Beta + Cancelled Nintendo Video Games - Page 189 of 207

This “debug” version of Ocarina Of Time has come to light some years after the release of the original game. Somehow it was discovered and shared online to please thousands of unseen zelda fans. This is the version that developers used to test specific parts of Ocarina, without having to going around the whole Hyrule. With the Debug version, it’s possible to gain direct access to various areas of the ROM, through simple menu and different numbers. The interesting thing is that in these areas you can find situations and parts of levels remained in the memory, but not used in the final game! You can also visit one of the most famous areas of beta Zelda 64, the “stalfoss room” that was showed years before the final release of the game! An interesting note is that the Debug should be based on the GameCube Master Quest, which makes me wonder why Nintendo still had a playable Stafoss Room in there.

[spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/]Questa versione “debug” di Ocarina Of Time è venuta alla luce dopo anni dall’uscita originale del gioco. In qualche modo è stata scoperta e condivisa Online, con piacere di migliaia di appassionati. Si tratta della versione che gli sviluppatori usavano per testare parti specifiche di Ocarina senza dover girare per tutto il mondo. Si accede alle zone della ROM attraverso dei semplici menù e numeri vari. La cosa interessante è che fra queste zone è possibile trovare situazioni e parti di livelli rimasti nella memoria, ma non utilizzate nella versione finale! al momento fra quelle scoperte è possibile visitare anche aree famose di vecchie immagini beta di Zelda 64, mostrate anni prima che finisse lo sviluppo! la ROM è stata scoperta da poco, possiamo quindi sperare di ricevere presto nuove scoperte sullo sviluppo della beta di Zelda 64. Un particolare interessante è che la Debug dovrebbe basarsi sulla versione GameCube di Master Quest e mi domando perchè Nintendo abbia mantenuto la Stalfoss Room in versione giocabile dopo tutti questi anni.[/spoiler]

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Nintendo, Nintendo 64 & 64DD

Zelda: Ocarina Of Time [Gameshark Beta Quest]

monokoma

04-04-2008

9 Comments

The Beta Quests are events and scenarios not seen in the game, but that can be reached with Action replay/Game Shark codes. There is an incredible number of variants in the beta quests, and probably no one has really seen them all, so we can only wonder if there is still more stuff left in the cartridge. Some of these Beta Quest scenes are situations connected with the new features that would have been in Zelda URA, while in others it’s still possible to see some of the items cut in the transposition from disk to cartridge, or particulary situations that were changed a bit in the final version. Certainly a precious source of information of beta Zelda.

As Linkx111 has pointed out, this particular mode simply removes the pointers that would connect an area on the game map to another one. Zelda’s game areas are indeed listed inside a buffer, which contains all the areas inside of blocks. Removing the pointers permits the player to travel randomly from a map to another, eventually landing inside particular blocks which has no pointers and contains traces of old beta items, or permitting to explore the cutscene like we would be normally playing in the game. Many of the items could look like betas but are indeed just a messed up version of the normal game, due to the missing pointers but other items and scenes, not included in the final game, can be accessed via this method.

Also thanks to ZethN64 for pointing this out recently. To correct the previous statment, the beta quest code loads up specific scenes within a map without the cutscene trigger event activated. These cutscenes load up different object sets(NPC and object placement within a map) depending on the last value you use on the beta quest code.(BETACODE 000X) These scenes also contain old exit data within the map that do not always point correctly to the right exit due to the game being compiled and exit table being shifted so many times. Developers saw no reason to fix these exits since they were meant for cutscenes only and the player wouldn’t walk through these exits. These scene’s objects sets however do contain during the time of their creation object placement, aka beta actor/object placement. It gives us a glimpse of what the prerelease/ura Zelda would of been like with these object set placements and how much it differs from the final game.

[spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/]Più che un gioco a sè, le Beta Quest sono delle situazioni e scenari inediti che è possibile sbloccare in Ocarina Of Time grazie a dei codici per Action Replay / Game Shark. Esistono moltissime varianti delle Beta Quest in base al codice inserito e probabilmente ancora nessuno è riuscito ad esplorarle realmente tutte, non possiamo quindi ancora ben sapere quali meraviglie sono nascoste all’interno della rom. Alcune di queste sono riconducibili a collegamenti che si sarebbero sbloccati una volta unito Ocarina a URA tramite 64DD, mentre in altre è possibile vedere oggetti che sono stati tagliati quando fu spostato su cartuccia oppure situazioni non definitive di scene poi cambiate nel gioco completo. Senza dubbio una delle cose più interessanti per cui vale la pena usare un GameShark e preziosa fonte di informazione sui tagli di Ocarina.[/spoiler]

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Nintendo, Nintendo 64 & 64DD

Mother 3 – Earthbound 64 [N64 – Cancelled]

Finley Gomez

04-04-2008

6 Comments

Mother 3 was originally announced in 1996 for the Nintendo 64. Development soon moved to the Nintendo 64DD, where it was to be a launch title. Developer Benimaru Itoh remarked at E3’s 1997 convention that the game would probably utilize the Rumble Pak in battle sequences, but worried that the controller would become too cumbersome for players given the time-consuming nature of role-playing games. Itoi also aimed to allow players to pick several character faces or create new visages with Mario Artist. Shigesato Itoi’s team ran into some trouble while developing this game, due to their inexperience with 3D games and the difficulty of developing for Nintendo 64 hardware. The Nintendo 64DD became a commercial failure, and on August 21, 2000, Itoi officially confirmed the game’s cancellation. The project was revived in 2003 on the Game Boy Advance, and it was eventually released on April 20, 2006. [Infos from Wikipedia]

