As the Preservation/Release/Interview format is extremely time-consuming, and as I'm the only person in charge of the site, I've had to revise my publication rhythm from two articles/releases a month to just one for the year 2024. It has to be said that some of the prototypes in my possession are very special and require meticulous analysis. Isn't it better to prioritize quality over quantity?
In Dreamcast, the prototypes made available to the community during 2024 were of benefit, even if no Unreleased games were discovered. It's well known that people want to play Unreleased games. Exceptionally, I was able to unearth some for PlayStation 2 and PC, and not the least, including a major SEGA title previously considered lost.
I hope that 2025, the year of the fifth anniversary of the Sega Dreamcast Info site, will bring its share of qualitative finds. In the meantime, enjoy the Half-Life Dreamcast prototype and its making-of (with interview) offered as a New Year's gift!
Enjoy! See you soon!
The Unreleased of 2024
The 11 prototypes and documents from Vectorman Playstation 2: the transition from 2D to 3D of our best friend SEGA's robot (Making-of): Like Sonic, Mario and Zelda before him, Vectorman (famous robot from SEGA on the Mega Drive) should have had its transition from 2D to 3D on Playstation 2. Developed by Pseudo Interactive (the same as Full Auto on Xbox 360), the game would ultimately be cancelled. Maybe it looked too much like the Master Chief of the Microsoft game Halo ! Initially, the game was more in line with the two previous Mega Drive episodes.
Fear Effect Inferno PlayStation 2 (May 22, 2024, 1 prototype, hundreds of artworks, scripts and storyboards) with interview, Inferno Guide and Making-of of the game and license: Fear Effect Inferno PS2 is a unique game, one of a kind. Its storyline is incredible, almost on a par with that of Shenmue. You can feel Kronos' know-how, and above all, they dared to propose something out of the ordinary. Fear Effect Inferno Playstation 2 and the art of video game storytelling!
The archives of Laurent Cluzel and the memoirs of Kâar Online: an ambitious MMO that will never be released: Laurent Cluzel shares some of his archives (Source Code, Prototypes, Artworks) for the Unreleased PC games: Beetle Rally, Kâar Online and Fortress Online. He explains, in detail, the behind-the-scenes development of Kâar Online, an over-ambitious MMO !
The main commercial Dreamcast prototypes for 2024
Space Channel 5 Dreamcast, when Ulala performed with prototypes including an Alpha version: The year 2024 will mark the 25th anniversary of the release of Space Channel 5 Dreamcast in Japan. To celebrate, with a few months to spare, here's an Alpha prototype (4 months before the final version) of the game by Tetsuya Mizuchi, United Game Artist.
Rayman 2 Dreamcast, when Ubisoft's mascot ventured into a jungle of prototypes: Presenting an early prototype of Rayman 2 Dreamcast, about 3 months ahead of its final version. The changes are many. This is a port ot the PC version, with DC-exclusive content starting to be implemented. Some lines of dialogue are internal jokes!
Seaman Dreamcast and its prototypes, a fish named SEGA at E3: Never heard of Seaman? An atypical game on the Dreamcast which is basically a virtual aquarium? For April Fools' Day, I'd like to present the E3 prototype used at the Los Angeles show in 1999, the first time the world heard the famous 9/9/99 slogan!
Illbleed Dreamast E3 (31 octobre 2024, 1 prototype): The Day of the Dead, Halloween, is the perfect opportunity to present and offer to you an early Illbleed Dreamcast prototype, used to promote the game of Shinya Nishigaki and Climax Graphics at E3 2000. This very difficult demo contains many differences.
Shenmue Dreamcast, its QA with testimonials and prototypes : When the game's English translation was hazardous: Presenting an early American prototype of Shenmue on Dreamcast, a piece of art more than a game. The English translation is shaky. The build has a Debug Menu with test maps. A tester, Mike Rhinehard, explains its US QA.
The main articles dedicated to video games for 2024
Making-Of: The revival of Beat'em up with Nightmare Creatures and bloody Dreamcast prototypes of Nightmare Creatures 2: Cyrille Fontaine, one of the creators of the Nightmare Creatures franchise, reveals the behind-the-scenes story of Nigthmare Creatures 1 and 2 (interview). Several Dreamcast prototypes of Nigthmare Creatures 2 are also available to download.
The discovery of Farnation Dreamcast in video: when SEGA wanted to offer MMOs on its latest console: Exclusive footage of a Technical Demo of Farnation on Dreamcast, the most mysterious Unreleased game of SEGA's last console. After 23 years of waiting and investigation, we can finally put some images on this MMO from Japanese development studio Nextech! Thanks to Joe Cain for his testimonial and for giving us the gift of a Farnation Dreamcast video! Finally...
Frontier Dreamcast, when Turbine's MMO almost arrived on Dreamcast: At the end of the 1990s, SEGA, in partnership with Turbine (Asheron's Call), undertook the development of Frontier Dreamcast (Unreleased), an ambitious MMO which was later cancelled. Lead designer Chris Foster explains the game's concept and behind-the-scenes development.
The launch of the Dreamcast in Europe: an October in blue (Archive of photos and anecdotes): 25 years ago, the Dreamcast was released in Europe after a successful launch in the United States a month earlier (the cult date of 9/9/99). For SEGA of Europe, everything had to be perfect to make 14 October 1999 unforgettable. Behind the scenes, everyone was busy preparing for the big day.
Happy New Year 2025 and best wishes to all!
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