cancelled
Latest
Watch some footage of the canceled Bonk game
Bonk, Hudson Software's headstrong caveman that made his gaming debut on the TurboGrafx-16, was set to make a Stateside comeback in Bonk: Brink of Extinction on WiiWare, PSN and XBLA. Unfortunately, Hudson Software shut down before the game was released, leaving Brink of Extinction in an uncompleted state. Judging by a trio of videos posted by YouTube user "Bonk Brink" though, who appears to be running the game on a PS3 development kit, a decent amount of progress was made on Brink of Extinction before Hudson closed up shop. One of the three videos gives a brief overview of apparent features planned for the title, including online play, downloadable content, a Horde mode and a secondary "Dactyl" story, which follows Bonk retrieving his dinner from a thieving pterodactyl. The other videos are more focused on pure gameplay, one of which is embedded above. Amassing points from collectible vegetables, head butting enemies out of this plane of existence ... yup, looks like Bonk! [Image: YouTube user Bonk Brink]
EVE Fanfest 2014: CCP responds to DUST 514 fans' rage over Project Legion
When this year's DUST 514 keynote presentation rolled around two days ago at EVE Fanfest 2014, fans of the PlayStation 3 shooter were understandably bewildered. Many tuned into the livestream of the talk or even attended Fanfest in person, expecting to hear an hourlong breakdown of the year's DUST 514 updates and some plans for the game's future. Viewers were instead met with a 30-minute presentation on something called Project Legion, a proposed plan to bring DUST's style of shooter gameplay to the PC in an entirely new MMO. In the absence of any information to the contrary, DUST players have understandably concluded that their game is being quietly closed down in favour of Legion. Earlier today at the CCP Presents keynote presentation, CCP took the opportunity to respond to fears and complaints that have surfaced on the DUST 514 community forum. The official word is that DUST 514 isn't being shuttered and that development will continue, but CCP admitted that it will have less development time going forward. A promise was also made that if Legion goes ahead, the names and assets of every DUST player will be copied over to the new title. That won't be much consolation for the people who bought a PS3 just to play DUST 514 or those who game only on consoles, as Legion is currently being developed only for PC. Another caveat is that Legion has not even been confirmed yet; It was presented in much the same style as EVE: Valkyrie last year, as an experiment that CCP could put significant resources into if players like it. Whether you're a die-hard fan of internet spaceships or just a gawker on the sidelines, EVE Fanfest is the EVE Online event of the year (and the key source of new EVE Valkyrie scoops!). Follow Massively's Brendan Drain as he reports back on this year's Fanfest starpower, scheming, and spoilers from exotic Reykjavik, Iceland.
Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor canceled, composer says
A proposed spiritual successor to Rare's Nintendo 64 platformer Banjo-Kazooie has been called off, series composer Grant Kirkhope confirmed in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" post this week. "The other guys actually had a secret meeting in a pub near Rare and we even got as far as having a character drawn up and a demo level type thing but it all fell to bits .... everyone's got other jobs, etc.," Kirkhope said. Developed by a team of ex-Rare staffers, the "Mingy Jongo" project promised to retain the detailed environments and googly-eyed characters of its N64 inspiration. The team's Twitter account went dark in December 2012, and a proposed Kickstarter project failed to materialize. [Image: Rare]
Report: LucasArts canceled Darth Maul origins game
Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to canceled Star Wars video games. Okay, so maybe it wasn't hate or the Dark Side that spelled the death of a Darth Maul-centric Star Wars video game, but rather a chaotic triangle relationship between developer Red Fly Studios, publisher LucasArts and George Lucas. Game Informer reports in its May issue that the game explored the early days of Maul's life, giving an up-close and personal look at Sith training. Or rather, it would have, had two major changes to the game not thrown Death Star-sized wrenches into the proverbial gears. Ex-Red Fly employees speaking under condition of anonymity told Game Informer that it felt like LucasArts wanted to tie the game to the Clone Wars animated TV show. However, LucasArts only gave sparse details and vague hints to prevent any kind of leaks, which left Red Fly without a clear direction or vision for the game. The studio developed new prototypes for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii U, including a "forward stealth" design inspired by Batman: Arkham Asylum. The biggest vision shift, however, came from George Lucas himself. According to one source, Lucas took statues of Darth Maul and Darth Talon - a character from the Star Wars comics from Dark Horse - faced them toward one another, and declared, "They're friends!" When it was brought to Lucas' attention that Maul and Talon lived more than a century and a half apart from one another, Lucas reportedly suggested it could be a clone or descendant that players controlled instead of the original Maul. Game Informer obtained images and concept art of key characters and locales the game could have featured, and some are just as outlandish as the concept of Talon and Maul teaming up, including a redesigned Darth Krayt and an ocean city pulled along by colossal eels. The whole story is, as the kids say, pretty cray. [Image: Disney]
