Feature: Ghosts In The Machines

Historian of unreleased games Frank Gasking looks at some of the ones that got away

The stories of the games that never made it out of production.

Since the release of the original PlayStation in 1994, we have been treated to a plethora of games over multiple console generations. However, many titles never made it from the studio to our small screens – in some cases we’re thankful, but in others thinking of what might have been still brings a tear to our eye.

The years are strewn with the carcasses of hyped games that fell prey to changing times, publisher closures, and the rise of good taste. Digging into these abandonware classics there are some gems that always raise a smile, and an eyebrow. Did we really think Thrill Kill’s blend of extreme violence and sexual innuendo was fit for release?

With special attacks called Swallow This and Going Down, the writing was on the wall even before you could tug an opponent’s arm off.

Yet there are honest games here that deserved a chance. The genreblending of EA’s Tiberium had promise, the freedom of StarCraft: Ghost was ahead of the curve, and the resurrection of Stunt Car Racer on PS2 teased the kind of remakes we itch to play today. The rise of crowdfunding, selfpublishing, and indie development means we’ll probably never see the kind of cancellations that plagued PlayStation in the past. Now, skim these pages and glimpse some of the games we never got to play…