Welcome to Games That Weren't!

We are an Cancelled & Unreleased Video games archive with prototypes, developer history and assets for many computers and consoles of all ages. A non-profit large archive dedicated to preserving lost games that were never released to the public. Sharing history and stories from the developers, assets and more before it is too late. GTW has been preserving lost video game history online since 1999, and long before that offline.

Please Browse our archive and discover the many entries that we host for many different platforms.

Latest News and Posts

Dizzy Returns

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

2013 Blitz Games

Platforms: Microsoft Xbox 360, Mobile, Nintendo Wii U, PC and Sony PlayStation 3

As part of the launch and release of The Games That Weren’t book, we are  adding assets and content that didn’t make it to print as bonus DLC content to share with you.

Dizzy and associated characters and images are © The Oliver Twins and Codemasters. “Dizzy” is a trademark of Codemasters. (c) 1986 – 2020.

Within the book is an in-depth and detailed 12 page story of the Dizzy Returns project, and what should have been Dizzy’s triumphant return for both new and audiences back in 2013, but was just not to be. We talk to creators Andrew and Philip Oliver and artists Duncan (Dunk) Nimmo and Nick Myles about their vision for the game and the failed Kickstarter which prevented the game from being fully started.

Dizzy Env02
Location concept for the game.

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Posted in: Bonus, Microsoft Xbox 360, Mobile gaming, Nintendo Wii U, PC, Reviews, Sony PlayStation 3 | Tagged: | 1 Comment

Ultimate Soccer Manager 2000

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1998-1999 Impressions

Platform: PC

Thanks to Niklas Lindholm, we learn of yet another lost football management game, this time with a game in the Ultimate Soccer Manager series, with the 2000 edition. Niklas has produced a brilliant video about the series, where he also talks about the cancelled edition here:

Trouble had started when some of the old team decided to leave Impressions due to various reasons undisclosed, and the code was too messy/complicated for the new crew to be able to pick up and resume in an effective way. They decided to restart development, and had a promising and playable alpha coming together after a short space of time.

The problem was (according to an unnamed developer on the project), Sierra were incredibly impatient, and were frustrated at the delays caused. They wanted the game for a Christmas 2000 release, and were not willing to give the team more time beyond that. The friction caused by this saw productivity fall as morale dropped. When it was realised that the Christmas 2000 deadline would not be met, Sierra decided to cancel the game.

At present, all that remains are a series of adverts and screenshots – but it is hoped that something of the cancelled development will surface in the future. Maybe one of the developers still has something tucked away that they could share. For now, check out a few additional items provided by Niklas from his research.

Gallery

 

Posted in: PC, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Putty Squad

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1994-2013 System 3

Platforms: Apple iOS, Commodore Amiga 1200, Nintendo Game Boy Color, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii U, PC (DOS + Windows), SEGA Mega Drive, Sony PlayStation 2 and Sony PlayStation Portable

As part of the launch and release of The Games That Weren’t book, we are  adding assets and content that didn’t make it to print as bonus DLC content to share with you.

Within the book is an in-depth and detailed 14 page story about various conversions of Putty Squad across almost 20 years that never quite made it, including of course the famous Amiga 1200 edition. We discuss the various developments with Phil Thornton (Putty Squad designer), Andy Roberts (PS2, CGB project leader), Jon Wells (CGB developer), Galahad (A1200 version saviour), John Twiddy (A1200 developer + other various conversions), Michael Smith (CGB artist) and Nick Lee (A1200, Mega Drive and PS2 artist).

titlescreen
PS2 title screen

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Posted in: Apple iOS, Bonus, Commodore Amiga, Game Boy Color, Mega Drive / Genesis, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PC, Reviews, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation Portable | Tagged: , | Leave a comment

Virocop – early screens and differences

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Virocop is an often overlooked classic Amiga game by Graftgold that was released in 1995, a spiritual sequel of sorts to the likes of Quazatron and Magnetron that you may have missed. If you did, then check it out!

virocop alpha 3

Thanks to contributor Grzegorz Antosiewicz, we are able to show a series of early screenshots during its time in development that show different features and assets which didn’t make the final game.

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Posted in: Commodore Amiga, Prototype, Unused materials | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Carmageddon

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

2005 SCi / Stainless Games

Platform: Gizmondo

This is a smaller piece intended for inclusion in The Games That Weren’t book that didn’t make the final cut. Within the book is an in-depth and detailed 18 page story about the unreleased Carmageddon TV (CTV from this point on) by Visual Science. Often it has been stated that CTV was due for release on the Gizmondo hand-held, but this wasn’t the case at all. In fact, it was a conversion of the original PC classic.

