Sony

Xenosaga [PS2 – Beta]

Xenosaga is a rpg trilogy for the Ps2 that was developed by Monolith Software. Originally, however, it was meant to be a saga of six episodes, but after the poor sales of Xenosaga II Namco decided to close the series in 2006 with the third installment. In the trailer of the first Xenosaga, embedded below, we can see that some cutscenes were slightly changed in the final version or removed and later inserted in the sequel. Also, the game was supposed to be released on two dvds, but at the end the producers opted for a dual-layer.

Xenosaga II was instead heavily cut after the original script, created by the scenario writer Soraya and the director Tetsuya Takahashi,was completely rewritten. In 2005, Soraya listed in her website what got removed:

  • Ziggy’s past history (as seen in The Pied Piper)
  • U.R.T.V.’s past history (as seen in the Episode II)
  • Shion’s past history with Febronia
  • Jr’s rapid growing
  • Both juvenile and grown-up Jr. switching available in the battle
  • The ghost of the old Miltia
  • The death of Sakura
  • Brief reunion with grown-up Citrine
  • Gaignun vs Zohar emulators
  • Jr.’s transformation/overdrive
  • Jr. & Albedo vs U-DO vs KOS-MOS 3rd armament
  • Shion’s spiritual seeking/witnessing/awakening
  • The truth about KOS-MOS
  • Conversation between chaos and the red cloak man
  • Conversation between Nephilim and the boy with the blocks
  • An antimatter annihilation of Albedo

Almost all the story sequences were later restored in Episode III and in Xenosaga I+II for DS.

Two other games related to Xenosaga, Xenosaga: Frontier and Xenosaga: Exceed, of which we know nothing, were also cancelled.

Images:

Videos:

 

Code: Inferno [PS2 – Cancelled]

CODE:Inferno is a cancelled action RPG that was in development for the Playstation 2. In mid 2001 From Software announced its software lineup for all the major consoles of the time. Among the titles cited there were some that never seen a commercial release like Gold Star Mountain and Gaia Blade.

Another game that would be cancelled soon was CODE:Inferno for PS2, an action-RPG where players assume the role of a masked warrior named White Demon, who wields a giant cross called the Holy Key as his weapon. Little else is known about this mysterious project but you can see some artworks that appeared back then in a japanese magazine.

Thanks to Susumu for the translation of a Famitsu article.

Images: 

The Getaway [PS2 – Beta & Concept]

The game originally began life on the 32-bit PlayStation, off the back of Porsche Challenge. After having made an acclaimed circuit driving game, Team SOHO – like many other developers at the time – felt that a free roaming vehicle game was an interesting concept worth exploring. The title was prototyped and playable missions were made, but it then evolved into a Playstation 2 (PS2) project. However the original code was kept and there was talk of including it on the finished game, which would ultimately not happen. Apart from several screenshots printed in the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, the original version would never see release.

The hype surrounding the project began in earnest just before E3 2000, when a series of screenshots were published online. They revealed an amazing level of detail, clearly showing the very identifiable streets near Team SOHO’s studio. Though it has been argued that these shots were actually mock-up pre-renders, it is possible that they were taken from actual PS2-spec hardware running in real time. However, it is clear that these early screen shots include vehicle and character models which are more detailed than those in the final game, as well as higher-resolution textures and a much greater level of anti-aliasing than may be possible on PS2 hardware. [Info from Wikipedia] You can see these early PS2 screens in the gallery below.

As David has made us to notice: “The Getaway had alot more cars in the beta version, but some of the companys didn’t want part in the game, (probably because of the controversy over killing and GTA styled games) and were removed from the final version.”

Images: 

Breaker [PS2 – Cancelled]

Breaker is a cancelled online coop shooter that was in development by Tecmo for Playstation 2. Players would cooperate in a 4-man squad vs hordes of toothsome xenomorphs, with an arcade based weaponary set. The only footage released for the game was probably from a target render and Breaker soon vanished from Tecmo’s release list, without any official reasons. We can speculate that PS2’s online network was not popular enough to justify the investment in this kid of game.

[Thanks to David Costa Mano and Ross Sillifan for the contribution!]

Images: 

Gremlins [PS2 – Unreleased]

“Set 20 years after the movies, Gremlins allows you to play as either Gizmo or Stripe. The plot is centred around the idea that the town of Kingston Falls has gathered to pay belated respect to Gizmo and his owner Billy for saving the town over two decades ago. That night however, Gizmo gets splashed with water that causes him to spew out hoards of Gremlins. Which, obviously, you must track down and kill so the party can continue. Just pray that somebody doesn’t use this plot for a Gremlins 3 movie.Rather than creating a standard platform game, developers LSP have included a team-management element – similar to the one found in last year’s Conflict Desert Storm. You can control your troops using the trigger buttons, and also give them orders. There are eleven areas to explore including a bank and a school, each of which is filled with Gremlins dressed up as policemen, mafia types and so on.” [Cancelled]

Contribute by Matt Gander from www.gamesasylum.com

Thanks to http://gremlins.wordpress.com for the video!

Images:

Videos: