News on Beta & Cancelled Games

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Retro Gaming Australia – Retro Reading #8 [7 march 2010]

Busy week for the boys at Unseen64, with some extra stuff in addition to their usual selection of information about betas and cancelled games. I thought the Jet Force Gemini game for the GBC looked alright – it’s a shame that Rare’s GBC titles didn’t experience the level of success they anticipated.

GameSetWatch – Possible Concept Art From Backbone’s Mirror’s Edge Wii Demo [22 July 2009]

Looking to expand DICE’s first-person platformer Mirror’s Edge beyond the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3, publisher Electronic Arts asked Backbone Entertainment (Monster Lab, Rock Band Unplugged) to create a demo for a possible Wii version of the game last Fall, according to a report from Unseen64. At least one former Backbone employee’s resume confirms that the studio worked on such a project. These two pieces of concept art uncovered by Unseen64 are purported to be for that Wii prototype, revealing what appears to be a new cel-shaded approach to the game’s already distinctive graphics; of course, Backbone could have restricted this look to the concept art, not extending it to the actual demo. […]

Joystiq – Internet archaeologists discover artifacts of cancelled PS3/360 Indiana Jones game [4 August 2009]

Originally, LucasArts’ Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings was planned to be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as well. After a couple of years of troubled development, the next-gen version was shelved, and a few months later the game arrived on Wii, DS, PSP, and PS2. Unseen64, following a car chase, a fistfight with Nazis, and a trip through a booby-trapped cave, unearthed early footage and screens of the next-gen game. We’ve got one rough gameplay clip after the break; check the site for more early gameplay and test animations, and decide for yourself if LucasArts chose wisely or poorly.

Tiny Cartridge – Cooly Skunk [March 2010]

Early image of Cooly Skunk for SNES. If you ever wondered why the PlayStation platformer Punky Skunk looked so much like an SNES game (that is, if you’ve ever thought about Punky Skunk at all) — it was! Unseen64 says that “The project was probably canned for the 16 bit system because of the new Playstation and Saturn consoles, that “killed” the SNES / Mega Drive (Genesis) market.” The game is a lot more interesting now that I’ve seen this unreleased version.

The Gaming Liberty – exclusive interview [28 November 2009]

We felt that we’d like to sit down and mention a site that we have been fond of for years now. Unseen64.net is a gamers heaven: a pirate’s treasure if you will. Imagine owning some of the most sought after “scrapped” titles on the planet?

Blogtown – Weekend Reading: Unseen 64 [3 April 2010]

Writing about games for a living isn’t all fancy parties, mountains of drugs and scoring wicked hot tail. In fact, it’s nothing like that. In reality, it’s all about sitting on your couch in a pair of warm ups, forcing yourself to play through hours and hours of endlessly derivative games and — if you’re good — researching the nebulous history of trivial gaming accessories on your free time. Hit the jump and I’ll attempt to salvage this depressing introduction. Where was I? Oh right, my life is dull. To wit, this morning I found myself reading up on a number of games that were canceled for whatever reason when a friend of mine happened to ask what I was looking at. “Oh, um, it’s this website that collects canceled, and early versions of games and discusses why they were canned or what changed between the beta and the eventual release version.” Giving me a quizzical look, he pressed on, “Uh, I really was just asking about that Castlevania thing. Is that Castlevania?” “Yeah,” I replied. “It’s a look at the totally screwed up history of the Nintendo 64 Castlevania.” […]

Time Warp Gamer – Making New Friends on the InterTubes [18 February 2010]

Today, I noticed that Unseen64 was linking to TWG via its forum. What is this site I wondered, so I checked it out. What I discovered was a fabulous resource for information about unreleased games and betas. Some coverage that especially enticed me: Batman [NES – Beta] Mii [NES – Prototype] Ninja Gaiden [Mega Drive – Beta/Unreleased] Phantasy Star IV [Mega Drive/Genesis – Beta]

Kombo – Super Mario’s Wacky Worlds Footage Revealed [9 Sept 2009]

Super Mario’s Wacky Worlds was intended to be a true sequel to Super Mario World, but never actually saw the light of day. Despite this, Unseen64 has managed to dig up some footage to give us an idea of what might have been.

