2003 Kemco
Platforms: Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2
After failed attempts on the Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64, DC’s favourite main man almost got his modern video game debut. Kemco and Ocean teamed up with DC Comics to adapt the iconic alien bounty hunter into the 6th generation of consoles.
Announced in May 2003, the game was slated for the Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation 2. Glenn Halseth, Kemco’s VP of Sales and Marketing, promised an action-heavy premise that fit the character perfectly:
“Earn money by eliminating the ten biggest bounties on the world’s most wanted list. Starting at the bottom of the barrel and working his way up, Lobo will fight his way through ten different environments with a ton of different weapons that include knives, chains, guns, grenades, rockets, or hook-chains. As an added bonus, Lobo will even be able to morph into several alternate forms, like those of a ghost, skeleton, or mutant.”
Silence followed the initial reveal, with media outlets repeating the same canned press release. The first sign of trouble came in August 2004, when a user on the official Kemco forums revealed the project was placed on hold. Roughly a year later, the game was officially cancelled.
All that remains in a brief gameplay footage from E3 2003 of Lobo in action; bashing and smashing his way through a level. There’s also a Mercari listing showing a rare promotional material of Lobo and other Kemco games like Rogue Ops, further proving Lobo was closer to hitting the console market had things didn’t go south.
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