hanspampel
Banned
I lost a Quake 3 CD
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Worst Tragedies in Gaming History (Lost Games)
- Thread starter randomengine
- Start date
This post is a tragedy.
Necron
Member
Yup, this right here. The original GoldenEye007 never getting released on another platform is really unfortunate.
FriedCarbonyte
Member
Posted this the other day - The full version of Secret of Mana that was planned for the Super NES CD system.
Definitely the one that hurts the most for meFinal Fantasy Versus XIII.
GabeTheGrouch76
Member
Count me among those gutted about a large chunk of the Sega's games from the Saturn to pre-Sammy third-party era games being stuck in limbo. Though the few Rare games that have slipped through the crack hurts a lot more. Diddy King Racing and GoldenEye 007 are legitimately two of my favorite games of all time and I am crushed I cannot play them on modern consoles. It also sucks we haven't seen faithful remakes/sequels to them either.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
Silent Hills
Earthbound 64. I know Japan eventually got Mother 3. But I remember seeing videos for EB64 and being excited.
And that Final Fantasy VI tech demo for the N64. At the time I thought it was going to be a real game, even calling it Final Fantasy 64. Then Square dumped Nintendo in favor of Sony.
And that Final Fantasy VI tech demo for the N64. At the time I thought it was going to be a real game, even calling it Final Fantasy 64. Then Square dumped Nintendo in favor of Sony.
Fox Mulder
Member
I never finished it. There was a late game breaking bug caused by a patch for dlc. They took like a month to fix if I recall correctly and I had moved on.
To be fair, that's only because most people failed to read the follow-up which said that the initial reporting was wrong and it had nothing to do with the Nintendo 64.
I heard the original version of Mother 3 had a much darker ending and while I absolutely love the ending we got, I'm still very curious to see what that darker ending would have been like.Earthbound 64. I know Japan eventually got Mother 3. But I remember seeing videos for EB64 and being excited.
And that Final Fantasy VI tech demo for the N64. At the time I thought it was going to be a real game, even calling it Final Fantasy 64. Then Square dumped Nintendo in favor of Sony.
It's not as if Mother 3's ending isn't sorta dark
brickarts295
Member
Star Wars 1313 still hurts.
The cancellation of the sequel to Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.
Kotaku had a little article on it a while back.
http://kotaku.com/the-fate-of-atlantis-sequel-we-never-got-to-play-1784006089
Would have been great, a real shame we only got one modern Indy adventure point and click game.
Kotaku had a little article on it a while back.
http://kotaku.com/the-fate-of-atlantis-sequel-we-never-got-to-play-1784006089
Would have been great, a real shame we only got one modern Indy adventure point and click game.
CloudStrife_ca
Member
So much talk of Valkyria Chronicles 3 being localized and all of the games VC1, VC2, VC3 being released as a collection in North America. I'm happy we got a remaster of VC1 but what the hell happened?! and yes I'm aware we got Valkyria Revolution yesterday.
No localized VC3 hurt.
No localized VC3 hurt.
LinkSlayer64
Member
are they kidding? It was about letting the feud culture between artists come to life instead of just being in lyrics. At least, that's how I saw it as a kid. and the hip-hop beat always fit the gameplay. Maybe a Def-Jam Beat-'em'up could be a thing too lol.
Don't even know what icon is, and I don't wanna.
randomengine
Banned
Sky Walker
Member
Super Mario's Wacky World 
for Philips CDi
for Philips CDiSuper Mario 64 2,seeing how the game would look like is more than enough for me.
Grettir_the_Swole
Member
I don't know what it was called or what system it was made for (Something tells me it was a PS3 or PS3/360 console exclusive) but I distinctly remember a great looking cover based third person shooter for the last console generation. The video looked like it was a slightly upgraded gameplay demo featuring a slim, long haired guy at a gas station in the middle of a desert.
The video started with the main protagonist (we'll call him the Gas Man) minding his own business, and he looked anxious for reasons that would be made clear in a few seconds. Then all of a sudden a gang of armed men surrounded the Gas Man and a gun battle ensued. At this point you saw the camera shift from a cinematic to real gameplay. And during the video you saw Gas Man move from car to car, realistically shuffling his feet as he shifted his body weight to change direction. It was right around the time Gears of War came out (if not slightly before. I'm pretty sure I saw the video on Cinematec on G4 as well) and I remember being floored by how realistic Gas Man looked as he dodged gunfire and ran from cover to cover. The explosions looked pretty cool too.