The 8th-Circuit – Unseen 64 [June 2009]

E3 2009 has come and gone and wow was it an exciting one. But remember back at E3 ’97 when that awesome looking game that was coming all of a sudden just got lost in existence? Well here is a site you might want to take good look at just to find that once awesome game and its called Unseen 64! Unseen 64 “looks like a a usual gaming blog, but Unseen 64 is a big archive for canceled, beta and unseen video games”- says the head of Unseen 64 Luka (monokoma). Started in 1999 in Italy by ” me and some other Italian geeks obsessed with the Nintendo 64″. Unseen 64 began as a dedicated Perfect Dark fansite. But what was really interesting to visitors was the Unseen section of their site “At the end of 2003, we closed down the Perfect Dark website, but as we still got many visitors interested in the Unseen 64 section, we decided to create a website dedicated to “Unseen Section”. […]

Superlevel – Unseen 64 [15 April 2009]

Das Blog Unseen64 gibt es bereits seit acht Jahren und widmete sich in der Anfangszeit ausschließlich Nintendo64-Spielen. Inzwischen sind dort jedoch alle möglichen Systeme vertreten. In den Artikeln geht es um Spiele, die nie das Licht der Welt erblickten – sprich: Titel, die zwar begonnen, aber nicht abgeschlossen wurden. Sehr interessant.

Kotaku – What Factor 5’s Superman Once Looked Like [9 March 2009]

[…] Unseen 64, where games goes when they die, has concept screen shots and a brief video of the planned PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game, visuals dating back to when Factor 5 employees were still being paid. It looks good enough, but also looks about as finished as the Flash game that BottleRocket was working on for Brash before the publisher’s collapse.

Edge Magazine – Website of the Month [# December 2008]

LA Game Culture Examiner – From the graveyard: forgotten and cancelled games [7 Jan 2009]

With a holiday season full of blockbuster titles behind us, let’s take a look at forgotten and cancelled games that never saw the light of day. It’s a facet of the video game industry that normally gets little coverage but has increasingly found its way to front-page news with the current economic downturn that has resulted in dozens of development houses closing down, leaving many games cancelled or left in development limbo. There’s plenty that can be learned from looking at cancelled games and the dedicated folks at Unseen64 take on the arduous task of preserving the legacy of such titles for the general public. […] Perhaps the wildest thing of all is knowing that the games listed on Unseen64 are only the tip of the iceberg. One can only speculate on the number of games that were cancelled and scrapped long before any official announcement of their development was made public. Sadly, the current economic downturn will see plenty more games cancelled partway through development accompanied by many game industry job losses and dev studio closures (which seem to be happening every week now). That, my friends, is the wonderful world of game development.

1UP.com Retronauts Blog – Unseen 64 on the Scene [20 Dic 2008]

While poking around the internet, I stumbled across an Italian web site called Unseen 64. Like Frank Cifaldi’s popular The Lost Levels, the site covers games that were thiiiis close to hitting store shelves, but ultimately wound up in the circular file. But where The Lost Levels sheds light on stillborn software from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, Unseen 64 casts a wider net, with articles on unreleased games for practically every console under the sun. Even the very current Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have their own sections on the site!

One of the more interesting non-releases featured on Unseen 64 is Magic Karts, a PlayStation 2 racing title from the creators of Beetle Adventure Racing. The sporty Volkswagen bugs from that Nintendo 64 sleeper hit have been replaced with silly automobiles that look like they were pulled straight out of the old Hanna-Barbera cartoon Wacky Races. Unfortunately, Magic Karts seems to have been killed early in its development cycle, judging from the pictures on Unseen 64 which include polygon models and environments, but no actual footage of the game in action. Oh well — looks like it’s back to Jak X: Combat Racing for me.

Another surprise was Toon Panic for the Nintendo 64. This Japanese title is best described as an early ancestor of Power Stone… you select a fantasy-themed character, then leap into battle against big-headed yetis, knights, and mermen. Instead of a trio of gems, a single brightly colored hammer acts as the trump card in Toon Panic… grab it and the music picks up tempo as your opponents make a hasty retreat to the corners of the screen! This game was much further along than Magic Karts, but the video clip on Unseen 64 demonstrates why the developers pulled the plug on this project. Hey, they can’t all be winners!

There are dozens of other games showcased on Unseen 64, so if you’re curious to see what might have been on your favorite systems, I’d strongly recommend you give the site a look.

Zaamit Blog – Giochi mai usciti per XBOX – XBOX360 e altre console [30 Jul 2008]

Oggi giracchiando per la rete mi sono imbattuto in questo sito: Unseen 64. Di che parla questo sito direte voi, ma di tutti i videogiochi che non sono mai usciti per diversi motivi sul mercato. E’ un progetto interessante e sempre aggiornato con foto e filmati, è bellissimo vedere i progetti beta di molti giochi poi realizzati sulle console più potenti. Naturalmente il sito tiene conto di molte console. Invito tutti a passarci del tempo perchè è interessantissimo(è scritto anche in italiano).

