{"id":3604,"date":"2025-03-21T02:52:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playstationmuseum.com\/?page_id=3604"},"modified":"2025-03-21T02:52:17","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:52:17","slug":"video-game-graveyard","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/playstationmuseum.com\/index.php\/video-game-graveyard\/","title":{"rendered":"Video Game Graveyard"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\"\"<\/p>

Aaron Vs. Ruth: Battle of the Big Bats<\/strong>
Publisher: Mindscape<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
This pairing of baseball\u2019s all-time home run leaders was released on the PC in mid-1997, but Mindscape never shipped the promised PlayStation version. The game features eight \u201cteams\u201d of 36 current and all-time All-Stars, with their real-life appearances meticulously recreated (in other words, Ruth looked like Ruth, et cetera). Alas, the reviews were mostly thumbs-down, and Mindscape eventually exited the PlayStation market after shipping an unbroken series of mediocre or outright crappy games.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Aeon Flux<\/strong>
Publisher: Viacom New Media<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
If William S. Burroughs had ever decided to try his hand at penning Mad Magazine\u2019s \u201cSpy vs. Spy\u201d strip, the end result would have likely been much like Aeon Flux \u2013 the hyper-surreal-ultra-violent animated feature that debuted in \u201991 as a series of shorts in MTV\u2019s Liquid Television, before landing its own show in \u201995.<\/p>

\"aeonscreenshot1\"\"aeonscreenshot2\"\"aeonscreenshot3\"\"aeonscreenshot4\"<\/p>

Nonlinear almost to the point of defying the description \u201cstoryline,\u201d the Aeon Flux television show revolved around its self-named lead: a lanky, black leather-clad super-spy who played both sides of an ambiguous societal conflict. A loose adaptation of the TV episode, \u201cThe Demiurge,\u201d the video game would have pit the character against her sometimes lover\/sometimes enemy, Trevor Goodchild. Always up to some kind of mischief, Trevor\u2019s would then have introduced the entire planet to the power of The Demiurge \u2013 a creature that is, in series creator Peter Chung\u2019s own words, \u201csome kind of divine being who\u2019s neither good nor bad\u2026just all-powerful.\u201d Those who encountered the entity would have had a sort of revelation within its gaze and as a result, would have turned into blue-skinned zombie-like followers. Never really one to conform, Aeon not wanting to be \u201csaved,\u201d might have endeavored to rid the world of The Demiurge\u2019s power. The game\u2019s story would have been told through a series of ALIAS-rendered cutscenes between the levels, as well as through hints provided by characters she encountered. While that may be all well and good, you would still have been left with the question: How do you kill an unkillable being? Well, let\u2019s just say the game\u2019s goal effectively altered the old Eastern saying \u201cIf you meet the Buddha in the road, kill him\u201d to \u201cIf you meet the Buddha on the road, place him on top of a large missile and blast him into space.\u201d<\/p>

One quite interesting element almost adapted from the TV program was Aeon\u2019s ability to clone herself (and therefore have multiple lives, explaining the video game convention of being able to die and then keep on playing). However, in order to be cloned, you had to preserve fluid samples of Aeon while she was alive. So not only would you have to find the mechanism that allowed you to create a duplicate, but you would also have to make sure you\u2019re carrying a fluid sample with you at the time. This would\u2019ve acted as a fairly good example of the puzzle-solving aspects of the game, keeping it from being just a simple 3D shooter \u2013 though admittedly, Aeon\u2019s various fighting moves and two different modes of shooting (accurate and strafe) would\u2019ve essentially prevented that from happening.<\/p>

Fans of the animated feature at one point were glad to know that not only were Aeon Flux\u2019s main characters planned within the title, some of the lesser-seen characters in the series would have returned as well. \u201cIt sort of tells alternative stories [to the program],\u201d says Chung, \u201crecombining characters from different episodes in ways that they didn\u2019t interact in the show. Part of the reason for that was that some of the characters seemed to have far more potential than they were given in the shows, so we wanted to give them a second chance. Along the way, there were a lot of subplots and incidental things that allow [these] characters to have cameo appearances.\u201d<\/p>

Even with all this going for it, we questioned whether the game could have held up as an accurate adaptation of the series. The creator thought so. He even flew to France to direct the game\u2019s motion capture shoot, ensuring that the characters in the game would have moved exactly as strangely and spider-like as they do in the TV program. \u201cI couldn\u2019t have expected it to be any closer,\u201d Chung commented, \u201cin terms of a 3D-modeled, computer-generated rendition of the Aeon Flux world.\u201d<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Viacom was dissolved when Spelling Entertainment realized it had two video game divisions. Spelling folded Viacom into Virgin, which then canceled all working and planned Viacom titles \u2013 Aeon Flux being one of them.<\/p>

Meanwhile, Cryo reworked the game into a title called PAX Corps, which was released in Europe to poor reviews. No US publisher has signed on to bring the game here.<\/p>

Also worth mentioning is the fact the GT Interactive has acquired the rights to the Aeon Flux license, though no game has been announced to date.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Alien Virus<\/strong>
Publisher: Vic Tokai<\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
This point-and-click outer-space adventure was reviewed in the April \u201996 issue of PSExtreme and slammed to the turf, but the product never shipped for the PlayStation (a PC version made it to market).<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Armed<\/strong>
Publisher: Interplay<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
The plot for this 2D side-scrolling action\/platformer: \u201cIn the future, the Earth has been ravaged by global warfare. The few survivors left are constantly at war to gain control of what is left of the once-bountiful planet. You are a lone cyber-agent, hired out by the governing body of your city-state to infiltrate the enemy\u2019s area and take out a rumored weapon of mass destruction.\u201d As for features: \u201c3D-rendered texture-mapped backgrounds, more than seven minutes of cinematic cut-scenes, over 4,000 frames of animation, and each level will be comprised of thousands of tiles, compared to the usual hundreds found in cartridge games.\u201d<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Athenor<\/strong>
Publisher: Psygnosis<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Athenor was almost your one chance to become a Greek god. This Psygnosis title was planned asa Greek mythology-inspired battle arena in which you were to take on beasts such as the Minotaur, Gorgon Medusa, and the Hydra in order to become a hero.<\/p>

\"ath_lge\"\"ath_lge2\"<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
We\u2019re not exactly sure why this game was canceled.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Barb Wire<\/strong>
Publisher: GT Interactive<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
European developer Cryo Interactive\u2019s Barb Wire (named for the Dark Horse comic and the major motion picture that stars Pamela Anderson Lee) planned to take from screen what screen took from print. The result might have been a 32-bit title for the Sony PlayStation console system. Barb Wire herself was created with live action motion capture and blue-screen assistance, presumably testing the limits of 3D modeling.<\/p>

The game action was to begin with you assuming the identity of the tightly corseted Barb Wire. As the proprietor of The Hammerhead Bar and Grille of Steel Harbor (a far cry from Venice Beach, to be sure), Barb\u2019s job was to use her bounty-hunting and freedom-fighting skills to preserve the town\u2019s status as the last neutral territory in the second American civil war.<\/p>

\"barbscreenshot1\"\"barbscreenshot2\"\"barbscreenshot3\"<\/p>

In the originally designed storyline, Ms. Wire was rumored to be a bit of an ice-queen, but the pellicle thawed when her beloved (and blind as a bat) brother Charlie was killed by the Congressionalists \u2013 the biological-weapon packing Eastern army dead-set on taking over the country. You would have entered the slaughter as Barb taking up the cause of two revolutionary characters, Alex Hood and Dr. Tyra Armstrong (who enlisted her because of her legendary John Wayne-esque fighting aptitude). Barb would have then set about racing through the streets on her black Triumph motorcycle, plentiful arsenal in tow, battling each and every enemy unfortunate enough to cross her path.<\/p>

\"barbscreenshot5\"\"barbscreenshot4\"<\/a><\/p>

The aerial perspective of this single-player game would have resembled that of Alone in the Dark, offering a gratuitous banquet of motion-captured, pixelated butt-shots to shepherd you through the action. Then, once you\u2019d tire of Ms. Wire\u2019s posterior, you could have assumed the role of one of the crime lords and embark on a mission to hunt Barb down and kill her.<\/p>