I've been avidly following gaming news since I was in the first grade (I'm almost thirty now) and yet I have never been able to find out what this game was called and what ever happened to it. I would be really surprised if it transformed into something else, but my gut's telling me it was canned without any aplomb.
The video started with the main protagonist (we'll call him the Gas Man) minding his own business, and he looked anxious for reasons that would be made clear in a few seconds. Then all of a sudden a gang of armed men surrounded the Gas Man and a gun battle ensued. At this point you saw the camera shift from a cinematic to real gameplay. And during the video you saw Gas Man move from car to car, realistically shuffling his feet as he shifted his body weight to change direction. It was right around the time Gears of War came out (if not slightly before. I'm pretty sure I saw the video on Cinematec on G4 as well) and I remember being floored by how realistic Gas Man looked as he dodged gunfire and ran from cover to cover. The explosions looked pretty cool too.
I've been avidly following gaming news since I was in the first grade (I'm almost thirty now) and yet I have never been able to find out what this game was called and what ever happened to it. I would be really surprised if it transformed into something else, but my gut's telling me it was canned without any aplomb.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
Eight Days?
I always thought Killing Day looked good.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8fnswlxFr-Y
This was a while after Red Steel had come and gone.
Grettir_the_Swole
Member
Eight Days?
OH MY GOD
chun li's thighs
Member
One of the main reasons I bought my N64 was the promise of this upcoming game on the box. To be fair, I have colleagues that have played this and they said it was terrible.
It's definitely not on the level of tragedy as many games named so far perhaps, but I got quite bummed out today when I discovered that there actually was a Super Kid Icarus in the works for SNES at some point.
Kid Icarus has always been a fascinating series to me since it feels like it came really close to becoming another staple franchise in the Nintendo wheelhouse, but that it reached just short of the mark somehow due to (I suspect) Japanese impopularity.
I can't help but fantastize about what a third game on the SNES could have been seeing as that was the system where most currently still popular series got defined and fleshed out beyond their often crude 8-bit if not inspirational beginnings. Just imagine Nintendo having a Greek themed action-adventure series under its belt with lots of oddities (like Eggplant Wizards!) and tons of character that could have evolved into a series with Zelda level quality and variety...perhaps even ending in a BOTW style open world game...man that could have been cool. Instead we only got Uprising as a cool but seemingly one off revival...
Now with the looming SNES Classic and its inclusion of the formerly cancelled Star Fox 2, my mind races at the thought of Super Kid Icarus being on there as a once cancelled but now completed gift to longtime Nintendo fans. (Heck, I wish Nintendo would have made more first party SNES games in general since we then would have had more of them on retro systems like these or virtual console type services...now it's always the same one Mario, one Zelda, one Metroid etc.)
By the way, if anyone ever unearthed more info about Super Kid Icarus, such as developer names and such, do feel free to share them.
Kid Icarus has always been a fascinating series to me since it feels like it came really close to becoming another staple franchise in the Nintendo wheelhouse, but that it reached just short of the mark somehow due to (I suspect) Japanese impopularity.
I can't help but fantastize about what a third game on the SNES could have been seeing as that was the system where most currently still popular series got defined and fleshed out beyond their often crude 8-bit if not inspirational beginnings. Just imagine Nintendo having a Greek themed action-adventure series under its belt with lots of oddities (like Eggplant Wizards!) and tons of character that could have evolved into a series with Zelda level quality and variety...perhaps even ending in a BOTW style open world game...man that could have been cool. Instead we only got Uprising as a cool but seemingly one off revival...
Now with the looming SNES Classic and its inclusion of the formerly cancelled Star Fox 2, my mind races at the thought of Super Kid Icarus being on there as a once cancelled but now completed gift to longtime Nintendo fans. (Heck, I wish Nintendo would have made more first party SNES games in general since we then would have had more of them on retro systems like these or virtual console type services...now it's always the same one Mario, one Zelda, one Metroid etc.)
By the way, if anyone ever unearthed more info about Super Kid Icarus, such as developer names and such, do feel free to share them.
ScottFarRoad
Neo Member
The demise of Sega without a doubt. They were like the different but likeable brother of Nintendo, in the best possible sense.
