TwiztidElf
Member
Planet Harriers Arcade only on unique hardware. Never given a home release.
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Worst Tragedies in Gaming History (Lost Games)
- Thread starter randomengine
- Start date
Banjotanooki
Member
Star Fox arcade:
Completely different game from Assault and all we have to look back on is this poster.
Completely different game from Assault and all we have to look back on is this poster.
SolidSnakex
Member
AKI Corp losing the contract with EA to make a new Def Jame, letting an EA studio make Def Jam: Icon which turned out to be terrible.... and lead to AKI corp changing their name and releasing a bunch of 3ds dressup games
The reason why AKI lost it is also really awful
Version 3.0
Member
Even though we never really saw it in any detail, I was bummed that we only got 4 of the "Capcom Five". Dead Phoenix got canned.
Easily Silent Hills.
Such a talented team behind one of the best horror franchises (despite some attempts to throw its name in the mud). A fantastic teaser confirming they had something very special in their hands. And then.... nothing. Poof.
Pretending Scalebound was a masterpiece gives more reasons to rag on microsoft, don't you know? do you even GAF?
Such a talented team behind one of the best horror franchises (despite some attempts to throw its name in the mud). A fantastic teaser confirming they had something very special in their hands. And then.... nothing. Poof.
Pretending Scalebound was a masterpiece gives more reasons to rag on microsoft, don't you know? do you even GAF?
shark sandwich
tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
? That's the first I've ever heard of this. I always understood Xenosaga 1-3 as basically a loose, unofficial re-imagining of Xenogears episode I.
AFAIK it was never their intention to tell the story of Kain and the Gazelle Ministry, Zeboim Era, the story of Lahan/Sophia, etc.
Sorry, not enough people bought the $40 Nintendo DS port and Square decided there wasn't interest in the franchise.
It became Mother 3 at the very least.
StreetsAhead
Member
Or some people thought it sounded interesting and it was from a director/studio people think highly of that got pretty unceremoniously cancelled years after it was first announced.
There's a large gap between finding a game interesting and cancelling it being one of the worst tragedies in gaming.
And funny how all the people who found it interesting only decided to mention so after the game was cancelled anyway. Maybe if they were more vocal about liking it instead of "this game looks like crap" it wouldnt be cancelled in the first place.
StreetsAhead
Member
You could argue this about a lot, if not most, of the games mentioned in this thread.
Also, didn't you hear? It was the fan excitement for Scalebound that caused it to be cancelled anyway.
But yeah, spin your BS console war "GAF Hivemind" narrative.
arts&crafts
Member
Earthbound 64! I remember reading about it in EGM. They should still make a 3D Mother game.
I really didn't, because that was an out of context clickbait quote that had nothing to do with the article in question and people in that thread promptly ignored it for pages and pages.
But console war BS indeed, let's drop it here and let the thread keep its course.
Spacejaws
Member
Always tragic that Baldurs Gate 3 The Black Hound was never made
And that pretty much Infinity Engine and CRPG's in general died with it. Glad for the resurgance of Baldurs Gate and CRPG's we have now but I was looking forward to BGIII(which actually sounded more like Icewind Dale III) and reckon alot of the aspects of it went into Pillars of Eternity.
And that pretty much Infinity Engine and CRPG's in general died with it. Glad for the resurgance of Baldurs Gate and CRPG's we have now but I was looking forward to BGIII(which actually sounded more like Icewind Dale III) and reckon alot of the aspects of it went into Pillars of Eternity.
