Gamecock Media Group

American Pool Deluxe (Blade Interactive) [Wii – Cancelled]

American Pool Deluxe is a cancelled pool simulation game that was in development by Blade Interactive in 2008 and would have been published by Gamecock Media / Navarre / Upshot Games on Nintendo Wii. The game was planned during the “casual games” Wii craze, but possibly canned when even publishers understood it was not going to sell enough on the market.

Some details on the game can still be found on Amazon even if it was never released:

  • Authentic Billiard Games-Variety of game modes including 8 Ball, 9 Ball, Rotation, 3 Ball, Billiards and even Bar Billiards. Polish your skills and impress opponents with Trickshot Challenge mode
  • Precision Motion Controls – Use the precise motion controls to line up the perfect shot every time. Tap in a bank shot with a gentle push or scatter the break with a powerful move
  • Career Mode – Create your own pro and work your way up from humble beginnings in local pool halls and become a global billiards icon
  • Tournament Style Presentation – Experience a life-like pool tournament setting, including professional commentators and audience interaction
  • Multiplayer 1 – 4 players

Also on IGN we can find the original press release hyping up the game:

“With superior graphics and incomparable gameplay, American Pool Deluxe is as authentic as they come,” said Eric ‘The Preacher’ Yow, World Pool-Billiard Association Masse World Champion. “For years the gaming industry has attempted to duplicate the complex physics and geometry of cue sports into a lifelike rendition for families to enjoy. Finally, a game captures the beauty of the sport and allows you to perfect your skills! Run a rack without ever leaving your chair!”

American Pool Deluxe is the first game to come out of Upshot Games, the casual games division of Gone Off Deep Inc., whose other brands include video game publishing company Gamecock Media Group. “

Upshot Games even announced a “professional cue peripheral” that would have been launch with the game, as we can read on IGN:

“Upshot Games announced today an elegant, yet ruggedly built, “RealMotion Pool Cue” companion accessory for their upcoming professional pool game for Wii, American Pool Deluxe. This is not your average controller peripheral – it is a meticulously crafted cue built specifically to take advantage of the Wii remote’s accelerometer technology for real precision and fun.

“It is the dedication to realism that led to the development of the RealMotion Pool Cue for American Pool Deluxe,” said Eric ‘The Preacher’ Yow, World Pool-Billiard Association Masse World Champion. “Tested extensively by real billiards pros like me, you can be assured this is the only real pool game for Wii.”

A prototype of American Pool Deluxe is in the hands of game collectors.

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Son of the Dragon [Wii – Cancelled]

Son of the Dragon is a cancelled action adventure that was in development by Renegade Kid and that would have been published by Gamecock for the Nintendo Wii. Sadly when Gamecock had to close down for economic issues, Renegade Kid was not able to find another publisher and the project had to be canned. Only few concept arts were released and it seems that Son of the Dragon was still in early development when it was cancelled. As we can read from an interview with Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham on 1UP:

JW: Son of the Dragon was a third-person action adventure title set in a heavily stylized 15th century. You were Dracula. Something happened to you, which striped you of your ability to use your awesome powers. A quick description of it is a “good” 3D Castlevania where you are Dracula, with a focus on responsive combat, solid gameplay camera, light RPG elements, and a rich world of wickedly diverse landscapes, enemies, player weapons, and abilities. […]

JW: We spent many months developing the idea with a team of very experienced and dedicated individuals. The art team created loads of superb concept images for the player character, enemies, bosses, and environment locations. The design group created a game design document that quickly grew to over 100 pages, and detailed player abilities, damage types, enemy AI, items, accessories, level designs, currency, and many other details. It was truly inspired and exciting. We were considering licensing an engine for development, and the same day we had assets loaded into the engine, the hammer came down and the project was canceled. It was a bittersweet day.

Thanks to Celine for the contribution!

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Untitled Croteam FPS [PS3/X360 – Cancelled]

Croteam (creators of the Serious Sam series) were working on a new FPS  for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, that could have mixed the fun arcade gameplay of SS with a realistic graphic approach. The project would have been published by GameCock Media Group, but it seems that they decided to cancel it for some economic troubles. This untitled project was build on the Serious Engine 3, but sadly only few screenshots remain.

Thanks to Userdante for the contribution!

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