Atari as well, to a degree. These were great companies that helped making gaming what it is today. And the fact they're basically zombies these days is by far gaming's greatest tragedy. It's literally tragic like a great hero was brought down by his own faults.
In some universe the Xbox 360 was actually made by Sega (perhaps in partnership with MS), had a much better name, and was full of cool Sega exclusives and the third-party games we already loved.
Reviving Sega is the first thing I would do if I was a billionaire. Well, maybe the 7th, but it's up there.
(I still believe Half Life 3 is gonna happen one day in VR, so can't include that yet...)
Atari as well, to a degree. These were great companies that helped making gaming what it is today. And the fact they're basically zombies these days is by far gaming's greatest tragedy. It's literally tragic like a great hero was brought down by his own faults.
In some universe the Xbox 360 was actually made by Sega (perhaps in partnership with MS), had a much better name, and was full of cool Sega exclusives and the third-party games we already loved.
Reviving Sega is the first thing I would do if I was a billionaire. Well, maybe the 7th, but it's up there.
(I still believe Half Life 3 is gonna happen one day in VR, so can't include that yet...)
I liked it when I played it. I think it would have done fine had it shipped, but Blizzard didn't want to ship a game for an "old" console gen with the new gen hitting.
That said, two games I would have liked to see come to fruition:
1) Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (developed by 3DO)
2) Mouse controlled puzzle game for the SNES (can't remember the name, only have an old screenshot in slide form via press kit)
porkchopexpress
Member
SWG was ruined when everyone found out the way to become a Jedi was by mastering random professions. Overnight the game was ruined and set in motion every bad decision that came after it.
Me and my friend loved this game when were younger. Game had awesome atmosphere. Also, dat soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El7oQYQXeWA
It still stings and always will, would've gladly waited 5 more years or so but thats not how business works.Final Fantasy Versus XIII.
blummer102
Member
Some deep cuts...
(Mockup but I remember when everyone was holding their breath and speculating over the trademark only to have it be nothing)
(2D FF7...this was just a very early concept using characters from FF6, but damn does it look pretty! Unseen64 did a writeup on it, along with other cool FF7 prototype stuff.)
One of the biggest waste of potential projects Square did. Finally the Mana series got so much marketing only to have every single game released under this banner to only be mediocre at best. The series has never really recovered.
(Mockup but I remember when everyone was holding their breath and speculating over the trademark only to have it be nothing)
(2D FF7...this was just a very early concept using characters from FF6, but damn does it look pretty! Unseen64 did a writeup on it, along with other cool FF7 prototype stuff.)
One of the biggest waste of potential projects Square did. Finally the Mana series got so much marketing only to have every single game released under this banner to only be mediocre at best. The series has never really recovered.
Ahhhhh
Dragon Quest IV PS1 remake - Japanese commercial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivnpa4gLXjc
Vince DiCola
Member
Lost Planet dying as a series hurts, I loved 1 and 2
The state of Halo and it's universe right now bums me out too
But honestly, Ninja Gaiden 3 to me is the biggest disappointment in gaming I've had in the last decade
The state of Halo and it's universe right now bums me out too
But honestly, Ninja Gaiden 3 to me is the biggest disappointment in gaming I've had in the last decade
Temeculan3000
Member
Valve adding hats/loot crates to TF2. Weapon unlock/upgrade progression in Battlefield 2 and COD4:MW we're the precursors to the current day plague of focusing on the meta game instead of the game itself in FPS games.
We still got Mother 3, with timeless 2D sprites that have aged farrrr better than the ugly blurry N64 graphics that the original had.
Now Mother 3 never getting an official English release, that's a tragedy. As well as all of the initially-announced translations for many SNES RPGs but then cancelled. We were supposed to get DQ6 and Tactics Ogre at the very least.
element
Member
I worked at LGS and used to have a Deep Cover ISO and the ROM of Mini Racers. Many many many hard drives ago.
Ahhh. There was the AI game that turned into Sea Blade and Access Software was working on something, but I forgot what genre it was.
Prey 2: This looked fucking cool and unique, but nope, due to Bethesda fuckery it was ruined. At least the new Prey is very good, but it still hurts.
Fallout: Van Buren: The true Fallout 3 that never was.
Half-Life 2: Episode 3: Obviously. I still want to know what the hell happened behind the scenes at Valve. At some point they just completely stopped mentioning this game, even though the last one ended on a cliffhanger.