Human Element set for Nov. 2015, Ouya prequel canceled
Human Element, the first-personal survival game from Robert Bowling's studio, Robotoki, will launch in November 2015 on PC, Bowling confirmed on Twitter. He added that the Ouya-bound prequel to the game was canceled "early on" as the developer shifted its focus to the CryEngine-based PS4 and Xbox One versions of the open-world game, which don't currently have a release date. Bowling left Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward in April 2012 to open Robotoki and announced Human Element in June 2012. The Ouya prequel was revealed soon after in July, at which point Bowling donated $10,000 to the microconsole manufacturer. The Human Element prequel was also slated to be the first console exclusive game for Ouya. [Image: Robotoki]
Volition's canceled Xbox One, PS4 game was a post-apocalyptic Western
Saints Row series developer Volition was creating a post-apocalyptic, open-world action game for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 until it recently pulled the plug on the project, senior producer Greg Donovan revealed during a panel discussion at GDC last week. The game, codenamed "Zeus," was to take place in Rio in the wake of an apocalyptic disaster. Players would control a gunslinging Western-style hero, and gameplay would largely take place on-foot, contrasting the superheroic traversal powers featured in Saints Row 4. Donovan cites a lack of time and resources as the reasons behind the project's cancellation. "Right or wrong, we know we could've made this game," he said. "But it would've taken too long. It wouldn't have been the responsible thing to do." Currently, the studio is developing a "top-secret" project built on its early experiments with Zeus. [Image: Volition]
God of War 3 director, Infamous: Second Son lead designer leave Sony [Update]
God of War 3 creative director Stig Asmussen is no longer at Sony Santa Monica, following the recent round of layoffs at the studio and the purported cancellation of his new project. IGN confirmed Asmussen's departure with Sony this week, although it's not known if the 11-year veteran of the studio left of his own accord or not. Asmussen joined Sony Santa Monica from Midway in 2003, serving as a lead environment artist on the first God of War and art director on God of War 2. He stepped up to creative director on God of War 3, and it's speculated he then began work on a new, unannounced AAA project with a sci-fi theme. According to ex-lead level designer Jonathan Hawkins, who lost his job in the layoffs, that project is now canceled after several years of development. Asmussen isn't Sony's only high-profile departure of the week, after Infamous: Second Son lead designer Jaime Griesemer revealed he's no longer working for Sucker Punch. He joined the Seattle-based studio back in 2011, having previously worked at Bungie for twelve years where he was involved with all the Halo games, and served as a lead game designer on Destiny between 2008 and 2010. Griesemer didn't give any reasons for the move, simply tweeting he's "Not really talking about it yet, tho." Update: Griesemer provided Joystiq with a statement regarding his leaving Sucker Punch, assuring fans the timing is not a "cause for concern" about Infamous: Second Son. The full statement follows: "I appreciate all the well-wishes on the news that I am leaving Sucker Punch, but please don't take the timing as cause for concern about Second Son – it's a great game that I am proud to have on my resume and I can't wait for everyone to play it – or Sucker Punch – a studio on the rise with a bright future – or Sony – a great organization with some of the savviest, most pro-gamer executives in the business. And while I am honored to be mentioned in the same articles as legendary designers like Amy Hennig and Stig Asmussen, please don't look too hard for some sinister pattern. The truth is that any creative, vibrant industry is necessarily volatile; the only sure bet is that the next few years will not look the same as the last. Change is part of the job, but along with the upheaval and uncertainty, there's opportunity and new challenges. It's an exciting time to be a free agent and I'm going to go see what's out there. Simple as that..." [Image: Sony]
