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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
subdirectory_arrow_right Gyakuten Saiban (Game)
5
One early idea for the game involved Phoenix Wright being an anthropomorphic hamster character. Later versions of the character would give him a hamster as a pet, but this was ultimately cut in the final release.
Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
1
The game has received criticism for the poor quality of its English dub and some questionable voiceover lines, leading to accusations that the game was made using AI manipulation. The English voice actor for Kawaki, Michael Schwalbe, reacted negatively to select clips of his voice that were chosen for the game, but did not directly accuse the developers of using AI. He stated that since the game's voice cast was unionized, generative AI could not be used in the game while "unknown to the talent involved" without violating union agreements. Bandai Namco Entertainment later issued a statement confirming that the lines in question were not AI generated, but the result of inconsistent issues during the editing and mastering process.
person ProtoSnake calendar_month December 17, 2023
New Naruto fighting game receives backlash for questionable redub, raising eyebrows over potential AI voiceover: "I can guarantee I did not say that line that way":
https://www.gamesradar.com/new-naruto-fighting-game-receives-backlash-for-questionable-redub-raising-eyebrows-over-potential-ai-voiceover-i-can-guarantee-i-did-not-say-that-line-that-way/

Naruto game accused of using AI voice-over is just sloppy editing, admits Bandai:
https://www.polygon.com/23978516/naruto-ai-voice-over-controversy-sloppy-bandai-admits
Radiant Silvergun
3
According to developer Hiroshi Iuchi, the reason that Radiant Silvergun features no power-ups is because he thought items in shoot ‘em up games like Thunder Force or Gradius could often result in cheap deaths, and he wished to streamline how players switched between their ship's guns in an effort to create a game that progressed through just shooting and dodging:

"There’s been many previous games where you swap weapons, so adding a button just for switching weapons seemed too boring, and you always have to be keeping track of where your weapon gauge is. I wanted something where the way you used your hands was managed mentally. If the different weapons were all based on finger combinations, you wouldn’t need to visually confirm weapons, you’d just automatically know what you were using.

We also deliberately made the bullets slow. If you’re going for a gameplay style that involves threading through tiny cracks in bullet curtains, then a slower bullet speed will allow a wider audience to enjoy the pleasure of bullet dodging."
Bakuretsu Muteki Bangai-O
2
Originally Bangai-O was set to have a "woman planet" at some point in development, or the idea was at least thought of by developers. The map designer on the game, Koichi Kimura, specifically stated:

"It doesn’t appear in the game, but there is a 女星 (josei, “woman-planet”) too! But my image for it was like, everything’s colored in pink for some reason, and there’s some annoying melody going “pa-ra-ra, pa-ra-ra-ra~” always playing in the background… and well, I thought we might be getting into sexual harassment territory here if we included this, so I dropped it."
Gex Trilogy
1
Attachment On July 14, 2023 Limited Run Games, the publishers of Gex Trilogy, posted a meme to their official Twitter account to promote Gex Trilogy. The meme shows a picture of a man staring into a mirror with Gex shown in his reflection with the caption "visualizing in the mirror the man I want to become:" The template existed as a popular meme before Limited Run Games posted the image.
sell
Baldur's Gate 3
1
In a December 15, 2023 article published in PC Gamer, Swen Vincke, the CEO of Larian Studios, revealed that the Dungeons & Dragons team he initially worked with on the game was now gone due to Hasbro layoffs. The layoffs resulted in a significant reduction in the number of people working on the game, with Vincke stating that "there’s almost nobody left".
The Last of Us Part II
subdirectory_arrow_right The Last of Us (Franchise)
1
Attachment At E3 2018, it was initially confirmed that The Last of Us Part II would feature a multiplayer mode, following the Factions online multiplayer mode featured in The Last of Us that received more uniformly positive praise from fans and critics compared to the main game. However, in September 2019, the same month the PlayStation 3 servers for the original Factions mode were shut down, it was revealed that Part II would solely focus on a single-player narrative, and that development on the multiplayer mode had been spun-off from the main game to continue work separately. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Naughty Dog increased job openings related to the multiplayer mode's development and continued seeking out additional staff to work on it, implying that it had increased in scope to a full game.

At Summer Game Fest 2022, Neil Druckmann showed off the game's first piece of concept art and confirmed that they were working on it as its own game, revealing that the team's ambitious scope had caused it to be "as big" as the single-player modes. The game would feature its own storyline that would be told in a unique way compared to the previous two games, take place in a new location in the United States (presumably San Francisco based on the art featuring the South of Market neighborhood and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge), and feature brand new characters.