Back of the cereal box – Mario’s Lost Bytes [23 April 2007]

My online stumbling has led me to Unseen 64, a truly righteous site that compiles images from beta versions of famous video games. Sure, half the text is in Italian, but that shouldn’t stop you from taking a look. After all, doesn’t Mario speak Italian? Screenshots from not-ready-for-prime-time versions of various Mario games are always a trip, as any true gamer can’t help marvel at what could have been. […]

Those We Left Behind – U64 detailing development hell of videogames [26 June 2008]

Just came across this fantastic website: www.unseen64.net

that details the changes that videogames undergo before they get to market, if they get to market. It has a great search engine, so say I want to check out Resident Evil, I get all kinds of returns, like Resident Evil 1.5 for the PS1 (see the screenshot above) and the beta for Resident Evil 4, which looked stunning. This site is inspired and fascinating and anyone with even a passing interest in gaming needs to go and check the site out. If you don’t, you’ll never understand the thrill of finding out about the game adaptation of Waterworld for the Sega Saturn that never came to fruition; or the best title of a game I have heard in a long time – I give you ‘Wet Corpse’, another cancelled Saturn game.

SegaPT – Os jogos que desapareceram [9 Maggio 2008]

Graças ao portal Unseen64 descobri algumas pérolas perdidas da Sega e muitas outras empresas que simplesmente desapareceram, ficando apenas remtidas a artigos ou vídeos de demonstrações que nunca se materializaram. Estes são alguns dos vapourware mais populares(ou desconhecidos) da Sega. Streets of Rage 4 – Dreamcast: O que é que aconteceu? Segundo a Unseen64 algumas tech demos foram feitas no Japão, porém a Sega da América nunca teve confiança no projecto, pois a sua administração era recente e não conhecia o franchise propriamente dito, daí que SOR4 nunca passou de uma demo. Comix Zone 3D – Saturn: O que aconteceu? Nunca se soube o é que tinha acontecido com este projecto. Ainda é um mistério e estas são as únicas fotografias que comprovam a sua existência(foto da Sega-16.com). Vectorman – Playstation 2: O que é que aconteceu? Uma nova versão baseada no clássico da Mega Drive foi cancelada pouco tempo depois de ter sido anunciado porque achavam que o jogo estava demasiado diferente do original. Muitos também fizeram comparações entre a personagem do Vectorman e Master Chief da série Halo. Fifth Phantom Saga – Playstation 3: O que é que aconteceu? O paradeiro deste jogo permanece um autêntico mistério, foi na E3 de 2005 que foi revelado, 3 anos depois ninguém sabe do que é que é feito deste FPS muito invulgar da Sonic Team.

Er Blog de Jumafas – Un “prematuro” Burning Rangers [15 Gennaio 2008]

Esto de ser Bombero (“bomberfan” no, eh? que os conozco :-P) en los tiempos actuales de DUBEDE y PLASMA es un poco rollo, que si salva el gatito de Doña Remigia, que si quita la farola en medio la calle, … que si se nos quema el Carrefour de al lado…. o_O´´ menos mal que a manos del Sonic Team (con Yuji Naka al frente y “to”)se nos brindó áños atrás ese “pedrazo” juego que fué el sobresaliente Burning Rangers. Con unas cotas técnicas que hicieron palidecer a la misma Playstation1 demostrando que Saturn podía hacer cosas “potitas y fermosas” con los Poligonos esos. Siendo aparte un juego 3d con transparencias DE LAS BUENAS (nada de “famosas” TRAMAS Saturneras), y de los que aprovechan los SH2 como nunca. Temas introductorios aparte, los amigos de UNSEEN64 han incluido un video de una BETA del juego, en el que podemos ver cambios Notables con el HUD del juego, curiosos los dialogos japoneses (según la wikipedia eran cantantes pop de reconocido prestigio). Cuanto menos curioso, una pena que dure tan poco…quien sabe si andará por ahi una beta “tostable” , je je je… bon apettite.

AnotherCenturysGamer – Awesome site about never before seen games [17 Gennaio 2008]

Ever wonder what happend to that Final Fantasy game that was coming the Nintendo 64? or that beta version of star fox 2 for super nintendo. Well you can find out at unseen64.net this site has some of the wierdest and even the coolest infor on games that were slated to come out but never saw the light of day!! check it out I personally felt like indiana jones looking for lost treasures or something I dunno see for yourself.

