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TDK Mediactive

The Haunted Mansion is a cancelled adventure game that was in development around 2002 – 2003 by Pocket Studios, planned to be published for GBA by TDK Mediactive, the same company which published The Haunted Mansion for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The games were based on the homonym Disneyland ride and the home-console versions were released in the same year of the Haunted Mansion movie (also based on the Disney ride).

This canned Game Boy Advance version was quite impressive for its 3D graphic, something that was not common on the console. Players would explore the mansion Resident-Evil- Style, finding keys and avoiding enemies, plus some on-rails sections on a classic mine cart.

It seems the GBA version of Haunted Mansion was canned when TDK Mediactive was bought by Take-Two Interactive. As wrote by a former Pocket Studios developer on Youtube:

“I was a coder on this game. The main reason for its non release was the TDK the original publishers being bought out mid development by Take2. I’m certainly not in the know as to what went on between Take2 and Pocket but after the takeover it was clear the game wouldn’t get a release. Lets just say Pocket wanted to hit its milestones to get paid and fill the contract and Take2 tried to make that hard.
As for the game. Publishers were at the time were eager to have games that were more 3D-ish, especially lower end publishers with less than amazing franchises as it made the game stand out from the flat 2d, iso games that almost every release was. The simple fact is the GBA doesn’t do 3D well, but I think looking back nearly 20 years and saying the 3d is broken isnt really fair. Personally I think some of the art in this game is lovely. I still think this game is technically impressive… Did anyone notice the transparent ghosts???? If any other game does transparency on the GBA I’ve not heard of it.
TBH the gameplay sucks. The card game was absolutely pointless, and the free roaming made the game weirdly empty and slow. I think a number of the team wanted to do a more side on 3d platformer affair, but that was ruled out fairly early as death/weapons was something you couldn’t do with this Disney property.”

Some years ago a ROM of the game was leaked online, so at least we can marvel at its technical achievement.

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Game Boy Advance (GBA), Nintendo

Dinotopia 2 [GBA – Prototype]

monokoma

13-05-2013

No Comments

Dinotopia is a fictional series of books about an misterious island inhabited by shipwrecked humans and sentient dinosaurs who have learned to coexist peacefully as a single symbiotic society. [Info from Wikipedia] Various games based on the Dinotopia world have been produced through the years and in 2002 RFX Interactive developed Dinotopia: The Timestone Pirates, a side-scrolling platform / action game for the GBA, published by TDK Mediactive.

Dinotopia for the Gameboy Advance was a commercial success for TDK, so they decided to create a new game based on the same scenario, but this time as a “point and click” adventure (similar to Broken Sword). A prototype was developed by RFX, but in 2003 TDK had to close down and it was acquired by Take-Two Interactive. Without their publisher, RFX Interactive was not able to continue the development of this new Dinotopia point and click adventure.

Only few screens and pixels remain in the gallery below, to preserve its existence.

Thanks to Hally for the contribution!

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Game Boy Advance (GBA), Nintendo

Sword of Sia: Lady Sia 2 [GBA – Cancelled]

monokoma

13-05-2010

4 Comments

Sword of Sia: Lady Sia 2 (aka Lady Sia II) is a cancelled action adventure / platform game that was in development in 2002 / 2003 for the Gameboy Advance by RFX Interactive and it would have been published by TDK Mediactive (as was the first game). It seems that Lady Sia 2 was almost complete (it was even rated by ESRB), but in 2003 RFX had to close down and TDK Mediactive was acquired by Take-Two Interactive. Lady Sia 2 vanished with the closure of its development studio and publisher.

The original Lady Sia was released in 2001 and it was one of the first titles published for the new at the time Game Boy Advance. The game was received well by the press and gamers; this cancelled sequel could have improved the formula its predecessor established and it’s a shame that we’ll never be able to enjoy it. We can only hope that a playable prototype will be leaked in the future.

A Lady Sia 3D prototype was also in development for the Playstation 2 and GameCube, but it was canned too.

Thanks to ReyVGM and Celine for the scan (from an old Nintendo Power magazine)! Thanks to Jason for the english corrections!

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GameCube, Nintendo, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Lady Sia 3D [GC PS2 – Prototype]

monokoma

12-05-2010

1 Comment

Lady Sia 3D is a prototype for an action adventure game that was in development by RFX Interactive in 2002 / 2003, for the GameCube and Playstation 2. The game was meant to be a tridimensional sequel to the original Lady Sia, created by RFX and published in 2001 by TDK Mediactive for the GameBoy Advance.

This Lady Sia 3D prototype never evolved into a full game and it’s possible that the team found it too difficult to translate the fun gameplay of the original GBA version into a 3D world (before this proto they only worked on 2D games for the GBC and GBA). In 2003 RFX closed and TDK Mediactive was acquired by Take-Two Interactive.

Thanks to Holly for the contribution! Thanks to Jason for the english corrections!

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