Konami

Metal Gear Solid 2 [Beta – PS2]

Metal Gear Solid 2 [Beta – PS2]

“According to Hideo Kojima in the documentary Metal Gear Saga Vol. 1, the original plot of the game revolved around nuclear weapon inspections in Iraq and Iran and had Solid Snake trying to stop the Metal Gear while it was located on an aircraft carrier, in a certain time limit, while trying to stop Liquid Snake and his group. However about six months into the project the Middle East began to heat up again and they decided that they couldn’t make a game with such a plot. The tanker in the released game is based on this original beta plot.

Significant changes to the game’s ending were made late in development following the September 11 attacks in New York, where the finale occurs. A sequence depicting Arsenal Gear’s displacement of the Statue of Liberty and crashing through half of Manhattan was removed, as was a short coda to appear after the credits, a breaking newscast showing the Statue of Liberty’s new resting place, Ellis Island. At the point where Solidus dies, Raiden was supposed to have cut the rope on Federal Hall’s flagpole, causing an American flag to fall over Solidus’ body, and American flags which were supposed to be on all the flagpoles in New York were removed from the title.

Some pictures of Snake in an early prototype for MGS2, showed a Cell Shaded graphic. It originally was going to have a radically different art style, more on tune with the style of the concept art. This may have been from the proposed idea of the middle east storyline.” – wikipedia

Removed stuff: inondation into the tanker, the player must get away from the tanker, but Mr. kojima take off this idea because it was not funny to play. Chinaman, first design of Solidus snake and Vamp in woman version, were old concept art of character, later changed or removed. In another scene, Snake was attacked by the harrier in the city, on the big bridge, but this never happen in the final version (Raiden kills the harrier on the Plant). Probably this scene was cut because of the 9 / 11.

The model of the FAMAS not used in MGS2 was reused for MGS: The Twin Snakes for Nintendo Gamecube. Thanks to Grahamx227 for the contribution!

In 2006 Jesse Johnson & Marc Laidlaw from the MetalGearSolid.org community, shared and translated the original MGS2 Design Document that was written by Kojima / Konami as a guide to develope the final project. In this document (that you can download in here as a backup copy) there are a lot of interesting informations about removed scenes, unused gameplay elements and other stuff that was not revealed directly in the game. Here are some of the most interesting parts:

MGS2 was meant to be called Metal Gear Solid III: Instead of proceeding on to MGS2, as one might expect, we are making MGS3. The question in peoples’ minds, ‘Why is it 3 and not 2?’

In the previous game, only 4 to 5 enemies could be shown on-screen at a time. Now we will be able to display a maximum of around 300 enemies on-screen at a time.

We will create ways for the player to be able to control the brightness of their environment, making ‘light’ another strategy element that can be used in the game. All rooms have light switches that can be turned on and off. If you destroy a light, the area around it goes dark. If you equip the cigarette item while in the dark, it will emit a faint light

After an injured soldier has received treatment (lasting a set period of time) in a medical room, they will return to the game field. The area of the body where they were injured will be covered in a bandage texture. If you attack a medical facility, you can prevent this from happening again.

After Arsenal becomes active, the area with the hostages is cut loose. The bodies of the hostages (50 to 60) can be seen floating in the water, crimson from all the blood, and have attracted sharks. Raiden and Snake must proceed through the area.

A battle that takes place on Wall Street (at Federal Hall) – Snake versus Ocelot (controlled by Liquid’s right arm), and Raiden versus Solidus. Surrounding them are spectators and police officers, including mounted police.

It will be possible to deliver a type of attack with the hands while crouching or crawling whereby you grab an enemy’s legs and knock them over

In certain parts of the game, the game screen will be split up either horizontally or vertically, with one side of the screen showing a normal cut-scene. The other side will be the player’s game screen, so they will be able to continue playing while being able to see what is going on in the other screen. By doing this, we can display simultaneous sequences in real-time, showing what else is happening while a particular event is occurring. Split-screen scenes:  The bomb disposal scenes where Raiden, Snake and the bomb disposal consultant are all
working together.  Emma’s rescue (the sniping scene)

A type of hidden mode. By equipping an item called ‘Mantis’s Mask’, obtainable in the main game, you will be able to read peoples’ (enemies’) minds. [This was somehow used as an easter egg if you press the R1 or R2 button while Snake or Raiden is listening to someone,  you can hear their thoughts]

This will be a mode for split-screen two player battles in certain areas from the game. It will be compatible with system link-up as well. Players can either fight each other or play a hide-and-seek type game.