El Septimo Cielo – Juegos cancelados e imagenes beta [25 Gennaio 2008]

El otro dia encontre esta pagina en la que aparecen todos los juegos cancelados de todas las consolas e imagenes de los juegos en fase beta, algunas imagenes de algunos juegos son sorprendentes y nunca llegaron a aparecer en la version final del videojuego. La seccion mas interesante en mi opinion es la de N64 , aunque tambien hay juegos de la PS2 como NICO, en la que el personaje del juego de ICO aparece subido al caballo (Agro) de Shadow Of The Colossus.

Generation Wii – Unseen 64 [6 Febbraio 2007]

“Voila typiquement le genre d’initiative qui fait plaisir à voir. Un petit site internet recense actuellement l’intégralité des jeux jamais sortis – mais bien entendu annoncés! Du vaporware haut de gamme quoi! Allez donc y jeter un œil, ça vaut vraiment le détour. D’une part, votre culture vidéoludique va être multipliée par cent (de quoi frimer en société), et d’autre part si vous êtes connaisseur, y’a de quoi verser sa petite larme.”

Game Set Watch – Unreleased Game Bonanza! [3 Dicembre 2006]

“Via, I think, the AssemblerGames forums, I stumbled across a set of YouTube videos of unreleased games that includes a bunch of interesting, rare titles. The videos are actually part of the Unseen 64 website, which has a pretty decent collection of screenshots of unreleased games, even though some of the text is in Italian. But the videos themselves bear a second glance too, since they include things like a video of Dee Dee Planet for the Dreamcast, which I very vaguely remember hearing about. A creator interview from Shift Magazine explains of the ‘dori dock’-designed game: “This ‘Dee Dee PLANET’ is a kind of shooting game which shoots using a parabola, and is pastoral rather than speedy. It has a mathematical clearness by controlling the parabola with only two parameters – angle and shooting power. We set up a totally different theme apart from the offensiveness of other shooting games.” It’s a fascinating rarity – but there’s plenty of other stuff like Gold Star Mountain for Gamecube, an unreleased From Software game, also neato in the extreme – go poke around?”

Destructoid – GBA tech demo shows off some mighty horsepower [4 Aprile 2007]

“Talk about impressive. This video from Unseen64 demonstrates the kind of horsepower that the GBA really had, showcasing a tour of a facility not unlike the docking facility in the original Metal Gear Solid. Pretty neat that the best 3D on the GBA outweigh sub-par work on, say, the PSX. Not that you’d ever want to, y’know, play a 3D game on the platform — bit of a pain with only 4 buttons and a D-Pad — but it just goes to show just how much juice could be squeezed out of the little bastard with the right engine behind it.”

Destructoid – Unseen 64: screenshots of beta/unreleased games = your entire night shot [17 Dicembre 2006]

“This might surprise a lot of people, but a stork doesn’t bring video games. A lot of talented people actually get together in a room and hump. Nine months later, one of them pushes a game from between his or her legs. It’s quite a beautiful little miracle. Unseen 64 is a fantastic site dedicated to showing us the miracle of video game life. An ever growing collection of scans and screenshots of beta and unreleased games, it contains images of some of your favorites in forms you might not even recognize them. The image up there? Some game called Halo: Combat Evolved. Evolved indeed. The site appears to be in Italian, but you don’t need someone to tell you that early versions of Link from Ocarina of Time would make the baby Jesus cry. So go on. Spend three hours looking at the screen shots like I did. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The Dreamcast Junkyard – Beta Overload [28 Maggio 2007]

Long time readers and visitors to the ‘Yard may, quite possibly, remember a post I knocked up some time ago that introduced a site called X-Cult. If not, go here now. Had a look? Good. Now you’re up to speed, I’ll crack on. Whilst perusing the net, which is something I’ve gotten quite good at in recent decades, I found another interesting little site that sort of does the same as X-Cult – reveals details of cancelled games for a multitude of formats…including our beloved Dreamcast. Before you groan, listen up: Unseen64 features previously…er…unseen pictures and screens of a few forgotten gems that would have been a credit to the DC had they been released, and even grabs of a few games I’ve never actually heard of… Of course, this little collection is just the tip of the iceberg – there’s even more beta action at the actual site, and that includes some rather interesting shots of an early Metropolis Street Racer and a massive Shenmue archive. Granted, explanations of the titles shown are either non existent or written in Italian (which is fine if you can read Italian…which I can’t) so you have to make assumptions about how some of the games may have played by sight alone. Still, very cool, if that’s yer bag.”

