unseen64

Unseen64 Survived 2020: quite the strange year, wasn’t it?

2021 is coming soon and as every year we’d like to review what we did in the last 12 months for Unseen64 and make some plans for the new year. 2020 was a difficult year for the whole world: we hope you and your family could be safe, while we look forward to a better 2021. Unseen64 is just a small website about video games: there are much more important things to care about in our real lives (health, friends, family, happiness), and it’s vital to remember it during these hard times.

Battlefield-Home-Delivery-Xbox-Cancelled-08

Keeping this in mind, we still try to archive some memories of cancelled video games. As most of you know we work on Unseen64 in our own free time, after long hours of our day-jobs. We take away this extra time from our lives just to search info on lost games, write articles, read Unseen64 related emails, reply to messages on social networks, resolve technical issues on the website, save media and try to contact developers.

Here are some of the lost games we archived on Unseen64 in 2020:

There are now more than 3.200 unseen games archived on Unseen64!

Amazing-Tales-Project-Caspian-Flying-Labs-MMO-Xbox360-Cancelled (11)

You see just a few articles published on the site every week, but to keep Unseen64 online and updated we invest dozens of hours of work every month. As in the last few years 95% of the needed work is done by monokoma, as it has become harder and harder to find more people who can help the site steadily.

In 2020 we had the same issues as in the last few years, so the following points are just a reminder of our fragile situation. People are not much interested in a website like Unseen64, especially when popular cancelled games were already unveiled in the past, with lots of great videos talking about them on Youtube:

  • We still have hundreds of lost games for console and PC to write about, but most of them are obscure projects by small studios. There are no more popular projects like “Resident Evil 1.5” or “Sonic Xtreme” to uncover or it’s quite rare to gather information about them.
  • Even for those obscure and little cancelled games, it became harder to receive more details and write good articles. Some years ago we could contact 5 developers who worked on a lost game and we would get at least 2 or 3 answers. Now we contact 10 or 20 developers and 99% of the time we never get any answer. The Internet has become a fearsome place, where news could deform and spread uncontrollably on social networks. Many developers seem scared to talk about their old jobs, because they don’t want to get in trouble for talking to a small website.
  • Today most of our research time is spent checking old magazines, going deep into hundreds of useless Google results, finding developers portfolios, trying to load vanished websites on the Web Archive, checking abandoned forums and communities to find a few mentions about obscure games no one remembers.
  • Without being able to get in contact with developers, we cannot save more screenshots or footage for many lost games we are researching. With no exclusive images or videos, we cannot keep up with Patreon higher tier bonuses. As we wrote on Patreon, please just donate what you can really afford, just how much you think it’s worth keeping U64 alive. We cannot ensure anything more than our love for lost video games (even the most obscure, boring ones) and our mission to remember them.
  • Most people are not interested in supporting an old website in the age of Youtube.
  • Since 2019 we just dropped our plans to create new videos, because we can’t get new information from developers. With the few details, screens and videos available it’s best if we focus on preserving them on our website.

Even with all these limitations, we survived 2020 thanks to your kind help and support.

We still work every week to keep Unseen64 online and updated:

  • We keep remembering those obscure lost games on Unseen64, even if most people don’t care about them.
  • We keep sending emails to developers, even if 99% of the time we never get a reply.
  • We write as much as we can about a lost game, by doing deep-research online, in old magazines, closed websites, developers’ resumes and online portfolios.
  • Unseen64 support on Patreon remained stable in 2020 (it did not grow, but it did not decrease much compared to 2019).
  • We keep working on other methods to raise funds (as with StoryBundle ebooks and publishing short physical books using the same content we have on the site).

Patreon is essential for the survival of a niche project like Unseen64, a 20-year old website managed with love and sleep-deprivation mostly by just one italian guy.

We are grateful for your kind words and your help: without our Patrons Unseen64 would already have been closed many years ago. You prompt us to keep doing this, even during the hardest times.

We’d like to thank all of you who are currently helping U64 on Patreon:

The Supreme Commander of the Cyber-Chihuahua Ninja Army, chubigans, Malkavio, gamemast15r, ▓░▓▓▓▒▓▓▓▓▓▓))), Denhette, Nick Ostrem, Becki Bradsher, Nelson Parra, EasterRomantic, TS, Jerry Graham, Kyle Allen, Matthew Geoffino, Shane Gill, Faisal AlKubaisi, Strider Ryoken, cyborgpluviophile, Itay Brenner, Marty Thao, Alex Schaeffer, James P Branam-Lefkove, Jake Baldino, Riptide, Reoko, Kaleb Ratcliff, Tony, Nolan Snoap, Case Davis, Christopher Cornwell, Peter Lewis, Lachlan Pini, Pedro, Robert Dyson, Brandon, Goffredo, Lou, PtoPOnline, Alpha 3, Topottsel, Matthew Gyure, Joe Tangco, Brice Onken, James Jackson, Mauro Labate, Olivier Cahagne, Bransfield, tydaze, The Video Game History Foundation, Ben Salvidrim, Cameron Banga, MARTAZIA A BROWN, Daniel, Liam Robertson, joef0x, DidYouKnowGaming, Nick Robinson, Thibaut Renaux, sheq2, NuclearSaber, allan paxton, Ehren Minnich, Nathan Wittstock, Rylan Taylor, Gabe Canada and everyone else! (did we forget someone?)