The development of the game, which was later revealed in 2023 to be named "The Last of Us Online", was led by co-game directors Anthony Newman and Vinit Agarwal, and narrative lead Joseph Pettinati. Starting with the Summer Game Fest appearance, Druckmann reiterated that more details on the game would be revealed in 2023, and shared a second piece of concept art in January of that year.

In May, it was revealed in a Bloomberg article that Sony had scaled back development on the game and moved many of its developers to other projects, with Naughty Dog putting out their own statement on Twitter shortly after the article's release which revealed that they "realized what's best for the game is to give it more time." As a result of Sony's more recent heavy investments into "games as a service" (GaaS) products in an attempt to centralize control over and make more money on its games after release, they requested Bungie, a studio which Sony had recently acquired in July 2022, to re-evaluate the game. Bungie questioned its ability to maintain player engagement for long periods of time, which was ultimately what caused Sony to intervene.

According to Naughty Dog in a December 2023 blog post, the entire time since the multiplayer mode was first being worked on for The Last of Us Part II in 2018, The Last of Us Online had still been in pre-production, with the multiplayer developers' vision changing and taking time to form into something they were more satisfied with. With Sony's GaaS investments affecting the game, if they wanted to put the game into full production, they would need to take all of their resources away from the single-player games they had become known for and switch to a fully live service model with the ability to put out long-term post-launch content updates.

After Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells retired in July, the company faced an internal restructuring, eventually leading to at least 25 contracted developers being laid off from Naughty Dog's staff in October, contributing to a wave of layoffs across the video game industry at the time. With a reduced, restructured workforce and other major upcoming single-player projects at the helm, Naughty Dog was inequipped to become a live service studio, and announced in December that they cancelled the development of The Last of Us Online after more than three years of work.
person ProtoSnake calendar_month December 17, 2023
E3 2018 confirmation article:
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-2-has-multiplayer-naughty-dog-confi/1100-6459784/

Multiplayer standalone game update articles:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/features/the-last-of-us-part-2-exclusive-interview-neil-druckmann-ellie/
https://www.vg247.com/the-last-of-us-part-2-wont-have-multiplayer-after-all-update

Naughty Dog tweet confirming continued development:
https://twitter.com/naughty_dog/status/1177392945458286595

Naughty Dog multiplayer job listings increase article and blog post:
https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/celebrating_the_last_of_us_day_2021
https://www.ign.com/articles/naughty-dog-on-the-last-of-us-multiplayer-project-in-short-were-working-on-it

Summer Game Fest 2022 announcement and first piece of concept art:
https://www.polygon.com/23161755/the-last-of-us-part-2-tlou2-multiplayer-release
https://www.ign.com/articles/the-last-of-us-standalone-multiplayer-game-new-details-story-concept-art
https://www.gamesradar.com/the-last-of-us-is-getting-a-standalone-multiplayer-game/
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-last-of-us-multiplayer-game-new-story-large-naughty-dog/

Second piece of concept art:
https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/the_last_of_us_10th_anniversary_kickoff

Development scaling back article:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-26/-last-of-us-multiplayer-video-game-faces-setbacks-at-sony

Naughty Dog co-president retirement and restructuring:
https://kotaku.com/naughty-dog-neil-druckmann-evan-wells-tlou-president-1850633642
https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/neil_druckmann_naughty_dog_studio_leadership_team

October layoffs article:
https://kotaku.com/naughty-dog-ps5-playstation-sony-last-us-part-3-layoffs-1850893794

Naughty Dog statement on scaling back development:
https://twitter.com/Naughty_Dog/status/1662166716892479488

Cancellation articles and blog post:
https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/an_update_on_the_last_of_us_online
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/14/24002141/naughty-dog-the-last-of-us-online-multiplayer-canceled
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-last-of-us-online-finally-cancelled-because-naughty-dog-thinks-it-will-severely-impact-development-on-future-single-player-games/
1
In 2023, Activision Blizzard was ordered to pay $35 million by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its failures to maintain proper workplace disclosure controls and violations of whistleblower protections. The fine was imposed due to the company’s failure to ensure proper employee protections against workplace harassment and gender discrimination, which led to many women leaving the company. The SEC used a 2021 lawsuit by the state of California’s Civil Rights Department against Activision Blizzard to launch its own investigation meant to determine whether the firm’s handling of the situation constituted a breach of its fiduciary duty to investors. The proceedings were started after the company’s home state charged it with violations of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act in summer 2021.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2
In a 1999 interview published in a Japanese strategy guide for Ocarina of Time, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that Chain Chomps from the Super Mario Bros. series were planned to appear as enemies in Gerudo's Fortress. According to Miyamoto, the Chain Chomps would be able to capture Link and wrap him up in chains, requiring him to use the Megaton Hammer to break them and free himself. Chain Chomps were present up until the final revisions of the game; Miyamoto did not explain why they were removed.
Star Fox Adventures
1
Attachment Originally, going by some of the initial concept art as well as early gameplay footage for Star Fox Adventures, the tip of Krystal's staff was meant to transform whenever Fox performed one of its magic abilities. For example, when Fox performed the Ground Quake ability, it'd transform into a hammer. Curiously, one of the pieces of concept art mentions the staff transforming into a wing tip to give Fox the ability to glide, which goes unused in the final game. The models for these staff transformations were also found within the E3 2002 kiosk version of Star Fox Adventures. Ultimately, this went unused in the final game.
person Dinoman96 calendar_month December 16, 2023
SFA concept art:
https://imgur.com/a/OtnVRSg#ZaUTRtz

