Trivia Browser
subdirectory_arrow_right Epic Games (Company)
▲
1
▼
In May 2024, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) fined Epic Games €1,125,000 for using "unfair commercial practices" aimed at children in Fortnite. The investigation found that Epic Games "exploited [the] vulnerabilities" of children through design choices in the game's Item Shop. Examples include the use of demanding phrases like "get it now" or "buy now" on certain advertisements, which the ACM deemed an "illegal aggressive commercial practice", as well as countdown timers that were used on some ads for items still available in the shop after the countdown ended, exploiting a fear of missing out by making items that were still available for sale falsely seem scarce. Epic Games immediately made changes to the game in response to this report, including removing countdown timers worldwide and adding time indicators for shop refreshes and item removal dates. As of May 24, 2024, players under 18 years of age in the Netherlands can only see items available for 48 hours or more in the store. However, the company still planned to appeal the decision, claiming that the ACM's findings contain factual errors about how Fortnite and the Item Shop operate.
▲
2
▼
In the September 14, 2023 edition of the Undertale/Deltarune newsletter, Toby Fox revealed that a stealth sequence was planned for Chapter 3, only to be cut partway through development due to his dissatisfaction with it, stating that "a mechanic which basically just makes you move slower isn't necessarily fun." To compensate for the segment's removal, Fox included an MP3 file of the music that was composed for it, as the song would not be featured in the final game.
▲
1
▼
When assets from Star Fox 2 were leaked in the 2020 Nintendo Gigaleak, one character that caught people's attention was what appeared to be a human woman. Some fans and news outlets assumed the character to be black based on her frilly hair and large lips, but palettes were eventually discovered that revealed her to be fair-skinned. The human woman's sprites have the same filename as Miyu and Fay's in the final game, and her two sprites' facial structures resemble Miyu and Fay's prototype sprites (the latter being a sheep instead of a poodle), suggesting she was simply a placeholder meant to give a human reference for Miyu and Fay's anthropomorphic expressions.
▲
1
▼
Behind-the-scenes pictures from the game's development show that former wrestler Jeff Jarrett did green screen capture work for appearing in the game as a playable character. However, due to his departure from the WWF (now known as the WWE) in 1995 regarding a contractual dispute before the game's release, he was subsequently removed from the roster.
Behind the Scenes:
https://thecollectorate.wordpress.com/2017/07/02/behind-the-scenes-wwf-in-your-house-video-game/
Jeff Jarrett Interview with Wrestlezone:
https://www.wrestlezone.com/features/interviews/1396780-jeff-jarrett-comments-on-being-removed-from-wwf-in-your-house-before-the-game-released
More information:
https://www.thesportster.com/wrestlers-cut-from-wwe-video-games/
https://thecollectorate.wordpress.com/2017/07/02/behind-the-scenes-wwf-in-your-house-video-game/
Jeff Jarrett Interview with Wrestlezone:
https://www.wrestlezone.com/features/interviews/1396780-jeff-jarrett-comments-on-being-removed-from-wwf-in-your-house-before-the-game-released
More information:
https://www.thesportster.com/wrestlers-cut-from-wwe-video-games/
▲
1
▼
The Dragon Quest-esque overworld area, colloquially known as FC World, features a large island on the right-hand side of the map that is not accessible during the normal course of play despite taking up the majority of FC World's land mass. No events or exits are associated with this island, popularly known as FC World C, meaning that hacking the game to place Madotsuki there would prove fruitless.Despite this, there is evidence that this area was meant to be explorable at one point in development. In the Version 0.09 build (the last one before the "final" Version 0.10 release in 2007), the Dense Woods and Windmill World areas feature the player character from the minigame NASU as an NPC; however, a flag is set to render it invisible (and therefore non-interactable). If the player uses RPG Maker 2003's debugging tools to render the character visible, interacting with it teleports Madotsuki to another unused area in FC World, a small island with four statues on it and an exit at the bottom. Going through this exit takes Madotsuki to FC World C.
While FC World C is still as barren as in other versions of the game, the unused chain of events leading up to it in Version 0.09 indicates that the area was intended to play some kind of role in the final game and that Kikiyama continued to try implementing it late into the game's update history.
The Cutting Room Floor articles:
https://tcrf.net/Yume_Nikki#FC_World_C
https://tcrf.net/Proto:Yume_Nikki/Version_0.09#NASU_Link
YouTube video showing the unused NASU event in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH-jHO4vqLI
https://tcrf.net/Yume_Nikki#FC_World_C
https://tcrf.net/Proto:Yume_Nikki/Version_0.09#NASU_Link
YouTube video showing the unused NASU event in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH-jHO4vqLI
subdirectory_arrow_right Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 5 (Game)
▲
1
▼
Dance Dance Revolution II is the only DDR game released on the Wii to feature a 1-20 difficulty scale (introduced in Dance Dance Revolution X), Doubles Charts, and Challenge Charts. However, due to the game lacking Shock Arrows, any Challenge Charts containing them are omitted.