No Titanfall in South Africa
Once upon a time in South Africa, a young video game journalist named Ludwig Kietzmann collapsed for no apparent reason, falling to the floor in a heap of stylish dark-wash jeans and almonds. Seconds later, he awoke and knew something was desperately wrong. Something horrible was coming, and there was only one thing he could do to avoid catastrophe. He had to get out of South Africa. EA South Africa will not launch Titanfall in the region, attributing the decision to poor internet performance rates. The post on EA South Africa's Facebook reads as follows: "After conducting recent online tests for Titanfall, we found that the performance rates in South Africa were not as high as we need to guarantee a great experience, so we have decided not to release Titanfall in South Africa at this time. "We understand this is a disappointment for local fans and will keep fans posted on any future plans regarding the release of Titanfall in South Africa." In February, EA delayed the Titanfall beta in South Africa, but overall it marketed the game as per standard protocol. Reviews of the South African beta noted a ping in the 200ms range, but added that the game's built-in latency tolerance worked well and made it playable. [Image: Titanfall]
End of Nations development halted
Development on End of Nations has officially stopped. Trion Worlds first halted the game in late 2013, recently telling Video Gamer it is "currently focusing the company's energy and creativity on Rift, Defiance, Trove, ArcheAge, and some new projects that we will be revealing soon." The game's website no longer resolves to any landing page and the last posts on its Facebook and Twitter pages were from August 2013, right around the time Trion Worlds shuttered its San Diego studio. At the time, the publisher opted to move development of End of Nations, along with that of Defiance and ArcheAge, to its Redwood City studio. It also named Scott Hartsman CEO of the company, who left his former role as COO of Trion Worlds in January 2013 before the appointment in August. [Image: Trion Worlds]
Rune Factory 4 isn't coming to Europe after all
The European production line for Rune Factory 4 churned to a stop this morning, after publisher MarvelousAQL canceled the game for the continent. The first 3DS entry in the Harvest Moon spin-off series was due in Europe this spring, having already been released in Japan and North America. Of course, that announcement came before the bankruptcy and closure of RF4 developer Neverland. "We regret to inform you that the European release of Rune Factory 4 for Nintendo 3DS has been canceled," reads a MAQL Europe statement on distributor Zen United's Rice Digital site. "While MarvelousAQL has made every effort to secure the title's release for this territory, it is, unfortunately, not possible to do so at this time. MAQL and MAQL Europe would like to thank everyone for their support and enthusiasm for their European releases. Please look forward to announcements on new MAQL titles over the coming months." We've reached out to MAQL Europe for more info. As for the Rune Factory series, there's been no news since Neverland's closure in November. Beforehand, MAQL series producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto exclaimed RF4 performed well enough to greenlight RF5. After the closure, Hashimoto said (via Siliconera), "As of now, it'll still remain a secret as to what kind of title we'll be releasing next, but I can say that the staff members are still doing great."
MLB 2K baseball series canceled
2K Sports has officially canceled its MLB 2K baseball game series. A 2K representative told Joystiq today that it has "decided not to renew our MLB 2K series for 2014. We are very proud of the achievements made by the MLB 2K team and look forward to their contributions to our future titles, including NBA 2K - our industry's #1 rated and #1 selling basketball franchise." The final game in the series was MLB 2K13, a game that was panned critically for its stark similarities to its predecessor, MLB 2K12. The confirmation of the series' closure comes after the publisher took steps to remove the brand from its various pages – an indicator that it no longer has the appropriate licensing obligations to fulfill. As pointed out by Pastapadre, 2K Sports recently took down its Facebook page for the series, videos from its YouTube page and forwarded each landing page for games in the series to its global 2K website. Of the few MLB-branded pages that remain are a few of the game's online manuals, though it's uncertain how long those will be available to view. Being that 2K Sports was the only company delivering a simulation baseball game for Microsoft's Xbox 360, thanks to an exclusive third-party licensing agreement it signed with the MLB, the Xbox One will be without a Major League Baseball game for the time being. The MLB: The Show series is developed by Sony's San Diego studio, which will launch MLB 14: The Show this spring on PS3, PS4 and Vita.
