Preserving Cancelled & Unreleased Video Game History Since 1999
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.
Right under our noses all along! The long “lost” Commodore 64 Codemasters game Magnum Force has finally been fully preserved today thanks to Nostalgia, after being hidden on the Codemasters CD compilation and undetected for over 30 years.
Check it out at: https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/magnum-force/
Our second update of the year has more Commodore 64 goodness in the form of 7 new entries and 11 pre-existing entries updated (check ‘history’ tab for details of changes).
See you next month!
Dino Time, Hårsfjärden, Mickey’s Crossword Puzzle Maker, Moonshadow 2, Nova 9: The Revenge of Raf Torin, Skyfox 2 – missing missions, Torpedo
Back in the USSR, Computer Theater, Deathbringer, Donkey Kong Jr, Messiah 3, MicroLeague Sports titles, Piper Software games, Thunderhawk, Transmuter, UFO Robo Dangar, Unknown K-Byte game
Just had the most fantastic weekend at Retro Collective with my wife, Tasha, giving a talk on Games That Weren’t and the digital preservation of unreleased games over the past 25 years or so. A huge thank you to Neil and the team for inviting me – I was completely blown away by how many people had paid to come along (some from quite far, including the Netherlands!) just to hear me ramble on for just over an hour. It was especially great to see my friends Paul Drury and Paul Savage, who had traveled a long way – mostly to heckle me!
I was incredibly nervous at first, especially with a few hours to wait before my 2 PM talk and the challenge of cramming everything into an hour. But Neil and the whole Retro Collective team made us feel so welcome, and the crowd was fantastic – laughing at the embarrassing photos and bad jokes, asking loads of questions, and generally making it an interactive and fun experience. I even managed to sneak in some audience participation to give them a breather from my voice!
UPDATE: You can now view the talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsLHpIC2Ycs
Afterwards, there was a book signing and some great chats with people who had come along. I couldn’t believe it when Neil told me that all the copies had sold out! Continue reading
After a less than perfect experience with the development/release of Fuzzball on the Amiga, artist Tomas Dahlgren returned to Sweden, determined to create the perfect arcade game on the Amiga platform. As a result, he started working on a title called Axe ‘n Crossbow, with the plan (in Tomas’ own words) to create “a giant medieval maze game similar to Elevator Action.”. The name of the game referred to the two protagonists, a male warrior and a female elf.
In the 2016 book “Svensk videospelsutveckling. Från 50-tal till 90-tal” (Swedish video game development. ’50s to ’90s) by Sunhede and Lindell, a bit more information is given about the game:
“But despite the setbacks [with Fuzzball], Dahlgren doesn’t give in, [instead] he does the graphics for a game he calls Seven gates of hell, later renamed into Axe ‘n Crossbow. He’s inspired by [the arcade game] Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Atari, 1985) and the graphics are impressive even today, but [the game] is soon canned. He is offered to sell his graphics, but Tomas, now wizened, refuses.”
Thanks to Adam Markey for highlighting a conversions call from Codemasters in April 1987, we’ve created a set of new entries for ZX Spectrum, Atari 800, MSX and Commodore 16/Plus 4:
A very short entry for a Commodore 16/Plus 4 conversion of Pro Snooker Simulator that is currently missing. The question is, was it ever started? The game was released on the Commodore 64.
Popular Computing Weekly, and probably other magazines, featured and article in April 1987 that gave a call for developers to get in touch with a list of conversions that they needed.
One of those titles was Pro Snooker Simulator for the Commodore 16/Plus 4. Continue reading
A very short entry for a Commodore 16/Plus 4 conversion of Grand Prix Simulator that is currently missing. The question is, was it ever started? The game was released on the Commodore 64.
Popular Computing Weekly, and probably other magazines, featured and article in April 1987 that gave a call for developers to get in touch with a list of conversions that they needed.
One of those titles was Grand Prix Simulator for the Commodore 16/Plus 4. Continue reading
A very short entry for an Atari 800 and MSX conversion of Ghost Hunters that is currently missing. The question is, were either ever started? The game was released on the Commodore 64 , Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum and was designed by the Oliver Twins (their first game on the ZX Spectrum too).
Popular Computing Weekly, and probably other magazines, featured and article in April 1987 that gave a call for developers to get in touch with a list of conversions that they needed.
One of those titles was Ghost Hunters for Atari 800 and MSX. Continue reading
A very short entry for a ZX Spectrum conversion of Armourdillo that is currently missing. The question is, was it ever started? The game was released on the Commodore 64.
Popular Computing Weekly, and probably other magazines, featured and article in April 1987 that gave a call for developers to get in touch with a list of conversions that they needed.
One of those titles was Armourdillo for the ZX Spectrum. Continue reading
Been a while since we last did an unused materials/prototype post. This time we have a very quick one thanks to Ross Sillifant.
In the advert for Batman Returns on the Lynx, you’ll notice that there are a number of promised features which didn’t seem to make the final game (please correct us if we’re wrong!):
It seems perhaps the advert was based from the initial design document for the game, and these features were cut?
Graphic designer Robb Mariani reveals:
“I was the lone Atari/ Chicago artist chosen to go out to Sunnyvale for “more horsepower” on the Batman Returns project. I was out there for around a month, if I recall. It actually was a nightmare!
Adding more graphic/ sprite animations (elaborate) – those cumulatively added up. Since we had maxed-out the background artwork, we were limited on overall memory. Hence some promised power-ups were eliminated.
As an artist, we wanted the game to look great. Programming was out of our control. Playability was another subject. Don’t shoot the artists – we rocked out!”
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.
Games That Weren't® is the registered trademark of Frank Gasking.