ranmafan
Member
While this is pretty much tied into the Sega demise category, for me the demise of the Sakura Taisen franchise still hurts and few things come close to matching it. The series was amazing starting off as a phenomenon where its first two games are considered bonifide classics, and it's the third game considered by many in Japan as the best Dreamcast game ever. But then the dominos started to fall. Sega drops out of the console industry just before the release of three. A incredibly terrible tv series based on the first game that completely just mangles the story aired to terrible reviews (thankfully the wonderful movie made up for this mess but the tv show was so bad it left a huge bad impression.) the voice actress for sumire suddenly decided to retire. They rushed out a fourth game to the series in an attempt to finish the story and probably to did with the voice actor situation, and while the game isn't terrible it's short and disappointing compared to the others. And while there were attempts to revive the franchise on the ps2 with a remake of the first game and a rerelease of 3, they never took off. Plus there was the whole situation of the announcement of a prequel game that sounded really awesome, but was never ever heard of again after its announcement. (That one part of this demise hurts the most) We of course did get Sakura Taisen V, but many view this as a dissapointing continuation with a new cast that wasn't as endearing as the original, and character designs that just wasn't as good, as well as other things many didn't like. Even me, an insanely huge fan who has been to Sakura Taisen talk shows, theater shows, and the old sakura Taisen store/cafe before it was shut down, I didn't even get it at release and I've still haven't played it cause I just didn't like anything I saw about the game. And for years I just avoided it as it wasn't the Sakura Taisen I wanted to play. (although I've finally obtained a copy recently and play to play it and see how it is.)
The series now pretty much is just a memory. With its last release being a dungeon crawler on the DS no one remembers. These days sometimes you'll see the old classic characters show up in gatcha Japanese smartphone games only. The recent Sega survey about series to resurrect gave some hope for the series to return, but it would take a lot of work and effort to bring it back, the type of effort I'm not sure the Sega today could really pull off. Really sad too, it was a fantastic series, particularly the original 4 when played together on the dreamcast. I really miss it.
Plus it should also be considered a tragedy that the original four games never made it to the west and that the many attempts to localize them were stopped for various reasons, including some real stupid ones it seems. Especially that psp port of 1+2.
The series now pretty much is just a memory. With its last release being a dungeon crawler on the DS no one remembers. These days sometimes you'll see the old classic characters show up in gatcha Japanese smartphone games only. The recent Sega survey about series to resurrect gave some hope for the series to return, but it would take a lot of work and effort to bring it back, the type of effort I'm not sure the Sega today could really pull off. Really sad too, it was a fantastic series, particularly the original 4 when played together on the dreamcast. I really miss it.
Plus it should also be considered a tragedy that the original four games never made it to the west and that the many attempts to localize them were stopped for various reasons, including some real stupid ones it seems. Especially that psp port of 1+2.
Novel Mike
Member
I've gotta say I think the most relevant game or set of games that hasn't been mentioned already has to be Shining Force 3.
Okay so to be fair, Shining Force 3 came out on the Saturn, and its bloody fantastic! However... If you lived anywhere outside of Japan you only ever got to play 1/3rd of the game.
Shining Force 3 was a hugely ambitious project telling the equivalent of a video game epic featuring both fantasy, sci-fi, and political story lines intermixed with dozens upon dozens of characters. The project couldn't just be a single game so it was divided into 3 games called Scenarios. In the US we only got Scenario 1.
Shining Force 3 followed the story of 3 characters. Scenario 1 stared Symbios the son of a famed Republic General, Scenario 2 stared Medion (my Avatar) the third prince of the Empire, and Scenario 3 stared Julian a Mercenary seeking revenge against a legendary Vandal (think demons but almost unkillable). Each of them would work to unravel the mystery behind the kidnapping of the Empire's Emperor (Medion's father) as well as the objective of the cult of Bulzome sect a fanatical group that orchestrates everything from behind the scenes.
What made SF3 so damn amazing is how it worked the three storylines into one. Things you do in Scenario 1 could effect Scenario 2 and 3, granting you additional and different characters and items if you did certain things in each game, each main character would be silent but when you would see them in other games you could see what they were actually saying at those times. It was a hell of a cool system and one of the best Strategy RPG's ever made, if not the best.
The storyline was amazing and seeing the perspective from both sides of the war was so varied and interesting. You'd fight an Empire's general in Scenario 1 only to learn so much more about them in Scenario 2, it was just such a well thought out game.