▲
2
▼
In a pre-release gameplay video from 2018, at the end of a tour of the Home Base, a lit sign featuring the logo for the pizza restaurant chain Domino's can be seen hanging on a wall near the refrigerator. This sign would be removed in the final game, but within the game's files are several voice lines spoken by the game's main cast (Coco, Davis, Eva, Io, Jack, Louis, Mia, Rin and Yakumo) talking about eating freshly delivered pizza in an unusually glorifying manner without mentioning the company by name. It's unclear how these voice clips would have been used in the game, but when taken with the unused Domino's sign, it's believed that this was all part of a planned promotional tie-in that fell through when the game was delayed to 2019, where Domino's would have somehow survived the apocalypse in the game's story and adapted to the Revenants and the Lost.
Code Vein - Domino's voice lines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNnNoC32N1k
Code Vein - Home Base early gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGhVIQShNz0
The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Code_Vein#Domino.27s_Pizza_Promotion_Leftovers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNnNoC32N1k
Code Vein - Home Base early gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGhVIQShNz0
The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Code_Vein#Domino.27s_Pizza_Promotion_Leftovers
subdirectory_arrow_right Nintendo Switch (Platform)
▲
1
▼
Within the Nintendo Switch firmware prior to Version 4.0.0 (for Japanese, US and European systems only), there is a hidden NES emulator stub called "flog" that can be unlocked under very specific conditions. flog can only be unlocked on the Home Screen and when the console's internal clock is set to July 11th (if the date is changed in System Settings, but the console is connected to the internet and can see the actual date, this method will not work). The method to unlock it involves detaching the Joy-Cons from the console, holding them pointing forwards/downwards, then moving them to a vertical position and holding it for a few seconds. This gesture may take some time to hone due to it being a specific movement tracked by the Joy-Cons, but when it is matched, the system will check to see if flog is installed. When checked, an audio clip of a man saying "chokusetsu" ("直接"), the Japanese word for "direct", will play and the screen will cut to black and launch the 1984 NES title Golf. This emulator is unique in that it includes specific instructions in English and Japanese on how to play depending on how the Joy-Cons are held, and has a more stripped-down and simplistic appearance than the emulators that would be used for NES games on Nintendo Switch Online. Pressing the Home button while playing Golf will return you to the Home Screen without any visible software running there.
With Version 4.0.0, Nintendo removed all of the code required to launch flog and play Golf, but the company seemed unusually hesitant to even acknowledge its existence when asked by news outlets. One month before its removal, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Amie released two statements regarding it when asked by Kotaku:
While this seems to allude that the secret emulator and Golf's inclusion were not authorized within Nintendo, this all but confirms that their purpose was to act as a tribute to Nintendo's late CEO Satoru Iwata. Iwata, who programmed Golf and previously hosted the company's Nintendo Direct showcase series, passed away on July 11th, 2015, with the method to unlock the emulator mimicking a gesture he used during Nintendo Directs. Japanese fans on social media referred to the Easter egg as an "omamori", an amulet purchased at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan that if kept close are said to protect the bearer and bring good luck, speculating that Golf was included by Iwata as a secret charm to watch over every Nintendo Switch unit after his death.
With Version 4.0.0, Nintendo removed all of the code required to launch flog and play Golf, but the company seemed unusually hesitant to even acknowledge its existence when asked by news outlets. One month before its removal, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Amie released two statements regarding it when asked by Kotaku:
"So, two comments on this. It was identified by folks playing around in the firmware. We've got nothing officially to announce for that content or what the plans are for that content. So that's that. Certainly anything that pays respect to my friend Mr. Iwata is something that is near and dear to me personally, but in terms of that execution and what it was meant to do or what the plans are, we've got nothing to announce."
"I'm struck whenever I go back to Kyoto and spend time in our headquarters and spend time in the offices where Mr. Iwata, myself and others would be meeting. It's always personally touching. And so, again, no comment on that particular execution."
"I'm struck whenever I go back to Kyoto and spend time in our headquarters and spend time in the offices where Mr. Iwata, myself and others would be meeting. It's always personally touching. And so, again, no comment on that particular execution."
