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Explosive Fighter Patton from 1988 is believed to be the first video game to use the swear word "fuck", referring to the Famicom Disk System as the "fucking box". It is not known if this is an in-joke or a translation error.
This is followed by Skweek for Amstrad CPC in 1989, whose development builds leaked to the UK market, featuring a variety of vulgar in-joke placeholder phrases. The swearing version of the game has not known to be preserved, but it is alleged that one of these quotes was "fuck your mother!". This would make it the first use of "fuck" to be known for a fact to have been intentional, even if its distribution wasn't.
1990's Paranoia, the Japanese version of Psychosis features an 8-bit sound effect upon stage clear that appears to be made to evoke the phrase "fuck you!", which is played in accompaniment with an alien flipping the bird. This is technically the first vocalized use of "fuck", but is not a recording of a human voice, and is the first for-a-fact intentionally included use of "fuck".
1991's Llamatron contained a voice sample of the word "oh, fuck!" which was cut off. A glitch made it so that if you paused the game upon dying, it would play uncensored, making it the first clear vocalised use of "fuck", even if still not intentionally added.
1995's The Orion Conspiracy contains one of the earliest known uses of "fuck" that was clearly spoken, uncensored, and known for a fact to not be an oversight. Also of note is Discworld, released in the same year, having an Easter egg referencing John Cleese's 1989 eulogy to the late Monty Python member Graham Chapman. While both games released in the same year, it is unknown which game came out first as Discworld is the only one of the two to have a known release date, coming out on March 17, 1995.
"Reverence" was one of the last announced projects by Cyberdreams, but never made it past the Alpha phase before the company's closure. The game saw the player being chosen by the gods themselves to help determine the future of the human race, whom the gods believed to have grown too apathetic and unjust to live. It was intended to be a first-person shooter game, with the player wielding a variety of guns and spells as they traveled through four different realms to decide the fate of humanity. Each realm was modelled after a real life mythological god, those being Osiris (Egyptian god of the underworld), Kokyangwuti (Hopi goddess of life), Freyja (Norse goddess of love), and Manjursi (Tibetan god of wisdom). While the game itself was cancelled, a playable prototype was leaked in 2015.
In August 2015, location tests for DanceDanceRevolution (2014) were held in North America. This marked both the first time the series was location tested in North America since Dance Dance Revolution X2 and the first time eAMUSEMENT was officially supported in the region. The English translation was a more completed version of the one present in the Korean version. Furthermore, 47 songs were removed from this version due to copyright restrictions, mostly being licensed songs from previous entries and all the "U.M.UXBEMANI" songs.
In the end, DanceDanceRevolution (2014) was not released in North America, with the following game Dance Dance Revolution A becoming the first Arcade release in North America since Dance Dance Revolution X2.
A prototype for Barkley: Shut Up & Jam 2 shows that, instead of the photo used in the final game, the title screen was going to show a cartoon illustration of Charles Barkley.
During the 2006 Game Developers Conference (GDC) where Sony Computer Entertainment showcased a new demo for Resistance, the game previously known as "I-8". The demo showed the game in a much more complete form than the simple FPS that was shown at E3 2005. The gameplay was shown with new weapons very much like the Ratchet & Clank series, only now with a more realistic slant. The demo also showed off effects such as smoke trails on grenades, tactical troop movements, and enemies that came from the ceilings as the lead character ran down a devastated corridor.
Argonaut Software's Starglider games released in the 1980s, which were first-person combat flight simulators rendered with wireframe vector graphics, inspired them to come up with a prototype that would eventually lead to the creation of the first Star Fox. They created a prototype for the Nintendo Entertainment System codenamed as "NESGlider" that was based on the original game, utilizing a similar method to accelerate graphics to how the Super FX chip for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System later would. When they showed this prototype to Nintendo in 1990, they were instead advised to port and develop the game for the then-upcoming SNES. After Argonauts did that, Nintendo declared that this was the best 3D graphics the console could produce and that they hadn't designed the SNES with 3D games in mind. Argonaut staff suggested that if they wanted better, then they should let them design a 3D chip for them, and thus the Super FX chip was born.
