Unseen News

Unseen News

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure [PS2] – Beta

Yassine Bakrim
16-05-2025
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Rygar: The Legendary Adventure (or known as Argus no Senshi in Japan) is a fun action-adventure game released exclusively on the PS2. Despite the game being a critical success, that didn’t translate to acceptable sales. A sequel was planned and teased by Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki, but nothing came out of it. It is possible that the game hasn’t gotten past the drawing board. We’ll never know.

Prior to the game’s release, we can observe a few differences in the HUD. Additionally, the prototype builds of the game came installed with a Making of DVD where Satoshi Kanematsu — the game’s producer— speaks a bit about his game. Also, in the September, October 2001 builds, and the E3 trailer of the game, enemies will keep respawning in certain areas infinitely until you clear the level.

In short, here are the differences I noticed:

  • Different HUD
  • Different running animation for Rygar
  • Different SFX
  • Lack of boss fights (as soon as you enter the arena, you’re welcomed with a GET READY TO ROCK screen)
  • Enemies keep respawning infinitely
  • Different blue orb colour for teleporting between levels
  • Heaven Diskarmor has a different colour and shape
  • Different Diskarmor icons altogether
  • Missing the glow from the orbs Rygar uses to attach his Diskarmor to

 

Unseen News

Austin Powers [PS2] – Cancelled

Yassine Bakrim
11-05-2025
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Austin Powers was an action-adventure game in development by n-Space and was intended to be published by Rockstar Games exclusively for the PS2. Development started around the late days of 1999, and was silently cancelled sometime in 2003. Take-Two officially announced on February 27, 2001, that they were delaying the game to 2002. And since then, nobody has heard anything from the game.

From IGN’s write-up, we get to have a glimpse at what the game was going to be all about:

“Being developed by n-Space, the team responsible for Danger Girl and both third-person Duke Nukem adventures on the PlayStation, the as-yet-unnamed Austin Powers adventure was to feature dancing, photography, and mini-games in addition to a multi-character third-person action core — in theory, you’d be able to play as Powers, Felicity Shagwell, Fat Bastard, and all the rest of the movie’s cast. It’s likely that the game will see some reworking, though, in order to sync better with the theme of the next movie. The delay should also give n-Space a little more breathing room in its crowded development schedule, which includes the first PS2 Duke Nukem game, also to be published by Take-Two.”

Bear in mind, this game had no link to Mojo Rally whatsoever. This was to be a separate game in the Austin Powers franchise. 

Unseen News

Alter Echo [PS2/Xbox] – Beta

Yassine Bakrim
11-05-2025
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Alter Echo was a strange, ambitious beast—an action-adventure title that dared to fuse multiple gameplay systems into something boldly experimental. It had style, ideas, and a confident strut all its own. But despite all this, the game didn’t walk away with awards. THQ’s gamble didn’t pay off commercially, and Alter Echo quietly faded into obscurity—at least for a while. Years later, it would resurface as a cult favourite, remembered by those who stumbled onto it as something genuinely ahead of its time.

But before Alter Echo became the shape-shifting, time-bending spectacle it’s now remembered as, it went through some major changes in its earliest form.

Back in its early development days, the game looked—and played—differently. The camera system mirrored that of Devil May Cry, relying on fixed cinematic angles to introduce players to action. Nevin, the game’s protagonist, was also nearly unrecognisable: a different face, a different suit, and different visual effects altogether. It was only after internal feedback from a THQ producer, who pointed out the visibility issues caused by the original camera, that Outrage made a drastic shift. The decision not only overhauled the game’s visual design but also impacted its performance, cutting the framerate from the intended slick 60 frames per second down to 30.

With the new direction in place, Alter Echo moved to a fully controllable 3D camera, and Nevin received his final redesign. His allies, Arana and Stom, still wore the original red/orange suits late into development—until the team finally settled on their now-iconic bluish armour for the retail release.

Apart from the visual differences, in the early E3 trailers shown, the time dilation for Nevin was much slower than the final release. There were different gunshot and slashing effects as well as different icons for the Time Dilation.  The HUD colour was different. The running and jumping animations for Nevin were also different. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive gallery of the early changes, and more!

Early Footage of Alter Echo Build:

Later Build:

Videos:

Fan-documentary containing insights from Lead Designer Andy Crosby

 

Unseen News

Dead to Rights: Redemption [PS3/Xbox 360]

Yassine Bakrim
01-05-2025
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Dead to Rights: Retribution is often remembered by fans as a gritty, no-nonsense third-person shooter released in 2010 by Volatile Games and published under the Namco Bandai umbrella. This game was a reboot of the Dead to Rights franchise that brought back cop Jack Slate and his loyal companion Shadow, delivering a hard-hitting experience that combined close-quarters combat with gunplay. But what most people don’t know is that Retribution wasn’t always the game we got.

Long before the final build took shape, the project began life under a very different title— Dead to Rights: Redemption. This early version aimed to be a grounded reboot — more noir, less neon. Gone were the exaggerated shootouts and over-the-top spectacle. In its place was something colder, leaner, and more emotionally restrained. Jack Slate’s original design reflected this direction: vulnerable, more human than action hero.

Several experimental ideas were on the table during this phase. A set of mini-games, deeper Shadow integration, Co-op features, and even a multiplayer mode originally titled “Banged 2 Rights.” Many of these never made it past early prototyping.

So what brought about the change?

According to Assistant Lead Designer and Story Writer Ben Fisher, the game’s tone was restructured after a shift in Namco’s internal direction, specifically from the American branch. Fisher noted:

“With a producer change at Namco US, the game shifted more towards a ‘core’ Namco tone. What they had in mind was more like Tekken, so we layered up some of the more operatic tone over time — in fact you can see the roots of a more grounded tone in the mocapped cutscenes because they were recorded first.”

What started as a slow-burn crime drama gradually morphed into the stylised, bombastic action game we now know as Retribution. That shift wasn’t just tonal — it bled into every corner of the design, from visuals to pacing to Jack’s final character model, which bore more resemblance to comic book anti-heroes like The Punisher than his original noir blueprint.

Below, you’ll find rare concept art and early design documents from the Redemption phase of the game, showing a version of Jack Slate that almost was.

Concept Art:

Design Document:

Videos:

Fan-documentary containing a mini-interview with Ben Fisher and other trivia

Huge thanks to Evan Hanley and Mr Pinball64.