Barb Wire would have been stacked with combat, traps, and challenges that, upon completion, might have allowed you to advance through the various levels. The title\u2019s design had many levels, though the gameplay would have been nonlinear in that you would have selected the sequence of missions and events. You also could put Barb to the test by engaging in multiplayer deathmatch mode, where Barb would\u2019ve taken on all of the bad boys simultaneously.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
GT Interactive quietly canceled this title.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood<\/strong>
Publisher: GT Interactive<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Beavis and Butt-Head are not role models. They\u2019re not even human. They\u2019re cartoon characters. Some of the things they do would cause a person to get hurt, expelled, arrested, possibly deported. To put it another way: Don\u2019t try this at home.<\/p>

\"01\"\"02\"\"03\"\"04\"<\/p>

Well, actually, you might have been able to try their tricks at home, but GT Interactive pulled the plug. Already stars of some latter-day SNES and Genesis games, Mike Judge\u2019s gruesome twosome almost made the jump to 32-bit.<\/p>

\"05\"\"06\"\"07\"\"08\"<\/p>

Humor is obviously the most important element of any game starring these two. Yes, you need the graphics to be recognizable, but underneath all the icing, you need to ensure that the underlying game is rooted firmly in adolescent, ridiculous humor. And B&B was designed very much with that in mind. The game was set in Hollywood. The plot went something like this: After the guys had finished work on their latest movie, they found they didn\u2019t have any money with which to get home, so they took odd jobs on film sets in order to make cash. Conveniently, there were all sorts of movies being made, so B&B could have traveled through some varied environments with vaguely \u201cfilmy\u201d themes.<\/p>

\"09\"\"10\"\"11\"\"12\"<\/p>

At its heart the game was a simple 3D graphic adventure with smallish locations that contained tasks that melded platform elements with puzzles and stupid jokes. The gameplay itself wasn\u2019t particularly hilarious (although some of the puzzles were reasonably chuckle-worthy), but what really stood out was the interaction between Beavis and Butt-Head. You didn\u2019t just control one character or the other; you actually controlled both. By switching between the two, you could manipulate objects, lure things, push things around, and distract people. It wasn\u2019t spectacularly original in concept, but it was refreshing to see the idea used in this context.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
GT Interactive decided to clean house and save some money. Beavis and Butt-Head didn\u2019t do Hollywood, or the PlayStation, for that matter, and were kicked to the curb with other GT console titles.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

BioSwarm<\/strong>
Publisher: 3DO<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
The basis for BioSwarm, also known at one time as NRG and Groundwave, was Nasty Radioactive Garbage, or more affectionately, NRG, a Sony PlayStation action title that never came out.<\/p>

The story began with living, toxic space waste that found its way to earth, animating or, perhaps re-animating, animate and inanimate objects, turning the lot of them into predators.<\/p>

Through a first- or third-person perspective, you would have selected one of three mech-style ships or one of three more organic, crab-like vessels in which to battle the predators. The mission was to capture the opposing force\u2019s energy by stunning them three times before they had time to rejuvenate themselves. Once you\u2019d stunned them the third and final time, you had to gather their ejected energy and so on, until the last predator was defeated.<\/p>

There were five levels, which progressed in difficulty; however, you could have started on either end of the spectrum and worked your way through. For example, you could play through the levels starting with Silicon Slums, then move through Viva Las Vegas, Polar Necropolis, Auto Wrecking Yard, and eventually the final bout in The Radiant City. Or, you could\u2019ve begun with Auto Wrecking Yard, and worked your way to Radiant City backwards. Whichever path you chose, you could have played either a mission-based game or campaign levels.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?
<\/strong>3DO canceled the game, as it was appearing to be the weakest in the company\u2019s console lineup.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Bloodshot<\/strong>
Publisher: Acclaim<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Bloodshot, an arcade-style 3D shooter, would have placed you, as the title character, into a futuristic environment called the City, where you would encounter familiar faces from the comic book, such as Simon Oreck and Stroheim. Throughout the 20-plus expected levels would be varying types of vehicles (like cars, jeeps, motorbikes, tanks, and trucks) for you to mobilize against the enemy \u2013 the organization that made you. Certain areas of the game were only going to be open to you if you had the right vehicle. Your weapons stash included about 22 various arms, such as the screamer, a nasty sonic toy; the microwave projector, which would have melted all kinds of metal and body parts; and the flechette, with hundreds of small C4 darts. You would have been able to run in one direction and shoot in another because Iguana had installed a multidimensional firing system.<\/p>

\"bloodshot1\"\"bloodshot2\"\"bloodshot3\"\"bloodshot4\"<\/p>

Hard Nanite power-ups would have enhanced your chances against the enemy. Hard Nanite was a completely moldable substance; when Bloodshot encountered any Hard Nanite object, he would have absorbed those Nanites into his own and could have later reproduced the object. So any weapons, information, vehicles, or technology that he have came into contact with, would be absorbed and then reproduced \u2013 enemy toys included.<\/p>

\"bloodshot5\"\"bloodshot6\"\"bloodshot7\"\"bloodshot8\"<\/p>

A few of the power-ups available were the vampire, which sucked all the energy out of nearby objects and gave it to Bloodshot; the harbinger, which caused temporary insanity in his enemies; the sentinel, which acted as a shield; and the MTCS, or the multi target combat system, which would cause Bloodshot\u2019s Nanites to shoot offscreen aggressors while he was busy shooting bad guys. A four-player mode was planned as well.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
In January of 1999, Acclaim had officially ceased development of Bloodshot. An Acclaim spokesman said that the game didn\u2019t pass a \u201cgreen light evaluation,\u201d and the game\u2019s future was in fact uncertain. The evaluation was to determine the game\u2019s viability in the market. In the form it was in, Bloodshot did not pass.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Clay Fighter X-Treme<\/strong>
Publisher: Interplay<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Those with fond recollections of Interplay\u2019s twin 16-bit satires of the fighting genre, Clay Fighter and sequel C2: Judgment Clay, almost had cause to celebrate, with Clay Fighter X-Treme. Was this to be old-time stop-motion animation artist Ray (King Kong, Jason & The Argonauts) Harryhausen\u2019s dream\u2026or nightmare? We\u2019ll never know.<\/p>

\"clay1\"\"clay2\"\"clay3\"\"clay4\"<\/p>

Originally planned for Matsushita\u2019s vaporware 64-bit gaming system, Interplay\u2019s onetime \u201cClay Fighter 3\u201d was transformed into two virtually identical games on two quite disparate systems: Clay Fighter 63 1\/3 for the Nintendo 64 and Clay Fighter X-Treme for the Sony PlayStation. Why was Clay Fighter popular enough to justify an update? Silly as the concept seemed, Clay Fighter was popular with parents who found malleable, bloodless clay far less offensive than the familiar \u201cspine ripping\u201d sights seen in some fighting games.<\/p>

\"clay5\"<\/p>

What made these titles exciting, though, was that Interplay took the fighting game aspects of the series seriously. While the latest Clay Fighter remained a 2D fighter, new elements such as 3D polygonal backgrounds, unconventional sight gag special moves, and breakthrough walls updated the game. The title also boasted an entirely new fighting engine, which Interplay touted as being as complex as any of the top fighters (the old games were based on a more simplistic, side-scrolling engine).<\/p>

The story began in the sleepy burg of Muddville, where a meteor crashed down outside the town limits, spilling forth a sea of green claymutagen upon impact. The town then went \u201cclazy;\u201d buildings, people, and animals turned into animated clay. To make matters worse, the local community college professor, Dr. Kiln, became horribly evil and began creating powerful, mutant clay servants. The game picked up in a brand new locale (the mysterious \u201cKlaymodo Isle\u201d), and from there the battle began for Clayfighter 63 1\/3 and would\u2019ve begun for X-Treme.<\/p>

The cast combined a mix of new characters and old favorites. There were four returning characters: Ickybod Clay, a crazy scarecrow; Bad Mr. Frosty, who\u2019s heart was as black as a Cola Slushee (well, OK, dark brown); Bonker, an insane clown minus his posse; and Taffy, a circus expatriate who had a score to settle with Bonker. There were new characters planned as well: Dr. Kiln, the often-mentioned but never before seen evil genius who planned to turn the entire world into clay; High Five, Dr. Kiln\u2019s severed hand, which took on a grisly, mutated life of its own; and LockJaw Pooch, a Dr. Kiln experiment gone horribly wrong. Also included, most likely as hidden characters, were Boogerman and Earthworm Jim (popular faces from Interplay\u2019s past).<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
The reason that Interplay decided not to develop it [Clay Fighter X-Treme] is because it was not on schedule for release simultaneously with the N64 version. Rather than have it be perceived by PlayStation consumers as a late port, they decided to stop the project and focus on ensuring simultaneous releases for our other cross-platform titles.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Colliderz<\/strong>
Publisher: ASC<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Colliderz was a clever futuristic hockey type game, and that\u2019s about all we know of it.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
ASC killed the title in 1997 because it had witnessed the failure of BallBlazer and a similar title and worried for the livelihood of Colliderz. But the company also said the real reason it killed that game was because it just wasn\u2019t fun (and that it looked pretty crappy too).<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Cyber Gladiators<\/strong>
Publisher: Sierra<\/strong><\/p>

