There's a hidden underbelly to the games industry, pockmarked with the sores of failed development, the shrivelled carcasses of unreleased games hanging limply from its teats. Future Gamer investigates the grisly phenomenon of games that never were.
Paul Rose

In the games industry nothing is certain. Who could've believed that Sega would achieve such pinnacles of success and suddenly implode like a microwaved hedgehog? Nowadays huge sums of money are being spent on the development of games, but these vast sums are no guarantee that the project will be released, let alone completed.

All too often - far more often than you'd think - development will begin, only for the game to be stillborn into a vacuum. As recently as this year, Eidos "temporarily postponed" the PlayStation version of Omikron: The Nomad Soul despite 18 months of development, claiming they wanted to focus on spearheading the PC version. A couple of months back, flight simulator specialists Origin announced they were pulling development of their A-10 Warthog title and were swiftly hit with weighty petitions and the threat of legal action from a bunch of disgruntled saps. Origin's reason for canning the project? They wanted to focus more on online gaming, specifically their Ultima role-playing franchise.

Naturally, taking the step of cancelling a game isn't a decision that's taken lightly. Virgin put a stop to the long-awaited PlayStation beat 'em up Thrill Kill due to issues of taste and decency, specifically the orgasmic groans of one leather-clad dominatrix as she slaughtered her opponents. Quite why Virgin chose to axe the entire game, rather than tone down the controversial aspects, remains unclear. There were similar reasons behind the firm's decision to keep Mega Drive shoot 'em up Greed from release. The game, a loose sequel to the splendid platform shoot 'em up Robocop vs Terminator, required the player to kill fellow contestants in a futuristic game show in return for cash prizes. It was a similar premise to the arcade hit Smash TV, but the earlier game's more stylised graphics kept the moral crusaders at arm's length.