Shadow Strike during its development) is a third-person stealth game in the Splinter Cell series, developed and published by Ubisoft Shanghai in 2004. Below you can see a video compiled by Silenceofthehills, with lots of early concept arts and beta screens. Text and video annotations in the video help explain the differences between the earlier planned renditions and the final version of various spots in each area.

As seen in the video, a fully missing level map is viewed under the first game‘s HUD. Since the first game had cut a level and used it as an extra in another version of the game, its quite possible that these shots are from a missing level. Its also possible that these are merely early renditions of a previous level, or even simply a test level considering the unaltered HUD.

Secondly, we can also see the previous incarnation of the PS2 and GameCube port before it had be delayed and taken under various graphical tweaks to ensure the artwork was nearer to par with the original versions of the game. This is also available in the GameInformer article scan as well, which also oddly contains a beta HUD akin to that of the online mode’s. This HUD was also apparently shared between all versions of the game.

Below is the direct quote on this from Gamespot itself, posted on February 4, 2004 by Justin Calvert.

“Ubisoft has today announced that while the Xbox, PC, GBA, and cell phone versions of Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow are still on track for release next month, the PS2 and GameCube versions will now launch at a later date. The only reason given for the delay is that the development team is committed to making sure that the other two console versions are as good as the Xbox version.”

Thanks to Silenceofthehills for the contribution!

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Videos:

Microsoft, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Area 51 [PS2 XBOX – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

29-07-2010

5 Comments

Area 51 is a cancelled action / shooter game planned for Playstation 2 and Xbox that was in development by Midway Games West in 2000/2001. It was meant to be a direct successor to Atari’s 1995 light gun shooter which saw a re-release on PlayStation, PC and Saturn in the same year.

Sadly in 2003 Midway Games West closed down and only in 2005 Midway Studios Austin released a loose remake of the 1995 game and in 2007 another sequel called Blacksite: Area 51. We can assume that Area 51 2005 is a completely different project than the 2000 / 2001 one, as the development teams were different.

It’s interesting to notice that in 1998 / 1999 Midway Games West also worked on Area 51: Grey Dawn, an unreleased arcade brawler that could have been re-used as a base to create the concept for their cancelled Area 51 for Xbox and PS2. The only video preserved from the 2000 / 2001 project looks infact a mix between a shooter and a traditional beat ’em up. If you have more info on this lost game, please let us know!

Video:

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

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones [Beta]

monokoma

19-07-2010

No Comments

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is an action-adventure game developed and published by Ubisoft Montreal. It was released in December 2005 for the Xbox, PC, PlayStation 2 and the GameCube. In the game the Prince develops a split personality, known as the Dark Prince, and this alter-ego constantly bickers with him in his mind about right and wrong. At times, the Prince physically transforms into the Dark Prince. [Info from Wikipedia]

As noticed by Zapages from the NeoGAF Forum, initially the Dark Prince had a different design than the one in the final version. Check the videos below for a comparison:

Video (Beta Dark Prince)

Video (Final Dark Prince)

Microsoft, Xbox

Roman Bloodsport [XBOX – Cancelled]

monokoma

26-06-2010

No Comments

Roman Bloodsport is a cancelled action / racing game that was in development by Dynamic Animation Systems for the original XBOX in 2003. The player would have been able to engage in gladiatorial events in many places across the empire of ancient Rome. As we can read in the official press release:

From gruesome fights to the death in arenas to dangerous high-speed chariot races, the player must master a multitude of different skills to survive and ultimately be victorious. Roman Bloodsport Live! extends the gameplay of the single player game presenting the player with the opportunity to compete against other online players in ladder and tournament games, eventually becoming the leader of his own clan of warriors.
* Arena combat and chariot racing together in one game
* 10 diferent arenas and 10 different chariot race tracks
* Exotic opponents from the far reaches of ancient Rome
* Role-playing elements allow the player to customize and upgrade their equipment as they gane wealth and fame
* XBox Live! game play extends the role-playing elements of the single player campaign

In the end Roman Bloodsport was never released, maybe because they did not find a publisher interested in the project.

Images:

Microsoft, Others, PC / MAC, Xbox

Gumshoe [PC / XBOX – Cancelled]

monokoma

24-06-2010

No Comments

Gumshoe is an adventure game that was in development by Hiding Buffalo in 2002 / 2003 for the PC and the original XBOX. As we can read in the original press release:

The concept for the game along with a working prototype were created as Hiding Buffalo’s entry in the 2002 Dare to be Digital competition, which challenges groups of students to create a new and original piece of digital content. Entries are judged by a panel of industry experts on their originality and commercial potential. Gumshoe was chosen by a majority of the judges thanks to it’s unusual concept, naturalistic dialogue system and innovative gameplay and episodic approach.

In the end, they never found a publisher interested in the project and so Gumshoe was cancelled. It’s interesting to notice that Hiding Buffalo did released a flash version of the game in 2006, even if it looked much different from the PC and Xbox version.

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