While this seems to allude that the secret emulator and Golf's inclusion were not authorized within Nintendo, this all but confirms that their purpose was to act as a tribute to Nintendo's late CEO Satoru Iwata. Iwata, who programmed Golf and previously hosted the company's Nintendo Direct showcase series, passed away on July 11th, 2015, with the method to unlock the emulator mimicking a gesture he used during Nintendo Directs. Japanese fans on social media referred to the Easter egg as an "omamori", an amulet purchased at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan that if kept close are said to protect the bearer and bring good luck, speculating that Golf was included by Iwata as a secret charm to watch over every Nintendo Switch unit after his death.
Video demonstrations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGN6QXv7sfs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmkAvnnFICE
Polygon articles covering the discovery and removal of Golf:
https://www.polygon.com/2017/9/17/16323452/nintendo-switch-golf-emulator
https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch/2017/9/20/16338508/nintendo-switch-golf-iwata-theory
https://www.polygon.com/2017/12/27/16822340/nintendo-switch-golf-game-hidden-removed
Reggie Fils-Amie statements:
https://kotaku.com/nintendo-is-still-oddly-tight-lipped-about-the-switch-s-1820050815
The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Nintendo_Switch#Golf
Chokusetsu definition:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ちょくせつ#Japanese
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGN6QXv7sfs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmkAvnnFICE
Polygon articles covering the discovery and removal of Golf:
https://www.polygon.com/2017/9/17/16323452/nintendo-switch-golf-emulator
https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch/2017/9/20/16338508/nintendo-switch-golf-iwata-theory
https://www.polygon.com/2017/12/27/16822340/nintendo-switch-golf-game-hidden-removed
Reggie Fils-Amie statements:
https://kotaku.com/nintendo-is-still-oddly-tight-lipped-about-the-switch-s-1820050815
The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Nintendo_Switch#Golf
Chokusetsu definition:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ちょくせつ#Japanese
▲
1
▼
In the "3rd Mix PLUS!" variant of this game, there is unused data for the song "TOTAL RECALL" by ULTIMATE HEIGHTS. This includes unused graphics, step charts and lyrics for the song.
▲
1
▼
In PAL releases of the PlayStation 2 version, the player is normally only able to access the tutorial in English, French, Italian, Castilian, and Dutch. Despite this, versions in the other supported languages (German, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, and Portuguese) are present in the game's data and can be accessed either through hacking the game or selecting a supported language and switching to an unsupported one with debug features just before the screen fades to black. It is unknown why these six variants of the tutorial were made inaccessible in the final game, given that they are fully translated.
The Cutting Room Floor:
https://tcrf.net/Mr._Bean#Unused_Tutorial_Versions
YouTube video showcasing the tutorial in all 11 languages, including the 6 unused ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WCuxNP0oHk
https://tcrf.net/Mr._Bean#Unused_Tutorial_Versions
YouTube video showcasing the tutorial in all 11 languages, including the 6 unused ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WCuxNP0oHk
▲
3
▼
The South Korean version of the game (released two years after the original Japanese edition) contains eleven unused maps not found in any other release, featuring fully 3D environments which do not line up with any locations present in the finished product. All assets related to these maps are dated after the game's Japanese release, with intervals ranging from five days to just over three months. Additionally, the maps' texture names are written in Romanized Japanese rather than Korean, indicating that they were not created by Nintendo of Korea.Two of these maps, kri_04 and kri_05, additionally feature various cat NPCs, all drawn in substantially different art styles compared to not only each other, but also the final game. Each one is named after a developer from the Super Paper Mario staff: yamada_neko02 (Koichiro Yamada), koba_neko (Sayuri Kobayashi), tuka_neko (Naoko Tsukamoto), and kawa_neko (Chie Kawabe).
Of these four, kawa_neko is the most unique, and was apparently designed as a player character. Firstly, the cat's name is only given to its mesh, with its sprite instead being named bc_all.1. Additionally, kawa_neko features an animated tail and a mesh that is centered on the ground rather than the middle of the room. Furthermore, new_neko_18, a redesigned version of kawa_neko with white fur instead of black, can be found in kri_08, kri_09, and kri_10; new_neko_18's mesh is explicitly labeled "PLAYER" in the data for these maps.
Taken together, all of these elements imply that these early rooms were created as a proof-of-concept for an original project by Intelligent Systems that ended up cancelled for unknown reasons.
▲
1
▼
Throughout development of Shipwrecked 64, Squeaks D'Corgeh would make references to a non-existent character in the game named "Duncan Dolphin". This even included a fake death animation for a character named "Drake Dulfin" (likely intended to be the Spoiler:Starling counterpart of Duncan) being shot in the face by Spoiler:Brandon Lester in his Bucky Beaver costume in what appeared to be a Wild West-esque setting. This continued after the game's release, where one of the patch notes for the Hotfix 2 update stated "Removed Duncan Dolphin", likely as a reference to the "Removed Herobrine" gag seen in updates to Minecraft.