SFA Space World 2001 trailer showing Krystal's staff tip transforming into a hammer when Fox performs the Ground Quake ability:
https://youtu.be/OliAnoALccg?t=15

Unused Staff End Tips:
https://www.models-resource.com/gamecube/starfoxadventures/model/20685/
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
2
The Master Sword was named after King Arthur's legendary sword "Excalibur" in the French version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The name Excalibur would also be used in the French versions of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
person Twilight Sparkle calendar_month December 16, 2023
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - "Excalibur retrouvera, préservant la pureté de la lignée des Chevaliers.":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5saXnUkPzMY

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - "Vous obtenez Excalibur! Excalibur est l'Epée Légendaire du Héros du Temps, qui a le pouvoir de repousser le mal.":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI2ArNpV6Ag#t=2146

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - "En cet endroit secret repose Excalibur, l'épée pourfendeuse du mal forgée par les sages des temps anciens.":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgXIupUStTo#t=1483
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
subdirectory_arrow_right The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Game)
1
According to Eiji Aonuma, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was inspired by "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy, as he wanted the game world to be vast enough to match expectations fantasy audiences had at the time:

"It's undeniably big, but I believe all those fun elements which make up this world justify this size. Now that we have finished, I feel that with a generation accustomed to watching epic films like Lord of the Rings, when you want to design a convincing world that sort of vast scale becomes necessary."
Sea of Stars
4
Originally, YouTuber Jirard Khalil (most famous for his webseries "The Completionist") made a cameo in Sea of Stars as an NPC named "Jirard the Constructionist", who you could donate building plans to to help construct new buildings in the town of Mirth as part of the "Home Neat Home" achievement. This cameo came after Khalil had previously featured unique builds of Sea of Stars, including one featuring Jirard the Constructionist, during his annual indie game spotlight charity event "IndieLand", which was run by his official charity organization, the Open Hand Foundation. In November 2023, a few months after the game's release, Khalil was accused of committing charity fraud through the organization, spawning a controversy that prompted the game's developers to release a patch for the game that removed his cameo, and replacing him with a generic NPC named Bob. Considering Bob is a builder, this new character may be a reference to the children's animated series "Bob the Builder".
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month December 16, 2023
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
1
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, like the first game, contains unused calls from the announcer. Interestingly, a good chunk of these voice calls are for characters who could be clones or otherwise have a similar body shape to playable fighters, such as DoodleBob, Dark Danny Phantom, Nermal, Abrasive SpongeBob, Squilliam Fancyson, and La Tigresa. Perhaps most interestingly, Lucy Loud's ghost ancestor, Lucille Loud, is the only The Loud House character with an unused announcer line, despite the show's protagonist Lincoln having been cut from the first NASB and the show being based on a large ensemble cast of sisters. Michelangelo and Leonardo are the only cut veterans from the first game with unused announcer voice clips. None of them are from new shows, with a technical exception in the form of the name "Tak", which most likely refers to the Invader Zim character, as she would fit a clone role being an Irken invader like Zim, but could also potentially be for the titular character from the Tak series, though this is unlikely given that the game series had effectively been abandoned by Nickelodeon following the cancellation of its animated series in 2009.

