GameCube

Extreme Force [XBOX/PS2/GC – Cancelled]

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Extreme Force: Grant City Anti-Crime (A.K.A. Strike Force / First Strike: Grant City Anti-Crime) was a third person shooter set in the Dead To Rights city – a fact that will be of precisely no interest to most people. It was all about law enforcement, covert operations and all that lark, as the title suggests. Fun items such as night vision goggles, grenades and door charges would have been at your disposal as you rid the city of criminals by making them dead. Stealth maneuvers and “run-and-gun combat” were promised. It was in development at Namco for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube but it was later cancelled for unknow reasons.

[Contribute by Matt Gander from www.gamesasylum.com]

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Splinter Cell [Beta]

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The original Splinter Cell was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and was released in 2002 for PS2, XBOX and GameCube. In these beta screens we can see a slightly different HUD and many changes in the layout of the level. There are smaller differences from lighting cues, to even full room reconstructions between versions. Even is shown, an Xbox version of what was presumed to be a PlayStation 2 exclusive level, the Nuclear Power Plant mission.

There’s also a comparison from a PS2 trailer that used a beta build of the game for display, as well as a smaller technical run-through showing the differences between the final and demo of the Chinese Embassy Return mission that was given to PlayStation magazines for use of a playable demo and game sites for personal overview. Unfortunately, the particular video had to be comprised of the near full walk-through videos of the demo run on GameSpot, so a more comprehensive comparison cannot be fully realized as of now. If someone else is interested and actually has the Official PlayStation Magazine demo, feel free to contribute a more elaborate hand-on recorded comparison video to Unseen64.net for more various differences.

Thanks to Silenceofthehills for the videos below, chek them to see all the differences in the beta version!

Thanks to D-vide for these images!

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Crank the Weasel [Cancelled – GameCube, XBOX, PS2]

Crank the Weasel is a mature cancelled platform / adventure game that was in development by Midway Games in 2002, for the Playstation 2 and Xbox.  The goal of Crank was to create chaos in the game’s world, with lies, cheats and stealing loot from the other characters, to be able to get enough Big-Ticket-Items to fly to Pleasure Island. The game’s look and feel were inspired by 1920’s cartoon art style and authentic big band swing music, but with a humorous / mature twist, similar to  Conker’s Bad Fur Day.

In the website of Brian Silva, Co-creator and Lead Designer of Crank the Weasel, we can read many interesting info about the concepts behind the Crank project:

At the beginning of a game, each NPC possesses a preliminary set of “ideal” characteristics, meaning that they will go about their business, acting and functioning in an initially “composed” manner appropriate for their personality type. However, depending upon Weasel’s player-controlled actions (as well as the independent actions of the NPCs), these “ideal” characteristics will soon begin to alter as they are manipulated in a vast variety of ways that can either benefit or work against the player, and often provide surprising results. NPCs, while going about their business, will even change their own behavior to suit their immediate needs even if Weasel does not interact with them, resulting in amusing and varied gameplay. Basically, each playfield would naturally evolve on it’s own, Weasel just happens to throw a huge wrench into the equation.

An example of the weird scenarios that the player would have been able to explore in the game, is the Hell level:

While floating along the River Styx, Weasel can hear the merry tune of Jingle Bells echoing throughout the fiery pits of hell, snow is drifting, trees are decorated, lights are hung, and all the little devils want to wish Weasel a “Merry Christmas!” Gnarled and twisting tree roots wrap and wind from above and all throughout this town of torment. Little demons drive their little demon cars, walk their demon dogs, and mow their demon lawns in front of their little demon houses. Elevators transport a nonstop supply of unrighteous heathens to the hoary underworld to suffer an abundance of dreadful eternities. Weasel will be glad to know that there are hundreds of take out restaurants in hell… unfortunately they’re all Chinese take out, and the only available places of business are either the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Internal Revenue Service, Hellth Food stores, Social Security Departments, jury duty registration, or fabric stores. But on the bright side, there’s plenty of flashy advertising for products and places that these sinners will never have a chance to enjoy.

Sadly Crank the Weasel was  officially cancelled in 2003, as we can read at IGN Xbox:

“That game will never come out,” said our source from the innards at Midway. “It just never seemed to take off and all I can tell you is that you’re not going to see it again.”

A playable prototype was leaked online in late 2017 thanks to a former Midway developer!