Wii! Wii! Wii! .de – Unseen 64 [2 Aprile 2007]

“Manche Spiele schaffen es einfach nicht. Schaffen es nicht, über das Betastadium hinauszukommen. Dafür kann es allerlei ganz wichtige Gründe geben, meist aber liegt es am sich in einem modrigen Erdloch verkriechenden Zeitgeist, wo er mit seinem Kumpel Überzogenes-Budget einen draufmacht. Andere Titel wiederum schaffen es sehr wohl und werden zu Knallern. Doch auch sie haben das ein oder andere Betaversion-Geheimnis, unveröffentlichte Video oder frühreife Screenshots zu bieten. Genau die sammelt Unseen 64. “Unseen 64 is just a simple archive where to have a collection of screenshots for beta & unreleased videogames, like a little online-photo album, nothing really special. We decided to make this site just in case there where others fans of beta videogames, like us.” Zum Beispiel kann man dort derzeit über 180 Beta-Videos anschauen. Oder Einiges zur Entwicklung des N64-Zeldas “Ocarina of Time” lesen. Aber Achtung: “Sorry if our english is not great, we are Italians and really lazy ;P”

Porlaputa.com – U64: El cementerio de los videojuegos [1 Aprile 2007]

“Unseen 64 es, fácilmente, el mejor sitio para buscar imágenes de juegos que no llegaron a la tienda. Mas información después del salto. Algunos de estos juegos no alcanzarón a ver la luz del día, mientras que otros fueron localizados, pero cancelados a último minuto, y están guardados ahora mismo en alguna bodega japonesa. También es posible encontrar algunos screenshots tempranos de juegos que sí fueron lanzados, que nos permiten ver algunos cambios que se hicieron cuando se lanzó el producto final, como Mario Kart 64 , donde vemos que hubo un tiempo en que el mago Kamek tenía su propio go kart, o una variación temprana del mapa del Super Mario World. La sección que es muy interesante es la del Nintendo 64, porque podemos ver muchos juegos cancelados, gracias al cuestionable éxito de la consola, y a la competencia de Sony, que incluso terminó llevandose muchas series para la casa, como es el caso de Final Fantasy y Metal Gear Solid. Hay algunos, a mi gusto, que debiern haber sido lanzados, como Starfox 2 o Mother 3 (Earthbound 2). Lo demás… malas ideas. Desafortunadamente hay harto texto en italiano, pero es muy fácil navegar con facilidad por el sitio. Ir a unseen 64!”

Route 127.0.0.1 Blog – Analisi di Zelda Twilight Princess [2 Marzo 2007]

“La rete, si sa’, e’ vastissima. Ma non mi sarei mai immaginato di poter trovare una minuziosa analisi sul rilascio di Zelda The Twilight Princess e le sue differenze con le varie release beta/demo. Da leggere attentamente, qui.“

Thomas Welt – Ankündigungen der Konsolenhersteller [18 Febbraio 2007]

“Unter dem folgenden Link gibt es ein paar Informationen, Bilder und Videos von Konsolenspielen, die es in der angekündigten Art nicht auf den Endkundenmarkt geschaft haben: www.unseen64.tk”

X-Tray: todas esas imágenes que no has visto [17 Febbraio 2007]

“Interesante la propuesta de esta pagina llamada Unseen 64, que descubrí gracias a Plastico.tv, en ella podemos encontrar cientos de capturas y vídeos de juegos antes de su salida al mercado, ya sea en su desarrollo previo, en pruebas para ver que tal quedaría de una forma u otra, además como no, de juegos cancelados durante su creación. Os dejo con algunas de las capturas que me han parecido más llamativas (pinchar en la imagen pare ver más), podéis ver el resto en su web y los vídeos en su canal de YouTube.”

Bram Ruiter Blog [14 Febbraio 2007]

“Na een onverantwoorde surfsessie kom je als internetter altijd wel langs iets prachtigs, schokkend of hartverwamend. Echter, ik kwam terecht op een site die me alle drie bood. Unseen64 somt alle ongeziene screenshots en verloren beeld meteriaal van voornamelijk gecancelde games. Ook erg tof om te zien: de oude artwork van HALO.”

