@gamesthatwerent.com
Covering cancelled/unreleased video games and prototypes across a variety of consoles and home computers. Preserving unreleased video game history online since 1999, and longer offline. Check out our archive and more at: https://www.gamesthatwerent.com
We're today releasing a Commodore 64 curiosity: Bomb Race - an earlier version of Bomb Uzal, originally due for release under the old Mirrorsoft label (before ImageWorks was born). A few visual differences already spotted, and may be more to discover.
www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/bomb-r...
a print ad for final fight before official release under the working title, street fighter '89 (they even used the street fighter font), showing two in game screenshots for final fight on the right. the ad is from 01/10/1989 around a month and a half before the official release.
'final fight was originally shown at trade shows under the title of street fighter '89 but changed to final fight before its official release after feedback from operators stating the game was nothing like street fighter.' archive.org/details/game... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_F...
A large roundtable room.
Game preservation roundtable. I want to know what the game dev community thinks is important about these issues, so I'll mostly be listening (unless I really really need to say something) #GDC2026
We're today adding an early Amiga prototype of a game called Aftershock - a multi-directional scrolling game, with a cool zoom feature and neat intro due for release in 1990. Sadly it didn't get very far, but you check out the early promise here:
www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/afte...
More preservation work!
We were able to get our hands on a ultra rare Italian copy of Cartoon Carnival, the 1995 Philips-produced collection of Hanna & Barbera flavored minigames.
This PC version was interestingly co-produced by The Cartoon Network and published in 1996.
Preserved on Archive.
A small prototype today? Choose the game maybe I have it in this format!
An old photo dating from 2020
After discovering a Crazy Taxi Dreamcast prototype with a GTA view (download below), I became interested in the history of Open-World racing games and NPC life systems similar to Shenmue. One game stands out: Felony Pursuit Dreamcast!
www.sega-dreamcast-info-games-preservation.com/en/crazy-tax...
In the latest Video Game History Hour podcast, MIT Museum's Dr. Flori Pierri joins us to explore their unexpected journey into the world of video game preservation: https://gamehistory.org/episode-151-games-preservation-at-mit-museum/ (Pictured: Michael Dornbrook, Infocom.)
The PlayStation 2 prototype of Fear Effect Inferno also had some funny placeholders, including a photo of Lisa Dergan, Playboy’s Playmate of July 1998!👇
www.sega-dreamcast-info-games-preservation.com/en/unrelease...
Would love to learn more sometime - maybe we could add a page on our site in the future?
Thanks for the heads up Kate! :)
Photo of a large hardback book: The Games That Weren't by Frank Gasking. Cover is black, with bold text, and an icon-style image in green of a stick figure dropping a computer floppy-disk into a trashcan.
World Book Day! Let me share some of my fave books I've read in the last year :)
Frank Gasking's "The Games That Weren't" - an amazing and beautifully made archive trove of various games from the dawn of gaming to fairly recently that were developed but never released. I love to graze this book!
One for @gamesthatwerent.com !
Poster image courtesy of the amazing Arcade Fyler Archive: flyers.arcade-museum.com
We take a look at what may have been a SEGA Mega Drive conversion of Konami's Aliens, which was first flagged by Jaz Rignall to a reader in Mean Machines magazine. Sadly it was never to be - so was a conversion ever started, and if so - can it be saved?
www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/alie...
After years of investigation, here’s my full article on World’s Scariest Police Chases: Deadly Pursuit for Dreamcast, an Unreleased mystery, featuring insights from developers, plus details on its story, city, missions and gameplay👇
www.sega-dreamcast-info-games-preservation.com/en/worlds-sc...
The National Videogame Museum Has Acquired A "Mythical" Nintendo PlayStation. (Image: @nvmusa)
Hi folks-- We're receiving reports that some takedowns for Cookie's Bustle are still being made by Web Capio. It seems like their automated takedown systems may inadvertently still be running. We're looking into it.
In the meantime, creators are having success sending response emails like this one:
Heading to GDC next week? I would love to meet up with you and talk all things video game preservation!
Join @somecronzaguy.bsky.social and I for "Establishing the Standards and Practices of Game Preservation Roundtable" on Monday, March 9 at 1:50PM
Thanks to Louise Herd, further recovered graphical assets have been added for the unreleased versions of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes (Gameboy Advance) and F1-X (Gameboy Advance and Gameboy Color).
www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/addi...
When I dumped the Unreleased Japanese version of Burnout 1 PS2, unaware it never came out in Japan, I left it in my “non-priority” prototype pile for nearly a year
When I finally revisited it, I realized it was a important build👇
www.sega-dreamcast-info-games-preservation.com/en/unrelease...
Episode 2 of our podcast is now out! Bo sits down with drx, Nic, Saz, and Hwd45 to talk about some of our greatest hits.
Thanks to everyone for the warm reception of our first episode, we hope that we can continue to entertain in the future!
hiddenpalace.substack.com/p/hidden-pal...
BREAKING: We've freed Cookie.
Following an investigation by VGHF, Ukie and Web Capio have suspended DMCA takedowns for Cookie's Bustle on behalf of Graceware, SL.
More info:
A Lost Sega Saturn Port Of An FMV Boxing Game From Night Trap's Developer Has Just Been Preserved Online. (Repost)
Heads up! When I acquired the rights to the Digital Pictures game library, @tylerhogle.bsky.social and I found the unreleased SEGA Saturn version of Prize Fighter Heavyweight Edition. It's now been preserved online and can be downloaded for free at archive.org/details/priz...
Do you think this Virtual Boy Mario Land demo was a playable game, or just an animation like plenty of other Virtual Boy demos? If you missed our Virtual Boy and Winter CES 1995 video check it out here: https://youtu.be/N_FEmue0Yu4
Please help support FREEZE64 zine by grabbing yourself a Subscription. We’ll keep producing top-quality content and documenting #Commodore64 gaming history. It’s what we do, and we have the backing of many of the titans from the #C64 gaming industry 😊
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I see what you did there! ;)
Correction: Photo was thanks to 'Toxo Somethinglessboring'
Today we're taking a look thanks to Yassine Bakrim at four lost titles for the obscure Super A'Can console: Dinosaur War, City Escape, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Quick Fighting Attack:
www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/03/four...
