Beta Overload

Long time readers and visitors to the 'Yard may, quite possibly, remember a post I knocked up some time ago that introduced a site called X-Cult. If not, go here now.

Had a look? Good.

Now you're up to speed, I'll crack on. Whilst perusing the net, which is something I've gotten quite good at in recent decades, I found another interesting little site that sort of does the same as X-Cult - reveals details of cancelled games for a multitude of formats...including our beloved Dreamcast. Before you groan, listen up: Unseen64 features previously...er...unseen pictures and screens of a few forgotten gems that would have been a credit to the DC had they been released, and even grabs of a few games I've never actually heard of...


Take the Bullet


Quark


Shrapnel: Urban Warfare 2025


Spiral Nightmare Type X


Jump Runner


Akolyte


Boarder Zone


Innocent Tears
Ecco 2: Sentinels of the Universe

Dark Angel


Gorka Morka

Agartha

Of course, this little collection is just the tip of the iceberg - there's even more beta action at the actual site, and that includes some rather interesting shots of an early Metropolis Street Racer and a massive Shenmue archive. Granted, explanations of the titles shown are either non existent or written in Italian (which is fine if you can read Italian...which I can't) so you have to make assumptions about how some of the games may have played by sight alone. Still, very cool, if that's yer bag.

31 comments:

Animated AF said...

Wow, that's the first time I've seen more than one screenshot of Take the Bullet. They also look like they were taken from a photo of a TV scree running the game. maybe someone has a beta copy lying around that's playable? That'd be amazing, especially since the Dreamcast could of done with more light gun games.

Tom Charnock said...

Yeah - it'd be even better if you can actually move around with the pad and shoot stuff on screen with the lightgun (which is what you were supposed to be able to do if my memory serves me). Yet more Wii-bashing fun to be had!

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Just dropping a line to say "hurrrah!" for you guys, making this old sweet Dreamcast living again and again, and to say that I'm living in Kyoto right now, and i've just bought a dreamcast, brand new, in box, with 6 games (feat. jet set radio, seaman, shenmue, Resident Evil Code Veronica, D2, and Cosmic Smash) and one VMU for yen 10.000, around 60 euros (sorry for that euro stuff, I'm french).

Japan FTW !

Cheers!

Tom Charnock said...

A French Dreamcaster leaving comments from Japan? The Dreamcast Junkyard: Truly an international phenomenon! More to the point, thanks for the comments Pixoshiru - it seems you got something of a bargain there - 60 bills for a system and games bundle that incudes Cosmic Smash? Incredible.

Caleb said...

Dark Angel was the only game on that list that was released on another console right?

Animated AF said...

Pixoshiru: Could you send me over a copy of Cosmic Smash? =D
Joke.

fatherkrishna said...

Wow amazing find! I wonder whether Gary could get hold of any of this lot?

Animated AF said...

Kris: Quit with the Gary plugging! We get the idea! XD

fatherkrishna said...

Thats Gary from Dreamcasting@btinternet.com...

LOL! :)

NebachadnezzaR said...

Some of those games look really promising, it's a shame they weren't finished...or were they? Could some of those games be the next half-life or propeller arena?

Hmm, i guess that would be too good to be true, but it would be great...

By the way, caleb said something about dark angel being released in another console. What console would that be? And did any of the other games seen a release in another platform?

Animated AF said...

Quite a few of these games look as though they were being ported over from the PC. I do remember that canned Buffy game did end up seeing a release on the X-Box. Dark Angel may of followed it.

Mochi said...

Ahoi !
Hehe, finding Cosmic Smash here is nothing that hard, but the whole pack I bought was more than a chance!
I've tested all that stuff yesterday night and everything is in mint condition, except the fact that the lithium batteries of both Dreamcast and VMU are dead, causing the DC unable to record the time (err...is that supposed to be a problem?) and the VMU bleeping at start.
Eager to test Seaman tonight!
I'll drop another line back then !

See you all !

Animated AF said...

That's it, I need to win the lottery, pop over to Japan, and come back with six suitcases full of games.

fatherkrishna said...

Pixoshiru you should be able to set the date on your Dreamcast regardless of the VMU batteries... and the time/date settings are of utmost importance when playing Seaman... BTW is that a Japanese or English speaking Seaman?

Caleb said...

I think that if you leave the Dreamcast plugged in for awhile the time and date will remain on the Dreamcast.

You just can't leave the thing unplugged for a few months. I know that will loose the time and date.

Mochi said...

Thanks for the tip, I know that therer's no link between vmu and DC clock, though the lack of lithium battery in the DC unit doesn't allow to record the time when rebooting.

I'm trying seaman in a few minutes, I'll come back to answer to your language question right afterwards (guess it's all japanese, as I'm, like, you know, in Japan... ^^ )

fatherkrishna said...

Ah yes! Guess your Japanese is pretty good then... ;)

Wasn't there some problem about buying second hand Dreamcasts in Japan due to some health and safety law about electronic goods?

gnome said...

Ahh, lovely post Tomleece... Almost chatted with you the other day too.. Cheers!

Mochi said...

Well guys, Seaman is defintely in japanese.
I don't speak japanese that good, but it will be ok, I guess (hey, I'm working in a japanese company, with only japanese people, so I'm quite used to it, now)

Don't have a clue about the law you're talking about, FatherKrishna, would mind telling me more?

Caleb said...

Supposedly in Japan they can't sell anything with an internal power adaptor. (the cord doesn't have a box on it)

However, I also heard that they still sell the Dreamcast. Stores just ignore that.

Mochi said...

I didn't know this fact.
Well, stores definitely seem to ignore this law (is it a law? Or a governmental advice?), moreover, the dreamcast, is more tha popular, here too, both gamers and sellers would be sad if there was a heavy restriction on this little cutie (nah, on this F**NG CRAPPY B*TCH THAT NEEDS ME TO PUT SOME HEAVY WEIGHTS ON IT IN ORDER TO GET IT READ THE F***NG GAME DISCS !!!! Probably some problems with the plastic stuff from the top door that switches the discs reading on when you close it. For MegaDrive's sake, why is life so hard?...)

fatherkrishna said...

Jesus! You see Pixoshiru, you scored TOO GOOD A DEAL!...

Still stick with it, it's worth the hassle...

BTW! Your English swearing is admirable! LOL! ;)

Mochi said...

Haha, sorry for that, I'm trying to make than an effort to speak a not-too-ridiculous-french-esque english, but despite my humble will (and thanks to France top-knotch language learning class system) I still have to improve a lot.

BTW too, I'm just back from the games store to exchange my bloody piece of white plastic, but I forgot the First Rule of the Universe.

"In the Holy Shop, Everything Shalt Work, Even if At Thour Home, 5 Minutes Ago, I didn't."

Mamma mia...

Mochi said...

top-notch.
Did I mention how awful my english is?

fatherkrishna said...

You are French, can speak Japanese well enough to work in Japan and you can swear in antquated English.

In the UK we are ignorant and arrogant peasants who rely on everyone else learning our language!

Your skills are indeed top notch!

:)

Mochi said...

Wow, that's so kind of you, I don't know what to say!
Well, I don't speak a fluent japanese, really, i'm learning with books and now more by talking with my more than patient colleagues (they're nice enough to bear a 22 years old french graphist talking to them - aged of average 35 years - like a 6 years old girl would to her classmates) and believe me, there's way improvement to do... (-_-')

About my english, I just studied it at school, like every single son of baguette in my country.
Oh, English speaking Shenmue must have been some help, I admit. :)

Tom Charnock said...

son of baguette?! lol - love it!

Animated AF said...

That lid problem can be fixed by opening the thing up and blowing away any dust and wiggling about a little black flick-switch located in the back right corner of the systems' insides.

Mochi said...

Thanks Gagaman, as I said, it worked in the shop and now in my appartment.
I don't understand but, well, I don't care, as long as I can play my games.
Anyway, if this problem should appera again, I'll follow your advice, it doesn't seem to be anything really hard to fix.

Thanks ! :)

Unknown said...

Holy shite, those are nice graphics!

Anonymous said...

impressive, what a mess that there were too much good games unreleased...

but i've got a question:

is there any part of this site where are listed the dc protos who can be fond on the net (and to be played on a dreamcast???)

because i own

half life
propeller arena

and i search for other "proto" games...