 

Unseen64 Survived 2019: How is This Possible?

2020 is coming soon and as every year we’d like to review what we did last year and make some plans for the new one.

As most of you know we work on Unseen64 in our own free time, after a long day of our day-jobs. We take away this extra time from our sleep, friends and family just to search info on lost games, write articles, read Unseen64 related emails, reply to messages on social networks, resolve technical issues on the site, save media and contact developers.

Here are some of the lost games we archived on Unseen64 in 2019:

You see a few articles published on the site every week, but to keep Unseen64 alive we invest dozens of hours of work every week. 95% of needed work is done by monokoma and in the last few years it became harder and harder to find more people who can help the site steadily. Most contributors just write one or two articles, before vanishing forever.

As we wrote in 2018 working for Unseen64 is getting harder and harder every year. In 2019 we had the same issues: people are not much interested in a website of this kind, especially when popular lost games are already unveiled and well known. It’s hard to keep the interest high and find new support on Patreon:

  • We still have hundreds of lost games for console and PC to write about, but most of them are obscure projects by small studios. There are no more popular projects like “Resident Evil 1.5” or “Sonic Xtreme” to uncover or it’s almost impossible to gather information about them.
  • Even for those obscure and little cancelled games, it became harder to receive more details and write good articles. Some years ago we could contact 5 developers who worked on a lost game and we would get at least 2 or 3 answers. Now we contact 10 or 20 developers and 99% of the time we never get any answer. Internet has become a fearsome place, where news could deform and spread uncontrollably on social networks. Developers seem scared to talk about their old jobs, because they don’t want to get in trouble.
  • Without being able to get in contact with developers, we cannot even save more screenshots or footage from many lost games we are researching. With no exclusive images or videos, we cannot even keep up with Patreon higher tier bonuses. This means people who donate to get bonuses are not happy (and we understand their disappointment).
  • Without details and without good footage, we cannot create interesting video articles. In 2019 we just dropped our plans to create new videos, because we can’t get new information from developers. With the few details, screens and videos available is best if we focus on preserving some memories from these lost games in our website.
  • Most people are not interested in supporting an old website in the age of Youtubers. With no interesting video content, not many people support Unseen64 on Patreon and we are not shared on major websites anymore. Many years ago those same websites would write news for many of the lost games we wrote in our site in 2019. Today if you don’t make a good video about it, you are not picked up by those websites.

Is Unseen64 doomed? Not yet.

Thanks to people like you who read articles on our website and support us on Patreon we survived 2019

We still work every week to keep Unseen64 alive, instead of closing it down:

  • We keep remembering those obscure lost games on Unseen64, even if most people don’t care about them.
  • We keep sending emails to developers, even if 99% of the time we never get a reply.
  • We write as much as we can about a lost game, by doing deep-research online, in old magazines, closed websites, developers’ resumes and online portfolios.
  • Unseen64 support on Patreon remained stable in 2019 (it did not grow, but it did not decrease much compared to 2018).
  • We keep working on other methods to raise funds (as with StoryBundle ebooks and publishing short physical books using the same content we publish on the site).
  • We were able to lower fixed expenses for the site (asking for a discount and cheaper support to our server provider), saving money with no major issues for the site. This means that in 2020 we’ll spend less for the U64 server!

Patreon is essential for the survival of a niche project like Unseen64, a website mostly managed by a single italian guy in this age of Youtube and gaming videos in english.

In 2019 we were able to stay alive by focusing on text-articles about obscure lost games.

This is already a huge victory for Unseen64 :)

Will 2020 follow this trend? We’ll have to wait and see.

We are really grateful for your kind words and your help: without our Patrons, Unseen64 would already be dead. You prompt us to keep doing this, even during the hardest times.

Big gaming networks such as IGN, Polygon or Kotaku have the resources to own powerful servers and to pay a team to work full-time on their websites, keeping them online and publishing daily updates.

We don’t have their resources, but we have you: a community of gamers interested in preserving the unseen history of video games.