Yet, Sega has never re-released Shining Force 3 or given a it a proper translation in the west. The original Scenario 1 release was just called Shining Force 3 with its ending changed to seem less like a cliffhanger.
It's only thanks to a dedicated fanbase that there is a proper translation patch of the game that can be applied to the game to finally play it in English but its just a damn shame that Sega seems to be completely disinterested in ever remaking or re-releasing the game which to me is crazy if you just look at how popular the SRPG genre has become with games like Fire Emblem and X-Com doing so well in sales now and Sega was the the first company to bring the genre to the west with the original Shining Force in the early 90's, if not for that game and its various sequels I wouldn't be nearly as interested in the genre as I am now and it paved the way for Fire Emblem to become a big hit in the west as well.
Shining Force 3 was just great and its a damn shame that so few people have actually played it.
Okay so to be fair, Shining Force 3 came out on the Saturn, and its bloody fantastic! However... If you lived anywhere outside of Japan you only ever got to play 1/3rd of the game.
Shining Force 3 was a hugely ambitious project telling the equivalent of a video game epic featuring both fantasy, sci-fi, and political story lines intermixed with dozens upon dozens of characters. The project couldn't just be a single game so it was divided into 3 games called Scenarios. In the US we only got Scenario 1.
Shining Force 3 followed the story of 3 characters. Scenario 1 stared Symbios the son of a famed Republic General, Scenario 2 stared Medion (my Avatar) the third prince of the Empire, and Scenario 3 stared Julian a Mercenary seeking revenge against a legendary Vandal (think demons but almost unkillable). Each of them would work to unravel the mystery behind the kidnapping of the Empire's Emperor (Medion's father) as well as the objective of the cult of Bulzome sect a fanatical group that orchestrates everything from behind the scenes.
What made SF3 so damn amazing is how it worked the three storylines into one. Things you do in Scenario 1 could effect Scenario 2 and 3, granting you additional and different characters and items if you did certain things in each game, each main character would be silent but when you would see them in other games you could see what they were actually saying at those times. It was a hell of a cool system and one of the best Strategy RPG's ever made, if not the best.
The storyline was amazing and seeing the perspective from both sides of the war was so varied and interesting. You'd fight an Empire's general in Scenario 1 only to learn so much more about them in Scenario 2, it was just such a well thought out game.
Yet, Sega has never re-released Shining Force 3 or given a it a proper translation in the west. The original Scenario 1 release was just called Shining Force 3 with its ending changed to seem less like a cliffhanger.
It's only thanks to a dedicated fanbase that there is a proper translation patch of the game that can be applied to the game to finally play it in English but its just a damn shame that Sega seems to be completely disinterested in ever remaking or re-releasing the game which to me is crazy if you just look at how popular the SRPG genre has become with games like Fire Emblem and X-Com doing so well in sales now and Sega was the the first company to bring the genre to the west with the original Shining Force in the early 90's, if not for that game and its various sequels I wouldn't be nearly as interested in the genre as I am now and it paved the way for Fire Emblem to become a big hit in the west as well.
Shining Force 3 was just great and its a damn shame that so few people have actually played it.
SirNinja
Member
It still hurts to see footage of the unreleased GoldenEye 007 remaster for the 360.
element
Member
Considering the window that those kits were used, you really wouldn't have wanted to see anything from those units. Those were used REALLY early and were replaced relatively quickly.
The other thing is the 'prototype controller' was also an off the shelf USB version of the InterAct HammerheadFX.
The thing is the kits weren't rare, at all. I had three of them at work. I'd say easily there were 5000 of them made. Since they were just throw together parts until they built an actual form factor unit.
Kelegacy
XBOX - RECORD ME LOVING DOWN MY WOMAN GOOD
Yeah, NOLF is one of the biggest ones. People are missing out, and probably will forever. I think I still have the original discs, but would love to see a remaster, a sequel, or just a digital copy!
Id still want things from those units, Ive found 5 builds, one of them being the unreleased AI game.
