I've been thinking back to a couple of games that showed such promise and had everyone amped up for release, some with trailers and playable demos, only to disappear into the ether... a few notable items for me:
Donkey Kong Racing (GCN).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ThbbN3o5yw
This one could have been great, the DKC universe offers so much variety and opportunity for creative levels. Despite getting a trailer, a press release, and even an estimated release date of 2002, when Rare was purchased by MS the project was officially dead. Even after the sale, Rare's attempts to rework the game into Sabreman Stampede for 360 were also met by the cancellation hammer. Personally, I hold out hope that Ninty will someday produce a DLC pack for Mario Kart that follows closer to the wacky DKC world this game would have presented.
The Grinder (Wii)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NmnHJc4pvI
This is one of the reasons the Wii should have had more non-casual support. First shown in 2009, sadly by 2011 all hardcore were completely over Wii, so when the development team began working with Infernal engine to support a top-down version for PS360 (previewed at E3 2011) rather than Quantum 3/FPS for Wii things just sort of... dissolved. After the limited success High Voltage had with The Conduit 1 & 2 (C2 is amazing, BTW) this wild west inspired vampire zombie shoot-em-up never saw the light of day. I'd pay good money to see the demo leaked... I still wonder if there's a nearly complete game out there somewhere...
Earthbound 64 (N64)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlVqMlMfiGU
Granddaddy of all the Nintendo lost treasures, this is the game that slipped away. Billed as the N64 DD game that would define the system, everything looked to be on track. Helmed by Shigesato Itoi himself and targeting the newest Nintendo hardware, press and fans were greeted with an exciting concept and new characters... except nothing ever materialized. First shown in 1997 and, after a few timeline shifts, planned for a March 2001 release, EB64 was unceremoniously cancelled without any clear path for resurrection. While Mother DID release years later as a Japan-exclusive GBA game, there's still hundreds of unused assets and music that have been discovered, indicating that the N64DD version was to have been a bigger and possibly even darker experience than we saw in Mother 3. Rumors on the interwebs theorize that the game was around 60% complete before being scrapped.
Donkey Kong Racing (GCN).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ThbbN3o5yw
This one could have been great, the DKC universe offers so much variety and opportunity for creative levels. Despite getting a trailer, a press release, and even an estimated release date of 2002, when Rare was purchased by MS the project was officially dead. Even after the sale, Rare's attempts to rework the game into Sabreman Stampede for 360 were also met by the cancellation hammer. Personally, I hold out hope that Ninty will someday produce a DLC pack for Mario Kart that follows closer to the wacky DKC world this game would have presented.
The Grinder (Wii)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NmnHJc4pvI
This is one of the reasons the Wii should have had more non-casual support. First shown in 2009, sadly by 2011 all hardcore were completely over Wii, so when the development team began working with Infernal engine to support a top-down version for PS360 (previewed at E3 2011) rather than Quantum 3/FPS for Wii things just sort of... dissolved. After the limited success High Voltage had with The Conduit 1 & 2 (C2 is amazing, BTW) this wild west inspired vampire zombie shoot-em-up never saw the light of day. I'd pay good money to see the demo leaked... I still wonder if there's a nearly complete game out there somewhere...
Earthbound 64 (N64)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlVqMlMfiGU
Granddaddy of all the Nintendo lost treasures, this is the game that slipped away. Billed as the N64 DD game that would define the system, everything looked to be on track. Helmed by Shigesato Itoi himself and targeting the newest Nintendo hardware, press and fans were greeted with an exciting concept and new characters... except nothing ever materialized. First shown in 1997 and, after a few timeline shifts, planned for a March 2001 release, EB64 was unceremoniously cancelled without any clear path for resurrection. While Mother DID release years later as a Japan-exclusive GBA game, there's still hundreds of unused assets and music that have been discovered, indicating that the N64DD version was to have been a bigger and possibly even darker experience than we saw in Mother 3. Rumors on the interwebs theorize that the game was around 60% complete before being scrapped.