Plàstico.tv: Todas esas imágenes que no has visto [5 Febbraio 2007]

“Encontramos una página bastante peculiar. SE trata de una recopilación de screenshots de diversas plataformas de juegos que aún estaban en desarrollo. Incluso tenéis imágenes de betas o de juegos que más tarde fueron cancelados. De ahí el título que firma la página: “Todas esas imágenes que no has visto”. Aunque seguro que quien esté al pie del cañón sí ha visto algunas. Como las del sucesor de ICO, que tuvo el nombre en clave NICO, y que ya dejaba visible cómo iba a ser la nueva obra de Ueda. O un Shenmue bastante desmejorado, que sufrió un gran cambio en un proceso lento y laborioso. Todas ellas las tenéis aquí. Unseen64″

X-Gaming February 2007 Newsletter [Febbraio 2007]

“Recognize that game? Maybe not, but you may recognize his face. That’s what Link looked like before he was finished for The Ocarina of Time™. This is one of many pics of beta games you can check out on Unseen 64. Unseen 64 is a simple archive collection of screenshots for beta & unreleased videogames. Unseen 64 is made for fans by fans, so everyone can contribute to the archive for preserving the history and changes in the videogames development. Some titles you should check out while you’re there; Dinosaur Planet, which later was transformed into Star Fox™ Adventures. Twelve Tales, the little cute squirrel shown there later became the foul-mouthed furrball known as Conker in Conker’s™ Bad Fur Day. And long before Kameo™ ever made it into your 360, we played it at E3 on the Nintendo® Gamecube™.

Flat Life Blog: Unreleased Perfect Dark Zero and more [6 Febbraio 2007]

“Despite the lukewarm reception from critics, I was and remain a big fan of Perfect Dark Zero. In fact I think it is probably my favourite first-person-shooter (with Dues Ex: Invisible War right behind it). So getting a chance to see the game in some of it’s beta stages is exciting to me. I think the above image is gorgeous, in fact I think Joanna looks even cooler in that shot than she did in the final version. More unseen Perfect Dark here. And here. And for all of you that thought PDZ was bad, well let me just say that I hate you and every fiber of your being. But no hard feelings, OK? Unseen64 is a foreign website (don’t worry it’s easy to navigate) that collects a variety of screenshots for unreleased games and released games looking very different from the final versions. Want to see Metal Gear Solid on the Saturn? Or The abandoned Resident Evil 1.5? Or even the Gamecube version of Too Human! They have these and many more over at Unseen64.”

Supercabra.com – Your favorite games in beta [5 Febbraio 2007]

“Now this is something I love looking through. As you know, before a game is released it has to go through many planning stages and concepts. Some work, but most don’t. Over at Unseen 64, you can see screenshots and movies of games when they were in the lab room. Most games are ones that you may be familiar with, but there are some gems that you never knew were being made. One can only hope that the scrapped SNES game Starfox 2 will be released in the future. (Nope, the DS game doesn’t count.) Unseen64”

Oh Wii.fr – Le site des images et vidéos rares [5 Febbraio 2007]

“Un petit site qu’un lecteur vient de m’envoyer et qui est tout bonnement excellent : UnSeen64 regroupe toutes les images et les vidéos les plus rares de Nintendo. Vous pourrez y voir les tout premiers essais de Zelda en 3D (on est loin de TP), des images des versions beta de Super Mario World mais aussi et surtout des images inédites d’un remake de Final Fantasy 6, abandonné, bien sûr !!”

Kotaku.com – Unseen 64’s Unreleased And Beta Archives [5 Febbraio 2007]

“Geist Force. Mario 128. Frame City Killer. Nico. Project Berkley. Too Human. Thrill Kill. Donkey Kong’s Fun With Music. If you’ve been following gaming for a while, you’ll recognize many of those names, knowing that many of them never saw the light of day or were in development for so long, console generations came and went without a release. If you’re looking to wax nostalgiac on dozens of games that never made it past the alpha stage, you may want to spend some time over at Unseen 64. In addition to a slew of unfinished, unrealized sequels and fresh franchises are games that underwent massive design changes. Sneak a peek at Okami’s photorealistic style, House of the Dead III’s cel shaded look, Rez’s half-dozen art direction attempts, or the abandoned Resident Evil 1.5. Wonder to yourself “Whatever happened to that game?” Michael McWhertor”

GameIT! – База данных невышедших игр [5 Febbraio 2007]

