In The Games that Weren’t, our writers take a look at their favorite stories behind video gaming’s canceled projects.

I’m an unashamed die-hard sci-fi fan. My favorite sci-fi franchise is Stargate, and my favorite entry in the series is SG-1. The SG-1 license was enough to make me interested in an MMO (the also-canceled Stargate Worlds), and if my PC had been capable of running it I would have lost many nights fighting with the SGC in Stargate Resistance (the only SG-1 game that actually came out). As it was, I had both a PS2 and an Xbox, and after watching the Season 8 episode “Avatar,” I was all sorts of excited to play through an all-new adventure dealing with new and old enemies.

Perception had developed enough assets to use them in the aforementioned episode, the show’s talent had lent their voices to the project, and SG-1 is one of the few franchises I can think of that actually could work well as a video game. Fighting against Anubis, the late-season primary villain, and a new alien race called the Haakan would have worked as a video game for one reason: it could have worked as a show arc. I don’t know the ins and outs of the story, but it feels organic. Anubis knows about a lot of people, places, and technology that the SGC doesn’t, and assuming that The Alliance was set to be of average length, you can tell that story in eight hours and fill it with firefights, computer hacking, stealth, and maybe some Norse runes (I have a soft spot for the Asgard).

What Perception didn’t see coming though was JoWood, the game’s publisher, claiming that their quality standards hadn’t been met. What JoWood didn’t count on was Perception firing back and taking JoWood to court over who actually held the rights to create games against the SG-1 IP. It took two years, but it turns out that JoWood had no rights to the Stargate franchise. What I think really killed the project was that part of the court ruling detailed that while Perception had all of the rights to The Alliance (and any further SG-1 games) they were not allowed to use any parts of the game that had already been created.

We all missed out on what could have been a great addition to the SG-1 story, and even though we’re a generation past when it should have come out, and I have ten seasons worth of great episodes that I can and do rewatch fairly regularly I’d pick up The Alliance in a heartbeat and love it to pieces on my original Xbox if it were released tomorrow.

Otome games aren’t exactly the standard fare we get in the US. (For publisher Aksys Games, it’s probably the craziest localization idea they’ve ever done, and we’re including Fate/Extra.) Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom takes place during the chaotic Meiji restoration era of Japan, where you follow the lives and circumstances of the men of the Shinsengumi, a group of soldiers following the command of the Tokugawa shogunate. Biggest plus of the game? It’s one of the few localized Idea Factory titles that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to play in public.

An otome game is normally aimed towards a female market, one where one of the main goals is usually to develop a relationship between a female main character and several male leads. Most otome games tend to be visual novels, and Hakuoki is no exception. There’s not much gameplay to Hakuoki outside of the type of choices seen in a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, all which determine what character you end up on better terms with and what route you end up on. Hakuoki takes its mechanics a step further, making it easy for the player to not get lost within its narrative (or get un-stuck in case you’re locked into a bad ending, something that can happen much more often than you might think).

As a result of taking place in a time period that not a lot of people are familiar, Hakuoki can tend to throw around a lot of unfamiliar terms that people might not be used to. The game’s in-game encyclopedia fixes this problem, by giving you a constantly updating source of definitions for all the game’s more confusing things, all just two button presses away and with minimal load times. Unlike other games, the encyclopedia is never used as a crutch for lazy storytelling, but as an added tool so the player never feels confused about any unfamiliar terms, or details about characters one might have forgotten. Another neat feature is the Record of Service, which lets you jump directly into any previously unlocked chapter rather than force the player to either start from the beginning or limit his game saves in any way. These two features might seem small, but they’re something I’ll definitely miss when playing other games of the same genre.

Talking about the game’s plot is a bit hard to do without revealing quite a few spoilers and plot twists, but it’s enough to say that I really enjoyed the game’s writing. The banter between the Shinsengumi members is often amusing and easy to follow, while the character’s actions and decisions are actually believable and not blatantly telling you what immediate or long term consequences your choices have. For a game that is pretty much all-or-nothing on it’s narrative and characters, this is something very nice to see.

This is definitely not a game for everyone. It’s really first game of it’s kind to ever be localized in the US,  more so for it’s target audience than anything else. Still, there are enjoyable things to be read here, and it’s definitely a game worth picking up based on the premise alone.

Pros: Well-written, gracefully localized visual novel
Cons: Theme and genre just may not appeal to many

Do you have the rhythm? In this episode, new columnist Grant Potter joins the crew to discuss soul patches, Andrew thinks Twisted Metal is good except for most of the parts of it, Graham has Rhythm Heaven Fever fever and also an actual cold, Gerry plays Hakuoki (a visual novel about dating samurai and dealing with vampires) and Shawn can’t remember the year 1994. We also discuss our favorite rhythm games of yesteryear, like UmJammer Lammy, Patapon 2 and Space Channel 5!