\"cybergladiators-01\"The Basics<\/strong>
Cyber Gladiators came out on the PC, but the PlayStation version never arrived. The game would\u2019ve been a one- or two-player fighting game with rendered graphics and detailed animations.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Cyber Gladiators quietly disappeared from Sierra\u2019s lineup.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Dark Net<\/strong>
Publisher: American Softworks<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
One of several games killed when American Softworks became ASC Games, Dark Net was an isometic 3D shooter where you played as one of four students who unexpectedly get sucked into cyberspace (hate it when that happens) and battle it out with bizarre Cyboid creatures.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Deadly Skies<\/strong>
Publisher: JVC<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics
<\/strong>Deadly Skies pits you in deadly one-on-one aerial combat with your choice of eight of the world\u2019s finest jet fighters as your weapon. Each fighter comes equipped with a fully qualified pilot, hailing from a variety of different countries. The mission is to win two out of three dogfights with your opponent, progressively working your way through more challenging matches until you rule the \u2018deadly skies.\u2019 It was kinda like Street Fighter in the sky, really.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Deadline<\/strong>
Publisher: Psygnosis<\/strong><\/p>

\"deadline\"The Basics<\/strong>
Deadline was to be a single-player action game in the form of a mystery game. It looked like a cross between Steel Harbringer and Project Overkill.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
The game quietly disappeared from Psygnosis\u2019 lineup.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Deadly Honor<\/strong>
(aka Steven Seagal: The Final Option for SNES)<\/strong>
Publisher: TekMagik<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Slap an action star\u2019s name on a video game and people are bound to pay attention, at least at first. But the problem is that this game went through an SNES incarnation before it wandered into PlayStation and N64 development, and then it never came out for any of the systems. Deadly Honor was TekMagik\u2019s upgrade from the SNES game, Steven Seagal: The Final Option, the company was working on. If Deadly Honor was to be somewhat along the lines of The Final Option, it would have placed you as Steven Seagal in a game loosely based on the star\u2019s action films, such as Under Siege, Hard to Kill, Marked for Death, and so on. The game was to be an action game where you ran around doing a lot of damage. What\u2019s notable about the game is that it was reportedly being created from digitized film footage and was to use AnimaTek\u2019s Caviar technology \u2013 a surface pixel real-time rendering engine, to create realistic figure and object animations.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
The game was in development for the SNES and supposedly had a couple of complete levels, however TekMagik announced Deadly Honor for the N64 and PlayStation, and you can guess where the SNES game went. Ironically, the N64 and PlayStation games never saw the light of day either.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Death Drone<\/strong>
Publisher: Viacom<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
The Death Drone story was originally something like this: In the over-populated, crime-ridden future, convicted criminals are given their choice: death or possible fame by playing a death-game. Death Drone would have featured two perspectives as you piloted your vehicles through the open 3D environment that would have allowed you to roam freely instead of sticking to pre-designated tracks. Taking all this and mixing in a variety of realistic physics to base the combat on might have produced a well thought-out title. Or another Twisted Metal clone.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Viacom was dissolved when Spelling Entertainment realized it had two video game divisions. Spelling folded Viacom into Virgin, which then canceled all working and planned Viacom titles \u2013 Death Drone being one of them.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Down in the Dumps<\/strong>
Publisher: Philips<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Down in the Dumps was to be a single-player adult cartoon adventure set on a stinking rubbish dump. The title would\u2019ve featured a near-seamless transfer from cinematic sequences to interactive sessions. DitD might have been a pretty cool game, with a potentially witty script and well-cast voices. The game would\u2019ve also allowed you to record the cartoon sequences so you could play them back later.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Philips canceled its console plans, and Down in the Dumps went exactly there.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Duckman
Publisher: Playmates<\/strong><\/p>

\"duck02\"The Basics<\/strong>
Duckman, the hero, of sorts, of the USA Network animated series would have starred in this single-player graphical adventure called Duckman: The Legend of the Fall. You would have controlled Duckman and guided him through puzzles and away from traps, all the while attempting to outwit King Chicken \u2013 Duckman\u2019s arch nemesis. The game would have offered more than 40 locations and 80 different scenes to explore, all of which took 10,000 frames of hand-drawn animation to create. About 35 characters from the show, including Bernice, Ajax, Charles, Cornfed, and Mambo would\u2019ve populated these locations. The character\u2019s voices would\u2019ve been provided by the show\u2019s original actors, as well.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Playmates canceled the title for unknown reasons.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Elric<\/strong>
Publisher: Psygnosis<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics
<\/strong>Based on the popular book series by Michael Moorcock, Elric, which was being developed by Haiku Studios, was to be an overhead adventure\/RPG game. Similar to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and the popular PC game Diablo, the game hoped to immerse players in a 3D fantasy\/role-playing world on a mystical quest to bring down evil forces.<\/p>

\"elric\"\"elric1\"\"elric2\"<\/p>

Rather than creating a new property, Psygnosis was bringing Michael Moorcock\u2019s Elric character to video-game consoles for the first time. The science fantasy book series has many installments, and the character of Elric has quite a history. Elric, an albino warrior and the last of the Menilbonean emperors, kills his opponents with the soul-stealing rune sword Stormbringer. Condemned by the gods to battle everything (and everyone) in his path, Elric is one bad mother.<\/p>

\"elric3\"\"elric4\"<\/p>

The game contained nine levels for you to explore on your quest to bring Elric\u2019s beloved Cymoril out of her eternal sleep. Battling through a variety of dungeons and villages, you had to defeat the dark wizard Almon and complete the Cross of Chaos, which had to be set on Cymoril\u2019s coffin to wake her. Using an array of weapons and spells, the game played like an adventure game with added RPG elements. Additionally, a variety of monsters and enemies provided plenty of things to hack and slash while you learned new spells and picked up a variety of helpful objects.
The graphics in Elric looked impressive, and the game looked to be one of the better RPG-type games on the horizon. All the action was took place in real time (using an overhead view similar to Legacy of Kain), and the 3D graphics were rendered on the fly. Word has it that Haiku Studios was also working on a split-screen mode that would let two players go through the game at once. \u00a0RPG fans would likely have enjoyed Elric, and players with more mainstream tastes would likely have found it more accessible than most other games in the genre. The game was originally scheduled to be released during the first quarter of 1998.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

Extreme Dreams<\/strong>
Publisher: CAPS<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
It\u2019s another failed product with the term \u201cExtreme\u201d in the title. You would\u2019ve played as Dim in this single-player action-racing game.<\/p>

\"extreme-01\"\u00a0\"extreme-02\"<\/p>

Dim was designed to be just as his name implied: a muscled-up guy on a rocket board with all of the advertising-worthy buzz-lingo attitude a polygonal character can pack. You would\u2019ve cruised around on the board, avoiding obstacles and such. The game would\u2019ve been filled with cartoon-like art and comedy-bound commentary. With all of the landscapes potentially rendered in real time, they would have been created to add to the depth of the game. Apparently, some of the backgrounds were going to morph into other graphic displays, as well.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Future Strike<\/strong>
Publisher: Electronic Arts<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
This PlayStation version of EA\u2019s Nuclear Strike came out in 1997, and THQ\u2019s N64 version came out in 1999. Somewhere in between, a sequel, Future Strike, was in development by EA for the PlayStation. The game would have continued the long-running Strike action game series, only it was canceled before the N64 version game even shipped.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Electronic Arts stated back in January of 1998 that the game\u00a0formerly known as Future Strike (mentioned at the end of the last Strike title, Nuclear Strike) would no longer be part of the company\u2019s Strike line.<\/p>

The reason? EA decided that it should not be constrained by the theme of the series. \u201cNow, there\u2019s no ceiling to what they can do,\u201d a representative commented at that time. And what the company did was develop a game called LAPD 2100, which then became Future Cop: LAPD, also for the PlayStation. The action game shipped in August of 1998 and turned out fairly well.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Hellraiser<\/strong>
Publisher: Konami<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
According to EGM\u2019s West Coast editor, Wataru Maruyama (who participated in the project as an artist), the Hellraiser game was loosely based on the movie by the same name, and would have revolved around the goal of your character collecting \u201ccharms.\u201d Although the license would suggest fairly gory creatures with chains and piercings, the development teams were told to let their imaginations run amok and create whatever they thought the creatures should look like. The only prerequisite was that the characters needed to resemble whatever their assigned names were. The only character that had to be drawn exactly was Pin Head.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Maruyama explained why the game apparently wasn\u2019t picked up: \u201cAccording to the developer, Konami pitched the game and the Hellraiser people didn\u2019t bite or wanted too much money. [The developer\u2019s] not entirely sure. A small attempt was made to change the game enough to avoid lawsuits, but the whole project was scrapped. [The developer] didn\u2019t know why Konami looked for artists here [US] since development would have taken place in Japan. As legend goes, it was slated for Japanese PC (probably 9801 series) and as a Super Famicom title.\u201d<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

HyperBlade<\/strong>
Publisher: Activision<\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
This future-sport game was released on the PC, but did so poorly that Activision canned its conversion plans. The game was billed as a mix of Jai Alai and Lacrosse, although it also shared similarities with the PlayStation future-sport titles League of Pain and Pitball. (It also stole a fair share of gameplay inspiration from the 20-year-old movie Rollerball, which basically spawned the entire future-sports genre.) Put bluntly, Hyperblade simply didn\u2019t play well enough to compete with \u201creal\u201d sports games.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Incredible Idiots in Space<\/strong>
Publisher: ASC<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Incredible Idiots in Space was to be a comedy adventure complete with talking toilets and other such slapstick touches. Thirty-six different alien life forms would have participated in the game and you would have been able to select your own dialog when talking to them. IIIS would have supported two players.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
ASC didn\u2019t really believe that the PlayStation market was ready for a comedy game. The humor was very Simpsons- like at the time, and could probably be compared to South Park now.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Island of Dr. Moreau<\/strong>
Publisher: Psygnosis<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
The Island of Dr. Moreau might have been a bit like taking a field trip through H.G. Wells\u2019 brain. Psygnosis never said much about the movie-to-home-game, other than offering enthusiasm-building lines of description such as \u201cManbeasts yearn for the warmth of fresh blood. And it\u2019s yours they can smell. Feel the fear as it grows inside.\u201d But we do know that it was to be a 3D action-adventure game with real-time rendered characters and hi-res FMV backgrounds. The FMV would\u2019ve included real actors in motion-captured sequences.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
It\u2019s said that the French developers made the game look gorgeous, but the playability wasn\u2019t there, so Psygnosis scrapped the project.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Iznogoud<\/strong>
Publisher: Microids<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Iznogoud, from Microids, planned to combine all the elements of an action game with traps to avoid, various secrets to find, and a puzzle game with riddles to solve. Iznogoud had a cartoon look and would have featured a wide cast of characters you\u2019d meet on your quest. A huge single-player world would have been furnished for you to thoroughly explore.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
The game Iznogoud quietly slipped out of the light shining on US shores but came to fruition in Europe. It\u2019s probably for the best that it was never released in the US.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Jewels of the Oracle<\/strong>
Publisher: Sunsoft<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Jewel of the Oracle did arrive on the PC, but never found its way to the PlayStation. The story: Archaeologists unearthed an ancient region where people were trained to use the now-lost skills of logic, reason, and, most importantly, magic. Contributor Eric San Juan wrote of the PC version, \u201cJewel of the Oracle was a Myst-inspired puzzle game that made it to the PC but didn\u2019t complete the leap to the Saturn. The theme behind the game, according to the packaging, was \u2018Only one legacy remains of the civilization known throughout the Fertile Crescent before the Sumarians. People of extraordinary intellect, their pursuits were of the mind instead of conquering and fighting. They built a secret complex to train and practice their skills of logic and reason. Using technologies and ancient magic long since forgotten, they constructed devices of incredible ingenuity. Those who entered the domain of the Oracle and resolved all the tasks set before them went on to greatness. Those who failed\u2026 were lost forever. This structure, lost to the archeological record, has been sought for millennia but never found\u2026 until now.\u2019<\/p>

What this means, in plain English, is that you are going to solve puzzles. A lot of puzzles. Rather than follow the \u2018mysterious place with a mysterious past\u2019 formula that Myst popularized, Jewel OTO used its backdrop as little more than an elaborate excuse to throw puzzle after puzzle after puzzle at you, all of the sliding-tiles\/matching items\/moving blocks variety. Think of those wooden-block-and-pegs puzzles you find on the table at Denny\u2019s or the brainteasers found in the back of the Sunday paper and you know exactly where this game is coming from. There is no plot to speak of, just wandering from stumper to stumper.<\/p>

Like Myst, it boasted top notch graphics and snazzy-looking (for it\u2019s time) stationary screens that you moved to and from via mouse clicks. Unlike Myst, it featured smooth scrolling animation \u2013 which actually looked quite nice \u2013 when journeying from screen to screen rather than the slide show of the former game. Also like it\u2019s better known predecessor, Jewel attempted to add a sense of ambiance through spooky and mysterious sound effects. A nice effort was made in this department, but they were never on par with other puzzle games of the time.\u201d<\/p>

In addition, this almost-existing single-player combination game would\u2019ve have featured 3D-rendered graphics with a photorealistic quality, excellent sounds, and quite a few interactive puzzles.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime<\/strong>
Publisher: Acclaim<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
The Journeyman Project was originally released back in the early \u201990s, and was one of the very first CD-ROM games for the Apple Macintosh computer (back when people actually shipped games for the Macintosh). The action\/adventure was later converted to the PC, and has since spawned two sequels. As is the trend in this retro-update era, Presto Studios decided to heavily revamp the original game with new graphics and sound and touched-up gameplay. Tragically, the game never found a home, although Acclaim looked to be the publisher at one point.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Kill Wheel<\/strong>
Publisher: Apt Productions<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Have you ever had the urge to get inside a large, wooden wheel and roll down a hill, flattening everything in your path?<\/p>

Yeah, and maybe while you\u2019re in the wheel you could whack at villagers, animals, and trees with your spiked club? Maybe, if you were a two-headed ogre living in 15th-century Europe, you\u2019d get that urge. At least the makers of Kill Wheel certainly hoped so. The game attempted to combine Monty Python-like humor with action-oriented destruction. The game took place in Old England, and in the role of the two-headed ogre, you had to destroy entire villages using nothing more than a couple of clubs and your trusty wooden kill wheel you rode inside. With several wheels and clubs to choose from, you\u2019d roll down the hill, whacking everything in sight.<\/p>

\"kill1\"\"kill2\"\"kill3\"<\/p>

You could also collect points for hitting taverns, shrines, bungalows, and hospitals. Offering fewer points but as much entertainment was hitting the townspeople, warriors, and even the cows. If you could complete each level in the allotted time with the point collections required to do so, you could move on to the boss scenarios.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
From what we understand, Sony wouldn\u2019t approve this one for publish in the US. Go figure.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Killing Time<\/strong>
Publisher: Acclaim<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
The 3DO version was one of the system\u2019s best games, with wonderful level design, an outstanding soundtrack by Bob Vieira, and an excellent storyline backed up with excellent full-motion video, which appeared within the game as ghostly projections. There\u2019s also a PC version available, but it plays like crap.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Kumite: The Fighter\u2019s Edge<\/strong>
Publisher: Konami<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics
<\/strong>Kumite: The Fighter\u2019s Edge was to be a 360 degree fighting game with realistic characters, fluid motion during combat, and fighters who reflected physical damage during battles. The game was touted as the next generation fighting game \u2013 something to move the genre along and break the mold.<\/p>

Kumite was definitely not going to be your kick-punch-block type fighter. Instead it was to be based on various types of real martial arts fighting styles such as Tai Kwon Do. The game\u2019s graphics, even early on, were forming into what might have been considered a step forward at the time, with complete 360-degree character rendering for full character movements in 3D. This would have allowed you to sidestep your opponent\u2019s attacks and also cross into and around him to allow you to perform side and rear attacks.<\/p>

The character design plans were also relatively innovative. The fighters were to be rendered with enough detail that you would be able to measure at what location on the fighter\u2019s body you landed your attack, and to what degree you injured him. This would have been done through animated texture mapping. Bruises would have actually appeared after three degrees of damage.<\/p>