In addition, the player will be able to virtually explore the ocean floor through a remote-controlled minisub, and can also save pictures taken with its camera.

Member of Dead Cell. A soldier over 100 years old. A legendary hero from the Second World War, he taught Big Boss and the world’s mercenaries everything they know about combat. As a Nazi, he was feared as the ‘Old Boy’, or the ‘devil’. He fights with weapons and equipment used during the war, such as the Panzerfaust.

Removed Bosses: The President’s security team, the Great white sharks [probably used in the scene where the bodies of the hostages  floating in the water would had attract sharks]

The May 10th 2012, RushSnake and WhiteSnoop (two of the founders of Red Code Interactive‘s team) has found some interrestings stuff on Metal Gear Solid 2. A weapon named SPP1M on the trial version of Metal Gear Solid 2 has been discovered, along a lot of strange items and others weapons.

Thanks to Solidshake for some of these infos and images! Thanks to Jonathan and A.Kyanbel for the contribution!

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You can see a demostration of all items and weapons found in this video
 

Metal Gear Solid [Beta + Tech Demo – PSX]

Metal Gear Solid [Beta + Tech Demo – PSX]

Metal Gear Solid is an action-adventure stealth video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami for the PlayStation in September 1998.

Hideo Kojima is the director and producer of the game. He began to work on a sequel of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake in 1994. The game (called Metal Gear 3) was going to be released for 3DO, as Kojima was still working on Policenauts, which came out for that system in 1995. Prior to its release, Konami issued Policenauts: Pilot Disk, which contained a playable demo of the game and other features. Among them there are two artworks by Metal Gear Solid’s illustrator Yoji Shinkawa, one depicting an early version of Snake and Meryl Silverburgh (also a Policenauts character), the other one showing presumably an early version of the FOXHOUND group, or different Metal Gear Solid characters. Images via Ashura on lostlevels.org forums.

Metal Gear Solid beta Policenauts artworkMetal Gear Solid beta Policenauts artwork

The development naturally switched to the Playstation, with Kojima also working on the conversion of Policenauts and Snatcher. The game’s name was also changed to Metal Gear Solid, reflecting Kojima’s ideals for a new Metal Gear title (via Wikipedia):

Kojima: “Metal Gear” is as it is, and “Solid” has a deep meaning. Let me explain. This time Metal Gear is displayed in full polygonal form, and I used “Solid” to describe the cubic structure. also, the “Solid” means to the third power mathematically. Also, most of the people don’t know that there is a Metal Gear 1 and 2 for the MSX, and I wanted it to be the sequel for those. And, of course, Solid from Solid Snake

The game was first shown at the Tokyo Game Show 1996, and previewed in various magazines.

This version shown in this video is probably a non-playable tech demo, not even running on a Playstation hardware. The game engine is completely different from the final game, along with other differences. Decoy Octopus is missing from FOXHOUND members, and Vulcan Raven is spelt “Valcan Raven” (it may be some sort of Engrish). Snake seems to be around a very early version of B2 level Armory in the Tank Hangar. The interfaces of the inventory, HUD and CODEC are completely different; the radar is quite different too, especially in Danger situation (there is also a Caution alert when an enemy is near Snake). Early versions of the Ninja and Revolver Ocelot also make appearances, as well as the Metal Gear Rex. The trailer showcases all the features of the game (“Sneaking In”, “Armed”, “Encounter” etc.) but I find really strange that “Escape” is associated with a picture of the Hind-D helicopter (one the bosses). You can see various screengrabs and magazine scans in this gallery (some magazine scans from DarkMirage, on X-Cult Forum):

Images, 1996 version:

Another possible build is the one shown in these screenshots, featuring a very early Tank Hangar, a different Heliport (with a forklift) and an unknown test room with soldiers (it could be a much earlier version of the Tank Hangar, since the shape of the passageway is similar). All screens are from IGN.com (thanks to looser for the link).

