So last time I put something like this together (the Killing Time comparison post...hosted here http://www.3do.cdinteractive.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2656) it seemed well received, and since I have extra time on my hands lately, I thought..."why not". It's nowhere near as thorough as my Killing Time stuff I posted, but hopefully putting this here will help fill in the holes with someone elses information so lets get on with it then D2 for M2 - all the information I can find So obviously D2 was slated for the ill-fated 3DO / Matsushita M2 hardware platform; we all know how well that went. Considering it was the first game announced for the platform, (if rumors online are to believed) it clearly had some lead time for development before the M2 project was scrapped altogether. Unfortunately, as we all are unfortunately well aware of, almost nothing of D2 remains. So I have compiled everything I can personally find / information I know into this one resource Backstory : having owned the 3DO when it first came out, and having loved D, I as a kid could not wait for this game, and by extension the M2 to come out. It's my holy grail of lost video gaming Story : Well this is an extremely loose interpritation, but going on the video posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XHD6vY9_0I, I figure the following Transylvania; at some point during the rule of Vlad Tepes (1431–1476/77. Considering he appears in his middle age in the trailer, lets say)...Transylvania; 1460. Vlad Tepes, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler, loses the one thing he holds dearest to him...his wife. Distraught at the loss, he spirals out of control, aching to fill the hole left in her absence. Through the use of some hidden knowledge from the pages of rare manuscripts, Vlad makes a deal with the other world: bring him a son and heir so that if he may not have a wife, he may at least have his lineage continued Further conjecture : perhaps Vlad, as seen in the Warp trailer, loses his wife while she is pregnant, and now mourns the dual loss of his wife and unborn child. Through the use of magic he transports the unborn son of one of the members of his own family line (Laura, as seen on the plane in both the M2 and Dreamcast versions of D2, obviously with major storyline differences) back in time to heal his own pain Ok, so for the details (the man seen in the D2 trailer) v. Minus Vlad's stylish use of a full beard in the D2 trailer, it's pretty obvious Kenji Eno and Warp were using Vlad Tepes as the inspiration for this character, if not making the character Vlad Tepes entirely. In conjunction, if you tie the original D and it's Japanese title (D's Dinner Table) and the fact that D's storyline directly references the bloodline and history of Dracula, it's quite easy to say Eno was fascinated with the entire Dracula mythos, and had continued to use this historical character for his original version of D2 Additionally Within the trailer for D2, we are shown a scene of multiple bodies impaled on stakes (I'll leave out the historical / art historical bit about where the pike entered/exited the body haha) in the exact same manner that Vlad Tepes (also known as Vlad the Impaler, important point here) executed his enemies Add that all up : pretty safe bet that the character from Transylvania seen in the D2 / M2 trailer was in fact Vlad Tepes, and that he would be the central antagonist for the storyline of D2 NOTE : I do not speak / read a word of Japanese. In all my looking, I do not see a single instance of the kanji in this trailer having been translated to English. If we get this done, we could completely verify / refute my theory and/or learn what the text actually tells us about the game More fun things : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmesm0azh8M Actual gameplay and underlying engine code being spit out onto the screen. As far as I can tell, this is absolutely the only video of the game being playable (minus one very short clip showing Laura's son, now grown, jumping, at some game expo. I have seen it, can't find the link currently) So we can at least say a playable version in fact existed, per the video and Eno saying the game was 50% complete at the time of it's cancellation Less fun things : Eno himself stated that even he no longer had any of the files associated with D2 for M2, so it's very safe to assume that unfortunately what exists online today is in fact the sum total of all D2 for M2 content Interesting Questions: Where did the gameplay video originally come from? I cannot track down where this footage was originally found. Any help would be greatly appreciated The original 4:30 minute video of Vlad Tepes in Transylvania was unlocked by having a save game from the D2 Shock Demo for Dreamcast (packaged with Real Sound : Kaze No Regret) and then using the retail JPN D2 game, and the D2 Shock Demo save, to unlock the D2 for M2 video. I do not, however, know where the second portion (Laura on plane) came from, as it is not on my Dreamcast disc combos So, was there another source for this footage? Some tape / trade show / preview source? I have zero idea...that's why I am asking The magazine scans: This is what I have found so far : Next Generation : 1/97. Originally posted by me I am not aware of any other mag scans : if you have them / know of them, please let me know Fun little tidbits There seem to be two distinct sources for the Vlad Tepes / Transylvania portion of the D2 for M2 trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XHD6vY9_0I#t=47 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nmy6XQSDr0#t=42 Not only do the sizes / colors of the video not match (and even with the source involved, or video coded used to compress, there would not be such a divergence of colors across two separate uploads...trust me, filmmaker for a living) but the audio does not sync together even if you sync both videos to the same frame and play simultaneously So that's what I have kids. Hope you like it NOTE : If anyone knows Japanese, or knows someone who KNOWS Japanese, I'd really love to have the text translated into English. I am sure someone out there can help with this If anyone has any more info on D2 for M2, post it up. I'd love to hear more and for a huge (M2 huge...considering there is such a lack of solid info) dump of D2 for M2 screenshots, go here http://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/07/d2-m2-cancelled/
The intro takes place in Transylvania and tells the story of a count with no heir. He sacrifices people to the gods (all the people on the pikes) in an effort to conceive an heir but the only result is his wife dies. He turns to magic and strikes a deal with a demon for a son in return for his soul. The demon steals Lauras child from her womb and transports him to the count. The 10 minute video came from a Japanese 3DO demo disc, and there's a lot of other magazine scans. For a little while this was the only M2 game publicly shown, had to put some pictures in with the articles trying to sell it. There was even ads running for it in Japanese magazines. Here's 4 other videos (can only embed one, others are linked) Short 'jumping' one Another short "jumping" video 3DO Interactive Interview I have pictures that aren't on Unseen64 too but i need to go through them and organise them, all my D related stuff is strewn across bunches of folders, i've been lazy in getting them into some order.
