Project Dagger was an internal prototype for a new cooperative action game developed at Digital Illusions (DICE) during 2004/2005. When EA bought the studio, they did not greenlight the title for full production. From the look of the few videos preserved (that are probably target renders), the game was going to be about robbing bank and other criminal affairs, using 4 characters with different abilities. It seems that they wanted to have an online coop mode too.
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Deathtrap Dungeon is an action game developed by Eidos in 1998 and released for the PlayStation and PC. Although originally previewed for the gaming press alongside Eidos’ own original Tomb Raider game, Deathtrap Dungeon sat through several years of delays before finally seeing release. [Info from Wikipedia]
Derboo found some early images of the game in a Korean gaming magazine (Gamepia 8/96): in these screens we can notice a character model in red armor which could be an early version of the female player character, an unknown character model and a still from a FMV described as a machine for making humans into monsters, which seems to have been removed from final game.
The female character was changed with a thong leather bikini in the beta, but due to ratings concerns, Eidos gave her some “proper” armor before the game went gold. In some other beta screens, we can see that the game still looked incomplete, with placeholder models and different rooms layout. If someone could find more info about these or more beta shots, please let us know!
Thanks to Derboo for the contribution!
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Talisman was a digital recreation of Workshop’s classic board game, basically a multiplayer turn-based fantasy RPG that was in development in 2007 by Big Rooster & Capcom for the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Players were able to explore dungeons to combat various enemies with weapons, spells and magic items. The project was officially cancelled in 2008, as reported by IGN:
“Rather recently we have finally stopped development completely. After a misfire at the start, the details of which I won’t get into, we evaluated several options for moving the project to new developers, but the costs of moving forward outweighted the potential revenue. I realize this will be disappointing for the fans of the game.
The rights have reverted back to Games Workshop where I hope someone will pick them up and try again. I too still would like to play a Talisman videogame.”
Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!
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Malice is a platform game developed by Argonaut Games, that was originally meant to be released for the Playstation 1, using their Croc 2 engine. For some technical issues and (mainly) for marketing decisions, Malice PSX was cancelled and Argonaut though to port the game for the “next generation” consoles. It was 1999 and the PS2 was almost out in the market, with the new Microsoft’s XBOX soon to arrive too.
Argonaut wanted to be one of first Xbox’s developers and to showcase their new 3D engine to attract publishers and funds, so they created a Malice Xbox tech demo that looked really good for its time. Microsoft was really impressed by their work and used the Malice tech demo to show the power of the Xbox.
Argonaut aimed to release the new Malice in late 2001 as an Xbox launch title, but because of many problems in porting their project from the PSX to the XBOX, Malice was postponed too many times, was almost cancelled again and changed publishers before being finally released in 2004, with mediocre reviews.
In March 2010, the Playstation Museum published a deep article on the original Playstation version of Malice, sharing lots of screens and videos. As we can read on their site:
The bottom line is Malice PS1 combines the action of Croc 2 with the exploration and depth of a Mario 64 and is presented with a sense of unique style and graphic beauty and detail that would have become the new technological standard for the PlayStation.
Although Malice was released for the PS2 in 2004, the PS1 version differs greatly in storyline, graphics, design, and gameplay. Any of the former Malice designers will tell you that Malice PS2 was only a shell of its original design. Unfortunately many of the designs that made this PS1 version so enjoyable were removed in the PS2 version.
It’s interesting to note that in the video from the Playstation 1 version and in the early Xbox trailers, it was shown that the player could control a cat, but this never happens in the final game. [Info from Wikipedia]
Check the Playstation Museum for more info and screens!
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The Malice Xbox Tech Demo:
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is FPS developed by EA Los Angeles, EA Tiburon and published in 2004 by Electronic Arts, for the Xbox, Playstation 2 and GameCube. A sequel was originally planned but scrapped due to poor sales and reviews of the first one. The game’s ending suggested a sequel as well. According to various sources, the sequel would have included vehicles and a longer story mode. [Info from Wikipedia]
DCodes7 noticed some beta differences in the early Rogue Agent screens and videos, as the models of the enemies, beta weapons design and different HUD. If you can find more changes, please let us know!
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