Early Heliport:

Early Tank Hangar and unknown test room:

Then we have many different trailers, all dating back from 1997, shown at the E3 and Tokyo Game Show. They all look from the same build (some of them even show the same scenes), and the most famous of the group, the one in which Snake blow up everything with the C4, was featured in many Playstation’s demo discs in various magazines. They share many differences from the final version: the camera appears to be more controllable, vision cones are different in colour, the lifebar is in the middle of the screen, not in the upper left corner, the radar is simpler in its Danger and Caution status, and it’s active during boss fights, Snake carries a lot of ammunitions and he can move while he’s crouched. Let’s analyze everyone of them:

Notable differences: the Heliport is similar to the final version, although the forklift is still present (and it’s moving too! at 1:45 you can see another view of the moving forklift), first person view does not feature the green vision cone in the radar (also the Surveillance Camera is without vision cone), Tank Hangar has got the wrong type of guards (I’m not very sure about this), Snake has a flying kick move (in the final version he can kick, but not with a jump), Snake remove the pin of grenades with his teeth. If you know what Hideo Kojima is saying please drop a comment in the comments section!

 

Notable differences: now Snake has the first person vision cone, items have different names ( final->beta: Scope->Finder, Cigs->Moslem,), Snake fights the Ninja in the corridor (not only in Otacon’s lab), Snake use the Scope in Meryl’s prison (it’s impossible to go there while Meryl is still in prison), you can see Meryl and Snake shooting in Psycho Mantis’ room (without the boss, no action take place here, the radar also goes in Danger mode).

Notable differences: lots of unknown items (or early version of the final objects), it’s difficult to see the names and the icons. There are BD DISK (early version of Kenneth Baker’s disk?), WOLFS, HUIDADRG, MG GK2 and STEPS. The Scope does not feature a vision cone, the crane is missing from the Blast Furnace, the radar is active in the Underground Passage to the Communications Towers (it should be in Jamming mode), Night Goggles are named RNPAS-7, the door of the Nuclear Storage building is completely open, the elevator door of the Tank Hangar is different, and finally, Snake is fighting with Meryl at the top of the Communication Tower (in the final game Meryl is shot in the Underground Passage by Sniper Wolf, although this scene may not represent a plot change, rather a scene created only for the trailer).

There have been rumours about a Nintendo 64 and Saturn version of Metal Gear Solid. The Nintendo 64 version is mentioned in this article by Gamespot, but I couldn’t find any reference on the web about a Saturn version:

Konami insiders have informed GS News that Konami’s modern platform update to the popular NES series Metal Gear will be coming to the Nintendo 64 console system, though originally planned solely for the PlayStation.

HackOut Games has got a nice collection of hacking videos of Metal Gear Solid’s Pilot Disc on his YouTube channel: you can see a collection of unused animations, unused music and unused camera angles.

Also, John Doom found some differences between the final version of MGS and its Pilot Disc (SLPM-86098): check the video below to see them.

 

Silent Hill [Beta – Playstation]

Silent Hill is a survival horror developed and published by Konami in 1999 for original the Playstation. The game was changed a bit from the beta to the final version, for example the “Grey Child” monster went through four design changes before it was finally approved by censors. Originally a faceless, humanoid monster which resembled a nude child, it was deemed too graphic for audiences (particularly in a game which forces the player to kill them). In the PAL release of the game, the Grey Children do not appear at all, instead being replaced by Claw Fingers. [Info from wikipedia]

Some more beta differences can be noticed in the Japanese Trial demo too. Also, a series of beta / unfinished rooms can be “accessed” using a cheat to pass through walls in the final game.

Thanks to MegaLOL for the contribution!

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Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night [Game.com – Cancelled]

A portable version of Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night was in development for the Game.com, the ill-fated handled console created by Tiger Electronics in 1997, but soon the project vanished in the vaporware limbo and it’s unknown how much of the game was really completed before the cancellation. As other Game.com titles (see Resident Evil 2), this Castlevania should have been a “downgraded port” of the Playstation / Saturn Symphony Of The Night, with some evident differences for the limits of the hardware.

Only few screens remain from this project, preserved in the gallery below.

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Coded Arms Assault [PS3 – Cancelled?]

There is currently a degree of ambiguity as to the status of Coded Arms: Assault, after a report from Japanese magazine Famitsu claimed that the game was canceled. A list of canceled Konami games was released, but oddly enough Coded Arms Assault was not on the list. Famitsu later stated that the report was false, and that the games on the list will indeed be released. Konami has not shed any light on the issue nor gave an official announcement. The game was supposed to be released in 2007, but the latest info about it are from the 2006. The official website from Konami Japan does not exist anymore. – [Info from Wikipedia]

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