The HammerheadFX controller actually has a different firmware or something on it which makes it not be compatible with the alpha software. Same hardware obviously though.
They weren't rare at the time, no. Microsoft made a lot of them, but many were sent back, destroyed (there is at least one photo of I believe Microsoft employees taking a baseball bat to one), or otherwise repurposed as PC's and lost to time. There aren't that many surviving units with their original hardware and software intact, and until I helped others out the software couldn't be found either.
Years ago, around 20 cases were sold on their own on Ebay, but no internal hardware, and most of those have all but disappeared too. Those kits are going on 17 years old now, every one counts and has potential to be a valuable resource
Youre talking about a few dozen, if that, known to still exist and work, not counting the cases, some of which have been rebuilt with parts.
I believe in trying to preserve whatever we can of gaming history, especially that which wasnt meant to be seen by the public. Was this Xbox a huge loss in the scheme of things? Probably not, but I would have liked to have had a chance to make sure.
As always, any developers out there, Im always willing to chat with you about any sort of projects, abandoned or not.
That the original game has a 16bit installer that Win7 and WIn10 won't run is even worse.
I cherish those titles in my library. Still love that my parents got me them both and a strat guide for the first game.
BigWeather
Member
Origin being bought by EA and rushing out Ultima VIII. Ultima IX was a shame too.
Really would have liked to see the Babylon 5 Starfury simulation get released.
Really would have liked to see the Babylon 5 Starfury simulation get released.
About a decade ago, Nintendo put out this really fun advent calender platformer called Mission in Snowdriftland. Each day of december a new level was unlocked, and clearing stages would net you a Nintendo themed prize (usually something like wallpaper or an mp3 of game music).
The advent calender gimmick was pretty cool, but the game itself was a really solid 2D platformer. Probably wouldnt stand out too much in this post2d revival age, but it'd be nice to play it again.
The game was temporarily brought back in like 2010 and then disappeared again.
The advent calender gimmick was pretty cool, but the game itself was a really solid 2D platformer. Probably wouldnt stand out too much in this post2d revival age, but it'd be nice to play it again.
The game was temporarily brought back in like 2010 and then disappeared again.
Since E3 I can't stop thinking about how bringing this back on Xbone and Switch would be the perfect way to continue the cross-play alliance.
AzureFlame
Member
The Versus XIII/XV project.
Spacejaws
Member
This is a good one. Rogue Squadron were amazing games on the Gamecube and even RS1 was great albiet tge sequels really pushed the envelope. I would have given my own foot for another game and any console that had it would have been a garunteed buy.
Unsure why nothing has ever materialized since in the same vein. Star Wars vehicular action seems like a godamn no brainer. Now I'm expecting EA's hugely watered down 'Fighter Squadron' Battlefront mode to be adapted at some point
better than nothingThe entire classic Silent Hill franchise's fate is in the hands of the world's worst large scale game pub/dev, and they most likely will never do anything good again with those games.
Panzer Dragoon games that are stuck on a hard as balls console to emulate and SEGA being out of their league or just can't bother to try to do something about it.
Same thing for JSRF and Orta on Xbox, but hopefully Microsoft does what SEGA don't with X1X.
Whatever the hell Square Enix did to Deus Ex HR.
The Rogue Sqaudron games and Battle for Naboo appear forever lost, cuz Factor 5 sunk.
KotOR is dead...
Panzer Dragoon games that are stuck on a hard as balls console to emulate and SEGA being out of their league or just can't bother to try to do something about it.
Same thing for JSRF and Orta on Xbox, but hopefully Microsoft does what SEGA don't with X1X.
Whatever the hell Square Enix did to Deus Ex HR.
The Rogue Sqaudron games and Battle for Naboo appear forever lost, cuz Factor 5 sunk.
KotOR is dead...
maybe
Rad Shadow
Banned
Damn, what else was supposed to be in that game?
I guess the end did leave a lot of plot holes for some characters...like Harle.
