Unreleased Sega Saturn game - Fake Down

[Yakumo]

Tonight I came across footage from a System Satcom Action Adventure game for the Saturn. The game should have been released in October 1997 but never did see the light of day.

Enjoy these screen shots and video of what could have been a nice game.

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/9288/fakedowncgtitlefo7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/6585/fakedowncgmannd5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7096/fakedowncgwomanla1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/6734/fakedowncgboyyoungii1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/313/fakedowncgboyoldby5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4753/fakedowncgmonsterpa6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5921/fakedowncgtrainlf7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/465/fakedowningame0nf6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/8560/fakedowningame1tf0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/5559/fakedowningame2vo8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Video - http://www.segagagadomain.com/movie-pages/fakedown.htm

Yakumo

[Mark30001]

Thanks for sharing! :)

[TheLamer]

This game looks sweet

[Madroms]

More info taken from satakore, xmas 2006 news (was the gift for our reader):


Fake Down.
This game was developped by System Sacom in late 1996 and was scheduled for spring 1997. Characters were drawn by Katsuhiro Otomo, the father of Akira, and motion-capture system was used. The game is a sort of Resident Evil / Dynamite Deka -like. The main character is a gene altered young boy who is able to transform into 3 different forms.

Here is the video :
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5541431165320591367&q=satakore.com


I find it has an awful playability, but it was not finished, so this could explain that. But it is always good to find info of unreleased game.

[Druid II]

Looks like Deep Fear with anime style characters to me.

[Segafreak_NL]

The game was planned for xx/xx/1997. That's what the ad in Tech Saturn says. (which ran in the issue that came with the disc and the month before)

[Yakumo]

I read that it should have been released in October 1997.

Yakumo

[mooseblaster]

I find it oddly curious that the sign in the subway tunnel was marked B1.

Any relation?

[Segafreak_NL]

Hehe nice catch but I don't think so. NEON did Tunnel B1 and it was called Finalist in Japan.

[Anthaemia.]

I first heard about Fake Down so long ago that I'd nearly forgotten it existed - never mind actually looking forward to witnessing footage of it in action! Once again, Yakumo has proven himself more than worthy of being labelled the greatest contributor here at the Assembler board for Saturn prototype information! Looking at the video, it's hard not to see a resemblence to Biohazard 2 (which I'm sure you all know never made it onto the Saturn) and Sega's own Deep Fear, which I think was in development around the same period (still under its original working title of Deep Blue, prior to its official unveiling later at the 1998 Tokyo Game Show, I should point out). Even with the design assistance of Katsuhiro Otomo, I can understand why System Sacom may not have released this one. Having been in direct competition with both Capcom and Sega (even though the former's efforts were not realised on the Saturn after all), it would have taken more than "the creator of Akira" on board to make any difference against such high profile alternatives. Still, you can't argue with how important this game is now to people such as myself who clamour for any leftover scraps from their favourite console era...

[Gamemaster14XIV]

That games looks really cool. Too bad it had to be canceled. If they had released more of the games like that proposed biohazard 2, shenmue and this game maybe saturn could have had a longer life in the states.

[Segafreak_NL]

Once again, Yakumo has proven himself more than worthy of being labelled the greatest contributor here at the Assembler board for Saturn prototype information!

Hate to piss on your party but the video has been around for quite a while really (as stated above). Its typical people like Madroms and me do stuff like this and nobody seems to give a shit (well, hardly) and now it's 'big time news' on 514 boards. Not pointing any fingers just a general observation.

[Yakumo]

I think Anthaemia is mostly talking about all those early clockwork knight, panzer dragoon, daytona etc shots I posted a few years back. It is pretty funny though when I see many sites linking to mine and this thread because of this video. Oh, talking of early Saturn stuff I found some really cool Shin Shinobi Den shots looking bugger all like the final game. I'll have to scan them when I get a chance.

Yakumo

[Segafreak_NL]

The last year was pretty quiet on the Saturn front. Sure there was the Sonic Xtreme bull**** going on but not much else. I have plenty of magazines waiting to be scanned and was thinking about a 'scan a week' in the Saturn proto thread. (Stuff like Spider, Deadly Skies, Descent, Bedlam, Firo & Klawd and some others).

Now if some protos would finally come out of the dark pit I'd be able to buy them and supply media (and possibly more).

[Yakumo]

I have some videos of fighting force that are different to the rolling dwmo given away on a UK magazine. I'll have to get them up at some point in time. I'd love to see what you have in your mags by the way :nod:

Yakumo

[Anthaemia.]