However, on April 1st, 2024, an April Fools update was released that added Duncan to the game as a New Game+ bonus. If the game's True Ending has been reached, he will appear in The Theater at Midnight and ask Bucky for help activating his "New. Radical. Mechanism!!" due to losing the trinkets needed to make it work. This will take the player to a new area called "Garten of Duncan", a recreation of the Testing Sector from Garten of Banban made using assets from The Plaza. Clearing the map will take the player to a previously unused location called "Layer 4 Elevator", where an audio tape reveals that the player can input console commands to access other unused locations as part of the update. Entering the door will take the player to another new area, known simply as "Sample Area", but only a few seconds after entering the player will be kicked out to the encounter with the Spoiler:Studiogrounds Husk at the end of the game.
Notably, in the "Layer 4 Elevator" area, Chief Wulf can be seen on top of the tallest building in the area. If the player uses console commands to reach him, he can be spoken to, revealing that Spoiler:he has relived the same days over and over again, watched Stumbler O'Hare die over and over as part of that, and believes that he will be forgotten after his death.
However, on April 1st, 2024, an April Fools update was released that added Duncan to the game as a New Game+ bonus. If the game's True Ending has been reached, he will appear in The Theater at Midnight and ask Bucky for help activating his "New. Radical. Mechanism!!" due to losing the trinkets needed to make it work. This will take the player to a new area called "Garten of Duncan", a recreation of the Testing Sector from Garten of Banban made using assets from The Plaza. Clearing the map will take the player to a previously unused location called "Layer 4 Elevator", where an audio tape reveals that the player can input console commands to access other unused locations as part of the update. Entering the door will take the player to another new area, known simply as "Sample Area", but only a few seconds after entering the player will be kicked out to the encounter with the Spoiler:Studiogrounds Husk at the end of the game.
Notably, in the "Layer 4 Elevator" area, Chief Wulf can be seen on top of the tallest building in the area. If the player uses console commands to reach him, he can be spoken to, revealing that Spoiler:he has relived the same days over and over again, watched Stumbler O'Hare die over and over as part of that, and believes that he will be forgotten after his death.
"The Death of Drake Dulfin" video:
https://twitter.com/SqueaksDCorgeh/status/1705856589872161278
Hotfix 2:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2160220/announcements/detail/3904122509852611552
Duncan Dolphin encounter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkMJv8S_93A
Tweet about Garten of Duncan (referred to as "Lol"):
https://twitter.com/SqueaksDCorgeh/status/1755879671583904236
Playthrough of the three new areas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izm7TpsfZeU
Chief Wulf conversation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYcxV8tT-Q
https://twitter.com/SqueaksDCorgeh/status/1705856589872161278
Hotfix 2:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2160220/announcements/detail/3904122509852611552
Duncan Dolphin encounter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkMJv8S_93A
Tweet about Garten of Duncan (referred to as "Lol"):
https://twitter.com/SqueaksDCorgeh/status/1755879671583904236
Playthrough of the three new areas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izm7TpsfZeU
Chief Wulf conversation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYcxV8tT-Q
▲
2
▼
The North American arcade release of Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone is believed to be the first game to incorporate microtransactions, allowing players to purchase extra lives, characters, energy and moves by putting more quarters into the arcade cabinet. This would be removed for the Japanese release, and replaced with a conventional character select screen that lets you play as the previously paywalled extra characters, and the game's difficulty was rebalanced to be easier to adjust.
▲
2
▼
Wuhu Island was originally created for Wii Sports before its debut appearance in Wii Fit. An early version of the island can be seen in a leaked development image for Wii Sports, and in footage of the unused Airplane sport in the E3 2006 demo for the game. The leaked image also indicates that the Airplane sport would have also given you the option to fly around the island with a Rocket Belt, an idea that would later be reused in Pilotwings Resort.
The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Development:Wii_Sports
Wii Sports E3 2006 Airplane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0MtVyuIsKI#t=191
https://tcrf.net/Development:Wii_Sports
Wii Sports E3 2006 Airplane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0MtVyuIsKI#t=191
▲
3
▼
The source code for Doubutsu no Mori contains references to a variety of non-Nintendo Famicom ROMs that would not appear in the final game, including Arkanoid, F1 Circus, and most bizarrely, the bootleg port of Tekken 2 by Hummer Team.