Check out the show here or use the RSS feed in your favorite podcast aggregator. Let us know what you think!

Hosts: Gerry Pagan, Andrew Passafiume, Grant Potter, Graham Russell, Shawn Vermette.
Music: Podcast theme by Tom Casper.

Pinball fans finally have a great game to play regardless of console. Pinball FX 2 and Zen Pinball are available on a wide array of devices, and it is clear that the folks over at Zen are fans of the game. The difference in quality between something like Pinball Heroes on the PSP and Pinball FX 2 is astounding.

Zen is also taking a page from Harmonix’s book and supporting Pinball FX 2 through DLC phenomenally well. Owners of the original Pinball FX are able to import their tables into FX 2 for free, 10 tables based on Marvel comics characters have been released, and four other tables (including one themed after the XBLA game Ms. Splosion Man) are available as downloadable content. Epic Quest is the newest addition to the Pinball FX 2 download roster, and it plays a little bit differently than its brethren.

Epic Quest, like every other table available, is about scoring more points than your friends by hitting ramps, shooting orbits, and completing mission modes. Where it differs is in presentation and persistence. As the name implies, Epic Quest is modeled after role-playing games. You take on the role of Max, a greedy adventurer, seeking riches, weapons, and armor and trying to kill every monster he comes across. The table, like all of the other tables available, is lovingly created and looks and feels genuine.

There aren’t as many “video game” elements to Epic Quest as there are with other tables, but that’s okay: it just means you won’t have to memorize the locations where the ball can be teleported to. The persistence comes in when you play your second game and realize that Max is wearing all the armor you unlocked in your first play and has retained his level. You’ll still need to shoot the sword ramp a lot to take out enemies, but it’s interesting that there are enough loot items to collect that Zen allows you to keep what you’ve found from play to play.

Where Epic Quest doesn’t quite succeed is making in its RPG elements feel substantial. While you keep any armor or weapons that you find along the way none of them really seem to make an appreciable difference in combat. It wouldn’t make sense to allow the player to go from needing four ramp shots to one to defeat basic enemies, but any noticeable difference would be welcome because if it doesn’t make combat easier then why is Max, and by extension the player, interested in collecting these things?

My only other gripe with Epic Quest is that the operator’s manual isn’t terribly useful. It’s full of RPG-inspired jokes, and while it’s a funny idea, a lot of players will never see it, and those of us who do open it are looking for things like an explanation of how the kickbacks are activated, not jokes.

Epic Quest is great if you’re looking for an accessible table that isn’t overly cluttered (Paranormal is fun but terribly claustrophobic), and the persistence is novel. I wish Zen had done more with the concept, but I trust that they’ll be releasing more tables; Pinball FX 2 works great as a hub game being supported by regular DLC.

Pros: Great ball physics, interesting persistence of items gathered, open design is friendly to new players
Cons: Gear doesn’t really seem to do much, operator’s manual is ineffective at relaying information to the player

Welcome to Top Tier, an ode to the aesthetics and other small parts often left overlooked in video gaming. From costume design to sweeping symphonies and riveting stories to special features, this column aims to bring people together to appreciate the little things.

It was that fateful day in September 2010 when Ninja Theory’s DmC: Devil May Cry was unveiled. Shown at Capcom’s press event during the Tokyo Game Show, the highly stylized trailer had all the machinations of a Devil May Cry game: the slick attacks, the rock driven music and the menacing creatures. Only one question hung in the air as the trailer unfurled: where’s Dante? This poser has his guns, but he’s obviously a new character (like Nero before him).

As the trailer began to wind down, a disembodied voice called out to this man, demanding his name. Then the truth was revealed: this man was indeed our favorite demon-slaying party boy, Dante.

Dante, what happened to you? One minute you were winning over gamers worldwide with your boyish charm. Then, all of a sudden you pulled a 180 on us, losing weight, taking up smoking and dyeing your hair. But is it really something worth getting riled up over? Is Dante’s character design an important enough facet of the series to warrant an argument, especially when the rest of the game looks to be solid as a rock?

Lead designer Tameem Antoniades contests that what was cool then is no longer cool now, and that is why this change had to happen. In a sense, he’s right.

Persians, sequels and ottsels! Oh my!