For more info check the first video below, created by OKeijiDragon, or read our summary of the Mother 3 Project

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For more infos: www.starmen.net

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Nintendo, Nintendo 64 & 64DD

Animal Leader – Cubivore [64 DD – Cancelled]

yota

04-04-2008

One of the strangest games ever created for the N.64, Cubivore was originally revealed (already ported on cartridge) at the Spaceworld 2000. It was without a doubt the most creative game of the show, not only because of the extreme stylized graphic, but also for the main objective of the game: became the forefront of the evolution chain. Unfortunately, it was first a victim of the failure of the 64DD, and then, when finally ported on a cartridge, of the forthcoming release of the Project Dolphin. It did come out however in 2002 on the Gamecube and, despite being graphically almost identical to the N.64 version, it was released even in the USA.

[spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/] Di tutti i giochi insoliti inizialmente previsti per il 64DD, Dobutsu Banchou (che vuol dire più o meno Animal Leader) era probabilmente il più bizzarro. Apparso per la prima volta allo spaceworld 2000, già peraltro convertito in cartuccia, il futuro Cubivore si era infatti subito distinto sia per il suo comparto tecnico, particolarmente stilizzato, quasi da esposizione cubista, che per l’obiettivo del gioco, divorare gli altri animali fino a diventare l’essere più in alto nella scala evolutiva.

Si trattava certamente di un concept interessante, ma che ha fatto purtroppo la fine di tanti altri giochi 64DD, venendo improvvisamente cancellato quando Nintendo aveva ormai capito che il suo add-on aveva poche possibilità di riuscita. Fortunatamente in seguito (2002) Dobutsu venne portato su Gamecube, e nonostante l’aspetto grafico pressochè identico alla versione Nintendo 64 non lo rendeva certamente un titolo appetibile a tutti, la solita, grande Atlus è riuscita comunque a fare avere questa piccola gemma a noi occidentali, ottenendo i diritti di distribuzione da Nintendo e rilasciandolo sotto il nome di Cubivore.[/spoiler]

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Space World 2000 Trailer:

Nintendo, Nintendo 64 & 64DD

Echo Delta [N64 – Cancelled]

yota

04-04-2008

4 Comments

Officially revealed at Space World 2000, Echo Delta was going to be one of the few real time strategy games available per the Nintendo 64, even through with some action-game features. The objective of the game was to recover a sunken ship with a little submarine, trying at the same time to obtain energy from the ocean’s bed. With this energy it was possible to upgrade our submarine, using some sort of factory called “Core”. However the Core was vulnerable to enemy attack, so we needed to protect it with some placeable weapons , like the defensive turrets. Even if essentially completed, Echo delta was quietly cancelled at the end of the year. On July 2006 a prototype copy of the game was sold on ebay, but the game was not leaked to the internet.

Update from NickNack: From the forums of FrankC’s Lost Levels, there has been some hubbub over the unreleased Echo Delta prototype, that was on sale on eBay”. The discussion points out that there was an IGN Preview Article about it back in 2000. Developed by the Marigul-funded design team, Clever Trick, the game was hard to categorize because of its RTS (Real Time Strategy) like game play and overall feel but it had lots of RPG (Role Playing Game) elements with a splash of Action. In the short 18 minutes you have in the Beta-demo you goal is to raise a sunken battle ship from the ocean abysses. To accomplish your goal you must scour the sea floor for resources to up grade your submarine vessel, scout.

There seems to be other copies of this unreleased beta floating around, no pun intended. There have also been reports of another copy on the ASSEMbler Forums back in 2004, which also arises the question “were there any other copies of the Space World 2000 Prototypes”? Apparently so because there have been reports of a seller who want an out standing sum of $1,520.00 for this 18 minute demo.

Thanks to olivieryuyu for the videos!

[spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/]Presentato ufficialmente allo Space World 2000, Echo Delta doveva essere uno dei pochi strategici disponibili per nintendo 64 (insieme al celebre Starcraft 64) pur contenendo caratteristiche più simili ad un action. Utilizzando un sottomarino, dovevamo infatti cercare di recuperare una nave affondata, tentando nel contempo di recuperare più energia possibile dal fondo oceanico, servendoci del nostro radar.

Con questa energia era possibile potenziare il nostro sottomarino, in una sorta di fabbrica centrale detta “core”, in modo da rendere più facile l’impresa di recupero. Sarebbe stato necessario anche stare attenti a difendere il nostro centro di potenziamento, utilizzando elementi tipici degli strategici, come le torrette difensive, che potevano essere settate a luogo o breve raggio.

Benchè sicuramente interessante dal punto di vista del gameplay, evidentemente Nintendo non deve averlo giudicato un prodotto degno della grande software house, complice forse anche un comparto tecnico tutt’altro che esaltante. Il prodotto venne rapidamente cancellato, nonostante fosse ormai completo.

Recentemente la beta ormai definitiva di Echo Delta è stata venduta su ebay, e probabilmente prima o poi ne vedremo una release pubblica su ROM, come tanti altri unseen per Nintendo 64.[/spoiler]

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