Star Fox 64's development began with a series of experiments by character designer Takaya Imamura and programmer Kazuaki Morita. As Morita was new to 3D programming, creating something entirely new was difficult, and to make matters worse, they didn't have the final N64 hardware itself to work with, instead having to utilize a bulky dev computer and a modified SNES controller. The pair decided to begin development by porting the original Star Fox, which they thought would be better for easing into 3D. As this was Morita's first attempt at learning 3D, he began with inputting his own data and placing objects like cubes on a course, and then launched basic-looking Arwings. This prototype was affectionately named "Star Box".
A prototype for Color a Dinosaur shows that the game was originally called Paint Me! and used black backgrounds instead of white. Despite the title not signifying that the game features dinosaurs, there is nothing to suggest that the game was ever going to feature any pages other than dinosaurs, as all the pages on the prototype are also dinosaurs.
A prototype exists for a US version of the original Japan-exclusive Puzzle Bobble known as Bubble Buster which removes the Bubble Bobble elements outright, as it was a very common practice for puzzle games at the time. This is somewhat unusual, because no replacement characters were provided, unlike localisations such as Tetris Attack, and Bubble Bobble had already proven itself to be a popular brand in the American market at the time. The logo for Bubble Buster would serve as the basis for the logo of the Neo Geo arcade remake's US release, Bust-A-Move, though that did not remove the Bubble Bobble characters.
The prototype for Virtual Bart shows an ending screen at the end of the credits instead of just the player's score. It is a crudely written "THE END" in cursive with the nonsensical text "You are a true Bart Simpson" alongside the score. The "You are a true Bart Simpson" text is in the final game's code.
In a prototype for Virtual Bart, an early version of the cutscene that plays before the tomato-throwing minigame can be seen. This cutscene shows Bart with a devious smirk, which was likely redrawn for going against Simpsons style guide rules against "demonic expressions"
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When Software Creations' SNES Batman pitch first leaked, its ROM header was modified to read "Real Shitty Batman!"
South Park: Chef's Luv Shack has an unused minigame called WBALL, where the boys would throw water balloons at passerby from a tall building. It exists in the PlayStation version and a prototype of the Dreamcast version, but it is not currently known to be playable.
While Super Donkey is thought to have ultimately evolved into Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the project was likely tossed around as a Mario or Zelda game at various points in development.
Various development assets associated with Super Donkey, which were uncovered alongside the prototype in the 2020 Gigaleak, include sprites and animations for Link, Mario, and Donkey Kong; the animation files for Link are dated to fall 1990, while Mario's animation files are dated to winter of that year. Additional files for all three characters span overlapping periods in 1991. Link's sprites and animations indicate that Super Donkey was at one point planned to be a side-scrolling Zelda title similar to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, while Mario's animations imply that the iteration that starred him and Donkey Kong eventually morphed into the 1994 Game Boy title Donkey Kong.
In JAEPO 2020, Konami unveiled two new rhythm arcade titles that were never released:
• "NEW pop'n music Welcome to Wonderland!" was created as a reboot to the long standing "pop'n music" series. The game used a different arcade cabinet with smaller buttons and a touch panel meant for new slide notes. Aesthetically, the game also utilized 3D models for the characters as opposed to 2D sprites. Both licensed songs exclusive to this cabinet, "Phantom Joke" and "少年よ我に帰れ", were added to "pop'n music peace" on August 3rd, 2020.
• "jubeat (2020)" was also meant to be a reboot, this time to the identically-named "jubeat" series. Unlike "Welcome to Wonderland", the gameplay remained identical between it and previous entries. The arcade cabinet itself was roughly 1.2X the size of previous iterations and ran at 60 fps, as opposed to 30fps. The cabinets also supported music videos and would have come in several colors. In 2021, a mobile version of jubeat released utilizing similar aesthetics to this cancelled version. 2022 saw the release of a new iteration, "jubeat Ave.", which utilized the previous arcade technology.
There were two evaluations held in which children less than 12 years old played a prototype version of the game. Based on the results, children who enjoyed playing the game were more likely to gain an interest in acquiring information on tobacco and its effects on people.
In a 2023 leak of unreleased content from different iOS games, an app titled Angry Birds Island - or alternatively Angry Birds Hatchery - was discovered. The prototype was simply a version of the original Angry Birds with two major differences •A mode called "Hatchery", which shows an overworld map of an island with a row at the bottom of toys and furniture •The first two worlds of the original game, but with an option to select from a set of birds, all of which appear to be hybrids of the regular birds This seemingly implies some kind of pet simulator mode with an egg breeding mechanic, not unlike the Chao Gardens from the Sonic Adventure series. It is unknown if this was planned as an update for Angry Birds or a new spin-off.
