Documenting unreleased, cancelled and prototype games.
Covering unreleased and cancelled games and prototypes on both consoles and computers. We are a large archive dedicated to preserving games that were never released to the public. Sharing history and stories from the developers, assets and more before it is too late.
A non-profit digitisation project, aiming to digitally preserve software and history which would otherwise be lost for good. If for any reason there is anything that you do not wish to be on the website, please contact us for removal.
First update of 2017, and a few new goodies for you to check out already. More to come soon we hope.
Two unreleased games found
Two more final findings on Ashley Routledge’s C64 disks, this time on the Compunet download disks. Firstly a preview of an unknown side scroller game, and then a full Quill adventure game.
Many thanks to you all for your support and contributions over the years. Thanks to you, we have reached a milestone today with our 2000th GTW64 entry into the archive. To celebrate we are proud to present the full game – Yogi Bear – The Big Clean Up by Hi-Tec Software.
This has been carefully reconstructed from source, with a lot of code developed from scratch to be able to bring you a complete and playable game, thanks to Martin Pugh. The special development also features new loading screen and end screen artwork by Steven Day, and a specially composed ending tune by Joachim Wijnhoven. Full story and download can be found below:
From Ashley Routledge’s work disks, we have recovered an early version of Alloyrun, when it was originally named Antaeus and was intended for Firebird.
A fixed up version of Alloyrun has also been added to the entry:
As a bonus, we have added three additional early editions of released Ash and Dave games, with mostly just title/logo differences. Some interesting curiosities to check out:
In case you didn’t see the preview news post, we were hoping to bring you two exclusive and complete unreleased Alternative Software games to download and play, as an extra bonus.
Unfortunately, there are some remaining issues that need ironing out before we can make them available. We will continue to discuss releasing them onto the site, and will hopefully see them made available in 2017.
Also – 11 new entries added
As well as the above, we have added the following new entries, which led up to the 2000th entry.
And so another year closes. I am hoping to announce a new project sometime next year, so watch this space. For now, thank you all for your support and all the best for 2017!
Games That Weren’t has been running for almost 20 years now, with its first on-line presence appearing way back in early 1999. After years of research and preservation work done in our spare time, we are now about to mark to our 2000th archive entry. To celebrate the milestone, we have a special full game for you which will launch for our Christmas update coming soon. No, it is not ‘Murder’ before you ask!
UPDATE FOR BELOW (20-12-16) – The Alternative games will not be included as part of the Christmas update, and will hopefully be added to the archive in the new year. There are one or two final details that need ironing out before we can proceed with permission. Apologies for this, but we will have some new games for you to check out still. Update looking good still for before Christmas! 🙂
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That is not all, but recently we have preserved a number of disks which contained two full Alternative Software games that didn’t quite make it, due to the dwindling 8-bit market. The disks were heavily decayed (a familiar story these days), and the data was only just recovered. No doubt, if it had been any longer – both games could have been lost forever.
Alternative Software are still going very strong today, and have recently celebrated 31 years in the industry – a remarkable achievement. It only feels like yesterday when I used to regularly purchase their C64 games from my local sweet shop and Boots. Their most recent release is Rugby Union Team Manager 2017, and you can also check out their other titles via the link above.
We contacted Roger Hulley at Alternative Software, and he has very kindly given permission for us to add both games to the digital archive. So we will be pleased to be adding both mystery games as part of our Christmas update and as part of our milestone celebration. Both games are (c) 2016 Alternative Software.
Barring any hiccups, we should hopefully launch our update just before Christmas. So watch this space!
It seems like Commodore User magazine were a little naughty with their Nemesis review back in the 80’s.
Featuring screenshots from what seem to be an earlier version of the game – just look at the brown/orange score panels, which were dropped for something that looked a lot better in the final release.
The released game with tidied up panel. Screenshot thanks to Gamebase64.
At least they reviewed a working version of the game, compared to sister magazine Sinclair User, who reviewed mock up screenshots. Seemed to be a theme at the publisher though…
Here is the review and all the screenshots, thanks to Martin/Stadium 64 for highlighting it!
A rather different early preview of Bugs Bunny – Private Detective has been found on Ash and Dave’s work disks recently. This was done around 1991 time, and seems to have undergone some major changes that led up to the 1992/93 full game that we saw some years ago.
The map is very different, with different graphics, and the digging element of the game is gone – where you must climb up walls to get around. No doubt changes were made due to elements not working or Warner not being happy. It’s a great curiosity worth checking out here along with the full game:
Eagle eyed visitors may have noticed that we are close to our 2000th GTW entry. Watch this space for something a little special (no it’s not Murder… 😉 )…
We are pleased to announce that the long lost C64 conversion of Charlie Chaplin has been recovered in its final state.
A mystery for many years, after the release of the Amstrad, Spectrum and PC versions – the full story can now be checked out and a download of the final version of the game played via the link below.
It has its glitches due to being unfinished in places, but it is a nice glimpse at what was going to be. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: We are a non-profit digitisation project, aiming to digitally preserve software and history which would otherwise be lost for good. If for any reason there is anything that you do not wish to be on the website, please contact us for removal.