Released in 2001 alongside Devil May Cry, Jak and Daxter was a fairly lighthearted affair. The 2003 sequel took a slightly darker approach, sporting a Jak with long hair, a beard and the ability to use guns. This shift came right on the tail of the new Grand Theft Auto games, seen by many as the rise of mature gaming. This change was one gamers were able to digest easily, since there was only one previous game to establish this character’s persona. In Jak and Daxter, Jak never speaks, so the change felt like the player was simply getting to know him better.

When Jak 3 arrived, it featured a similar-looking Jak with subtle differences. The key factor here? Naughty Dog changed Jak’s design within the realm of a familiar base, never deviating too far. They kept him fresh and interesting, but didn’t turn him into a stranger.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is a great example of this idea gone wrong. Ubisoft Montreal tried their hardest to bring gamers a fun game along with a grittier, more serious Prince in their second effort. The mission was ultimately a success, but a lot of fans and reviewers panned the decision to turn the Prince into a goth-metal poster child. This was because, unlike Jak, the Prince’s personality had strong roots at debut. Gamers were able to form a strong opinion on the character ,because the developers put a lot of effort into making his story colorful.

Link: The Nintendo Connection

For a second now, I want to explore the other side of the spectrum. Let’s look at a character design that has hardly changed for the last 15 years. Now obviously Link is the coolest elf ever featured in any visual media. Just look at the amount of product his series sells. But how was Nintendo able to pull this off for so long without really ever changing a hair on his head? Simple: it’s because we treat Link as more of a vehicle. He’s here to cart us to much more exciting events and characters. Since his vocabulary consists of random yelps and grunts, his experience may as well be our own. Up until Wind Waker, Link’s facial reactions never really changed that much either, but they didn’t need to. The way the game was built around him made up for the fact that the best thing he had going was his tried-and-true green tunic. Nintendo knew this, and so it never futzed with the formula. As long as his design fit the art style of the game, fans were going to have little to no issue with his appearance.

The minds at Nintendo are genius in this respect. How have Mario or Samus really changed over the years? The moment Team Ninja tried to breathe life into Samus’ character with Metroid: Other M, it was met with disapproval (although this could be attributed to poor writing). Most Nintendo characters possess just enough personality to be interesting, but avoid being overwrought.

Dante, on the other hand, has larger shoes to fill. Devil May Cry plots tend to revolve around his tainted lineage, so if his personality doesn’t fit the story, he’ll come off as boring. (Much like his stoic persona in Devil May Cry 2.) In this respect, DmC Dante seems to be right on track.

Looking at the Devil May Cry series as a whole, Dante’s design has changed very little. He’s always sported that red trench coat, silver hair, and smarmy attitude (except in the polarizing Devil May Cry 2). The gameplay has improved and the story has jumped around, but he’s always been pretty much the same guy. This is the real reason why DmC Dante is a bitter pill to swallow. He no longer looks familiar (unless he’s in devil trigger mode, but we won’t get into that), and the fact that he smokes will be a topic that will be run into the ground. Yet his path still lies somewhere between Jak’s and Link’s.

It’s a path of natural progression, but it might take a while to adjust, as we’ve come to expect more of the same. Newcomers to the series should have no problem settling in with this updated version, but grizzled vets are likely to be skeptical up to the game’s release.

Shank was greeted with mixed reviews when it came out in 2010, but it sold well enough to warrant a sequel from Klei Entertainment. In Shank 2, you’ll find a shining example for other small studios of how to respond to criticism and improve on an idea.

In Shank 2, you’ll play as the titular hero, Shank, as he attempts to protect those closest to him from extremely well armed baddies. That’s pretty much the entirety of the story right there. It’s just enough to give some kind of a reason for Shank to go running and parkour-ing through each level while disemboweling, blowing up, and shooting an entire army worth of enemies.

You’ll have three classes of weapon that you can equip at the beginning of each stage: a heavy weapon, a long-distance weapon and a quick-attack weapon. There are a variety of different weapons you’ll gain in each class throughout the game, such as pistols, chainsaws and throwing knives, each with different strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, there are a number of weapons that can be picked up in each stage, from bats and pipes to shovels and cleavers, that will take the place of your heavy weapon while you use them.

The combat is visceral and the controls are intuitive and responsive. There was never a time when I felt like I could be doing better or enjoying it more with different controls, which is something I rarely think when playing beat-‘em-up action games. Each type of enemy has a slightly different strategy to taking them down, and the boss fights are suitably difficult and varied.

In addition to the main story mode, Shank 2 features a survival mode where, as the name implies, you have to survive wave after wave of enemy, each more difficult than the last. There is also a co-op mode to play through that will add a few more hours of gameplay. There’s absolutely nothing on tap here that hasn’t been done before, but not every game needs to do something new. Sometimes it’s enough to simply improve on or implement successful aspects of previous games into an enjoyable package, which is what Klei did here.