My saddest gaming memory was back in high school. My friend like rpgs, the ps1 was pumping our some good ones, but mostly he stuck with the snes classics. He did love ff7, but had never played the Suikoden series.
Suikoden 2, unbeknownst to me was about to be this super rare game. I just so happened to own it and was going to show him some game play or the opening...
I opened the jeweled case and we both stared at an empty box. I must have stood staring for minutes. My game was gone. To this day I have no idea where that game went... I still own the empty case.
Sure, buying it on the PSN was nice, but it will never beat owning the original.
...
Ahem. Speaking of Suikoden, knowing that series will never get a proper continuation after 3 is a mega bummer.
Mr_Antimatter
Member
The Lost. Irrational Studios developed modern take on Dantes inferno. Amazing concept art, and a damn unique setup. Development had issues, and the code sold off to some another dev who released it as Agni: Queen of Darkness. A Pale shadow of what coudl have been.
element
Member
Which game? I worked on those
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
The six episode plan was known from the beginning - it's right on wiki.
Here's an IGN post explaining it in more detail. Maybe someone with better sources can weigh in, but I remember a lot of people being bummed when Ep 3 was announced to be the last one.
I don't think Episode V would have been a remake of Gears, but a re-imagining based on the new Saga universe. That was just my personal (now crushed) hope, though.
GlassBurrito
Member
OK, you want real tragedy? The death of SEGA President Isao Okawa is tragic. Pouring 695.7 million dollars into his company in the midst of the failure of the Dreamcast from his own wallet and still being unable to right the company ship then finally dying of heart failure.
But maybe that's too heavy handed. How about some light tragedy?
Virtua Quest happening to the Virtua Fighter series is a tragic in how poor the quality was.
Indiana Jones Euphoria Engine game
SEGA Reborn Golden Axe
The Highlander Video Game
Escape From New York Snake Plisken's First Escape game using the Dead to Rights game engine
But maybe that's too heavy handed. How about some light tragedy?
Virtua Quest happening to the Virtua Fighter series is a tragic in how poor the quality was.
Indiana Jones Euphoria Engine game
SEGA Reborn Golden Axe
The Highlander Video Game
Escape From New York Snake Plisken's First Escape game using the Dead to Rights game engine
Which game? I worked on those
Everything Ive recovered is from Radical Entertainment. Two Simpsons builds, two (or more actually) builds of Dark Summit, and one of AI The Circuit, the arena fighting game.
Highlander had some interesting things going on, even before that version...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqBHXNZN8TM
shark sandwich
tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
Oh yeah I know they originally wanted to make more than 3 episodes. But AFAIK the entire Xenosaga series was meant to be a sort of remake of Xenogears episode I. Not a remake of the entire Xenogears timeline.
for me it was advent rising not getting it's planned trilogy. it was an incredibly ambitious title, maybe too ambitious for it's own good. but i honestly liked it more than any halo game (the closest comparison to it) it had a great style, flashy combat and the writing was amazing.
Panzer Dragoon . They need to just remake saga from scratch to correct this wrong.
Wow I've never heard of this. It's so cute!!! A damn crime!
. They need to just remake saga from scratch to correct this wrong. About a decade ago, Nintendo put out this really fun advent calender platformer called Mission in Snowdriftland. Each day of december a new level was unlocked, and clearing stages would net you a Nintendo themed prize (usually something like wallpaper or an mp3 of game music).
The advent calender gimmick was pretty cool, but the game itself was a really solid 2D platformer. Probably wouldnt stand out too much in this post2d revival age, but it'd be nice to play it again.
The game was temporarily brought back in like 2010 and then disappeared again.
Wow I've never heard of this. It's so cute!!! A damn crime!
1morerobot
Member
TheSpoiler
Member
That's not why they cancelled the game lol.
Chakra_Khan
Member
Anybody here remember the canned First person Megaman title that was being developed by the 3D Metroid people?
fabricated backlash
Member
Oh dude, now you've planted something unholy in my mind.... And now I'm sad.
How long did you serve for murder? Or did the judge understand and refuse to convict you?