\"kumite1\"\u00a0\"kumite2\"\u00a0\"kumite3\"\u00a0\"kumite4\"<\/p>

Also, the combat moves would have streamed in from the CDs in sets. And there were special moves in the game that you didn\u2019t have access to but would have found out about through codes. Then you could have loaded them into the game on the fly. Some of the special sets planned were weapons moves, so if you were playing an opponent and he hit a special set of buttons, a whole new set of moves for this weapon would have loaded.<\/p>

At one point, we learned of about ten of the characters: Karambi, whom the story centered around; Marshall; two female characters, Lu and Yamashita; Morgan; Reese; Master Lo; Pal; Otaki; and Kim. And where would these guys fight? Their neighborhoods. Karambi, for example, would have battled in the mountains of Indonesia and Marshall faced-off in Arizona. The environments could have been compared to those in Tekken and Soul Edge. 47-Tek also had some interesting plans for the sound and music.<\/p>

Kumite wouldn\u2019t have been a fatality-wielding, finishing move fest, but rather a realistic fighter, focusing on actual martial arts. The game also would have included special characters and moves and different endings for the various characters.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Konami never officially said why the game was canceled.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Legion<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Very little is known about Legion, besides the fact that it would have been a 3D platform shooter that took place in the year 2028. Your objective would have been to save any existing humans (or life in general) on post-apocalyptic Earth. How would you have done it? With a reportedly huge arsenal.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
The apocalypse must have been postponed or canceled, as the game just quietly disappeared from the PlayStation\u2019s lineup.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Mace: the Dark Age<\/strong>
Publisher: Midway<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
The arcade port of Mace: The Dark Age would have been to 3D fighting games what Doom was to first-person shooters: the darkest of a dark genre. It was originally set in the 14th century (though not based on actual events), where feudal princes and warlords ravaged the land at the bidding of rogue demon Asmodeus, who fed off the death, despair, and disease they caused (the wicked princes and evil warlords were known as \u201cthe Covenant of Seven\u201d). In return, the demon granted them limited power beyond that of normal human beings \u2013 but that was just not enough for them. They all craved the source of Asmodeus\u2019 power, the ancient artifact known as the Mace of Tanis and schemed to wrest it from him. Meanwhile, a few warriors emerged from the oppressed masses, intent on either destroying the demon and the Seven to free their countries or using the Mace to rule themselves.<\/p>

The basic characters which would have been available for play were: Lord Deimos, an armor-clad member of the Seven who planned to expand his kingdom; Al\u2019 Rashid, an assassin hired to bring back the Mace; Koyasha, a young female ninja sent to kill Asmodeus; the Executioner, a sadist with a megalomaniacal itch; Mordos Kull, a mercenary orphaned by the Seven who vowed revenge; Takeshi, a samurai entrusted with the twin tasks of keeping the evil from spreading to Japan and finding his lost brother Ichiro; Namira, the lost princess of Arabia who seeks vengeance against Al\u2019 Rashid and the Seven; Ragnar Bloodaxe, a huge Viking warrior with only Lord Deimos\u2019 blood on his mind; Taria, an evil sorceress and daughter of one of the Seven, who wanted to take her father\u2019s place; and Xiao Long, a blind monk who sought to destroy all evil, including the Mace. In the arcade title, four more characters were available through a Tekken-like time release process and two through codes. These characters included the undead paladin, Lord Dregan; the evil samurai Ichiro (hey, isn\u2019t he somebody\u2019s brother?); the hulking winged demon Hell Knight; a medieval conception of Marvel Comics\u2019 Iron Man, War Mech; the stone gargoyle sub-boss, Grendal and Pojo, \u201cthe amazing fighting chicken.\u201d<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Mace was canceled because it just wasn\u2019t capable of looking good enough on the PlayStation, and Midway wasn\u2019t happy with how it was turning out. It was released on the Nintendo 64 only.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Major Damage<\/strong>
Publisher: Capcom<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
It may have been a comic game, but nota kiddie game. Major Damage would have taken the 2D shoot-em-up formula and added a sense of humor, supported mainly by the cartoony rendered characters, enemies, and city landscape. Major Damage would\u2019ve placed a premium on one- or two-player simultaneous mass destruction, in which anything on the screen would have become a potential target: buildings, windows, garbage cans, etc. Also, items in the background were planned as destructibleoccasionally revealing power-ups if destroyed.<\/p>

\"majordamage02\"<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Major Damage was canceled once Capcom halted US development plans, shortly after the disappointing performance of its Fox Hunt title.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Marvel 2099: One Nation Under Doom<\/strong>
Publisher: Mindscape<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Is there any future to the future? That\u2019s what you, the player, might have decided in Mindscape\u2019s Marvel 2099: One Nation Under Doom for the Sony PlayStation. Based on Marvel Comics\u2019 2099 line of comic books, this game would have taken place in a bleak, dystopian future where major corporations controlled a polluted, \u201cused car\u201d tech-intensive planet that was set roughly 100 years after the normal Marvel family of titles. As luck (and sales quotas) would have it, future counterparts to modern Marvel characters would have popped up, many intent on changing the world. In some cases, these heroes and villains were limited to parallels of same-named forebears (like Spider-Man 2099, Daredevil 2099, and Punisher 2099), while others (such as The Fantastic Four 2099 and Doom 2099) were being designed as time-travelers from the 20th century \u2013 or possible clones of the originals.<\/p>

\"blueguy\"\u00a0\"grayguy\"\u00a0\"greenguy\"
With the entire world as its stage, the game\u2019s plot would have loosely played out 1995\u2019s \u201cOne Nation Under Doom\u201d comic storyline, told through impressively rendered cutscenes. In it, the decidedly Machiavellian Dr. Victor Von Doom has wrestled control of the United States from its corporate-controlled puppet government and declared himself president. Meanwhile, Anthony Herod \u2013 a villain of such epic proportions that even Doom is put to shame \u2013 has begun machinations to destroy not only this new head of state, but also dominate the entire world. Trapped in the middle of this conflagration, you would have controlled a group of superpowered beings using them to return some semblance of freedom to the planet.<\/p>

Much along the lines of Playmates\u2019 Skeleton Warriors or Acclaim\u2019s Iron Man\/XO Manowar, this would have been a 2D side-scrolling game with 3D rendered characters. But unlike the aforementioned others, it would have given you the choice of a whopping eight different heroes to play, including Spider-Man 2099, Hulk 2099, Thing 2099, Punisher 2099, Ghost Rider 2099, Daredevil 2099, and characters from the X-Men 2099 team. If nothing else, this title promised quite a bit of variety and replayability for those of us who never really got over our side-scrolling platform-game fixation.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Mindscape went through reorganization and trimmed back all console titles. Marvel 2099 was one of the games to go.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Megarace 2<\/strong>
Publisher: Mindscape<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Megarace 2 would have been a racing game where you could play alone or against a friend on tracks that lifted you quite a ways into the skies. In Megarace 2, you would have raced on a track of eight opponents \u2013 each fully equipped to drop oil slicks and mines and destroy anyone in his or her path with a slew of missiles and other such projectiles.<\/p>

The vehicles were to be 3D rendered, within six environments, from Tibet and outer space to a bayou and a futuristic foundry. TV guy Lance Boyle was written in for the voice work.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Mindscape trimmed back console titles and Megarace 2 was one of the games to go. A PC version was released.<\/p>

MELT<\/strong>
Publisher: ASC<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
While searching to kill Eddie, the so-called \u201cultimate evil\u201d and mascot of the band Iron Maiden, you would have traveled through 50 different worlds in an attempt to take his energy pods before he destroyed the universe. That\u2019s about all we know of this single-player action game that never came to be, besides the fact that it was supposed to feature music by Iron Maiden.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Mickey\u2019s Wild Adventure<\/strong>
Publisher: Ascii<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Disney\u2019s Mickey would have made his leap onto the console systems with this single-player action title for the PlayStation. Sony of Europe brought the title out overseas, but Sony of America never released it in the US. Mickey\u2019s Wild Adventure would\u2019ve been a side-scroller, typical of the previous Mickey games, featuring decent graphics and Disney-style animation.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Mickey\u2019s Wild Adventure was quietly turned into Mickey\u2019s Big Sleep.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Mindscape Golf<\/strong>
Publisher: Mindscape<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Unlike many Mindscape products, this idea wasn\u2019t completely cliched or stupid\u2013a golf game with completely made-up and invariably outrageous courses. But rather than stray into the Zone of Originality, Mindscape killed the project and continued to focus on cranking out bland space shooters.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