Thanks to GreenReaper for the contribution!

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Kid Ninja: Spirit of the Dragon [XBOX PS2 – Cancelled]

Kid Ninja is a cancelled platform/action game that was originally meant to be released for the GameCube, Xbox and Playstation 2 in 2003, but the project was later canceled by Asylum Entertainment. A Wii version was later planned too, but it seems that it was never released neither.

Thanks to News for the contribution!

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Resonance (Neocell Factory) [XBOX, PS2, GameCube – Cancelled]

Resonance is a cancelled action horror game that was being developed by canadian company Neocell Factory. Based in Montreal, Canada, the studio was born from a group of former developers from Vircom Interactive (a MMORPG developer) after its closure around 2002. They started work on the project that would evolve into Resonance and as it grew they were soon joined by other veterans from such big names as Ubisoft and Gameloft. Unfortunately the team was closed down around 2006, with Resonance being their only known game. It was planned to be released initially for the original Xbox in late 2004, although later ports of the game for the PS2 and the Gamecube were also being considered.

Resonance was conceived as a third-person RPG with heavy elements of survival horror, but with the developer determined to distance it from the fixed camera angles and tank controls that other games in the horror genre had been known for up to that point. Work on it initially started in the form of a mod for Neverwinter Nights in 2002, a part-time project during the developer’s early stages. As the game grew, so did the team along with it, eventually evolving into what would become known as Resonance.

From what we can piece together from a few recovered interviews and the game’s long-since defunct official website, Resonance would have been set in a dark fantasy kingdom, inspired by the Renaissance in theme and design, where the age of reason has only begun and science and religion are starting to clash. This conflict between the spiritual and the rational was to be a major theme of the game’s storyline.

With that in mind, Resonance would put the player in the shoes of Faye Wynter, a woman with two very different heritages. Faye was born with a noble standing through her father, a knight close to the King. Her mother, however, was a witch who was eventually caught and burned alive by the Inquisition. Faye’s father stood by powerless as this happened, which drove him to commit suicide. Now an orphan, Faye was taken in by the King himself, and eventually grew up to become a royal investigator, with a talent for diplomacy due to her noble origins and training, but also possessing powers inherited from her mother’s side that she does not fully comprehend. After being sent to investigate the disappearance of the king’s son and an assassination plot put together by a neighbouring kingdom, she embarks on a journey during which she not only has to face a world of danger and human corruption but also begins to discover her true origins, all while being hunted by the Inquisition.

Gameplay-wise, Resonance would have been action-oriented, adding further to the mix of genres. In addition to the puzzle-solving commonly found in survival horror titles, it was to feature open-ended levels with many side quests, a large selection of melee weapons as well as firearms, equippable armors, combo-based combat with three different fighting styles and access to around a dozen special powers. The even more special power related to what gave the game its title, the Resonance, was promised to be something impressive, although the developers seemed to want to keep the details of it a secret.

The intention of Neocell Factory was to make the experience highly customizable and different for everyone that played Resonance. As Faye gained levels, the player would have to make choices regarding what powers they would be given. They would also be rewarded with points used to upgrade different abilities. Faye would too improve her skill with individual weapons the more she used them, starting off as weak the first time she picked one up and eventually improving damage dealt as she became more proficient with it. Enhancing and modifying weapons with special items found in the world was also going to be a feature, as well as a weapon crafting system.

It seems things got complicated at Neocell Factory, however. Resonance was initially announced with a release date of late 2004, exclusively for the Xbox. But who was to publish it remains unknown. A comment left on a trailer for the game that was posted on Youtube claims that the game was eventually finished several months later but it ended up going unpublished as Xbox titles were put aside in favor of the Xbox 360, which was about to be released at the time. The timeline on the official website seems to confirm this, as an update posted in February of 2006 reveals that Resonance had finally reached its final beta stage. Screenshots showing how the game had evolved since 2004 were also posted, but other information on the different characters and other aspects of the game, seem to have been lost to time.

With no way to publish the game they worked hard on for four years, it would be safe to assume that Neocell Factory had to end up closing. If it was indeed finished, hope remains that one day this project can be finally released to the public by someone from the former Neocell Factory team.

Article by thecursebearer

Thanks to Akhamesh and Matt Gander from www.gamesasylum.com for the contributions!

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