Cancelled video games project
This project concerns cancelled games in the range of 1995-2005.
Section: I
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Ice Nine
Ice Nine was a cancelled PlayStation 2 game by Torus Games.
The game would have been a FPS combination of SOCOM and Syphon Filter.
Expected release date: June 2003, then July 2003, then October 2003
Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine issue 30 (February 2003)
The plot is of you, James Clayton, commanding a squad.
Your job is to prevent Ice Nine, a computer virus, from being spread before it takes down the nation.
This game is inspired by the film The Recruit. That was the original title of the game.
You can complete objectives in different moral ways:
Do things the right way, or defect and work for the Chinese Xu terrorists.
Either way the story (and likely objectives) is affected by your actions.
Edge issue 120 (February 2003)
Edge issue 124 (February 2003)
GamePro Issue 174 (March 2003)
One cool feature about the game is the USB headset usage.
Wearing the USB headset lets you hear intel, as well as enemy transmission.
PSW issue 12 (June 2003)
For unknown reasons Ice Nine for the PS2 was cancelled in 2003.
Maybe because Torus Games mainly did handheld games and felt they were out of their depth.
The Game Boy Advance port was released, but the plot is a bit different.
Trailer from E3 2003
https://web.archive.org/web/20070829000530/http://torus.com.au/index.php?page=games&id=34
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ice-nine-confirmed-for-ps2/1100-2895818/
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ice-nine-impressions/1100-6028562/
http://au.ign.com/articles/2002/12/04/ice-nine
http://au.ign.com/articles/2003/05/17/e3-2003-hands-on-ice-nine
http://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=2818
https://www.unseen64.net/2009/12/15/ice-nine-ps2-cancelled
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Incredible Idiots in Space
Incredible Idiots in Space is a cancelled PS1, Saturn, and PC game by Magnet Interactive Studios.
As you may have guessed, this was to be quite the comedy.
Expected release date: Q4 1996, then Q1 1997, then December 1997
Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 83 (June 1996)
The plot revolves around two dumb Galaxy Patrol officers.
There are mind-controlling slugs that are trying to rule to universe.
It is up to you two goofballs to stop them.
Along the way development was (I think) shifted to the PC.
This likely happened because comedy games didn't sell at the time.
Incredible Idiots in Space was showcased at E3 1996 at the American Softworks Corp stand.
Production went for around two years before the plug was pulled.
Magnet Interactive Studios, makers of some of the first 3D PS1 games, went defunct in 1998.
Trailer
https://web.archive.org/web/19970203042323/http://www.ascgames.com:80/idiots/index.html
http://www.wunderland.com/WTS/Andy/OtherEfforts.html
http://ogdb.eu/index.php?section=title&titleid=44348
https://www.unseen64.net/2008/05/03/incredible-idiots-in-space-psx-cancelled/
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Independence Lost
Independence Lost is a cancelled PC game by Bohemia Interactive.
It was to be an expansion pack to their hit debut game Operation Flashpoint.
Expected release date: June 2002, then late 2002
PC Zone issue 114 (April 2002)
The plot would revolve around keeping the peace in East Timor.
Seriously, it had a big backstory about East Timor's annexation and their struggles.
Missions would likely take place during crucial moments in its history.
The game was likely cancelled to work on Operation Flashpoint: Resistance.
Or Operation Flashpoint: Elite.
Or maybe the Australian guys making this game/expansion went defunct or quit.
https://web.archive.org/web/20020608021224/http://www.theavonlady.org/THEOFPFAQ/IL/independencelost.htm
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/independence-lost-unveiled/1100-2843845
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Inertia
Inertia is a cancelled PC game by Psuedo Interactive.
It was to be a physics-based racing game.
Expected release date: Autumn 1999
PC Zone issue 67 (September 1998)
Customize your own vehicle, from the stats to the weapons, and go fight!
There was to be around 27 different courses and arenas.
It was to be an arcadey game with no real plot, just pure action.
Edge issue 126 (August 2003)
Inertia was cancelled in 1999 due to the producer at Microsoft leaving Psuedo.
The game was already running behind schedule due to feature creep, so they canned it.
Some of the technology made it into Psuedo's first released game, Cel Damage.
https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/04/28/news-briefs-357
https://www.unseen64.net/2013/03/05/full-auto-nee-inertia-pc-cancelled
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Internal Affairs
Internal Affairs is a cancelled PS2, Xbox. and PC game by Attention to Detail.
It was to be an action racing game, like Driver.
Expected release date: 2002
Official UK PlayStation2 Magazine issue 4 (February 2001)
The game would be set in Phoenix City, which is on a tropical island.
You would play as two characters, Tom and Lauren.
Each would have different missions and different perspectives to shared missions.
The story would develop in chapters like a novel.
The vague plot would slowly open up, revealing who the real heroes and villains are.