MVP Baseball<\/strong>
Publisher: Data East<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Data East bailed the PlayStation market in mid-\u201996, and they took this simulation of the Great American Pastime with them. Phooey.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

NCAA Football: Saturday Showdown<\/strong>
Publisher: Mindscape<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Considering the waking nightmare that was Mindscape\u2019s NCAA Final Four, it\u2019s undoubtedly a very good thing this game never appeared.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

NBA ShootOut 99<\/strong>
Publisher: 989 Studios<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
While ShootOut 97 was met with acclaim, ShootOut 98 was a definite disappointment, something that 989 was hoping to avoid with ShootOut 99. The game was based on the same engine, with a few new features \u2013 like all-new 3D players and arena models, as well as a TV-style presentation. Ian Eagle, the New Jersey Nets broadcaster, was scheduled to do the play-by-play, and there were a number of new motion captures, including those from Bo Outlaw, Jason Kidd, Robert Horry, and Brevin Knight.<\/p>

Features you might be familiar with that would have returned were the complete NBA license, so you would have gotten all 29 NBA teams, total control dunking (updated), icon cutting (updated), icon passing (updated), realistic player performances and sizes, full-season and game stats, and the standard modes \u2013 exhibition, tournament, All-Star, playoffs, and the finals.<\/p>

\"nbashoot99\"\u00a0\"nbashoot9910\"\"nbashoot9911\"\"nbashoot9912\"<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Sony originally delayed the release of NBA ShootOut until December 1998. Then, on February 2, 1999, 989\u2019s ShootOut \u201999 was canceled because of \u201cquality issues,\u201d and the development team moved toward development on ShootOut 2000, which was released late November 1999.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Omikron<\/strong>
Publisher: Eidos<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
This PlayStation action-adventure game from Eidos was being pared down at one point, perhaps when the company realized it was too ambitious for the PlayStation environment. When we first spoke with Eidos, we were told that the game was going to have something of everything \u2013 an excellent fighting engine, amazing puzzle-solving capabilities through a revolutionary new system called IAM, and tremendous shooting action. Well, when we went to Eidos and saw the game firsthand, things had changed significantly \u2013 gone was the claim of a Tekken-style fighting engine and the word IAM was never mentioned. The developer had finally realized that it had taken too much on and decided simply to make an action-adventure with a few RPG elements, a few puzzle elements, and a solid hand-to-hand combat system.<\/p>

\"omikron1\"\u00a0\"omikron2\"\u00a0\"omikron3\"\u00a0\"omikron4\"<\/p>

Omikron was the name of the city you\u2019d be roaming. You \u2013 playing actually as yourself \u2013 were to inhabit various bodies throughout the game. Each time one of them died, you\u2019d hop into a new character (usually the first person who touched you, although you\u2019d also have reincarnation spells to use). There would have been about 50 different characters available for inhabitation, but you wouldn\u2019t need to inhabit all of them to finish the game. You\u2019d move through four separate chapters as you tried to evade the demons that wanted to take your (and just about everyone else\u2019s) soul.<\/p>

\"omikron5\"\u00a0\"omikron6\"\u00a0\"omikron7\"\u00a0\"omikron8\"<\/a><\/p>

The game had a ton of dialogue, and you\u2019d interact with numerous NPCs \u2013 like Kay\u2019l\u2019s wife, for example (Kay\u2019l being a cop and the first body you\u2019d inhabit). The game had real-time facial motion capture, so the idea was that you\u2019d feel more attached to \u2013 or least more interested in \u2013 many of the characters you came across because they\u2019d seem more real. But Omikron was still going to be basically about action; the weapons inventory was large, but you would have had to fight some of the boss characters hand to hand. You\u2019d have four essential combat moves \u2013 a high punch, a low punch, a high kick, and a low kick. Not exactly Tekken, but at one point the combat system looked relatively solid. You\u2019d also do things like drive futuristic vehicles and solve puzzles.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
There had originally been rumors floating around the Net saying that Omikron had been put on hold. Then Eidos made it official by announcing that instead of being put on hold, the project had been cancelled. One Eidos source said, \u201cYes, it\u2019s true. It was mainly an issue of so much art and too much detail for the PlayStation to handle.\u201d<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Pinky & The Brain<\/strong>
Publisher: Konami<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Warner Bros.\u2019 Animaniac characters Pinky & The Brain almost made their video game debut on the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation, but it didn\u2019t happen. Brain, of course, is the smarter of the mouse duo and uses his genius to devise plans for taking over the world. Pinky, on the other hand, isn\u2019t all that interested in world domination; he just hangs out with his pal Brain and usually fouls up his partner\u2019s plans. The Saturn version would have generally followed this storyline in the planned single player action game.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Quietly canceled.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Perfect Weapon 2<\/strong>
Publisher: ASC<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Perfect Weapon 2 was probably best described as the sequel to Perfect Weapon. The game was originally called Final Weapon, but never made it past the concept stages.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
ASC didn\u2019t really say why the game was canceled, but admitted, \u201cOf all of our games, this is one that you could one day see on the market on some new system down the road. But for now, it\u2019s just a document.\u201d<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Prince of Persia<\/strong>
Publisher: Avalanche Software<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Prince of Persia 3D was to be based on Red Orb Entertainment\u2019s PC version of the game, which shipped in August of 1999. The redux of the game series, which started in 1989, would have used character models and animations from the most recent PC title.<\/p>

\"prince1\"\u00a0\"prince2\"<\/a>\u00a0\"prince3\"\u00a0\"prince4\"<\/p>

Prince of Persia 3D features a storyline co-authored by Jordan Mechner, the creator of the original Prince of Persia. It revolves around you, the prince, attempting to save your true love, the princess, from the evil Assan. \u00a0Mindscape stated that the game would have been altered slightly for the PlayStation, by increasing the emphasis on action. \u201cWe recognize that the PC and PlayStation customers have different preferences,\u201d said Mindscape. \u201cWe intend to provide the PlayStation enthusiast with an experience that appeals more directly to their tastes, resulting in a product that combines the fast-action combat with the depth and immersion of a classic action-adventure game.\u201d<\/p>

\"prince5\"\u00a0\"prince6\"\u00a0\"prince7\"\u00a0\"prince8\"<\/a><\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
The PlayStation version of Prince of Persia 3D was canceled to allow developers to focus on appealing to Dreamcast enthusiasts with the coming DC version instead.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Propaganda<\/strong>
Publisher: Virgin Interactive<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Conceived at the peak of Virgin\u2019s money-spending frenzy (such as the $10+ million they frittered away on the point-and-click adventure Toonstruck, a critical and commercial bomb), Propaganda was apparently a driving\/shooting game in the Twisted Metal vein. Virgin was always secretive about the product, most probably to disguise the fact that the game design was seriously flawed or nonexistent.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Quake<\/strong>
Publisher: GT<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
C\u2019mon. It\u2019s Quake we\u2019re talking about. First person shooter and all of that.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
GT says Quake for the PlayStation was never officially announced and that its development was a rumor that leaked out somehow. Activision said at one point that GT was working on something Quake, and that id wasn\u2019t happy with GT\u2019s treatment of it. In any case, this version for the PlayStation never came out, regardless of the story.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Rattlesnake Red<\/strong>
Publisher: Acclaim<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Rattlesnake Red was slated to be a true 3D platform action-adventure game in which you would have controlled Red, the main character, through an array of environments such as canyons and mines, avoiding obstacles and defeating the enemies you\u2019d bump into along the way.<\/p>

There were eight levels, decorated in real-time lighting, and a bunch of moves and power-ups for the character. Besides battling with the enemies, Red was to solve puzzles (seemingly consisting of removing obstacles from his path).<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Rattlesnake Red was one of the titles that was canceled when Acclaim trimmed back its game lineup.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Raze<\/strong>
Publisher: Interplay<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Interplay planned to break the conventions of fighting games in not one, but two, ways with its PlayStation title Raze. To begin with, Raze would have been a four-player fighting game, and yes, those characters would\u2019ve shared the same screen. Second, it was purportedly a true 3D fighter, much like Square\u2019s Bushido Blade, where characters could climb, run, and jump in a three-dimensional world. Unlike BB though, they would actually have to turn and attack their foes manually; there was no cheap default for them to fall back on.<\/p>