The graphics are pretty much unchanged from the first game, but that’s not a bad thing, as the animated style it uses was one of the bright points of the original. The bloody, exaggerated graphics really make it stand out from similar titles.

If you are looking for a new side scrolling brawler, you’d be hard-pressed to find one with as much playtime and enjoyable combat for the price.

Pros: Combat is fun, controls are intuitive and responsive, weapons are a lot of fun to use
Cons: Nothing new or innovative, really

Here at Snackbar Games, we’re as interested in news as anyone else, and this week we look at the new expansion for Civilization V, another attempt to bring MMOs to consoles, and more game releases.

TOP STORY: Civilization V expands this spring

Firaxis has already released a Game of the Year edition of Civilization V, but that doesn’t mean official development on it is dead yet. This week, 2K Games revealed that a full expansion is planned for release late this spring. In addition to the expected inclusion of more civilizations, leaders, units and wonders, the expansion, titled Gods & Kings, will bring religion back to the series after initially being left out of the newest entry. It has been completely overhauled from its presentation in Civilization IV, integrating it more into the fabric of your society, but also making it less powerful for international relations and AI manipulation. Also back is espionage, which will enable you to use spies to discover the plans and machinations of your opponents, even to the point of discovering AI plans to attack you up to 15 turns in the future.

Ni no Kuni coming to US this winter

The game collaboration between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli is finally set to release in the US in late 2012. Studio Ghibli, the famous animation studio, is working on the art and character design along with the music, while Level-5, the studio behind many of the Dragon Quest games, is writing the story and game. It will follow a boy name Oliver who is trying to become a magician in order to return his mother from a parallel universe called Ni no Kuni.

Guild Wars 2 heading to consoles

During a conference call this week, NCSoft mentioned that a small development team is working on a console version of the upcoming MMO. Planning is apparently in the very early stages, and ArenaNet made sure to mention that their focus remains on the PC version. A beta is set to begin in April, with the final release scheduled for late this year. Unlike most MMOs, Guild Wars 2 will require a purchase, but will not have a subscription fee.

Ubisoft dates their major sequels

Ubisoft has sequels to two major franchises, Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, scheduled for release later this year, but until now, neither had a firm release date. This week, Ubisoft released a trailer for Far Cry 3 that gave it a date of September 4, 2012 while the release date for Assassin’s Creed 3 was announced as October 30, 2012 during a conference call.

With the Vita’s official launch happening next week, we thought you may want to peruse trailers for the system’s (large) day-one lineup! Above is the flagship Uncharted: Golden Abyss, but looks at many other games are after the break for you to look at and make final purchase decisions! (And let’s be honest, if you picked up a First Edition Bundle, you were never on the fence about getting the system.)

Video game franchises come and go all of the time. To think, just three years ago the Guitar Hero brand was one of the biggest in the industry. In five years, even Call of Duty may not be as prominent as it used to be. We all expect the Marios and the Final Fantasys of the world to be around as long as video games are, but what about those franchises that don’t make it? It’s always nice to see them return, but is it always for the best?

I never thought I would see the day where there would be a brand new Twisted Metal game available, but here we are. The brand itself may not be as recognizable as it used to be, but for fans of the series back when it was big (like myself), there is always a reason to be excited when it makes a triumphant return. Of course, you can’t expect everyone who buys Twisted Metal to be one of the people who picked up the original PS1 game at launch, so you have to try and cater to two groups: those who were invested in the franchise, and those who are completely new to it.

That’s the tricky part: reviving a once-beloved (or perhaps not so beloved) franchise is one thing, but having to cater it to a new audience without alienating the old? It’s probably one of the hardest parts of the entire process. No matter what a team might do, some die-hard fans might attempt to pick it to pieces. The nature of today’s gaming culture gives everyone a voice, so developers will get feedback even if they don’t want it. This holds true for any upcoming game, but those that attempt to bring back a once-discarded brand might fall under extra scrutiny.

There are those companies that attempt to bring back a franchise with a fresh take in mind (or simply trying to appeal to what’s popular and slapping the name of an old franchise on it). Perhaps it’s unfair to say that the upcoming XCOM and Syndicate revivals are doing just that, but the outcry from fans isn’t entirely unjustified. It’s one thing to attempt to re-create a series for a new audience, it’s another to completely lose everything that made it great in the first place. Sure, unknowing fans might gravitate towards it just because it’s better than absolutely nothing, but what does that gain besides further scrutiny in the end?

