Avalon was an early prototype for a third person squad based shooter (that somehow reminds me of Outtrigger) that was in development in 2004 at Climax Studios for the (not yet released) Xbox 360. The project was probably being worked on the original Xbox development kit (or some early X360 ones) but it was soon cancelled for unknow reasons.
Thanks to Hey Hey for the contribution!
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Bayonetta is an action game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, developed by Platinum Games in cooperation with Sega, who will publish the title. In April 2009, the official Platinum Games Youtube Channel released an interesting video in which we can see an early prototype version of the game, a build created in about a month of work.
Also, at Platinum Games’ blog we can find various concept arts with early designs of Bayonett’as characters and weapons. In Japanese TV special on the game we can seen even more concept arts, with a blondie and readhead protagonist. At 1UP we can read an interview with Kamiya, in which the talks about the design of the game:
“I had Mari Shimazaki, one of the designers, draw her for me,” the designer said. “She gave me a woman in a full-body black suit with her hair running through her hands. I thought that having black hair and a black outfit would make it hard for the player to see what the character was doing. But I loved that long hair; I could see it flowing in the air as she fought and I wanted to depict that. So we went through lots of minor changes; at one point she had red hair. But at the end of it, we went back to a style that had her hair around her arms, making her look really witch-like — and from there we said ‘Well, why don’t we just have her hair cover her all the way?’ That was how the current Bayonetta was born.”
More beta videos were upload to the Sega Youtube Channel. As we can read at The Silent Chief:
A lot of what’s seen in the videos never made it’s way into the final game, including the ability to ride Bayonetta’s motorcycle throughout a level and use it as a weapon. You’ll also notice that Bayonetta is a bit younger in the prototype footage.
Also, Mystie noticed that:
The models of Bayonetta and the Affinities that were used in the beta/prototype are left within the files in the final release.
In the TGS 2008 trailer, the crumbling clock tower scene takes place in modern times rather than old times, and Bayonetta has a slightly different model. Her eyes are pure blue instead of blueish-gray, the Umbran Watch looks slightly different, and the chains (as well as the belt buckles on her sleeve flaps) are silver instead of gold.
Thanks to Celine & Mystie for the contribution!
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Resident Evil 5 was officially announced on June 2005, but it was shown to the public for the first time only two months later in a CG trailer. Capcom created another trailer for the game in 2007. Even in the last year of the development Capcom was still moving things around. For example, the crash site of the helicopter was originally a fully playable section, not a series of QTE.
For more informations, check the Resident Evil 5 Beta Analysis
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Cry On was an RPG in development at Mistwalker for the Xbox 360 that was officially cancelled in December 2008: “AQI decided to cancel the project after analyzing the current market environment and forecasts for the future”. Only a handful of artworks and concepts were ever officially shown from the project and unfortunately, no gameplay of any sort was ever shown to the public. The game’s character designer was Kimihiko Fujisaka.
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Thanks to a transcripted interview that we can found on QJ360, we are able to read some interesting details about the game’s story and gameplay: The game’s setting is meant to resemble the Middle Ages, with a heavy focus on machines, including transportation air craft. The people of this time period place tiny “Bogle” creatures on their roofs to act as a protecting charm. The Bogles, were once powerful giants who lived alongside humans, but are now given the name “Soulless.” Recently, humans have decided to revive them for war purposes using a special skill that transform them into giant form.
The story begins when main character Sally is given this special skill from her father, the King. The Bogle that she takes into her company is different from other Bogles in that it can speak human languages.
You take control of Sally, starting off the game with your tiny Bogle riding on Sally’s shoulder. The game will require you to cross mountains, climb trees and engage in other activities difficult for a little girl. Once you’ve collected a particular item, the Bogle will transform into a giant, and end up placing Sally on his shoulder.
One of the concepts of the game, Sakaguchi reveals, is to let players experience the difference in traveling through the world as Sally and as the Bogle. The scale, playable character and perspective will change as you play the game, switching off between Sally and the Bogle.
Each time the Bogle transforms, the resulting giant will be different. Sakaguchi gives a hint at what we can expect, suggesting that you can use a stone to destroy the surroundings, then attach the fragments to the Bogle, making it bigger and giving it a different shape. This change will happen in real time. Sakaguchi wanted the Bogle’s design to differ with each transformation in order to avoid giving it the image of a robot, instead giving players the feeling that they’re dealing with a mysterious, living creature.
Gameplay will take different forms depending on which character you’re controlling. Sakaguchi wants to give the game more of a puzzle/RPG focus when playing as Sally, as he doesn’t want her to wield a sword. The action will come when players use Bogle.
Even when playing as the Bogle, Cry On isn’t a pure action game. The game is focused on the scenarios which are being crafted by Sakaguchi himself. Sakaguchi mentions a couple of possible situations: saving people as part of the storyline and using Bogle to raise a ship out of the water.”
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Akila (also know as Project X) was an early prototype for a new XBOX 360 third person action game / hack & slash (with 4 players cooperative mode) that was created by New Pencil as a pitch to show to Z-Axis in 2005, to impress them enough to publish and fund the full game. Even if the game could have been fun, it seems that New Pencil did not find any publisher interested in Akila and the project was later cancelled.
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