Microsoft

GameCube, Microsoft, Nintendo, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

12 Volt [PS2/XBOX/GC – Cancelled]

monokoma
18-02-2010
No Comments

12 Volt is an arcade racing game that was in development by Sproing in 2003 / 2004 for the Playstation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The game was set in slot-car tracks and players would have been able to race their models in houses and gardens. 12 Volt looked like a mix between Re-Volt and another cancelled Nintendo 64 game, Mini Racers: it’s unknown why Sproing never released this project or how much it was completed before being canned.

Some more info can be read in the original press release:

The cars can move freely on the track, they are not bound to a specific lane or slot like conventional slot cars are! This way the game combines the look of a die-cast-racer with the feeling of a full-physics arcade rally game!

Highly realistic physics enable the player to activate toys and tools that work as weapons against other players. Imagine plunging through a heap full of marbles crashing at you in a world that really looks and feels like a childhood dream-come-true. Special magnetic rails even allow you to hook on to the inner side of hairpins and drive through them at full speed!

A GBA version was planned (and cancelled) too, but they did not even show any screens from this portable version.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

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Microsoft, Xbox 360

2 Finger Heroes (Natal) [X360 – Cancelled]

yota
16-02-2010
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2 Finger Heroes is a canceled beat ’em up  made by Arkedo studios that was supposed to be played with the Natal, the Xbox 360 “play without a joypad” add-on.  From the concept arts, we can see that the characters were controlled using the fingers o with some basic gestures, like folding your arms.

An interesting  project, which like the other Arkedo games also displayed an original graphic style (as seen in the concept arts below) and  a twisted story.

Unfortunately in the end the game got shelved because of development issues. As we can read on NeoGAF:

“One of the designs flaws of this, apart from the fact that it demanded some very precise pattern recognition from the Natal system, is that it would have been HELL to localize. Yup, what can be understood as the victory sign in France, could be a terrible insult in the UK, for instance. And we are not even talking about Italian. Oh, the possibilities..”

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

Hei$t (Heist) [X360/PS3/PC – Cancelled]

monokoma
14-02-2010
1 Comment

Heist (HEI$T) is a cancelled action game that was in development by inXile Entertainment and would have been published by Codemasters for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The game was to be set in San Francisco, California, circa 1969, where the players would have been able to control a group of criminals as they perform various thefts. In January 2010 Codemasters announced that the game had been officially cancelled, as we can read on CVG:

“After a much extended development period, Heist has been terminated as a project and removed from our release schedule,” a Codemasters spokesperson told CVG.

“Codemasters is focusing its future portfolio on high quality titles that will, in the majority, be developed and produced by our internal studios.”

Some more info on Heist’s gameplay can be found in the original press release:

In addition to knocking off banks, each with their own set security precautions, throughout the city, players will be highly motivated to pull off further jobs. These include raiding bars, restaurants, strip clubs, armoured cars, and more in order to acquire the bigger and better tools needed to penetrate the increasingly more difficult banks.

Thanks to Robert Seddon and Landlock for the contribution!

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GameCube, Microsoft, Nintendo, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Ms. Pacman: Maze Madness 2 [XBOX/PS2/GC – Cancelled]

monokoma
12-02-2010
No Comments

In 2005 TKO Software were working on a sequel to Ms. Pacman: Maze Madness, a platform game that was originally released for the Nintendo 64, Playstation and Dreamcast. Ms. Pacman: Maze Madness 2 was going to be published for the Xbox, Playstation 2 and GameCube, but the project was cancelled in mid development because of saturated market for the genre.

Thanks to Hey Hey for the contribution!

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Microsoft, Xbox 360

GoldenEye 007 Remake [Xbox 360 – Cancelled]

monokoma
07-02-2010
6 Comments

A remake of GoldenEye 007 (codenamed “Project Bean”) for Xbox Live Arcade was in development at Rare Ltd. during 2007 and 2008. Goldeneye 007 was a critically acclaimed FPS for the Nintendo 64, originally published by Nintendo in 1997 and still loved by many fans. Although Microsoft, Activision (current owners of the game rights to the James Bond franchise)and Nintendo were said to have agreed upon a licensing deal for the title initially, Nintendo Japan allegedly refused to grant their permission at last minute. Therefore the remake had to be canned only months before completion.

Much like the original Goldeneye for the N64, the developers who were involved in the making of this XBLA remake had their faces scanned and implemented into the game (as enemies / civilians / scientists / naval officers). In the game we would have been able to change the HD converted graphics to N64 graphics, an online multiplayer mode was planned, along with the traditional split screen mode. Goldeneye XBLA would had over 200 point’s worth of achievements and a time trial leader boards.

Some more info can be found at Mundo Rare:

[…] the game was developed in just one year by just 8 people; Dam, Depot and Frigate levels are selectable as multiplayer arenas (even the fabled Citadel was considered just “for the fan reaction”) and the N64 version isn’t technically a port, but a rather smart graphic filter use that makes the new game look the old-fashioned way.

It’s possible that the engine used for this Goldeneye remake was later reused for the Perfect Dark XBLA Remake. Some images in the gallery below are from XBOX Magazine. In August 2016 Rare Thief uploaded on Youtube more than 30 minutes of footage from this lost game, you can see the video below! Some more details were also shared on their website:

Throughout the video the player uses the rumored feature of switching the game’s graphics between the original Nintendo 64 textures and the remake textures on the fly. The switch between the two appears to take zero effort or time, and can be done whenever without having to pause the game.[…] After the tour of some select missions, the video presents a few of the multiplayer options. On top of the expected multiplayer levels are three news ones including Dam, Frigate and Depot. Something even more interesting than that is the option to set all character heights to be equal, meaning Jaws and Oddjob would no longer have their advantages.

Thanks to DCodes7 for the contribution!

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