“Как выглядела игра, еще до её выхода? Наверное этот вопрос волнует не только профессиональных журналистов (польстим себе, мда…) вроде нас, но и обычных геймеров. Ведь всем, наверное, интересно, какого размера была грудь у Лары Крофт, прежде чем подобралась до нашего любимого, пятого? Или какого цвета были штаны у Дюка Нюкема и был ли он вообще Дюком, или он был женщиной? Воистину, вопросов может быть много, а ответов и того меньше. Однако те, что есть, собраны на сайте Unseen64. В основном, сайт специализируется на хитах для консоли Nintendo64 (что явно видно из его названия), однако и обладатели других консолей могут найти ответы на свои вопросы. Информация представлена по группам. Тут есть скриншоты из альфа-движков проекта, статьи из журналов с так и не вышедшими версиями игр, база “фичей”, которые разработчики планировали внедрить, но так и не сделали, и даже видео из играбельных демо-версий! Особенно рекомендую поразившую меня демку Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels (эх, жаль проект был закрыт – получилось бы весьма интересно!) и полноценный Resident Evil на… страшно это подумать – Game Boy (обязательно посмотрите скриншоты – это просто надо видеть)! А уж фанаты Final Fantasy и Metal Gear могут потерять очень многое, если не зайдут на этот сайт.”

Digg.com – Ever Wanted To See […] [4 Febbraio 2007]

“This website (unseen64.tk) has tons of pictures and videos of many popular video games in their development stages, such as Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Sonic, Shenmue, and many more – something from almost every gaming console, even Game Boy! It even has content for video games that were canceled or never released!”

Go Nintendo: remeber these videos? [4 Febbraio 2007]

“The first time I saw that demo video for The Legend of Zelda on the 64, I nearly passed out. I couldn’t believe that Zelda looked that good! Things have changed a little bit in-between now and then, but the memories are still there. Africansk8r sent me a link to a site that houses all sorts of old school videos. Videos for games that never came out, beta videos of games, and more. There are a bunch of Nintendo related videos just like the one above. I have been checkin out this site for awhile, but never thought to post on the weekend! Wow…there were a lot of cancelled N64 games!”

El Blog de Manu [18 Dicembre 2006]

“Quizás el título de la entrada sea algo exagerado, pero lo cierto es que en Unseen 64 podemos encontrar imágenes de juegos que nunca salieron, así como prototipos de juegos conocidos que luego cambiaron radicalmente. Por ejemplo, este juego llego a ser “Ristar“ – “Too Human” iba a salir inicialmente en Playstation – “Ico” también empezó siendo un juego de Playstation: – Dreamcast iba a tener su ración de “Castlevania” con protagonista femenina incluída: – “Kameo” se comenzó a desarrollar en Gamecube antes de que Rare fuese comprada por Microsoft: – Y el original “Band of Brothers” para Nintendo DS fue inicialmente un título para Game Boy Advance: Por si fuera poco con las imágenes, también han subido a Youtube multitud de videos, algunos tan interesantes como estos: “Viewpoint 2064” (Nintendo 64) – “Vectorman” (Playstation 2)”

QJ.net Wii [17 Dicembre 2006]

“Ever seen an elephant graveyard? Well, it’s filled with dead elephants. Imagine giant beasties that used to roam the lands, now gone and forgotten, their bones setting the tone of the landscape. At the same time, they’re also a reminder that their death brought about the life of other things. None of us have ever actually been to an elephant graveyard (not enough dead elephants around the block!), but we’ve seen something that kinda reminds us of it. Destructoid put up a mention of this elephant graveyard of sorts to old, dead, or remade Sega, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft games called Unseen64, and it’s kind of amazing how different a finished product can be from its prototype form. We’ve decided to take some of the more interesting games for people to go and gawk at, so you’ll be seeing shots from “elephant graveyard” versions of Onimusha and Metal Gear Solid, House of the Dead 3, and the original Halo (which was supposed to be an RTS). It’s an interesting reminder for us gamers: the things we see before the game comes out might never truly represent the actual gaming goodness we get to experience. Still, we should thank these lost ideas for helping to bring out the games we’ve grown to love.”

vgmuseum.com site news [12 Dicembre 2006]

“You have got to check out this site, Unseen 64; You will find screenshots for tons of games in their beta stages, most of them which never came out. Did you know there was a Seiken Densetsu/Secret of Mana game in development for the Famicom Disk System called “The Emergence of Excalibur”? How about a Zelda 2 remake for the Super Famicom? Or how about about Final Fantasy 4 for the NES? Also, check out that fugly Sega Genesis Ristar beta called Feel. A very different Super Mario World game that looks more like Mario 3. Also Mario’s Wacky Worlds for the CD-I (eww). Too Human, the Playstation version, afterwards in delelopment for the Gamecube and now the Xbox. Third time the charm? And finally, an UNRECOGNIZABLE Zelda: Ocarina of Time when it was first shown in 1995. There’s a lot more content on the site, even videos of these beta games in motion, so don’t miss it.”

