Sony

Densen [PS2 – Cancelled]

DenSen (meaning ‘electric wire’ in Japanese) was one of the first titles ever announced in the late ‘90s by Sony for their new PlayStation 2 and scheduled to be released in spring 2000, but in the end it vanished without any official statement. The project was in development internally by SCEJ and it looked like a really original game.

A little school girl would walk around and ride on electricity power wires with a coat hanger, to explore a  floating, surreal Japanese town, in which along with traditional houses and streets we can notice a huge housewife dancing with her bag on a flying island. From the only video ever released on a demo CD published along with Japanese PlayStation 2 magazine PLUS (October 1999) we can see that players would have been able to follow branching directions that would have taken the game’s protagonist to different parts of the city, sprinting while hanging on power wires, somehow similar to grinding on wires in games like Jet Set Radio, or the most recent skyhooks in Bioshock Infinite.

The main designer behind DenSen was Kiyoshi Sakai, a name that will probably remain unknown by most gamers, but that could seem vaguely familiar to some people that enjoyed such weird games as Umihara Kawase, as he is also the creator of this crazy platformer series. Starting from 1994 Umihara Kawase was published with a cult following on different consoles such as the SNES, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, PSP, Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita, but most of these titles were never released outside of Japan. The music played in the Densen demo video is one of the tracks from the original Super Nintendo version of Umihara.

By knowing how the Umihara Kawase series is played, we can assume that Kiyoshi Sakai would have offered something similar in DenSen, with the school girl that would have had to reach the ending of the level in the fasted and craziest way possible, using hanging on power wires instead of the grappling hook.

In an interview with Sakai by Gosokkyu, they asked about DenSen to its creator that answered:

“Densen is a title we planned while I was working at SCEJ. However, before we had spent the adequate time organizing all our ideas, it was pushed forward and announced. As a result, it ended up failing. It was an SCEJ title, so I don’t know whether they have any plans to bring it back or not.”

Even if Densen was never released on the PlayStation 2, its weird premise influenced one of the strangest yet fun games of the “128 bit” generation: Katamari Damacy. Keita Takahashi (creator of Katamari) remembers that while working at Namco he saw that same DenSen video and it blown its mind:

“The PS2 was released in Japan around the time I joined Namco, and there was a Sony launch game that I was excited about called Densen, but which got cancelled. In that game, you used coat hangers to slide along an electricity cable like a zip line, which I thought was a wonderful idea, because it’s a twist on something you’d see in everyday life. I realized that the world around me could be in a game, and that had an effect on Katamari Damacy.

An interview with Sakai about Densen was published in a Japanese book and thanks to Zammataro’s translation we have some more details:

  • The game’s protagonist is an office lady named Yoshizawa Kyoko
  • The game is supposed to be a “dream sequence” of her escaping from the bore of her ordinary life.
  • Each level was supposed to be her waking up from her daydream and having to run off to work.
  • The game’s mechanics had the player unlocking new areas by powering up certain devices using power lines with her attacks to get through.
  • Enemies and such are also supposed to be a representation of the protagonist frustrations in real life (here Sakai points at the bag lady model in the demo video, which he claims is the protagonist’s mother).
  • Surprisingly, it was supposed to have end bosses, all related with the “frustration relief” theme, some of the proposals was her pet dog, her boyfriend, etc… They were supposed to be defeated using or activating the environment’s gimmicks.
  • According to Sakai, the game was complete to “3%”, essentially most of the concept stayed on the drawing board.

As of September 2015, Kiyoshi Sakai is still working on videogames at Agatsuma Entertainment and their latest games were Code of Princess (3DS) and Sayonara Umihara Kawase (3DS and PS Vita).

Huge thanks to Zammataro for the contribution!

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GTA: San Andreas [PS2 – Beta]

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a sandbox action game developed by Rockstar North, originally released for the PlayStation 2 in October 2004 and later ported to the Xbox and Microsoft Windows. In the gallery below you can see some early screens with beta differences, noticed by Sir_Brando and bazaaboy44:

  • Image 1: Big Smoke and and Sweet in Beta clothes
  • Image 2: Main charaters in beta clothes; Taken out character on bottom right.
  • Image 3: Beta CJ face
  • Image 4: Beta skin and fat CJ; Taken out Grove Street character, third from left.
  • Image 5: Homies were originally able to follow CJ into buildings, such as stores, restaurants and safehouses.
  • Image 6: Taken out woman chararacter
  • Image 7: Hooded Grove Street character on right was taken out.
  • Image 8: Taken out Grove Street character.
  • Image 9: Car washes, similar to the ones in GTA IV were originally accessible, but due to limitations of the game engine, they are non-functional in the final.

A “sex mini-game” was removed from the final version, but still hidden in its code (from Wikipedia):

In mid-June 2005, a software patch for the game dubbed the “Hot Coffee mod” was released by Patrick Wildenborg (under the Internet alias “PatrickW”), a 38-year old modder from the Netherlands. The name “Hot Coffee” refers to the way the released game alludes to the unseen sex scenes. In the unmodified game, the player takes his girlfriend to her front door and she asks him if he would like to come in for “some coffee”. He agrees, and the camera stays outside, swaying back and forth a bit, while moaning sounds are heard.

After installing the patch, users can enter the main character’s girlfriends’ houses and engage in a crudely rendered, fully clothed sexual intercourse mini-game.

Thanks to Solidshake, Sir_Brando, PCloadletter and bazaaboy44 for the contributions!

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Beta Videos:

Videos (Hot Coffee):

There are also some missions that were cut from the final release of the game, altrough there is a mod for PC that you can play these missions, also there are some changes in some missions that were modified in the final version:

-There are many deleted missions which include The Truth is Out There and Impounded, or missions with different objectives which include Doberman, Photo Opportunity and Beat Down on B Dup.

-In the first version of Saint Mark’s Bistro, CJ had to chase Marco Forelli with a car in the streets of Portland, but for some reason, Portland is not full in the final version (only Saint Mark’s, Red Light District and some place of Chinatown and Portland View) and the road isn’t solid anywhere.

-Fish in a Barrel was supposedly an actual mission instead of a mere cutscene.

-In Sweet’s Girl, originally Sweet did not have a gun, so CJ escorted him out.

-In Photo Opportunity, unused text implies that CJ hijacked and used a helicopter.

-There was going to be a mission involving a search for Big Smoke.

-There was going to be a different race in the Los Santos Stadium.

-There were San Fierro Rifa gang tags. The texture is still in the game files. 

GTA 3 [Beta – PS2 Tech Demo / Concept]

gta3logo.jpg

Prior to the 2001 release of the final game, several modifications were made on Grand Theft Auto III. The changes were apparent as several promotional materials had previously displayed features that would be absent in the final version of the game. While cuts and changes are frequent during game development, the changes in GTA III were of note as they were made around the time when the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred; this led some gamers to speculate that at least some of the changes were motivated by the attacks. Although little was disclosed about the types of changes to be made and when they were conducted, Sam Houser, the president of Rockstar Games (based in Manhattan, New York City), was quoted September 19, 2001 in mentioning a review would to be undergone for GTA III, in addition to confirming the delay of the game’s release by three weeks (the original, rough release date was suggested by Houser to be on October 2, 2001):

“ …our biggest games, including Grand Theft Auto [III], have been delayed slightly. This decision is based on two factors, firstly it has been a little difficult to get work done in downtown Manhattan in the last week since basic communications infrastructure has been intermittent at best, and secondly we felt that a full content review of all our titles was absolutely necessary for us in light of the horrifying event we all witnessed in NYC last week. As for Grand Theft Auto [III], since the game is so huge the review is no short process. So far we have come across certain small contextual references that we were no longer comfortable with, as well as a couple of very rare game play instances that no longer felt appropriate to us. We [apologize] to you and all the people waiting for this game to ship for the delays that have now ensued, but I’m sure you can understand our reasoning.”

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[Thanks to Solidshake for these images!]

The only change on the game that has been suggested to have been made shortly after 9/11 was of the police cars’ paint scheme; the new colour scheme of the LCPD is modelled in a panda-like black-and-white design similar to the LAPD, while the old color scheme of blue with white stripes (seen in previews and the manual map) resembles that of the NYPD. Pre-release screenshots in the game’s official website depicting police cars had also undergone modifications, around a week after September 11. The NYPD-like paint scheme would eventually be reintroduced in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, but uses black instead of NYPD’s blue colour.

Another cut is that of Darkel, an in-game character, for the final version of the game. Mentioned in several early video game publications and websites, Darkel was to be a revolutionary urchin who vowed to bring down the city’s economy. One mission involved stealing an ice cream van, using it to attract pedestrians, then blowing it up (this mission would eventually be given by El Burro instead in the final version of game to kill a group of gang members). Darkel was also originally expected to give out Rampage-like missions, and even had his voice recorded for this part. Rockstar later decided that they would like to go back to the original system of giving out rampages as featured in Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2. Although Darkel and his missions were removed indefinitely, the character remains listed in the manual’s credits, as well as having a character texture retained in the game’s data files.

Another reminisce of Darkel’s existence is an abandoned tunnel in the city, associated with the character in the official website, and includes four homeless people in a group wielding Molotov cocktails. Both the tunnel and the four homeless people are retained in the final version of the game.The Dodo airplane, the only drivable aircraft in the game, was also a point of discussion; the wings of the vehicle were significantly short, while an uncontrollable full-winged version has been seen flying around the city.

However, the plane has, for months before 9/11, had a short wingspan, as evidenced from a preview in Game Informer (Issue #95), which indicated that the plane was to be used in a (now abandoned) mission to loft the plane high enough in its brief flight and reach new areas of the city. The Dodo is considerably difficult to control, usually resulting in short flights (although it is possible to fly the plane continuously around Liberty City when properly trained). Mods exist to give the Dodo a wider wing, though the outer sections are not solid.

Otherwise, the aircraft would not be able to fit into the import/export garage at the docks in Portland Island.Other changes included stopping the selection of certain character models when using cheat codes in, removing the aforementioned ability to blow limbs off non-player characters in only the PlayStation 2 version of GTA III, elderly pedestrians with walkers, school children as pedestrians and a school bus.” The airport was also in located in staunton island and the callahan bridge was called the westport bridge, due to signs in the game calling it that.

GTA 3 was also meant to be released on the sega Dreamcast, but it couldnt be relased on the console because of the game’s hardware requirements (Source, Game informer).

[Info from Wikipedia]

Official Beta Portland L-Train Station

Portland Beta Station

In both screens, it doesn’t show the subway entrance, so the station might have been in place of the subway in early alpha and beta stages.

Bonus: Beta train interior:

Beta Train Interior

Credit to gta111 from gtaforums.com

Thanks to Patrick Drozg for the contribution!

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Thorgal: Odin’s Curse [PS2 – Cancelled]

ENG: This entry in the archive doesn’t have a description yet. If you want to add some info about the beta / cancelled stuff that you see in these images, just write a comment or send us an email! We’ll add your info in this page and your name in the contributors list. Thanks a lot for your help! :)

ITA: Questa pagina dell’archivio non ha ancora una descrizione. Se vuoi aggiungere delle informazioni riguardo le differenze della beta o la descrizione di un gioco cancellato, lasciaci un commento o mandaci una email! Inseriremo le tue informazioni nella pagina ed il tuo nome nella lista dei collaboratori. Grazie per il tuo aiuto! :)

[Contribute by Matt Gander from www.gamesasylum.com]

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Capcom Fighting All-Stars [PS2/Arcade – Cancelled]

Capcom Fighting All-Stars was a 3D fighting game planned for the arcade and PlayStation 2 that was to be developed by Capcom. Like King of Fighters Maximum Impact, it was designed to translate a 2D fighting game series into 3D. This was done previously in the Street Fighter EX series, by Arika, but not directly by Capcom.Capcom Fighting All-Stars attempted to utilize modern console graphics with characters from Street Fighter and other Capcom series, much like the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Capcom beta-tested the game, but after negative feedback from players and more months in development, the game was canceled in August 2003.

While the game never received an official release, the idea of Capcom’s own characters in a crossover game would be instead used in a 2D fighting game, Capcom Fighting Evolution, released in 2005. One of the original characters slated to debut in All-Stars, Ingrid, would appear in Evolution and later on in the PSP port of Street Fighter Alpha 3. [Info from Wikipedia]

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