Strangely, before the unused voice lines were dumped and publically uploaded to the internet, an almost entirely accurate list circulated online with Goku from Dragon Ball listed as an announcer call, likely a meme-based in-joke regardless of if it is real or fake, a name which was not included when the voice calls got datamined proper.
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month December 16, 2023
Yoshi's Island DS
2
Attachment The Japanese and Korean releases radically alter the final boss theme, adding a second movement and raising the pitch of the French horn soundfont. This version of the music also changes the loop to start at the added portion rather than going back to the beginning of the song. The extent of these changes implies that the music was unfinished when the original international release came out.
Yoshi's Island DS
1
Attachment While Flashing Eggs make cameos in the Secret Level "Yoshi's Island Easter Eggs", they are out of Yoshi's reach due to them being embedded in the ceiling at the start of each room. Hacking the game to let Yoshi use them shows that they are fully coded and retain their functionality from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, producing a Red Coin when thrown at an enemy or Winged Cloud.
Scribblenauts Unlimited
2
Attachment In Scribblenauts Unlimited, there is a mission where the player must help a penguin wearing Maxwell's rooster hat steal a diamond. This is a reference to the Wallace & Gromit animated short film The Wrong Trousers, in which a notorious penguin criminal named Feathers McGraw attempts to steal a diamond by disguising as a rooster using a rubber glove as a hat.
Taiko no Tatsujin Arcade
2
On April Fools Day, 2021, Taiko no Tatsujin's Twitter Account posted a QR Code, along with a foreboding conversation between Don-Chan and Ka-Chan. By scanning this QR Code on a compatible Arcade Cabinet, the unique song "彁" (pronounced "Ka") by composer LeaF is unlocked. A harder Hidden Oni difficulty was distributed via QR Code the next year on the same day. The song is notable for a few reasons:

• "彁" is currently the only song in the game that is unlocked through scanning a QR Code; all other Codes provide cosmetic options for Don-Chan. Likewise, the song is added to a genre folder separate from the rest of the game's music, labeled as "Hidden Data", with the subtitle translating to "That's No Good".

• The name of the song technically does not exist. "彁" is a "Ghost Character", a character that exists in Unicode, but does not anywhere else. While other Ghost Characters have some sort of explanation for their existence, "彁" has no definitive source. Its pronounciation of "Ka" was provided by LeaF herself, as the character otherwise has none.

• Upon selecting the song's Hidden Oni chart, a unique transition effect plays with glitchy effects. No other song in the game has a unique animation for going from Oni to Hidden Oni difficulty.

• The Hidden Oni Chart is considered one of the hardest songs in the series. This is attributed to a heavy utilization of multiple scrolling speeds and polyrhythmic patterns. Only one individual is known to have full comboed it when it first debuted.
person aa1205 calendar_month December 15, 2023
River City Girls
3
Kyoko's flurry kick features her shouting "ora ora ora," referencing Jotaro Kujo's battle cry in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise. Kyoko's voice actor, Kira Buckland, is a noted fan of JoJo and previously voiced Reimi Sugimoto in the English dub of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable. Incidentally, Buckland would later go on to voice Jolyne Cujoh, whose battle cry is also "ora ora ora," in the English dub of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean.
person VinchVolt calendar_month December 15, 2023
Clip showing Kyoko's "ora ora ora" voice clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF27uHr-r3Y

Clip showing the "ora ora ora" battle cry as used by both Jotaro and Jolyne:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDNMnafLcTQ

Behind the Voice Actors page listing Buckland's voice acting credits:
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Kira-Buckland/

Interview with Buckland which mentions her longtime status as a JoJo fan:
https://jojo-news.com/2021/12/16/an-exclusive-interview-with-jolyne-voice-actress-kira-buckland/
Sonic Underground
3
The story section of Sonic Underground's manual has numerous inconsistencies with the plot of the show it's based on, though are still featured in early production documents. These include:

• Robotnik at one point being referred to as "Sheriff Robotnik", likely a reference to the Sheriff of Nottingham from the legend of Robin Hood. He does not bare this title in the show itself; early leaks to the show's plot prior to release also reference his role as a sheriff, suggesting it was a scrapped concept from early on in development.
• The Oracle of Delphius being banished to the Frozen Wastes by Robotnik and passing away from unknown causes sometime after, telling Sonic how to reunite with his siblings in his dying breath. While the Oracle does take up residence in Ice Cap in the final show, he was not banished there, nor does he ever die.
• The Medallions being stated to be golden, but in the final show they bare a more silver coloration. Another detail stated in the manual but not in the final show is that they each possess three notes engraved into them.
• Robotnik's given motive for finding Queen Aleena is so that he can marry her and make her his consort, as he believes that by doing so he can become the rightful ruler of Mobius. While not his overall motive in the final show, the episode "Wedding Bell Blues" did use a similar premise for its plot.
• While not in early production documents, the game's manual states that it ends with Sonic, Manic and Sonia reuniting with their mother, which never actually happened in the original show, making it the only piece of Sonic Underground-related media where this goal is actually accomplished.
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month December 15, 2023
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