▲
3
▼
Felix the Cat, the new playable character announced alongside the Kickstarter campaign for the game's story mode DLC RULE of Inverse Ninjas, was decided through a Twitter poll. The other three characters on the poll were The Continental Op (a private investigator character created by Dashiell Hammett in 1923 whose copyright expired in 2019), Gnorm Gnat (an insect character created by Jim Davis prior to Garfield who entered the public domain as a result of his original comics not having a copyright notice), and Tarcis the Lover (a joke slot seemingly originating from a dating simulator made by this game's co-developer Trainwreck Studios, and that voting for was actively discouraged by the developers).
Twitter poll and joke slot discouragement:
https://twitter.com/InverseNinjas/status/1769566363029500056
https://twitter.com/InverseNinjas/status/1769566860343964112
Kickstarter link featuring Felix announcement:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/herosoftgames/rule-of-inverse-ninjas-inverse-ninjas-story-mode
https://twitter.com/InverseNinjas/status/1769566363029500056
https://twitter.com/InverseNinjas/status/1769566860343964112
Kickstarter link featuring Felix announcement:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/herosoftgames/rule-of-inverse-ninjas-inverse-ninjas-story-mode
▲
1
▼
Normally, when the player decides to build a public works project, Isabelle will prevent the player from going to the beach while scouting out a potential site due to the instability of the sand there. However, if the player uses cheats or glitches to bring Isabelle to the beach and then talks to her, she will give them the option to state whether or not they want to start construction. Despite this, she will deny the request anyway if the player answers yes; however, she will not cite the quality of the ground, but rather will state that there is no available space. Depending on where they are standing, she will state that the proposed site is either too close to the ocean or too close to the cliff, statements which do not otherwise come up in normal gameplay. This dialogue implies that building public works projects on the beach was considered at one point in development.
The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Animal_Crossing:_New_Leaf#Public_Works_Project_on_the_Beach
YouTube video showing the glitch and unused dialogue in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cid3YLAnFk
https://tcrf.net/Animal_Crossing:_New_Leaf#Public_Works_Project_on_the_Beach
YouTube video showing the glitch and unused dialogue in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cid3YLAnFk
▲
1
▼
In an interview with the developers at Blue Tongue, they mentioned several buildings they wanted to include in this game, but had to drop due to design decisions or memory constraints on home consoles:•Hotels, which would provide extra accommodation for guests.
•Dino-Vet Station, which would have been vital for keeping dinosaurs healthy.
•Hunting Platforms, which would let visitors hunt down carnivores in the park from afar.
The Dino-Vet Station can be found in earlier promotional material for Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis and also within its game files. Likewise with the Hunting Platform, which also still has Audio, Ini and even Rig Files within the game.
Developer interview about JPOG post release:
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/postmortem-blue-tongue-software-s-i-jurassic-park-operation-genesis-i-
Article on the Hunting Platform on JPOG Archive fan site:
https://lucca2951.wixsite.com/jp-genesis-archives/hunting-platform
Article on the Dino-Vet Station on JPOG Archive fan site:
https://lucca2951.wixsite.com/jp-genesis-archives/medic-station
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/postmortem-blue-tongue-software-s-i-jurassic-park-operation-genesis-i-
Article on the Hunting Platform on JPOG Archive fan site:
https://lucca2951.wixsite.com/jp-genesis-archives/hunting-platform
Article on the Dino-Vet Station on JPOG Archive fan site:
https://lucca2951.wixsite.com/jp-genesis-archives/medic-station
▲
1
▼
At some point, forest fires were one of the many disasters that could occur in the player's parks. There was also a Sprinkler System that was planned as an upgrade for structures in-game that would have been used to mitigate the aforementioned forest fires. All of this would be removed in the final game.
▲
1
▼
At the time of its release, Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis had managed to include nearly every on-screen prehistoric species found in the movies released up to that point ("Jurassic Park", "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic Park III"), with only three notable exceptions:
•Pteranodon (featured in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic Park III")
•Compsognathus (featured in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic Park III")
•Mamenchisaurus (featured in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park")
Of these, the developers had mentioned they wanted to include flying reptiles earlier on in development but had to scrap them. In regards to Compsognathus, it was reportedly ruled out due to making gameplay difficult, because of their small size making them hard for players to see.
•Pteranodon (featured in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic Park III")
•Compsognathus (featured in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic Park III")
•Mamenchisaurus (featured in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park")
Of these, the developers had mentioned they wanted to include flying reptiles earlier on in development but had to scrap them. In regards to Compsognathus, it was reportedly ruled out due to making gameplay difficult, because of their small size making them hard for players to see.