The title was conceptually set in TSR\u2019s Forgotten Realms role-playing and would have used such D&D standbys as magic, rings, artifacts, and the building of character attributes, which were savable to the PlayStation\u2019s memory cards. The game\u2019s storyline, however, was never set in stone.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Raze quietly disappeared from Interplay\u2019s lineup. It is assumed that something went wrong with the approval process with TSR\u2019s new owners, Wizards of the Coast.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Respect Inc.<\/strong>
Publisher: Psygnosis<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Respect Inc. was initially developed by a third-party developer. It was a nice concept (a Mafia strategy game where your success was measured by respect gained), though how well the ideas would have transferred into gameplay is debatable. The graphics were a little clunky, too.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
According to Psygnosis, the game was put into review and consequently killed.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Rebel Moon Rising<\/strong>
Publisher: GT Interactive<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Rebel Moon Rising was to be a first-person futuristic shooter for the PC and PlayStation. However, the PlayStation version was canceled after the PC version failed to do very well, largely due to the fact that if you didn\u2019t have MMX, you were out of luck. That\u2019s right, the game actually required the high-end processor to work at all on the PC.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
In June 1997, GT Interactive officials announced that it had officially canceled the PlayStation version of the first-person shooter Rebel Moon Rising. It\u2019s likely the decision was reached because of the poor reception the PC version (which was MMX only) garnered.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Return Fire II<\/strong>
Publisher: MGM Interactive<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics
<\/strong>MGM Interactive\u2019s long-time-coming 3D action-strategy title for the Sony PlayStation, Return Fire II (the sequel to Return Fire, which appeared on the 3DO, PlayStation, Saturn, and PC).<\/p>

Basically capture-the-flag with high-end ammo, RFII was being developed under the tutelage of the original creator whose team had reportedly stepped up the graphics, multiplayer capabilities, combat interaction, enemy AI, perspective, and the level of strategy needed to beat the game. In single- or multiplayer mode, you would have battled from a behind-the-vehicle or behind-the-wheel perspective, creating, perhaps, a more immersive playing field experience.<\/p>

\"screenshot1rf\"\"screenshot3rf\"<\/p>

Pitted against intelligent opponents (who were notably more intelligent this time around), you would have been equipped with a stockpile of vehicles, such as helicopters, PT boats, and jump jets launched from an aircraft carrier, tanks, and four-wheel drives. These transports would handle differently in each environment, from city streets and jungles to deserts and the arctic. Active weather conditions and landscape features, such as mountain ranges and bodies of water, also influenced the controllability of vehicles and availability of access to enemy troops.<\/p>

RFII also included more missions than the original, analog control, new vehicle designs, and enhanced gameplay, as jet fighters couldhave engaged in dogfights.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
MGM Interactive pulled the plug on Return Fire II for the PlayStation, saying that the project would be a huge undertaking for the system. A spokesperson for the company said that the game would be released for the PC only.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Rocket Jockey<\/strong>
Developer: Rocket Science Games<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Rocket Jockey was a 3D driving, fighting, and sports game planned for the PlayStation and the PC that only made it to the PC. In descriptions that make it sound like a futuristic king-of-the-hill game like you played in third grade, the game was to include three modes of play: rocket war, rocket racing, and rocket ball.<\/p>

\"act_rockjock_screen01\"\u00a0\"act_rockjock_screen02\"<\/a>\"act_rockjock_screen03\"\u00a0\"act_rockjock_screen04\"<\/p>

Based on the PC release, in rocket war, you competed in ten levels of head-to-head combat with others, with the last person alive winning the match. In rocket racing, there were ten levels of obstacle courses for you to survive, and all while your opponents tried to do the same. And in rocket ball, you competed in what appeared to be a hybrid of more traditional sports such as polo and lacrosse, although the ball constantly changed textures, from being a wrecking ball, for example, to a Jell-O ball.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Rocket Science went out of business, and Rocket Jockey was only released on the PC.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Rollerball<\/strong>
Publisher: MGM Interactive<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Based on the \u201975 sci-fi classic by the same name, Rollerball rolled all the strategy of today\u2019s most popular team sports and the action of a demolition derby and kickboxing match into one. Set in 2098 (ten years after the events of the film), the game had you managing teams from around a world where wars are fought on the court instead of on the battlefield.<\/p>

\"roller1\"\u00a0\"roller2\"\u00a0\"roller3\"\u00a0\"roller4\"<\/p>

Goal points were amplified by how many times a team could successfully circle the court (grabbing hold of a team-controlled motorcycle helped) and score without giving up the ball at all. Once a goal was scored, two opposing team players had a few moments to beat the living hell out of each other for bonus points. Injuries and fatalities garnered huge bonuses. In fact, beating up on your opponents earned you as many points as dunking the ball.<\/p>

\"roller5\"\u00a0\"roller6\"\u00a0\"roller7\"\u00a0\"roller8\"<\/p>

From what we\u2019d played of the game\u2019s early stages, this title was unlike other futuristic sports games in that it was not dreadfully boring. It had moments of entertaining cartoon violence more along the lines of a wrestling event than, say, Virgin\u2019s Thrill Kill.<\/p>

\"roller9\"\u00a0\"roller10\"<\/a>\"roller11\"\"roller12\"<\/a><\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Rollerball was being developed for MGM Interactive before the publisher layed off its employees and shut down operations. Rollerball was lost in the shuffle.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Shining Sword<\/strong>
Publisher: American Laser Games<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
American Laser Games made their mark in the coin-op industry by cranking out laserdisc-driven full-motion video light-gun shooters with adult-video production values and wild overacting. Thing is, while their shooting games were (not really) worth a few bucks in quarters at the arcade, they were most definitely not worth forth or fifty bucks to earn\u2013something ALG inexplicably failed to realize. The company also started up a very ill-fated Games For Girls division\u2013I guess the same people who made their fortune appealing to the testosterone set arrogantly and foolishly thought they could hit upon the ever-elusive formula for producing games that women will actually play. Shining Sword was an action\/adventure with plenty of one-on-one combat and what looked like a swank 3D engine, but it croaked as the result of ALG\u2019s mismanaging themselves into the ground.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Unknown<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

ShredFest<\/strong>
Publisher: EA<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
EA\u2019s Shredfest was a snowplay version of Road Rash \u2013 in effect, a sequel wherein you did the same stuff in the snow and on snowboards as you did on the road on bikes. Minimal information was released, and some even reported seeing snowboarders in action, whacking up other snowboarders on the way down the slope. As far as we know, mocap sessions were completed using actual snowboarders.<\/p>

\"shredfest1\"<\/a><\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
EA released a snowboarding game for the PlayStation, but it wasn\u2019t ShredFest or even distantly related. What happened to ShredFest? It hasn\u2019t appeared yet, and it was supposed to come out in 1996.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Speed Tribes<\/strong><\/p>