Yes, when I referred to Yakumo's work it was more in relation to the earlier Saturn prototypes (such as the "Knight" and "Dragon" tech demos). I'm confident he'll do the same in due time for Shin Shinobi Den/Shinobi X, although it's not exactly a game that could look any worse in its pre-release form, in my opinion. I'm thrilled to see that images of Saturn cancellations like Bedlam, Deadly Skies, Descent, Firo & Klawd and Spider could be on the cards, along with others I remember seeing back in the day. For example, Ninja, Pinky And The Brain and Rattlesnake Red to name just a few. By the way, did actual Saturn code of certain high profile (and pre-WipEout) PlayStation ports including CyberSled and Ridge Racer really exist, or were these announced but never taken as far as the development stage?

[Yakumo]

CyberSled, YES ! It was shown at one of the E3 shows in VERY and I mean VERY early form. I had a clip on the long lost Saturn video.

Yakumo

[Anthaemia.]

I've long since lost the majority of my once-extensive magazine collection relating to the Saturn's "first generation" period (but fortunately not the complete SSM back catalogue!), but I seem to recall CyberSled being shown at the 1995 E3 as this was the same event where Namco also confirmed that a Saturn conversion of Ridge Racer was being considered.

Yakumo, why must you continue to bring up that videotape? Apart from perhaps getting to play Virtua Fighter 3 or even the Shenmue prototype, this remains my ultimate Saturn holy grail and I'm confident that one day we may get to see the likes of Daytona USA and Panzer Dragoon in their pre-release forms again...

What exactly did you have on that tape, anyway? Has anybody managed to ever track down the infamous Aoi character movement demonstration for Saturn VF3 that was (supposedly) broadcast on Channel 4 late one night here in the UK? I've read in the past that it was also seen in certain game stores, though I seriously doubt this - after all, why would Sega promote one of their biggest 32-bit killer apps in this way before more conventional methods?

UK: Resistance did once list many Saturn games as being on a video featured in Game outlets during the back end of 1997, but since VF3 was still deep in production at this time I doubt it was shown. Besides, it would take somebody really stupid to forget they'd just seen a game of such importance - especially considering the hype surrounding this one!

Well, now it seems as if I've thrown another thread way off-topic (and not for the first time, either) so I'm going... probably to start a dedicated section to the games mentioned here that aren't really to do with Fake Down other than the undeniable fact they are all unreleased and highly desirable to Saturn fanatics such as myself who'd rather not have any game - whether good or not - sit gathering dust in a vault somewhere awaiting the cruel fate that is eventual bit rot, from which there is no return.

[Yakumo]

The late night channel 4 broadcast showed the same VF3 clip that is available as a bonus movie on the Dreamcast VF3tb. Its called, the image of Virtua Fighter 3. When this was shown on Channel 4 along with other games it said at the bottom of the screen something like "work in progress" or something like that just so you knew what you were seeing wasn't the Saturn. The famous Aoi demo was on Sky TV and as you can probably guess, not a lot of people had Sky TV back then :(

On the tape were untextured Daytona USA, Daytona USA Car demo in high resolution, Virtua Fighter character animation tests, very early Panzer Dragoon CG Demo (Possibly that early shot magazines said was a 32X) that looked better than the final game but still blocky, very early Gran Chaser shots with a very odd over head view and no card textures plus they looked different. There was other stuff as well that I can't remember. This tape was NOT publicly available. I got it from a friend in Northampton who got it from a member of Sega (He got shit loads of stuff back then which he always passed on to me). A tape a still have in my UK home shows very early shots of Magical Knight Rayearth, Battle Monsters when it was still called Van Battle and still shit :lol:, early odd looking victory goal, loads of early Bug! footage, Blue something or other (RPG), Mansion of Hidden Souls (People models are completely different) and again other stuff.

Yakumo

[Anthaemia.]

I don't really think the early footage of BUG! will throw up many differences to the final version, but I've always been interested by the promise of a radically different Gran Chaser prototype, not to mention the "Soccer" and "Dragon" technical demonstrations that preceded Victory Goal and Panzer Dragoon respectively (presuming these are the well-publicised CES versions running on the same Silicon Graphics chipset later passed on to Nintendo's own next-generation console project and not the earlier 32X variants, if such a thing did exist for the former).

As for the Virtua Fighter animation test, wasn't this also included as part of the "History" section in the Dreamcast conversion of VF3tb along with the Aoi movement demo? I seem to recall that Aoi and Taka's debut presentations were released to the public long after the other VF3 preview footage shown in that same video, as their existence wasn't known until long after the 1996 E3 where most of that same showreel first appeared (in the west, at least - the UK's official Sega Saturn magazine had obtained direct feed screenshots from its premiere in Japan several months earlier).

Now we can finally cross any televised clips of VF3 as being from the original Model 3 pre-release build and not the mythical Saturn port, all that's left from Yakumo's tape is the "superior" Daytona USA for Saturn, which sadly AM2 canned in favour of their compromised treatment. If only they'd waited a few extra months, or maybe even if Sega hadn't rushed the Saturn's launch, then we might not read so many criticisms of this graphically flawed yet otherwise brilliant title. How different things may have been were Daytona released alongside Virtua Fighter 2, Sega Rally and Virtua Cop with a full screen 60 frames per second update (heck, a solid 30 was good enough back then - just look at Rally or even Daytona Circuit Edition compared to other Saturn racers!), split-screen multiplayer and a few extra options compared to the bare-bones update over its coin-operated source...