As for multiplayer, it was aiming for a single player buy was open to multiplayer.
Plans for DLC were devised, adding extra post-story missions.
These would have been available via online download.
This would lead to different endings.
Edge issue 126 (August 2003)
Internal Affairs was unable to find a publisher.
Doubting the success of the game, especially the post-story DLC, the game was shelved.
Attention to Detail went defunct in August 2003.
https://web.archive.org/web/20010124154200/http://www.fgnonline.com/playstation2/news/16659.html
https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/12/08/attention-to-detail-rolling-out-a-new-kind-of-racer
https://www.gamekult.com/actualite/parlons-un-peu-des-affaires-2254.html
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Into the Shadows
Into the Shadows is a cancelled Saturn and PC game by Triton for Scavenger, Inc..
It was to be an impressive fighting game for its time.
Expected release date: September 1996, then December 1996, then 1997
Edge issue 25 (October 1995)
Into the Shadows was to be a D&D inspired fighting-exploring game.
You would travel in a dungeon and enter rooms to fight monsters a la a fighting game.
Characters would have in included ogres, orcs, and more.
You would take the role of Eric Lionheart.
Your quest was to rescue the moonschild from the evil necromancer.
It has the typical tropes of locked doors and keys to find.
Edge issue 28 (January 1996)
GamePro issue 78 (January 1996)
Into the Shadows began development as Huntdown in 1993 on the Amiga 500.
It involved a lunar base, with driving vehicles and flying jetpacks.
Scavenger was not keen on it and did invest in the project.
In early 1995 the Triton lads flew to Los Angeles in 1995 to work for Scavenger.
There they redesigned Huntdown into Into the Shadows.
At E3 1995 it made a big impression, being compared to Quake in technical prowess.
Computer & Video Games issue 176 (July 1996)
The killer of the game was the bankruptcy of Scavenger Inc in 1998.
Blame GT Interactive for not paying them (and other companies) money owed.
Triton went from being a demoscene group into Starbreeze Studios.
Tech demo: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=2588
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/BekA
http://talonbrave.info/?p=1233
http://www.thecomputershow.com/computershow/previews/intotheshadows.htm
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&u=https://martinlindell.com/2019/07/23/triton-productions-ursprunget-till-starbreeze/&prev=search
https://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/10/into-the-shadows-saturn-unreleased/
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Iru: Tales From the Edge of the World / White Fear
Iru aka White Fear aka Inuits is a cancelled PS2 and PC game by Widescreen Games.
It was to be a third-person action adventure of mystical proportion.
Expected release date: November 2002, then March 2003
Joystick issue 137 (May 2002)
Joystick issue 139 (July 2002)
You play as a shaman named Iru.
Your quest is to destroy an evil witch named Sukko.
Along the way you'll pick up spells to aid in arcadey combat and puzzles.
There was to be three different modes to play on: normal, magical, and warrior.
Magical would have combat magic-based, warrior would be melee-based, and normal with both.
Widescreen Games really did boast of this, as if tripled the lifespan of the game.
There would be different locations to explore.
These include Great Bear Village, an ice floe, cursed marshes, and more.
The game would have drawn heavily on Inuit mythology, with some Himalayan and Scandinavian.
Minimum PC configuration: P3 500 TNT2, 64 MB RAM
Recommended PC configuration: P3 650 GeForce 2, 64 MB RAM
PC Zone issue 123 (Christmas 2002)
Trailer from IGN
The game was cancelled in 2004.
Microids dropped the game. PlayLogic picked it up... and dropped it shortly after.
In 2019 a prototype were leaked onto the internet.
https://hiddenpalace.org/White_Fear_(Apr_5,_2002_prototype)
https://web.archive.org/web/20031030142130fw_/http://perso.wanadoo.fr/widescreen-games/main_frameset.htm
https://queuetimes.com/iru-white-fear-hands-on-with-the-cancelled-ps2-inuit-adventure/
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/white-fear/
https://www.ign.com/games/inuits
https://www.unseen64.net/2010/03/11/inuits-ps2-pc-cancelled
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It Came For Zog
It Came For Zog is a cancelled PC game by Pixeleers Entertainment.
It was to be a numerous point and click adventure game.
Expected release date: early 2001, then Spring 2001
Level issue 29 (February 2000)
PC Zone issue 90 (June 2000)
You play as the caveman Zog who is abducted by aliens.
Your goal is to escape back home. Prometheus and Bob much?
Along the way you'll have to find and rescue a sexy female cavewoman named Gurkvard.
The game was cancelled around July 2001.
Pixeleers Entertainment went defunct in 2002.
Nobody likes ZOG.
https://web.archive.org/web/20001102072731/http://www.avault.com:80/previews/preview_temp.asp?game=zog
http://www.przygodoskop.pl/321/screen.htm
https://www.unseen64.net/2020/03/10/came-zog-pc-cancelled/
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