Platform: PlayStation<\/strong>
Publisher: THQ<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Enter the bio-organic world based on Nemicron\u2019s graphic novel, where the speed of your machine is the key to your survival. That was the sell phrase, but the game never came out. The developers used real-time 3D mixed with an element of strategy to begin creating Speed Tribes. The game would have delved into the violent domain of aerocycle riders. After joining up with one of the six tribes, you would have honed your skills so you could overcome all obstacles thrown your way. You\u2019d also battle head-to-head in arena play or you\u2019d have faced the enemy on its own turf \u2013 ultimately confronting the leader in the deadly blood run arena. Multiple gameplay options would have included one- and two-player, as well teamwork and combat modes. Your task was to be simple: survive.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
The game was quietly canceled.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer<\/strong>
Publisher: LucasArts<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
If you haven\u2019t seen the successfully released Star Wars: Episode I Racer on the N64, the title takes a 15-minute segment of the film and turns it into a full-feature game. As its name suggests, Racer is an arcade racing game.
Based on the N64 version, the PlayStation game worked something like this: You enter the podrace, a tournament that is much like \u201cthe Ben Hur chariot race meets\u2026 Star Wars.\u201d In Racer, each contestant drives a vehicle made of a small cockpit that\u2019s literally dragged behind two or more huge starship engines. These vehicles speed upward of six hundred miles per hour and never go much higher than a few feet off the ground. When the LucasArts developers first read the film\u2019s script, the podrace scene must have been the unanimous choice to adapt for the introductory game of the \u201cnew franchise,\u201d and, of course, much has been added to the ten-minute scene. Instead of simply racing the course on the desert world of Tatooine, you have seven additional planets and more than 20 tracks to race, as well as more than 20 pilots besides young Anakin Skywalker to race as. The gameplay is much like other futuristic-style racing games out there (yes, I know it\u2019s set in a time \u201clong, long ago,\u201d but bear with me), such as Psygnosis\u2019 Wipeout XL and Nintendo\u2019s F-Zero X, except that in this game there are no power-ups to acquire, and you can\u2019t use offensive weapons against your opponents, at least until you unlock the main boss as a playable character. You compete in a series of tournaments made up of four or more races each. If you place fourth or better, you can continue to the next race and earn money to buy upgrades to your podracer, which you\u2019ll need to hold your own against the increasingly tough AI opponents. The main feature that Racer offers over its competition is a feeling of speed beyond that of the few games that actually meet its 60-frames-per-second frame rate \u2013 on the N64. Would it have on the PlayStation? have what? That was LucasArts\u2019 original goal.
Back to the released game. You\u2019ll come upon obstacles such as boulders or large spacecraft so quickly that you\u2019ll be gasping at your skill or luck when you manage to avoid them. But what makes the speed fun is its combination of a fantastic physics engine and great controls. You use the analog joystick to steer your ship, the A button acts as the gas, the B is the brake, the Z trigger creates a powerslide, and the right shoulder button deploys the repair droids to fix damage. Incidentally, this button slows you down when in use. Leaning completely forward on the joystick will build up a turbo boost, which is offset by the fact that leaning back and side-to-side will give you tighter turns. It\u2019s a simple and elegant setup, really. Even with a few complaints lodged against it, Racer on the N64 was an incredibly fast, superfun game to play once you got a few levels into it. It\u2019s better than F-Zero X, its closest competition on the N64, and it even approaches the PlayStation uberfuturistic racer, Wipeout XL. The game is even better than the scene from the movie that inspired it, and that\u2019s a big compliment indeed.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
A few short hours after posting our story that LucasArts\u2019 Star Wars Episode 1: Racer was coming to the PlayStation, word of its cancellation showed up on an Internet message board. Apparently, LucasArts made it official at that point that the PlayStation version had indeed been halted.<\/p>

LucasArts was tied to an agreement with Nintendo that prohibited the game from being released on any competing system for a specific number of months. It had been the company\u2019s intention for quite some time to release the game on the PlayStation after its agreement with Nintendo ran out. LucasArts had hinted at the PlayStation version several times at E3, and in the months following the show. Work had indeed begun on the game.<\/p>

Then came the following statement:<\/p>

\u201cWhile succeeding in both commercial and critical acclaim for the PC and N64 versions of Star Wars: Episode I Racer, LucasArts Entertainment Company will not proceed with the extension of the game for the Sony PlayStation platform. Instead, the company is refocusing its resources in anticipation of new Star Wars Episode I titles, both for current and emerging platforms.\u201d<\/p>

LucasArts reps decided that its manpower would be better used developing titles for next-generation platforms. At the time of cancellation, a spokesperson claimed that LucasArts had plans to develop titles for the PlayStation 2, the Nintendo GameCube, and the Sega Dreamcast.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

StarCon<\/strong>
Publisher: Accolade<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Colony Wars: Vengeance almost had a bit of competition within the mission-based space-shooter genre with Accolade\u2019s StarCon, a spinoff of the old Star Control series.<\/p>

You played as either the Hyperium or the more sinister Crux, then \u2013 if you wished \u2013 you could go back and play as the other. Better yet, you could have played as one, and your friend could have been the other in a split-screen head-to-head competition. The head-to-head play was without a doubt the major feature that stood out in StarCon, and the feature that Psygnosis\u2019 Colony Wars, itself an excellent-looking game, lacked. Cooperative play was also available.<\/p>

The single-player mode was the mission mode. Missions were nonlinear, so you could choose the order in which you wanted to progress. Plus, after you finished the game, you could go back to missions you\u2019d already played with your more powerful weapons and ships and uncover some secrets you couldn\u2019t access in earlier levels.<\/p>

Weapons included the particle beam laser turret, cannon turrets, and homing bolt targets, while fighter ships on your carrier (you had up to six) included the fast, maneuverable hawk and the powerful, heavier griffon. A third fighter, called the raven, would have been in place in time for the final product.
Two missions were in place in the early copy of the game we had received. In one mission, to keep the Crux from bombing your planet, you had to steal their bomb \u2013 then use it against them. The second required you to kill a Crux leader. Both were fun.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Accolade announced that StarCon had been put on hold for the time being. \u201cThe team will be spending the next few months reevaluating the design with the hopes of coming up with a stronger game,\u201d a company spokesperson said. However, when we followed up with Accolade, no progress had been made, although a formal \u201cThis game is canceled\u201d did not fall from the company\u2019s lips.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Starfleet Academy<\/strong>
Publisher: Interplay<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Starfleet Academy never saw the light of day on the PlayStation, and frankly, we\u2019re not really sure why Interplay decided to start publicizing Starfleet Academy nearly three years before its eventual release for the PC. But one thing\u2019s for sure: When you start the hype machine that far in advance, the final product had better deliver all the goods as promised, and then some. Here\u2019s a bit about the unfortunate PC game that managed to surface.<\/p>

\"sim_stacad_screen01\"\u00a0\"sim_stacad_screen02\"\u00a0\"sim_stacad_screen03\"<\/p>

In all fairness to the folks who worked on Starfleet Academy, part of the reason for the long incubation process was that the project was put on hold while the game\u2019s producer worked on other titles. But that doesn\u2019t change the fact that Starfleet Academy looks and plays no better than space combat games from two years ago \u2013 and when expectations are as high as they were for this game, that\u2019s not gonna cut it.<\/p>

\"sim_stacad_screen04\"\"sim_stacad_screen05\"<\/p>

Starfleet Academy put you in the Federation uniform of the sheepish David Forester, who just arrived at Starfleet Academy\u2019s Command College in San Francisco. Forester was the commander of a group of cadets with a lot of potential \u2013 and a lot of emotional baggage. Two team members got into a squabble at the very first team meeting, and that was just the first of a series of problems involving each and every member of your crew. Added to this the appearance of a reactionary group at the Academy called the Vanguard, who believed all the Federation\u2019s problems with the Klingons and Romulans could be solved through brutal retaliation \u2013 and the fact that one of your team members sympathized with this isolationist group \u2013 and you can see these aren\u2019t going to be carefree school days.<\/p>

In addition to keeping your cadets on track, you also met Star Trek luminaries such as Hikari Sulu, Pavel Chekhov, and of course the legendary James T. Kirk. All the scenes involving characters at the Academy were handled with full motion video, something of a letdown for those under the impression that the game gave you a chance to move about your quarters or throughout the Academy. And interaction was limited to selecting dialogue responses and then sitting back to see how well you chose.<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
The game is currently available for the PC and was originally expected for the PlayStation. Interplay sources say, however, that the PlayStation\u2019s 2MB system memory capabilities fall short of what would be needed to make the title work.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Surreal<\/strong>
Publisher: ASC<\/strong><\/p>

The Basics<\/strong>
Surreal was to be a single-player action game with puzzle elements. You would\u2019ve traveled through various periods attempting to solve riddles within real-time 3D graphic backgrounds, while attempting to defeat other characters.<\/p>

\"surreal\"<\/p>

WHAT HAPPENED?<\/strong>
Surreal just quietly disappeared from the PlayStation roster.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

Ted Shred<\/strong>
Publisher: IBM<\/strong><\/p>

\"Ted
The Basics<\/strong>
Riding on the cusp of \u201cextreme\u201d sport popularity, Ted Shred was yet another title that promised to be the \u201cmost radical\u201d game ever and ended up face down in its own hyperbole. The game was essentially designed as a 3D side-scrolling action game including surfing, kayaking, skateboarding, jet skiing, and the likes. And since such sports wouldn\u2019t be \u201cextreme\u201d without a cast of characters, the gamewould\u2019ve featured those, too. Vulgaar was the arch villain and bad, bad landlord of the isle of Loki-Loco, and his clan was to be called the D.R.I.P. (Dirty Rotten Incompetent Punks). You would have battled from behind the persona of Ted Shred, the \u201ccoolest, most radical extreme surfer ever to shred the ocean blue.\u201d<\/p>

What did sound pretty cool was that Digital Domain, the special effects creators behind Apollo 13 and True Lies were animating this title. The game would\u2019ve included eight levels of Crash Bandicoot-style gameplay.<\/p>