[Yakumo]

the VF character test I had was not the same as the one on the Dreamcast VF3. The Panzer demo was also not the same as the one at CES. The one I had had the dragon fly in down what looked like a canyon then straight in to a cave. Is this the CES one?

Yakumo

[Anthaemia.]

I'm going from memory, but I seem to recall a Panzer Dragoon tech demo quite similar to your description, Yakumo. However, that's definitely not the CES prototype, which I believe was featured (albeit very briefly) in one of the "Omake" video files hidden away in Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Actually, wasn't this same footage part of what became the final version's pre-rendered intro sequence, much in the same way elements from the Soccer preview became integrated (almost seamlessly, if I dare say so myself) into the Victory Goal opening?

Going back to the subject of Virtua Fighter 3 character movement demos once again, I'd be thrilled if there really was another somewhere out there you can't already find with the more commonly-known history showreel in VF3tb for the Dreamcast. Now that I think about it, did anybody ever successfully compile those SGL OS 3.02 models for Akira? I remember there being screenshots that near-certainly proved it wasn't part of the mythical Saturn VF3, unless AM2 was planning to recycle polygonal data from either Virtua Fighter Remix or Fighters Megamix, as the Akira used more resembled his graphical style in those games. However, were there any videos or even a playable version to download somewhere (providing it wasn't just a rolling demo, that is)? I'd love to find out every single scrap of information that I can - anything to keep me happy until the inevitable day AM2 throw me a bone or two as they did with Shenmue, even though few people knew about that one before the bonus clip in the Dreamcast sequel...

[Celine]

Just watching through my collection of scans about cancelled games an thought that maybe could be of some interest:
http://www.iouppo.com/life/pic1/d6367be7ae69734f0fc29947660e6b53.jpg
http://www.iouppo.com/life/pic1/f8ba1dc4c6dbbdd95603c6f1e2c0c8ac.jpg
http://www.iouppo.com/life/pic1/809e2e846340e8b759d676b24854beff.jpg
http://www.iouppo.com/life/pic1/e80f9ccf09131381649356da6a017b28.jpg

[Yakumo]

Nice scans but can you translate the Spanish in to English please ?

[Segafreak_NL]

I suppose you mean French? :p

[Yakumo]

Ah yes, thats what I get for not bothering to look at the text

[Martin]

This game looks quite interesting. I actually have Deep Fear but never got around to playing it. I think they days are gone for me completing games of that length though.

Shenmue is a prime example. I never finished Shenmue 1, never played 2 and now I doubt I ever will. It just takes up so much time. I'm moving to Japan next year and think it would be retarded for me to play Shenmue 1 and 2 whilst actually living in Japan as I have so much I want to see for real!

Lots of nostalgia though.

[Yakumo]

I don't know mate. You'll soon find time again in the future. I felt taht way in my early 20's but by your mid 20's the time soon comes back :nod:

[saturn_worship]

excellent scans, thanks for them!!!!!!

[Celine]

Nice scans but can you translate the Spanish in to English please ?
Can't read it.
I understand just a bit because it's a latin language.

[goldenband]

First article:

"Already in the process of development, Fake Down is an action-adventure game in 3D, expected on Saturn [and] designed by Katsuhiro Otomo, the father of Akira. The scenario recounts the emergence of a new race of human beings, the Fakers. This mutation engenders a struggle of two clans for domination. From there, one can expect that there will be mayhem. Brief, it's a bit light, we know, but that was just something to share the info with all of you."

Second article:

"In this action-adventure game, above all notable for its designer (Katsuhiro Otomo), you become a young hero who fights against the "Fakers", humans and machines possessed by a species of virus. While in terms of progress, Fake Down is supposed to be in the final stages, the info concerning the game is appearing in dribs and drabs. How strange... The fact remains that the action stages are numerous, and that you'll be able to demonstrate your skills in the midst of violent confrontations, all depicted in 3D. Cool..."

All roughly translated, since I'm not a native speaker.

[ServiceGames]

Thanks for the translation golden.

[Yakumo]

Thanks very much for the translation, goldenband. It may not be perfect but it's far better than what I could understand :nod:

Yakumo

[T_chan]

Thanks very much for the translation, goldenband. It may not be perfect but it's far better than what I could understand :nod:
Yakumo

The translation is quite good in fact :)
The only things that can be added:

1st article:
Japanese Release date: not communicated
Editor: System Sacom

Second article:
Machine: Saturn
Genre: Adventure
Editor: System Sacom
Japanese Release date: this summer