We’d like to thank all of you who are currently helping U64 on Patreon:

Joshua, gamemast15r, Sez, Malkavio, Thomas, chubigans, Patrick, Becki, Alex S., Marco, Patryk, Nick, Jordan, Reoko, Davidlee, Marty, Cody, Lachlan, Jake, James, Matthew, Rylan, Jessi, Riptide, Renee, Mcsahon, Itay, Faisal, Julian, Shane, Kaleb, Emily, Vitor, Joe, Peter, Robert O., Nathan, Alexandy1, Kirk, Robert D., Pedro, Ehren, Bransfield, Thibaut, joef0x, Conrad, Nick, Daniel, TheUnbeholden, MARTAZIA, Knight, Ben, The Video Game History Foundation, The Outpost Network, allan, tydaze, Gabe, Tim, Thomas, Mauro, Olivier, Alex M., Anders, Joe, James, Paul S., Brice, Guilherme, Alpha, Paul, Josh, Dan, Niels, Lou, Matthew, PtoPOnline, Jesus, Brandon, Martin, James, Tony, Christopher, Liam, DidYouKnowGaming, Cameron, Goffredo and everyone else! (did we forget someone?)

 

Video Games eBooks Bundle: Fall Ball Game @ StoryBundle!

We are happy to announce 1 eBook taken from our “Video Games You Will Never Play” physical book is featured in the latest eBook bundle by Story Bundle! Our “Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 Video Games You Will Never Play” can be found in this bundle in their exclusive ePub and Mobi versions (our full book is available in physical form on Amazon and in PDF on Patreon), so you can easily read it with your eBook reader.

video-game-ebooks-bundle-fall-2019

In the same bundle you can also find many interesting eBooks about less known video games and their history.

Funds raised with this eBook bundle will support Unseen64, the other books authors and you can also choose to donate 10% to the Video Game History Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to cataloging, digitizing, and preserving the history of video games.

Here’s the full description, for more details check https://storybundle.com/games

As the weather turns chilly and the scents of falling leaves and woodsmoke perfume the air, StoryBundle’s Fall Ball Game Bundle invites you to fill your dance card with nine DRM-free books about game development and culture. Hit the dance floor while you can: the Fall Ball Game Bundle is available for a limited time on StoryBundle.

Shacknews and David L. Craddock present Beneath a Starless Sky: Pillars of Eternity and the Infinity Engine Era of RPGs, a deep dive of over 600 pages detailing the making of classics like Baldur’s Gate 1 and II, Icewind Dale, and Obsidian Entertainment’s critically acclaimed Pillars of Eternity series.

Boss Fight Books and author Reyan Ali drive to the basket with NBA Jam, the compelling behind-the-scenes story of the greatest b-ball arcade game of all time. Includes interviews with series creator Mark Turmell and Tim Kitzrow, voice of NBA Jam’s iconic announcer. In The Walkthrough: Insider Tales from a Life in Strategy Guides, bestselling author Doug Walsh shares stories of his career writing tips, tricks, and walkthroughs for guide publishers such as BradyGames.

Alongside those DRM-free eBooks, John Harris is back with a meaty tome of advice and tips on building your own adventures in RPG Maker, Hardcore Gaming 101 haunts readers with stories of retro horror games, and much more. – David L. Craddock

StoryBundle is a pay-what-you-want platform for independent authors to share their works with readers (and gamers) like you. Paying at least $5 will get you three books from the Fall Ball Game Bundle, while paying $15 or more unlocks six bonus books.

  • HG101 Presents: Star Fox and F-Zero by Kurt Kalata
  • Pleasant Dreams: The Welcoming Play of Kirby’s Dream Land by Joel Couture
  • Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 Video Games You Will Never Play by Unseen64

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all three of the regular books, plus SIX more books!

  • HG101 Presents: The Guide to Retro Horror by Kurt Kalata
  • Level Up! A JRPG Creator’s Handbook by John Harris
  • The Walkthrough: Insider Tales from a Life in Strategy Guides by Doug Walsh
  • GameDev Stories: Volume 4 by David L. Craddock
  • Beneath a Starless Sky by David L. Craddock
  • Boss Fight Books: NBA Jam by Reyan Ali

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi and some .pdf) for all books!

As always thanks for your support

Video Games eBooks Bundle: Endless Summer @ StoryBundle!

We are happy to announce 1 eBook taken from our “Video Games You Will Never Play” physical book is featured in the latest eBook bundle by Story Bundle! Our “Handheld Video Games You Will Never Play” can be found in this bundle in their exclusive ePub and Mobi versions (our full book is available in physical form on Amazon and in PDF on Patreon), so you can easily read it with your eBook reader.

videogames-ebook-bundle

In the same bundle you can also find many interesting eBooks about less known video games and their history.

Funds raised with this eBook bundle will support Unseen64, the other books authors and you can also choose to donate 10% to Pixelles, a non-profit initiative committed to helping more women make and change games.