That’s not to say I’m completely against those games (I’m a huge X-COM fan and I’m excited for the upcoming shooter), there just needs to be a better way to handle these resurrections. Going back to Twisted Metal, it was handled perfectly: the series’ original creator back on board, the gameplay looking reminiscent of what you would expect from that series and new elements being introduced that don’t seem out of place. Older fans, like myself, can see that the series’ roots are being respected, while people completely unfamiliar with the franchise could potentially be drawn in by a game that, to them, is unlike anything else popular on the market these days.

You can take a core idea that was at the heart of the franchise in the first place and expand on it successfully. You don’t need to scrap everything but the name, but if you do, at least give the fans something to work with. What are the key elements that make it a new game in that specific franchise? What can you identify that is unique and not hidden away by the new direction of the game/franchise? Even upon the initial reveal, these things are important to maintaining trust with those loyal fans who supported the franchise when it was once a big hit. Imagine if Call of Duty completely lost steam to the point where Activision retired it. Ten years later, they bring it back… but as an RTS. Longtime franchise supporters will be jumping for joy, I’m sure.

That begs the question: what is the point of reviving a franchise if you wish to change everything that made it successful in the first place? That specific genre might not be as popular as it used to be, but who’s to say it still can’t succeed?  If you’re going to take a chance on a franchise that completely burned out, why not try to stick to its roots? The name X-COM means pretty much nothing to a lot of gamers, yet there were still plenty of outcries when the FPS revival was announced. To the unaware, this is basically the same as revealing a new franchise, so the risk is the same. To the new fans, they might feel absolutely betrayed and feel no need to support it. In that case, who wins?

A game like the new Syndicate seems intriguing, but you could have called that game pretty much anything else and the sales numbers would have remained almost exactly the same. I doubt many old-school Syndicate fans are going to run out and purchase a game that doesn’t seem at all like the original. Did EA just see a list of licenses they owned and decide to start putting them to use again for no other reason? It’s always a good thing to see an old, cherished brand brought back into the spotlight, but the benefits are practically nonexistent.

So it comes down to this: there are two ways to revive a franchise. One is to bring it back just as you left it, attempting to maintain the heart and soul of it while also doing your best to try and draw in a new crowd. The other is to attempt to bring back the name, but have it be a completely new project, seemingly separated from what it was in the first place. Sure, there may be elements of what made it so great to begin with, but when you have to actively search for them, they might as well not even be there to begin with. It’s a fine line to walk, and sometimes publishers just ignore the line completely.

I love Law & Order. Dick Wolf was right on the money to make two 30-minute shows, tie them together, and stick them in a one-hour time slot. I’m rooting for the cops to find the bad guy, and then ten minutes later I’m pulling for the prosecution to put him away. Telltale has proven the episodic adventure gaming can work, and they’ve proven that licensed games don’t have to be bad. Legacies isn’t their finest work, but despite the flaws I was just as engrossed in it as a rerun of L&O on TNT.

You’ll play the part of many franchise vets, including Ray Curtis, Abby Carmichael, and Mike Cutter. Backgrounds are hand-drawn and characters are cel-shaded. It’ s a little off-putting at first, but you can tell who’s who and without original cast voice acting, perfect likenesses aren’t needed anyway.

Where Legacies suffers is gameplay. Adventure games are usually light on it, but at least in something like King’s Quest you’ve got puzzles to solve, and you get to curse at Roberta Williams for allowing you to eat the pie that prevents you from getting past the Yeti. In Legacies, all you have is conversation to direct by selecting the next topic to be discussed. Based on what suspects say you’ll try to figure out if they’re lying. Whether you’re correct depends on selecting the right reason why via a quick multiple-choice prompt. If you screw up too many time,s the scene reloads and you’re free to start again; it is completely possible to win by brute force. This isn’t uncommon in adventure games, but it takes away some of the gravity of trying to perform an investigation— especially after seeing a similar mechanic used to great effect in L.A. Noire.

The courtroom bits are similar. You have to object at the right time and for the right reason, negotiate plea bargains and know when to play it up for the jury. These things are, like the police investigation, decided via multiple-choice prompt, but the courtroom half is definitely more engaging that the police half. Law & Order: Legacies recreates the tone of the show just fine, but in doing so it sabotages what could and should have been a better game. Where Jurassic Park was saved by great visuals and exciting sequences (even if your involvement was limited to quick-time events), Legacies falters by sticking too closely to the formula of the show. Unless you desperately need a new point-and-click game the television is where Law & Order belongs.

Pros: Fun courtroom sequences, true to the show’s tone
Cons: Brute-force puzzle-solving, not much excitement