In 2013, a Kingdom Hearts online mobile game was in development that never saw the light of day. It was to be called "Kingdom Hearts: Fragmented Keys". The game was rumored to feature customizable avatar characters (like Union Cross). It would also have been in 3D instead of Union cross' 2D art style. Most interesting and exciting of all though (gathered from concept art no less) was the Disney world list as the game would feature returning worlds like: Agrabah, Wonderland, a Lilo & Stitch Hawaii world, Space Paranoids/The Grid, London/Neverland, and Dwarf Woodlands. It also included worlds that didn't appear in the series yet but would appear in later games like Union Cross and Kingdom Hearts III, such as: Arendell (Frozen), Kingdom of Corona (Tangled), and Niceland/Game Central Station (Wreck-It Ralph). Finally, and most shockingly, a world based on the Star Wars franchise, although this world's chronology is unknown as concept art show different conflicting eras, such as an image of characters Anakin, Obi-wan, Padme, and Master Yoda in their exact looks from Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and series in a separatist gunship's hanger as well as a planet that looks similar to Tatooine and an anachronistic Death Star power station room. It is unknown why this game was cancelled.
The Atari 2600 version of Klax - also the final official release of the Atari 2600's lifespan, releasing in 1990 - was planned for release in the US, as proven by the existence of at least 9 NTSC prototypes using the final ROM, but only came out in PAL regions, likely due to the 2600's waning popularity going into the 1990s.
A prototype for Barkley: Shut Up & Jam 2 shows that, instead of the photo used in the final game, the title screen was going to show a cartoon illustration of Charles Barkley.
A prototype for Color a Dinosaur shows that the game was originally called Paint Me! and used black backgrounds instead of white. Despite the title not signifying that the game features dinosaurs, there is nothing to suggest that the game was ever going to feature any pages other than dinosaurs, as all the pages on the prototype are also dinosaurs.
A prototype exists for a US version of the original Japan-exclusive Puzzle Bobble known as Bubble Buster which removes the Bubble Bobble elements outright, as it was a very common practice for puzzle games at the time. This is somewhat unusual, because no replacement characters were provided, unlike localisations such as Tetris Attack, and Bubble Bobble had already proven itself to be a popular brand in the American market at the time. The logo for Bubble Buster would serve as the basis for the logo of the Neo Geo arcade remake's US release, Bust-A-Move, though that did not remove the Bubble Bobble characters.
The prototype for Virtual Bart shows an ending screen at the end of the credits instead of just the player's score. It is a crudely written "THE END" in cursive with the nonsensical text "You are a true Bart Simpson" alongside the score. The "You are a true Bart Simpson" text is in the final game's code.
In a prototype for Virtual Bart, an early version of the cutscene that plays before the tomato-throwing minigame can be seen. This cutscene shows Bart with a devious smirk, which was likely redrawn for going against Simpsons style guide rules against "demonic expressions"
In a 2023 leak of unreleased content from different iOS games, an app titled Angry Birds Island - or alternatively Angry Birds Hatchery - was discovered. The prototype was simply a version of the original Angry Birds with two major differences
Early designs of the Toadies in the ys_romX_0 prototype of the game show that they originally resembled Snifits.
In 2013, a Kingdom Hearts online mobile game was in development that never saw the light of day. It was to be called "Kingdom Hearts: Fragmented Keys". The game was rumored to feature customizable avatar characters (like Union Cross). It would also have been in 3D instead of Union cross' 2D art style. Most interesting and exciting of all though (gathered from concept art no less) was the Disney world list as the game would feature returning worlds like: Agrabah, Wonderland, a Lilo & Stitch Hawaii world, Space Paranoids/The Grid, London/Neverland, and Dwarf Woodlands. It also included worlds that didn't appear in the series yet but would appear in later games like Union Cross and Kingdom Hearts III, such as: Arendell (Frozen), Kingdom of Corona (Tangled), and Niceland/Game Central Station (Wreck-It Ralph). Finally, and most shockingly, a world based on the Star Wars franchise, although this world's chronology is unknown as concept art show different conflicting eras, such as an image of characters Anakin, Obi-wan, Padme, and Master Yoda in their exact looks from Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and series in a separatist gunship's hanger as well as a planet that looks similar to Tatooine and an anachronistic Death Star power station room. It is unknown why this game was cancelled.
