Xbox

Microsoft, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

WWE Titans: Parts Unknown [PS2/XBOX – Cancelled]

Liam Robertson
18-02-2012
4 Comments

WWE Titans: Parts Unknown is a cancelled wrestling game, which was in development at Next Level Games (best known for Super Mario Strikers and Punch-Out for Wii) during 2004. It was planned for release on the Playstation 2 and Xbox. This 1 vs. 1 fighter was cancelled for unknown reasons by its publisher, THQ.

It appears the game never fully entered development and was subject to cancellation fairly early on. It’s possible a prototype for it was created at one point, although no media of one has ever been recovered. It seems that Next Level developed a proposal to take WWE games in a very different direction, but the pitch was shot down by THQ. A variety of concept images from the planned game have since been unearthed from the blogs of former Next Level Games artists.

Titans attempted to add a bold, new spin on the formula of previous WWE games. Its art style was very different from the norm of the series, featuring exaggerated character designs and more cinematic locales for its stages.

The level settings of WWE Titans were varied and diverse, in comparison to other wrestling games. They ranged from urban environments, like the rooftops of a sprawling city, to the top of an old castle in a desolate, snowy wilderness. It appears that some of the individual wrestlers had arenas dedicated to them, as one of the concepts is labelled “Cena Stage”.

Alongside a number of established wrestlers, the team also experimented with its own original cast members made for the game. In one of the drawings created for the project, we can see they played around with the idea of adding anthropomorphic warriors, based upon animals like crocodiles and bears; in addition to sorcerer characters.

Aside from the stylised look of Titans, there remains little information available on its planned gameplay mechanics. One big feature we have been able to ascertain is destructible environments, which appear to have been one of the title’s key focuses. Work made by one of Next Level’s artists detailed how players would have been able to destroy the walls around the castle arena.

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Microsoft, Xbox

Cesium [XBOX – Cancelled]

monokoma
06-02-2012
No Comments

Cesium is a cancelled action adventure that was in development for the original Xbox by FASA Studio / Microsoft Games Studios in 2004. The project was canned in early prototype form and only some concept arts remain to preserve its existence. The game’s world evolved from fantasy floating cities to iconic asian levels and even the main protagonist was probably still undecided. We can speculate that the Cesium project was canned to move their resources on other games, as Crimson Skies. FASA Studio was officially shutdown in 2007.

Thanks to Yulle for the contribution!

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

Kat Burglar [Cancelled – PS2, XBOX, PC)

U64 Staff & Contributors
11-01-2012
4 Comments

Kat Burglar is a cancelled action / stealth game that was in development by Krome Studios, probably planned for PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox. In the beginning of year 2000 Krome Studios announced a new game about a lady burglar called Katherine Kelly, who steals works of art for a collector called Hugo Biggs-Lazenby. There wasn’t much information available on the gameplay, but that sure had to be a stealthy game. Some ideas from that project were later used in Blade Kitten.

As we can read in an article on Games.on.net:

Recounting with a touch of bitterness that it was apparently okay to have a dozen identical “muscular space marine” games on the market at the same time, Steve and the team were forced to shelve the game. “They just weren’t getting it, even if they did like the characters”, says Steve, remembering failed deals with partners like Mattel. “I’ll always remember the guys came back from one meeting with a publisher, and the publishers said ‘We’re pretty sure there’s already a 60’s female thief game with a character that has red hair’, and I’m standing there going ‘Are they… talking about our game?’”.

Set on the island of Mont-St. Michael, Kat Burglar featured a number of adventure-game driven mechanics similar to those found in Flight of the Amazon Queen, as well as AI sidekicks who you could give orders to through hand gestures. The intent was to have a Zelda-style unlockable open world, with the island opening up to you as you progressed. Despite the game being developed to a playable state through one prototyped level, they were unable to secure a publisher. Opportunity did come knocking later in the year, as Sony expressed a desire to publish a cartoony platformer on their PS2 – a desire that Krome were only too happy to help fulfill. That game that would later go on to become TY The Tasmanian Tiger, and one of the company’s most iconic franchises.

Post by Chentzilla

Images:

A screenshot (scan from Russian gaming magazine “Magazin Igrushek”, №2/2000)

Sources:

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

Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures [Beta – PS2 Xbox GameCube]

U64 Staff & Contributors
10-01-2012
1 Comment

Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures is a 3D platform game based on the animated television series Ed, Edd n Eddy. It was originally developed by A2M and Cartoon Network Interactive, published by Midway Home Entertainment and released on October 2005 for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Game Boy Advance. In the beta version double d had a different sling shot than the final version and the coins were yellow instead of silver.

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

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events [Beta – PS2 XBOX Gamecube]

U64 Staff & Contributors
09-01-2012
2 Comments

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is a 2004 game developed by Adrenium Games and based on the Lemony Snicket book series and film. The game is based primarily on the movie, which in turn is based on the plots of the first three books of the series: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room and The Wide Window.

Prior to the release of the game, which coincided with the film’s premiere in 2004, several screenshots with what appears to be a beta version of the game have been circulating on the web. The level layout seems to be somewhat different from the final build, and Violet Baudelaire’s dress in the beta more closely resembled that of in the film (the retail build had her wearing a similar yet more raggedy outfit). The HUD was also different:

The PC version also had some leftover content, such as unused cheat codes, some of which can still be activated, and a Violet character model that was based on the original book incarnations.

Post by Felicity Merriman