We had planned to tell the story of the Gizmondo conversion in the book, but had to cut the piece due to space. As part of our Bonus material series, here is the full raw article for your enjoyment, where we speak to the Stainless Games team – Patrick Buckland, Ian Moody, Steven Haggerty, Neil (Nobby) Barnden, Kev Martin and Will McCourt. Special thanks to Justin Castle for allowing us to use his screenshots from the demo.

Please note that it hasn’t been professionally proof read compared to the published pieces in the book. Apologies for any errors, which we will be happy to fix over time.

Although Visual Science’s Carmageddon TV development had been faltering and eventually saw a professional relationship destroyed, elsewhere another was about to be repaired after half a decade towards mid-2005, when opportunity arose to develop for the new upcoming and exciting Gizmondo handheld. However, this was not the CTV conversion as often reported over the years online.

carma large
Getting ready for some carnage on the Gizmondo demo.

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Posted in: Bonus, Gizmondo, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Carmageddon TV

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

2005 Visual Science

Platforms: Microsoft Xbox, PC and Sony PlayStation 2

As part of the launch and release of The Games That Weren’t book, we are  adding assets and content that didn’t make it to print as bonus DLC content to share with you.

Within the book is an in-depth and detailed 18 page story about the unreleased Carmageddon TV (CTV from this point on) by Visual Science. We talk to creative director (and later temporary project manager) Ken Fee, lead developer Grant Clarke, design leader Pat McGovern, lead vehicle artist Iain Anderson, level designer Jim Thompson, lead front-end (UX/UI) designer Mark Traynor, main physics programmer David Guthrie and freelance vehicle artist Paul Walker.

funfair2
Fun fair shot 2. Thanks to Damien Djaouti for providing.

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Posted in: Bonus, Microsoft Xbox, PC, Reviews, Sony PlayStation 2 | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Fire and Forget 2

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1990 Titus

Platform: Arcade
Also known as: Fire and Forget 2 – The Death Convoy

Many of you may recall playing Fire and Forget 2 by Titus back in the day, although it was sadly a fairly “forgettable” game on the C64 at least from the author’s point of view.

Something which I had never noticed, and was brought to my attention by Karl Kuras, is that the adverts state that the game was based on the arcade game by Titus – complete with an actual photo of the cabinet too.

arcade crop Continue reading →

Posted in: Arcade, Reviews | Tagged: | 14 Comments

SIN CITY

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

2007 IR Gurus

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

It was a time where visual advances in games made it possible to bring comic book ideas to life in a way never thought possible. With a great movie that had been released just a few years earlier, Australian game developer, IR Gurus felt there was an opportunity to do a title on SIN CITY. Not covering the story of the movie, but events that would lead up to it.

Slope’s Game Room recently produced a brilliant video that tells the story of the development, which we highly recommend that you check out:

Daniel Ibbertson AKA DJ Slope got in touch with GTW and has very kindly passed on a mega ton of art concepts, and game design docs for the unreleased development game that was due for release by IR Gurus (later becoming Transmission Games) around 2007-2008. Daniel used a lot of the materials to help with his research and story telling in the video, and was given permission for us to put some of the materials on GTW. Continue reading →

Posted in: Microsoft Xbox 360, Reviews, Sony PlayStation 3 | Tagged: | Leave a comment

The Eye of the Moon

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

2011 Mike Singleton and Chris Wild

Platforms: Apple iOS and other current platforms.

As part of the launch and release of The Games That Weren’t book, we are  adding assets and content that didn’t make it to print as bonus DLC content to share with you.

Within the book is an in-depth and detailed 12 page story about the unreleased Eye of the Moon which was planned for development on modern day platforms including Apple iOS, after the cancellation of the 8-bit title in the series. We speak to Chris Wild about plans for the game and take a look at the ideas and vision from the late and great Mike Singleton.

map scale

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Posted in: Apple iOS, Bonus, PC, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Crimetown Depths

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1989 Imageworks

Platform: Amiga

A very short entry for a title already covered on Amiga GTW, where you can find screenshots and a rolling demo to download – as well as a Q/A with creator Paolo Costabel.

When the game became too ambitious and was to fill three disks – it was told not to be financially viable, so the game was cancelled. Sadly little else is known at this stage about the game itself.

Grzegorz Antosiewicz got in touch recently to provide a rare screen showing the actual game itself in action from Amiga Magazine issue 5 1989:

amiga magazin 5 89

The game was to have platform/shooter elements to it, so this must have been that platformer part of the game. Hopefully something of the game itself will be found and preserved, so you can see what could have been.

Posted in: Commodore Amiga, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment