In prototype versions of McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure, the shops were McDonald's restaurants, and all the meters and power-ups in the game were McDonald's products. McDonald's burgers as health items in a game could be seen as endorsing them as a healthy food, so it was likely changed for the final game to avoid this perception, and while at the time Ronald McDonald was still seen holding or eating McDonald's in advertising, in later years he would be mandated against doing either.
Courage the Cowardly Dog: Creep TV has secret codes and levels that went undiscovered until 20 years after its release due to a glitch making them inaccessible. The "daScore" code, which shows a counter of how many ghosts you've zapped; and the "mirage" code, which expands the game map and allows access to secret levels - one where you can acquire glasses, and another that has a sign simply reading Eustace's catchphrase, "STUPID DOG!" - however, if you get the glasses then read the sign, it will instead say "Wee...amazing! You found it! GOOD DOG!"
Shortly after Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl's launch, the PC version of the game suffered a mysterious anomaly on its online modes informally known as the "items virus", where unfinished placeholder items would show up on the casual quickplay online mode, and then appear in offline modes with no way of turning them off except for restarting the game, all the while spreading the items to anyone you play with online.
Textures for Fire Emblem Heroes-themed wallpapers from before that game's reveal can be found in Miitomo's data. These textures were never used in the game as Miitomo ended services in May 2018.
Unused power-ups include an hourglass to slow down the Venom Brigade and a potion which would shrink them and render them harmless for a short time. They were scrapped due to being too similar to the final game's pickaxe powerup, but sprites for them were produced.
The Battle Cards from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories were intended to appear in Super Smash Flash 2. They would have summoned characters from Disney movies, with Genie; Stitch; and Jack Skellington being named as planned summons. The item was scrapped due to conceptually overlapping with Assist Trophies and Poké Balls.
At one point in the game's development, there was planned to be an item based on the character Buhdeuce the Duck from Breadwinners, a Nicktoon infamous for its over-reliance on loud sounds, 2010s slang, and gross-out humor - the item's purpose would be as a punching bag that would do nothing but scream. This was first revealed on the game's Discord server in a now-deleted post, initially being dismissed as a joke or a quickly-scrapped concept. However, upon the game's release, a placeholder item called the "Sleeper" was discovered in the code that served the exact same purpose that Buhdeuce was said to have had, alongside having the same circular shape as Buhdeuce, seemingly confirming that development work had indeed been done on the item. Come the items update, Buhdeuce was nowhere to be seen. It is unknown why he was scrapped, but it's possible that Nickelodeon may not have wanted content directly mocking one of their cartoons.
Original message has been deleted from the NASB Discord server, but the screenshot remains and you can find multiple comments from a variety of NASB-related outlets discussing Buhdeuce that predate the discovery of the Sleeper. Sleeper item graphics can be found on https://tcrf.net/Nickelodeon_All-Star_Brawl/Revisional_Differences#Sleeper
Like Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, Pokémon Platinum contains the unused Azure Flute item, which triggers a battle with a level 80 Arceus in the otherwise inaccessible Hall of Origin atop Spear Pillar. The event is almost identical to how it appears in Diamond & Pearl, with the sole difference being a redesigned sprite for Arceus. The Azure Flute was intended to be given out to players as an event item, but was scrapped due to concerns that it would be too confusing for players. Instead, Arceus was directly given out as an event Pokémon.
The music for the Hall of Origin and the battle against Arceus, which are carried over from Diamond and Pearl, go unused here too, but the latter song would be reused for the Sinjoh Ruins event in Pokémon Heart Gold & Soul Silver, where players can obtain a Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina if they have an Arceus at the front of their party. This event additionally contains code allowing it to be triggered by an Arceus from the Hall of Origin, indicating that Game Freak still considered distributing the Azure Flute this late into Generation IV. Spoiler:The Azure Flute and Hall of Origin would eventually be implemented in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, where players can access both if they import Pokémon Legends: Arceus save data after catching Arceus there.
An item called the Azure Flute is present in the game's data, but can't be legitimately accessed. Hacking the flute into one's inventory triggers a battle with a level 80 Arceus in the Hall of Origin, an otherwise unused area hidden above Spear Pillar. Both the Hall of Origin and the battle with Arceus feature unique themes, which also go unused in the normal course of play.
The Azure Flute was intended as an event item to be given out to players, much like the Event Card and Oak's Letter (which allow the player to fight Darkrai and Shaymin, respectively). However, Game Freak scrapped the idea upon concluding that it would be too confusing for players. Instead, Arceus was directly given out at events.
Arceus' battle theme would later be used for the Sinjoh Ruins event in Pokémon Heart Gold & Soul Silver where players can obtain a Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina if they have an Arceus as the first Pokémon in their party. This event additionally contains code allowing it to be triggered by an Arceus from the Hall of Origin, indicating that Game Freak still considered distributing the Azure Flute this late into Generation IV. Spoiler:The Azure Flute item and its corresponding event would eventually be implemented in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, where players can access both by importing save data from Pokémon Legends: Arceus after catching Arceus there.
One of the key features from the underwater levels of Crash Bandicoot: Warped (the Jet-Sub) was slated to return in The Huge Adventure based on a pre-release screenshot, however it appears in no capacity in the final version of the game.
A prototype version of this game contained an item, called "Flametrail", which is not present in the final release of the game. It is theorised this item would use the jet engines of the ship as a means of damaging other ships.
An unused set of Enclave Power Armor can be found in the game files and spawned in-game, utilizing console commands.
The stats differ and the armor set carries the file name, "Robo-Thor Armor", evidently a reference to Marvel Comic's Thor, as the armor helmet has a unique design reflective of Thor's own signature helmet.
In the files of WWE 2K22 can be found base dialogue and social media interactions for a scrapped female MyRISE storyline that would have seen Bray Wyatt possess Dana Brooke and turning her into “The Shiend”, to get revenge on his former associate Alexa Bliss. The storyline would have included a Hell In a Cell match between Alexa Bliss and "The Shiend", and a "Elimination Chamber of Horrors" match. A "Firefly Funhouse set" area can also be found in the game's files that would have presumably been used in some of this story's cutscenes.
This storyline was ultimately scrapped as Windham Rotunda (Bray Wyatt) was released from WWE on July 31st, 2021 due to "budget cuts".
Within the game's files is a gun with the model ID "WP_A_9999" that when loaded is revealed to bear an identical resemblance to the Lancer from Gears of War, originally released as an Xbox 360 exclusive. It's unknown why this weapon wasn't removed from the game considering how out of place it is with the rest of Demon's Souls, but the most likely theory is that it was leftover test data originally stemming from when From Software developed the Xbox 360 exclusive Chromehounds.
In 2019, a tutorial video was recovered from a deleted hard drive. The tutorial video included a powerup known as the Fujita Frenzy that allows the tornado to instantly grow in size and destroy larger buildings.
Although there are a total of 20 unused Mini-Cons in the game's data, most of them are just text strings. However, two were extensively worked on before being scrapped. The first one was called "Endgame" and would have summoned large "holes in the fabric of space" that would have sucked enemies and objects into them. The second dropped Mini-Con is called "Bug-Out" and would have called upon "Emergency Warp Gates". Although Endgame was scrapped, his model was reused for in-game Mini-Cons Discord, Twister, and Overwatch.
There are unused pieces of data and strings in the game that suggest a 2-Player local VS. mode was planned that didn't end up in the retail release of the game.
Superfrog was originally going to gain powers from drinking Newcastle Brown Ale, but this was changed to Lucozade in the final release.
In prototype versions of McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure, the shops were McDonald's restaurants, and all the meters and power-ups in the game were McDonald's products. McDonald's burgers as health items in a game could be seen as endorsing them as a healthy food, so it was likely changed for the final game to avoid this perception, and while at the time Ronald McDonald was still seen holding or eating McDonald's in advertising, in later years he would be mandated against doing either.
Stranger was originally intended to have a type of live ammo from critters known as Surge Bugs, but they were dropped for unknown reasons.
Unused power-ups include an hourglass to slow down the Venom Brigade and a potion which would shrink them and render them harmless for a short time. They were scrapped due to being too similar to the final game's pickaxe powerup, but sprites for them were produced.
Some cut bonus items include a candle, diamond, emerald, and drill. However, the candle was reused for the 2016's mode bonus items.
The Battle Cards from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories were intended to appear in Super Smash Flash 2. They would have summoned characters from Disney movies, with Genie; Stitch; and Jack Skellington being named as planned summons. The item was scrapped due to conceptually overlapping with Assist Trophies and Poké Balls.
At one point in the game's development, there was planned to be an item based on the character Buhdeuce the Duck from Breadwinners, a Nicktoon infamous for its over-reliance on loud sounds, 2010s slang, and gross-out humor - the item's purpose would be as a punching bag that would do nothing but scream. This was first revealed on the game's Discord server in a now-deleted post, initially being dismissed as a joke or a quickly-scrapped concept. However, upon the game's release, a placeholder item called the "Sleeper" was discovered in the code that served the exact same purpose that Buhdeuce was said to have had, alongside having the same circular shape as Buhdeuce, seemingly confirming that development work had indeed been done on the item. Come the items update, Buhdeuce was nowhere to be seen. It is unknown why he was scrapped, but it's possible that Nickelodeon may not have wanted content directly mocking one of their cartoons.
Like Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, Pokémon Platinum contains the unused Azure Flute item, which triggers a battle with a level 80 Arceus in the otherwise inaccessible Hall of Origin atop Spear Pillar. The event is almost identical to how it appears in Diamond & Pearl, with the sole difference being a redesigned sprite for Arceus. The Azure Flute was intended to be given out to players as an event item, but was scrapped due to concerns that it would be too confusing for players. Instead, Arceus was directly given out as an event Pokémon.
An item called the Azure Flute is present in the game's data, but can't be legitimately accessed. Hacking the flute into one's inventory triggers a battle with a level 80 Arceus in the Hall of Origin, an otherwise unused area hidden above Spear Pillar. Both the Hall of Origin and the battle with Arceus feature unique themes, which also go unused in the normal course of play.
One of the key features from the underwater levels of Crash Bandicoot: Warped (the Jet-Sub) was slated to return in The Huge Adventure based on a pre-release screenshot, however it appears in no capacity in the final version of the game.
A prototype version of this game contained an item, called "Flametrail", which is not present in the final release of the game. It is theorised this item would use the jet engines of the ship as a means of damaging other ships.
An unused set of Enclave Power Armor can be found in the game files and spawned in-game, utilizing console commands.
In the files of WWE 2K22 can be found base dialogue and social media interactions for a scrapped female MyRISE storyline that would have seen Bray Wyatt possess Dana Brooke and turning her into “The Shiend”, to get revenge on his former associate Alexa Bliss. The storyline would have included a Hell In a Cell match between Alexa Bliss and "The Shiend", and a "Elimination Chamber of Horrors" match. A "Firefly Funhouse set" area can also be found in the game's files that would have presumably been used in some of this story's cutscenes.
Within the game's files is a gun with the model ID "WP_A_9999" that when loaded is revealed to bear an identical resemblance to the Lancer from Gears of War, originally released as an Xbox 360 exclusive. It's unknown why this weapon wasn't removed from the game considering how out of place it is with the rest of Demon's Souls, but the most likely theory is that it was leftover test data originally stemming from when From Software developed the Xbox 360 exclusive Chromehounds.
