A misterious project also know as “The Great Steam War” and “Blip and the Great Machine”, that was in development by 1Up Studios for the original XBOX, but after a while it just vanished without traces. Not much is know about the gameplay, but it seems that the player could have been able to control a “robot constructor” and to build parts of the levels to resolve puzzles. Iron Construct was cancelled when the studio closed down.
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In 2000, Kuju Entertainment produced a technology demonstration codenamed Tau, for Microsoft and its Xbox platform.
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Doomsday Rescue was an action / combat racing game that was in development at Beyond Games in 2002 and it was going to be published by Midway. The project was later cancelled as many other Beyond Games titles, probably because of the bankruptcy of the company.
[spoiler /Click here to read the original Midway press release/ /Hide the press release/] LOS ANGELES – May 22, 2002 (E3 Booth # 800, South Hall) – Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading software industry publisher and developer, announced today that Doomsday Rescue, an all-new combat racing game, is in development and scheduled to ship in 2003 for next-generation systems.
When a deadly asteroid shower hurtles toward earth, the collective governments of the world band together to save the human race by resettling on Mars. In order to ensure the revitalization of human life, key scientists, doctors and politicians from around the globe have been selected for transportation and relocation to Mars. To further guarantee the success of the resettled civilization, a planet-wide relocation lottery was held and a number of lottery-winning civilians have been granted seats on ships to the new settlement. As a hotshot driver for the Doomsday Rescue Corp., you embark on a frantic adrenaline-rush mission to find and deliver these key humans to their waiting transport ships within 24 hours. Doing your job means saving your own life. If you complete your rescue missions, you can resettle on Mars.
“Doomsday Rescue is the only combat racing game set in apocalyptic urban environments where players battle with rioting civilians to save themselves and the human race,” said Helene Sheeler, vice president of marketing, Midway. “With an engaging mix of time-based combat racing and sheer wanton destruction, Doomsday Rescue brings a fast-paced, tension-filled experience to next-generation consoles.”
In your quest to resettle the human race, crash and bash your way through seven free-roaming urban environments and destroy anything and anyone between you and your goal – including hordes of rioting civilians who know they aren’t included in the resettlement. Players must be on high alert as meteorite showers pummel and obliterate urban buildings, cars and civilians, presenting new obstacles and opportunities as the environments dynamically evolve on-the-fly.
To complete your mission and guarantee your own relocation to Mars, you must also defeat the Back Yard Rocket Federation (BYRF), a group of terrorists whose plans to steal your colonists puts the survival of the human race in jeopardy. With a real-time physics engine tuned for pick-up-and-play driving action, players can jump right in the driver’s seat and unleash total carnage from their transport vehicle with an awesome arsenal of weapons including machine guns, lasers, missiles, chain guns, cannons and more. [/spoiler]
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Stomped Wakeboarding was going to be a Xbox game based on the popular water sport. Developed by Indie Built, at that time known as Microsoft’s Salt Lake Games Studio, the game was cancelled for unknown reasons. Instead, the studio started working on a successor to Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding.
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SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom is an action video game based on the television show SpongeBob SquarePants. The game has been released for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Joel has made us to notice about a beta video that shows some differences from the final game:
1. The green arrows that are shown when targeting an enemy are replaced by a white glove pointing at them in the finalized version.
2. A purple collectible is shown when an enemy is destroyed that is not in the finalized version.
3. Various sound effects and soundtracks are missing.
4. A playable character (Sandy) has a completely different animation for sliding down tracks by doing it on her tail.
5. Another playable character (Spongebob) is shown with less-finalized attacks, showing his “bubble moves” with less detail and they are more rounded in shape.
6. A non-playable character (The Flying Dutchman) is shown in a different area of a level and he looks somewhat different (since he is a ghost character he has a glow effect in the finalized version that isn’t in the beta).
7. There is a smoke effect that I do not recall seeing in the finalized version.
Thanks to Joel for the contribution!
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