I wanted to discuss the cancelled games for the Dreamcast. Are there any particular games you were looking forward to that never made it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4D4keIXaE4&list=UUnLBpuFZwsZkFZCbSzvb9ZQGeist Force
Does anybody know Bernie Stolar? A man well known for his impeccable descion making and knowledge when it comes to the video game industry. Now There are many stories as to why Gesit Force never had the chance to be inserted into our dreamcasts but this is the on I like to subscribe to… Our mate Bernie supposedly said the game wasn’t good enough and just had it straight up cancelled, there are also stories that Sega of Japan were not impressed with the game and its panzer Dragoon vibe which also contributed to its cancellation… Basically its all a bit of a fucking mess… So lets just blame Bernie. The game was first shown to the public at E3 in the year of 1998 and was met with great applause due to its graphics and gameplay the resembled Nintendos much beloved series star fox. So how good of a game is Geist Force? Well The opening level see s you taking on many enemies as you fly around chatting to your co pilots trying to reach the next section of the stage…. Its all very Star Foxy and that is not an insult… I had a great time playing it and would recommend you check it out. Lucky for us the ver passionate Dreamcast community have managed to get this game released… Although in its buggy unfinished form but never or less its still great to be able to check this one out and see what was quite possibly going to be one of the best launch titles for the system.
Quark
Before David Cage became obsessed with emotions and controls fit for a 2 year old… Quantic Dream was working on a little game called Quark which was originally penned to be released for the Dreamcast as well as the PS2 and PC. Now this game was more light hearted and fun when compared to the usual child kidnapping storylines of the studios past titles.
The game would see you traversing two worlds which the player was able to switch between to mainly solve puzzles and quests… The first world resembled a beautiful environment inhabited by strange creatures whilst the other presented a modern day London. Now its quite hard finding the reason as to why Quark never passed the gates, but it is most likely due to Quantic Dream working on Fahrenheit which would go on to become the studios first critically acclaimed game. It is a shame as the game looked absolutely fantastic. At least Bernie had nothing to do with it this time…
Redline Arena
Developed by Infogrames Redline Arena was a mash up between Twisted Metals insane car combat with a bit of first person Quake action thrown in, actually a sequel to the PC only release of Redline… The game would go on to be cancelled due to the Dreamcasts networking setup which would see the game being infested with lag resulting in the game becoming unplayable. The developers were seemingly not up to the task of working out the issues and the decision was made to cancel the game. Now you ask whats so special about Redline Arena? Well if the promise of quake action, sliced with car combat was not enough to get you wet… As mentioned earlier the game would enter the online arena and allow players to take each other on in brutal matches that would see you jumping in and out of vehicles, whilst running around the map trying to take each other out. It’s a shame this one never got to see the light of day… It was later released for the PS2 under a different name… and would become known as Motor Mayhem… Unfortunately the first person aspect of the game was missing and it turned in to a car combat game.
Propeller Arena
Now Propeller Arena originally titled Propeller Head Online is a bit of a tricky one… It was never really cancelled, it just never got released… mainly due to the terrorist attacks that took place on September the 11th in 2001. Developed by the gods themselves at AM2, the game would pit you against opponents in ariel dog fights… What makes this game stand out has to be the inclusion of online play which was a bit of a rarity back in the day and with the added feature of voice chat, you can imagine how much fun this game would of been. Thankfully the game was leaked online and is available for everyone to play, minus the online functionality! With it’s simple yet engaging gameplay, quirky artistic design, and ahead-of-its-time online functions, Propeller Arena could have been one of the games to define the Dreamcast... Unfortunately, from no fault of its own, it never got a chance to take off.
Half Life
Now I’m not going to sit here and explain Half Life to you… Everyone knows Half Life, but not many know that it was originally planned to be released for the dreamcast as well. First announced for the console in the year 2000… The game would enter what could only be described as development hell… With constant revisions of the release date and delay after delay until finally it was announced with only a few weeks left until its proposed release, that the game would be cancelled. The only reason given to the dreamcast fan base was market changing conditions…. Sadly the Dreamcast just wasn’t selling enough and from a business perspective it made sense to pull the plug… At least this fucker wasn’t involved… But All joking aside it would have been awesome to have Half Life on the Dreamcast and thankfully its available now to try out if you fancy downloading the ISO.