Lord of the Rings: The White Council: What's that? An Elder Scrolls-esque RPG set in Middle Earth? Man, this will be amazing! *cancelled* :'(
Rock Band: Pearl Jam Live: As a huge Pearl Jam and Rock Band fan this hurts. Pearl Jam is amazing live and the setlist would've been amazing (it was actually leaked on the Harmonix site: song titles, difficulty ratings, song lengths, the whole wazoo). Apparently MTV pulled the plug on this one very late in development due to mixed reception of Green Day: Rock Band or some shit.
Fallout: Van Buren: The true Fallout 3 that never was.
Half-Life 2: Episode 3: Obviously. I still want to know what the hell happened behind the scenes at Valve. At some point they just completely stopped mentioning this game, even though the last one ended on a cliffhanger.
Lord of the Rings: The White Council: What's that? An Elder Scrolls-esque RPG set in Middle Earth? Man, this will be amazing! *cancelled* :'(
Rock Band: Pearl Jam Live: As a huge Pearl Jam and Rock Band fan this hurts. Pearl Jam is amazing live and the setlist would've been amazing (it was actually leaked on the Harmonix site: song titles, difficulty ratings, song lengths, the whole wazoo). Apparently MTV pulled the plug on this one very late in development due to mixed reception of Green Day: Rock Band or some shit.
an example of a game lost to time in the F-Zero series:
the BS Satellaview F-Zero 2 releases. there were multiple versions of this game that had different tracks and ships. only one is around in dumped form and widely known since the others were completely lost (no rom dumps. no video. no images. ded). they also came with different audio track samples of the game's songs and those are also lost to time since they only ever were used during the Satellaview broadcasts (people who know about this know the content was available over a network only at certain times)
an example of features that never came to be due to console failure (F-Zero series again):
F-Zero X was gonna have online ghost and track trading at one point. there's graphics inside the rom that suggest there were options for downloadable content over a network (remember the online N64 network that was created whent he 64DD released in japan?) but these features don't exist even in the final version of the Expansion Kit 64DD disc, which means some content was cut while they finished the expansion's content. it's a damn shame so many things went down with the 64DD thanks to it being a big failure.
the BS Satellaview F-Zero 2 releases. there were multiple versions of this game that had different tracks and ships. only one is around in dumped form and widely known since the others were completely lost (no rom dumps. no video. no images. ded). they also came with different audio track samples of the game's songs and those are also lost to time since they only ever were used during the Satellaview broadcasts (people who know about this know the content was available over a network only at certain times)
an example of features that never came to be due to console failure (F-Zero series again):
F-Zero X was gonna have online ghost and track trading at one point. there's graphics inside the rom that suggest there were options for downloadable content over a network (remember the online N64 network that was created whent he 64DD released in japan?) but these features don't exist even in the final version of the Expansion Kit 64DD disc, which means some content was cut while they finished the expansion's content. it's a damn shame so many things went down with the 64DD thanks to it being a big failure.
shawnoftheshred
Member
1 vs 100 on xbox live...
UnPremierAmour
Neo Member
As others had previously mentioned, Earthbound 64 (AKA, Mother 3 for the Nintendo 64).
Fans of the GBA game tend to bash the original vision of a 3D Mother game, saying it looked wonky and the textures were awful, but I'd personally put the blame on the low-quality screenshots available. These direct-feed screenshots that were quite recently released by the Video Game History Foundation show how beautiful the game actually was, at least for its time.
And to think that these direct-feed screens aren't even of that great a quality... Still a bit blurry.
It's just a great shame, honestly.
Fans of the GBA game tend to bash the original vision of a 3D Mother game, saying it looked wonky and the textures were awful, but I'd personally put the blame on the low-quality screenshots available. These direct-feed screenshots that were quite recently released by the Video Game History Foundation show how beautiful the game actually was, at least for its time.
And to think that these direct-feed screens aren't even of that great a quality... Still a bit blurry.
That battle with the Needle's Dragon looks particularly stunning, imagine how amazing it would've been to fight a creature of such a scale with the trippy backgrounds the series is known for.
SuperBanana
Banned
The Rogue Squadron Trilogy remastered with redone on-foot levels to improve them and online multiplayer was finished but never released after Factor 5 shut down. Also, the fourth game based around a Tie-Fighter Squadron also died with Factor 5.