Here’s the full description, for more details check https://storybundle.com/games

Praise the sun while you can: the festivals and hazy warmth of summer is all too fleeting. Luckily, you can capture the spirit of these carefree days forever with the Endless Summer Game Bundle, available for a limited time on StoryBundle.

David L. Craddock’s Arcade Perfect: How Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, and Other Coin-Op Classics explores the lengths to which developers went to squeeze classic arcade games onto home consoles, handhelds, and personal computers. Craddock’s GameDev Stories: Volume 3 digs deeper
into arcades and home conversions with a selection of interviews from legendary designers such as Asteroids co-programmer Ed Logg and Mortal Kombat “ko-kreator” John Tobias.

John Harris steps up to represents great – or at least serviceably good – NES games that get a bad rap today in 8-bit Obituaries. Boss Fight Books author Alex Kane visits one of the most beloved space ports in that famous galaxy far, far away in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, a fantastic oral history of the making of BioWare’s blockbuster RPG.

Alongside those DRM-free eBooks, Hardcore Gaming 101’s Kurt Kalata takes an epic journey through cult classics on the NES, Select Start Press looks at the games your teachers have been playing, and much more.

StoryBundle is a pay-what-you-want platform for independent authors to share their works with readers (and gamers) like you!

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you’re feeling generous), you’ll get the basic bundle of four books in any ebook format – WORLDWIDE.

8-Bit Obituaries by John Harris
HG101 Presents: The Guide to Shoot-em-ups Vol. 1 by Kurt Kalata
What Your Teachers Are Playing by Christian Cardenas and Dylan Altman
Handheld Video Games You Will Never Play by Unseen64

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all four of the regular books, plus SIX more!

GameDev Stories – Volume 3 by David L. Craddock
Arcade Perfect by David L. Craddock
Boss Fight Books: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic by Alex Kane
HG101 Presents: Unofficial Guide to Konami Shooters by Kurt Kalata
History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction by Andrew Williams
HG101 Presents: NES Cult Classics by Kurt Kalata

This bundle is available only for a limited time via storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) for all books!

As always thanks for your support! 

The Unseen64 Book will be translated in French!

Thanks to our friends at Côté Gamers our book “Video Games You Will Never Play” will  be translated in French and physically published in a new, professional volume!

They have an active campaign to support the translation project and to reserve your copy of the French version at Ulule: “Metal Slug” & “Les Jeux Vidéo annulés”.

In fact, the french translation of “Video Games You Will Never Play” will also be printed along with another book, dedicated to Metal Slug :)

Here are more details directly from their Ulule page:

Côté Gamers est fier de vous présenter sa nouvelle collection :Replay. Cette collection a pour but de vous présenter en long et en large une série de jeux ou un genre, voire même un thème. Notre objectif : faire en sorte que vous sachiez tout ce qu’il faut savoir sur le sujet en question, étendre votre connaissance du sujet et éventuellement vous faire revivre vos meilleures heures de jeu. Replay est une collection faite à la fois autant pour votre connaissance du jeu vidéo que pour votre nostalgie !

Les livres édités par Côté Gamers sont toujours très détaillés et n’hésitent pas à vous plonger dans les plus petits détails des sujets qu’ils abordent. La collection Replay veut permettre à tout le monde de découvrir ou de retrouver des jeux cultes, sans pour autant conduire à devenir un expert du moindre sprite, du moindre bonus ou du moindre goodie.

Vous vous en doutez forcément, il existe de nombreux jeux qui furent annulés et auxquels nous n’avons jamais eu accès. Qu’ils aient été annulés pour des raisons financières, parce qu’il étaient trop ambitieux pour leur époque ou parce que des personnes en charge de leur développement se sont opposées, nous vous racontons leur histoire avec cette nouvelle traduction made in Côté Gamers !

L’ouvrage original fut édité par le désormais célèbre site Unseen 64, dont la vocation est de sauvegarder tout ce qui est en rapport avec les jeux annulés et les concepts de jeux jamais exploités commercialement.
Ce livre fut salué par la communauté pour son sujet d’importance et les informations contenues.

Le sujet est original, mais il mérite d’être abordé ! Pouvez-vous imaginer que ce sont des milliers de jeux qui ont été annulés au cours de l’histoire ? Saviez-vous que toutes les maisons d’éditions et même tous les constructeurs de consoles avaient dans leur catalogue des jeux abandonnés en plein développement ? Qu’il s’agisse de Nintendo, de Sega, de Sony, de Virgin, d’Electronic Arts ou de n’importe quelle autre compagnie, vous retrouverez dans “Les jeux auxquels vous ne jouerez jamais” des retours sur tous ces titres aujourd’hui perdus, oubliés ou volontairement tenus secrets.

Read more and reserve your copy at Ulule!