Nintendo

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

Tornado Alley [GC/XBOX/PS2 – Cancelled]

monokoma
27-09-2009
1 Comment

Tornado Alley is a cancelled action game that was in development by Atomic Planet in 2002 / 2003 for the Playstation 2, GameCube and Xbox. As we can read from the official press release, in the game the player would had to take control of one of the most powerful forces of Mother Nature, a Tornado, and guide it to do as much damage as possible, without running out of wind power.

To keep the twister alive we would had to follow the contours of the landscape, watching for thermals and building up the power of the cyclone with the right balance of warm and cold air. Cars and trailers could have been picked up to give ammunition to the vortex, to be churned around inside before being spat out with huge destructive force. Probably the gameplay would have been somehow similar to Katamari Damacy and Thornado (DS), but even with this interesting concept, the project was never released for unknow reasons.

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Nintendo, Nintendo DS

Henry Hatsworth [DS – Beta & Concept]

monokoma
25-09-2009
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Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure is a Nintendo DS action-adventure and puzzle game created by Kyle Gray, who founded the “Experimental Gameplay Project” with Kyle Gabler, the creator of World of Goo. Gray led a seven-man team at EA Tiburon to develop the game.  While the game is an action-platformer on the top screen, once enemies are defeated by Hatsworth, they are sent to the bottom screen as puzzle blocks. [Info From Wikipedia]

In the beta version of the game there were some differences in the HUD, levels and gameplay:

  • The Puzzle Meter was in the top screen.
  • Different icon for the Rifle weapon.
  • “Young” Henry had a full series of “silver hearts” to consume before return to the “old” Henry. In the final game, only half of the hearts are silver ones.  It was like to have 2 energy bars at once (making the game easier).
  • Some of the puzzle blocks had a different design / face.
  • Henry’s animations were still incomplete.
  • A couple of parts in the beta videos seem to be from a removed level or an early design of a final one.
  • The bouncing baloons were pink, instead of yellow.

Also, in the concept arts we can notice many Bosses that were cut from the final game, as the ones that look like Benjamin Franklin or the 3 muscle men from the circus. In the artworks we can even see early and unused designs for  the normal enemies, Henry’s ship (from one of the secret levels) and puzzle blocks.

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

I-Ninja [PS2/XBOX/GC – Beta & Concept]

monokoma
04-09-2009
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I-Ninja is a fun and underrated action game that was developed by Argonaut Games and published in 2003 by Namco (in USA) and Sony (in Europe) for the GameCube, Xbox and Playstation 2. A Game Boy Advance version of the game was announced too, but later cancelled.

ininja-article

As it happened with Orchid (another Argonaut game that was later cancelled), originally I-Ninja had a much more colorful and stylized graphic, but the publisher was worried that it looked too childish, and wanted an edgier, grittier look. As we can see from the early mockup / target renders, the original style of I-Ninja looked a bit like Zelda: The Wind Waker (especially for the islands, the pigs and the scene in which Ninja is sailing a ship) but the 2 games were in development almost at the same time so it was just a coincidence. 

Nintendo, Wii

The Next Big Thing [Wii – Cancelled]

monokoma
04-08-2009
4 Comments

The Next Big Thing, also know as “No Limits Racing” is a cancelled Wii game, that was in development by Pandemic Studios Brisbane in 2008 / 2009. The gameplay was a mix between a racing game, a party game and a sandbox game, in which the player would have been able to race in a parody of L.A. streets, to jump on building rooftops, to fly in elicopters to collect items, to make crazy stunts and to raise more NPC “fans”. In July 2009, AustralianGamer released a video of the game in their YT channel.

The project was canned when Brisbane studio was closed down after being dropped by EA. As we can read on Tsumea:

Reports have come in confirming that the remaining employees at Pandemic Studios Brisbane have been let go after losing their bid in getting publisher interest for their Wii game called “The Next Big Thing” in the hope of finishing its development.

The open world reality show game was in production for the Wii by the second team at Pandemic Studios Brisbane before owner and publisher Electronic Arts let many staff go and cut loose the studio in early January. The final dozen or so remaining staff at Pandemic Brisbane were notified today that all avenues have been exhausted and were let go.

Thanks to Hey Hey, Robert Seddon and Dark ViVi for the contributions!

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