Ashes Cricket 2013 pulled from Steam, publisher issuing refunds
505 Games has removed Ashes Cricket 2013 from its Steam catalog following widespread reports of bugs and other technical issues. The publisher later announced that it has no plans to issue a fixed version, effectively canceling the game post-release. 505 Games blames the faulty release on "misplaced" assurances from developer Trickstar Games, who experienced persistent engine issues over an extended development period. "The net result of the challenges we have faced was a game which, despite our best efforts over the course of a 2 year development, couldn't meet the quality benchmarks of either us, our licensors or our customers," the publisher said in a statement to Rock Paper Shotgun. 505 Games announced that it will contact players who purchased Ashes Cricket 2013 on Steam, and will begin issuing refunds shortly. No word has been issued regarding planned ports for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U.
EA gives FIFA Manager the boot
The recently released FIFA Manager 14 is the last in the series, after founder Gerald Köhler admitted EA and developer Bright Future weren't prepared to take the series forward. In a frank post published on the FIFA Manager blog, Köhler admitted the 12-year series needed too much investment to be worth continuing. "The football manager genre at this level of sophistication is highly specialized and primarily played in two countries (England and Germany)," Köhler wrote, "In which – on top of everything – one game has practically dominated the market in recent years. The niche market and general trend toward online and mobile games were also contributing factors. Moreover, FM had reached a crossroads at which a new engine and/or corresponding online technology would be the only way to give the series a boost. When all these factors were evaluated, it led us to the decision to blow the final whistle." While EA supported the FIFA Manager series across a decade, it never made a significant impact against the genre steamroller that is Sega's Football Manager. Last year's entry, Football Manager 2013, became the series' best-seller after shifting more than 1 million copies, despite being pirated more than 10 million times.
Rumor: Deus Ex dev cancels unannounced, original IP
While Eidos Montreal continues work on both the Deus Ex franchise and on the upcoming Thief, a third, unrevealed project has been scrapped. Kotaku cites unnamed sources for this revelation, but notes that "two different developer sources" had linked the now-canceled game to the Japanese side of publisher Square Enix. Furthering that tenuous connection, the site points to a recent OXM interview with Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII gameplay director Yuji Abe, in which Abe suggests that Square Enix might one day allow Eidos to develop a Final Fantasy entry. "Obviously, Square Enix bought out Eidos a number of years ago, and now we have direct access to American development teams," stated Abe. "That's certainly been discussed within the company, the possibility of say, Eidos or maybe someone else to look after or maybe take on the Final Fantasy series." Was this canceled game a new Final Fantasy entry? Did it even exist? We attempted to contact Square Enix for more details, but never received a response.
Young Justice: Legacy canceled for Wii U, Wii because of 'several factors'
Cartoon Network's Young Justice won't be leaving a Legacy on Wii U or Wii, after developer Little Orbit and publisher Warner Bros. opted to cancel the spin-off for the two Nintendo consoles. According to a statement on the game's Facebook page, the decision was made because of "several factors," including quality issues and low interest from retailers. The cancellation comes in the month before Young Justice: Legacy is due, but the action-RPG remains set for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and 3DS. The game will star the show's league of precocious heroes, chronicling the events between the first and second series.
Chocobo Racing 3D cancelled, creator says
An upgraded Nintendo 3DS version of Square Enix's PSOne-era mascot racer Chocobo Racing has ceased development, creator Takashi Tokita confirmed with Siliconera. "The original Chocobo Racing was made by me," Tokita told Siliconera. "But the one for the 3DS was a project being handled by someone else, and as far as I know, it has been closed. Now, if I had made it, I would have made sure that it came out. Unfortunately I was not!" Chocobo Racing 3D was one of the first games Square Enix announced for the Nintendo 3DS, though few details were revealed regarding the project beyond a handful of screenshots and a brief gameplay snippet. Rest in peace, little chocobo. May you roam forever free in the great choco-rodeo in the sky.
Toki Tori 2+ Wii U level editor canned, developer offering Steam keys to say sorry
Back in February, Two Tribes planned to bring a level editor to the Wii U version of Toki Tori 2 in its free "plus" update. However, the developer recently announced the Wii U won't be receiving the game's level editor feature after all, citing poor sales for the game on the platform as the biggest reason for the change in plans. Two Tribes also noted technical issues and "missing features" in the console's Miiverse system, creating more challenges for developing the level editor it wanted for Toki Tori 2+. "We obviously wanted to use Miiverse for level sharing as everybody has access to it," the developer said. Among the problems with Miiverse, it said that "it wasn't possible to start the game from a level posted in Miiverse," though "something like this might be possible in the future." The developer considered using its own servers as well, but that solution wound up being "way out of scope." Additionally, Two Tribes said that while Steam integration on Wii U would at least allow Wii U players to play custom levels created by those on Steam, after talking with both Valve and Nintendo it found the idea to be a "dead end" as well. To make up for it, the developer said it will now give away free keys to the Steam version of the game to Wii U players. All players need to do is head to either of the related European or US-based Miiverse posts for Toki Tori 2+, post a message with their Steam ID and then email tokitori2@twotribes.com with their Steam ID and a link to the post. Two Tribes will manually message players with a Steam key, doing so "as long as we feel is necessary."
Report: Day of the Tentacle remake '80 percent' done before LucasArts shutdown
A remastered Day of the Tentacle seems doomed to lie at the bottom of the ocean, despite being "80% done," according to a Kotaku source. A source reportedly "close to the project" told Kotaku that Day of the Tentacle was being remade with updated art and cutscenes, much like when its 90s adventure game sibling The Secret of Monkey Island got the same treatment in 2009. Although Kotaku's source referred to the Day of the Tentacle remaster as a "dream project" for many employees, the game was never technically greenlit, meaning even if it had been 100% completed, even if Disney hadn't shut down LucasArts, there's no guarantee it would have been released. And thus, the LucasArts Sadness Train keeps on rolling. Choo choo-awww.
EA Sports cancels 2014 college football game, is evaluating series' future [Update: EA settles lawsuit]
Electronic Arts has canceled its college football game, originally set to publish in 2014. EA Sports GM of American Football Cam Weber wrote in an EA blog that the publisher is "evaluating our plan for the future of the franchise." The news follows the NCAA's decision to not renew its licensing partnership with EA Sports in July, leading the publisher to move forward in a three-year deal with the Collegiate Licensing Company to create college football games without the NCAA names and marks. EA Sports' last published game in the series was NCAA Football 14. Weber notes that the publisher has "been stuck in the middle of a dispute between the NCAA and student-athletes who seek compensation for playing college football," referencing a string of lawsuits, including that of former Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller that began in May 2009. Weber says that while EA has worked to settle these legal issues, college football conferences such as the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12 withdrew their support for the upcoming game. "Our decision does not affect our commitment to NCAA Football 14 and the consumers who love playing the game," Weber adds. Update: EA and CLC have settled the aforementioned student athlete likeness lawsuit, according to a press release from The Lanier Law Firm, found after the break. "Based on this settlement and other recent court rulings, EA Sports has agreed to change the way it develops future games featuring NCAA athletes in order to protect the rights to their likenesses," the notice reads. Terms of the settlement will be submitted to the court for approval and does not involve the NCAA, which is still a defendant in the case.
Ouya Free the Games Fund project 'Elementary, My Dear Holmes' suspended by Kickstarter
The crowdfunding campaign for Elementary, My Dear Holmes was suspended by Kickstarter today. The point-and-click adventure game had already reached its $50,000 goal, earning $58,770 before its suspension, days before it was slated to end on September 13. The reasons for the project's suspension by Kickstarter are unclear, though the developer said it addressed concerns regarding "suspicious accounts" that supported the game. "When the uproar against Elementary, My Dear Holmes was brought up, we contacted Kickstarter and Amazon, asking them to investigate the accounts and take action accordingly," the game's creator Sam Chandola told backers. "We wanted to get on top of this and did not want anything to do with any of what was happening as it was an extremely negative campaign for us. Strong personal accusations were going up against us, and it was a huge drain on our time, energy and resources." Ouya announced its $1 million Free the Games Fund program in July as a means of encouraging developer support of its console by offering monetary rewards for successful Kickstarter-funded games that vow to remain Ouya-exclusive for six months. Elementary, My Dear Holmes was one of two games that reached its funding goals last week as part of the program. The other game, Gridiron Thunder, fell under scrutiny for the amount of funding it received from just 126 backers. According to Ouya, the project "successfully qualified to receive the match," and is still up on Kickstarter, sitting at $114,437 from 161 funders with 46 hours before the campaign ends.