Paul Palmer’s 1UP Blog: N64 Week Day 4 [28 Settembre 2006]

“So Tuesday I briefly mentioned some of the games featured in EGM’s Nintendo 64 magazine that ended up never seeing the light of day. Today we’ll take a look at a few titles that were cancelled or shelved until the next console generation, including one particular title which I shall forever pine for. Robotech Crystal Dreams […] Kirby Air Ride […] Dinosaur Planet […] Freak Boy […] Mother 3 […] Shadowgate Rising […] It’s always sad to see games that look like they have such potential eventually go the way of vaporware due to lack of finances. But sometimes they come back when you least expect it; Mother 3 eventually found its way to the GBA, and Kirby’s Air Ride was revived for the Gamecube. Going to www.Shadowgate.com reveals that the company is still alive and kicking, though on a much smaller scale, offering Shadowgate Classic on a variety of platforms such as Windows, PalmOS and cell phones! In their extras section you can even read the comic about Raven, the star of the axed Shadowgate Rising. Maybe one day they’ll get around to bringing that last chapter of Shadowgate to some lucky console. Check back tomorrow as my Week of N64 feature comes to a close. Thanks to Unseen64
for the screenshots used here.”

Vandal Online Blogs (Portada) [23 Settembre 2006]

“Esos tres nombres son de alguno de los juegos que se muestran en esta página con imágenes de aquellos juegos que han sido cancelados o rediseñados en algunas consolas como la N64, GC, PSX, etc…www.unseen64.net La página está en italiano, pero es fácil navegar para buscar estos juegos que nunca vieron la luz o que salieron de forma distinta. Saludetes.”

Press The Buttons: Sights Unseen [05 – Settembre – 2006]

“Not too long ago we took a look at old screenshots of games from when those games were still early in development. Now it looks like we’ve hit the mother lode on beta images. Unseen64 is on a mission to archive as many pre-release images and videos as possible for a variety of consoles. Nintendo products are the most heavily represented, but there’s some Sega goodies in there as well as a little 3DO action. Marvel at early versions of Banjo-Kazooie, Goemon 64, Castlevania: Resurection, Resident Evil for Game Boy Color (in 3D!), Mini Racers 64 (unreleased), Yoshi’s Island 64, Phantasy Star V, and many more. The catch? The descriptive text for each game isn’t in English. Once again we’re left to wonder what became of some of these games and what would have happened if the final versions reflected early developmental roots.”

Echo Player: Unseen Screens [06 – Settembre – 2006]

“While in production, games naturally change and evolve – sometimes the initial builds are completely different to the finished product, or at other times those initial builds simply never see the light of day. Unseen64 is a site that catalogues unreleased and unseen game screenshots and footage, from a range of different game systems (currently through a SNES to Dreamcast period). To anyone with a keen interest in a particular game or series, you’re likely to have seen most of this media before, but it’s still very interesting to see what certain games could have turned out like – such as Shenmue on the Saturn or (the possibly canned?) Banjo-Threeie on the GameCube. A thread on the NeoGAF forums also contains similar screens and videos, although it features a larger variety of different games. Certanly worth a browse for a peek in to the past.”

Games Blog: Giochi (mai) visti [06 – Settembre – 2006]

“Unseen64 è un interessante sito che mostra gli screenshot delle versioni non definitive dei giochi per Nintendo 64 e 64DD; sono anche presenti le immagini di molti giochi mai usciti come Final Fantasy 64 e Mother 3. In realtà il sito non è dedicato solo alla console a 64 bit di Nintendo: sono presenti screenshot anche di giochi per altre piattaforme. Tralaltro il sito è italiano, quindi la marchetta è doppiamente piacevole.”

Poison Mushroom: Points Of Interest [8 – Settembre – 2006]

“Awhile back, a thread came up at the GAF forums dedicated to posting images from games that were in development, which ended up looking different by the end. Now, again thanks to Press the Buttons, comes word of a new site by the name of Unseen64, dedicated to archiving as many pre-release images of games as possible. Seems Nintendo is the most standard fare there, but it is by no means exclusive to that…I still want a Super Mario World that looks more like that one.”