Microsoft

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:
 

Microsoft, Xbox 360

The Fast and the Furriest [XBOX 360 – Cancelled]

monokoma
22-07-2010
No Comments

The Fast & the Furriest is a cancelled party game that was in development in 2006 by Rare for the Xbox 360 Xbox Live Arcade digital service. Other than the normal joypad, the game could have been played with the Xbox Live Vision camera, to track players’ movements in a similar way to the PS2 EYE Toy or Microsoft’s own Kinect. The Fast & the Furriest would have included many different mini-games, as 100 meter dash, bungee run, hurdles and tip-tup curling. As we can read on Joystick:

Each player will be able choose a character like Conker or Banjo which will actually be a “suit” (think mascot suits). Players will then be able to scan their face using the Vision camera to skin the face opening of the character suit.

A playable prototype was created by a team headed by Dale Murchie and composed of developers of Perfect Dark Zero. Still, the project was canned, maybe for quality reasons. Only a short video from The Fast & the Furriest proto was shown at the Develop 2010 Keynote, a revelation that is not usual for a studio as secretive as Rare.. huge props to them!

Thanks to Celine for the contribution!

Images:

Videos (@1:15):

 

Microsoft, Others, PC / MAC, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

Recoil: Retrograd [X360 PS3 PC – Cancelled?]

monokoma
20-07-2010
No Comments

Recoil: Retrograd is an action adventure based on time travels, that was in development by ZeitGuyz in 2006 / 2008 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. The studio was searching for a publisher interested in their project in 2008, but as the game is still unreleased, we can assume that they did not have any luck and Recoil had to be cancelled. In an interview by IGN, we can read some more info on the gameplay:

Now, gameplay — the player travels back in time, changes the past, returns to the future and experiences the consequences of his actions and sees the world change, dynamically and realtime. How the world evolves, is very much dependent on choices and actions in the past — so we rely on a lot of replay value for this game. What if I go back and do it differently — what then…? Beyond that, there’s a lot of interaction with machines, vehicles, crowds– and big, powerful steamy guns!

We can still hope that they could be able to find a publisher in the future.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

Images:

Videos:

 

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, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

Catalyst (Next Level Games) [Xbox 360, PS3 – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors
12-07-2010
1 Comment

Catalyst is a project pitch for a new action game for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, developed by Next Level Games, famed for Punch-Out and Mario Strikers on Wii. Details are unknown as the project was never officially announced. Next Level Games may still try to find a publisher for this title though.

Thanks to CNL for the contribution!

Video: