Sony

Microsoft, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

Divided City [X360/PS3 – Cancelled]

monokoma
06-12-2009
No Comments

Divided City is a cancelled car combat game that was in development at Pseudo Interactive in 2007 / 2008, for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. After Full Auto 2, the team decided to create a new IP to build a different combat game on wheels, this time in a post apocalyptic scenario which involved a plot of “political unrest.” The player would have been able to use various armored vehicles, to fight against huge combat tanks and other mechanical enemies.

The team completed a playable demo of Divided City that looked really good, but sadly in April 2008 it was announced that the company was shutting down. The project was canned with the closure of the studio.

Thanks a lot to Roberto Robert, David Wu, Kay Huang, Heidi Klinck, Albert Alejandro, Bronwen Grimes, Frank Trzcinski and all the former Pseudo Interactive artists that helped us to preserve info and media from their lost project!

Images:

Videos:

 
Playstation, Sony

Propaganda [Playstation, Saturn – Cancelled]

monokoma
05-12-2009
3 Comments

Propaganda is a cancelled mission-based racing game that was in development at Burst for Sega Saturn and the original Playstation in 1996 / 1997 and it would have been published by Virgin Interactive. The gameplay was going to be somehow similar to the Driver series, in which the player could have been able to explore the city with a car to complete various tasks. It’s currently unknown why the project was canned and only few screens were found in GamePro #92.

We can read more about the game in its original press release:

The world of Propaganda is perfect for the standard game story. In an alternate universe where Eastern Europe never really lost power, you play an ex-military loner, Jack Heller, who has been pulled into a rebellion against an evil government.

The film clips depicting this tale contain sets, costumes and acting (including an impressive performance by Yancy Butler of Drop Zone fame) that are worthy of a feature length film. Special effects have also been produced in a more traditional fashion – when the script called for a huge explosion tearing through a warehouse, the crew set up an actual explosion with a 20 foot jet of flame rather than use computer modeling which would have been easier, but looked less realistic.

And what about the game? After all, no amount of video, no matter how impressive, will keep players entertained if the actual play is terrible. Here also, Propaganda seems to shine. Although it’s far too early to make a final call, even at this stage of development, the game looks great. Finished stages revolve around player piloting armed cars through a 3-D world in which they have complete freedom.

Enemy cars loaded to the brim with amazing retro-tech weapons like wheeled torpedoes and side mounted guns are everywhere. Each of the game’s cities offers different challenges and more confusing pathways that the player will need to sort out in order to survive. Even better, the design team has gone to amazing lengths to blend the video footage with the game, creating a unified look that will be absolutely absorbing.

Thanks to Alex and Celine for the contribution!

Images:

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWxUugTRSc 

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

I-Ninja 2 [Cancelled – PS2, XBOX, GameCube]

monokoma
03-12-2009
2 Comments

The original I-Ninja is an underrated action game that was developed by Argonaut Games and released for the Xbox, Playstation 2 and GameCube at the end of 2003. The works on the  sequel were started after a few months, but sadly the studio had some economic problems and they had to closed down in October 2004. I-Ninja 2 was never officially announced: only some concept arts remain as a memento of the project.

From the looks of these arts, it seems that the sequel would have been set in the same setting as the original I-Ninja, with a scenario that mixed ancient Japan and futuristc robots, with even more crazier and hardest levels to play in.

Thanks a lot to Tanguy for the contribution!

Images: 

Playstation, Sony

Prowler [PSX – Cancelled]

monokoma
02-12-2009
5 Comments

Prowler (also know as Storm Troop and Prawler) is a cancelled sci-fi action game with mechs, that was in development at Origin Systems (the team behind the Wing Commander series) in 1994. Initially the project was meant to be released for the 3DO, as their Super Wing Commander remake, but with the failure of the console the game was soon moved to the Playstation. As we can read in an interesting article written by Sean Murphy (former Origin Systems designer) on the Wing Commander News website, the project had many problems right from the start:

Team communication was poor. Leadership was iffy. There was almost no dialog between the art staff and the programming staff. I remember one day, months into the project, sitting in a meeting and hearing the programmers drooling about how cool the game was going to be, how “dark…and gritty…and dirty, and oily and all mechanical and functional and stuff!” Clearly they had not gotten the memo about our grand notions of Neo Victorian design…

And some time later – as little as three months, possibly as long as six months – sure enough, EA pulled the plug on Prowler and let most of the team go.

You can read the full article from Sean Murphy in here. Some early concept videos from the game were preserved by the Origin Museum in 2008, and they will be shared with the community sooner or later. For now you can see some concept arts in the gallery below.

Celine was also able to find an in-game screenshot of Prowler, from TopConsoles #4 and CD Consoles #4 magazine (the same screen was in the 2 magazines). Anatoly Shashkin found even more promotional screenshots in July 2018!

Thanks to OMJoe for the contribution!

Images: 

Microsoft, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

The Crucible: Evil Within (The Box/The Ritualyst) [Cancelled – PS3/Xbox 360]

U64 Staff & Contributors
01-12-2009
No Comments

The Crucible: Evil Within, AKA “The Box” or “The Ritualyst” originally was a Silicon Knights-developed (developer of Eternal Darkness and Too Human) open-world horror pitch for PS3 started in 2004, which was accepted for full production by Sega in March 2005.

“Silicon Knights has a rich history of developing great games that push hardware technology, so we expect this relationship will result in a powerful, new, and highly commercial franchise.”
Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America

In 2006, Sega revealed some game details in an online survey. Until then, the game was internally known as “The Box”. The survey however led to “The Crucible: Evil Within”. Later, however, it was renamed to “The Ritualist” instead.

“An open free-roaming action horror game where the player undertakes a terrorizing journey of suspense, fear, power and discovery, and where every decision has multiple consequences… Uncover an ancient chest with unimaginable power that seduces you into evil, sin and corruption.”

Court documents from Silicon Knights’ legal battle with Epic Games reveal that The Box was initially planned to be finished by February 27th, 2007. It was later amended to extend the delivery date to November 4th, 2008. In August 2008, Sega decided to cancel various external projects, including Aliens RPG: Crucible, Aliens: Colonial Marines (later restarted), Cipher Complex, and The Box. However, Silicon Knights was able to find a new publisher with THQ, which also dropped the project in early 2009. As a kind of compensation, team members of The Box were asked to help on Vigil Games’/THQ’s Darksiders.

Images: