Playstation

Deathtrap Dungeon [PSX PC – Beta]

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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Malice [PSX – Cancelled]

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:

 

Mega Man Legends 2 [PSX – Beta]

Mega Man Legends 2 (called Rock Man Dash 2 in Japan) was released in japan in April of 2000, and has helped establish the series. Here are the beta findings that have been made, consisting of pre Japanese release pictures, and even some footage of a town that was removed from the final version of the game.

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The most notable feature of the above video, is at 1:08, where the footage of the removed town can be seen.

And in the gallery below, you can see concept arts for unused characters / enemies (taken from the Rockman Dash 2 art book), a character that’s not where they’re supposed to be, more of the unused town, a beta timer and more. Also of note, is the Blue/Purple haired character. In one image, they’re in an area that they’re not supposed to be, and in another, they can be seen in the removed town!

A Rockman DASH 2: Episode 1 beta demo that was included in “Tron ni Kobun”, the Japanese version of Misadventures of Tron Bonne.

A video from Mega Man Legends 2’s debug room can be found in Undergroundruin’s Youtube Channel!

Thanks to OKei for the contribution!

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Debug Room:
 

Jalapeno Harry [PSX – Cancelled]

Jalapeno Harry is a cancelled platform game that was in development by Sony in 1997 / 1998 for the original Playstation. There is not much information available on this unreleased project, except some concept artwork that shows what the game would have looked like. We can read some more info about Jalapeno in this quote by Jason Rubin on IGN:

Sony even started to mess around with its own, internal platformer based on the success of Crash. “Because Universal owned Crash, before Sony bought Naughty Dog, Sony thought that in case Crash went away, they needed to have an engine that could do what we were doing,” Rubin said, “and they actually internally started working on a ‘Crash Killer,’ they called it, that was eventually Harry Jalapeno, believe it or not.”

Maybe Sony decided to stop the work on Jalapeno Harry as Naughty Dog and Universal made the Crash Bandicoot series a Playstation 1 exclusive and they did not need to spend money on another platform brand.

Thanks to Hey Hey for the contribution and to Sir_Brando for the english corrections!

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Dimm and Witt [PSX – Cancelled]

Dimm and Witt is a cancelled game that was in development in 1995 by PF Magic (creators of Ballz and the Petz series) for the original Playstation. The project was never released and we dont even know much about its gameplay: seeing their past works and the only screenshot preserved, it could have been a fighting game or a sidescroller action game.

If you worked on Dimm and Witt and have more screens / info on the project, please let us know!

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