The Games That Weren't – Unreleased and forgotten games | Bitmap Books Skip to content

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The Games That Weren't

4.9
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
320 Reviews
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Regular price £29.99 GBP
Regular price Sale price £29.99 GBP

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Description

Now larger than both the movie and music industries combined, the video game industry has provided more than 40 glorious years of interactive entertainment across a plethora of hardware platforms, including consoles, computers and handheld devices. We truly are spoilt for choice when it comes to picking something to play, and that dizzying array is growing by the day.

Even so, there are a great many video games that have sadly never seen the light of day, for a variety of reasons, and many of these have incredible unsolved mysteries or gripping untold tales attached to them. The Games That Weren't aims to give these unknown titles a chance to shine by lifting the lid on their stories – even if we weren't able to actually play them as their developers intended.

Providing illustrated snapshots of unreleased games dating from 1975 to 2015, The Games That Weren't is Bitmap Books biggest and most ambitious book to date. It includes a wide range of titles from the Atari 2600 right up to the Sony PlayStation 4, by way of arcade, home computer, console, handheld and mobile platforms. Years in the making, it's packed to bursting point with exclusive content, in-depth interviews and much more besides.

Many of these lost classics are expanded upon in detail, as we share the untold stories and recollections of those involved with their design and development, as well as shedding some light on intriguing mysteries along the way. Assets and screenshots – some of which have never been seen before – help illustrate the narratives, and in the case of games for which no images exist, there are specially-created artist's impressions that give a tantalising visual interpretation of what could have been.

Covering more than 80 games – including Star Fox 2, Green Lantern and SimMars – across a 40-year span, and packed with content such as five specially-created 'Hardware That Wasn't' blueprint pieces and interviews with industry legends such as David Crane, Jeff Minter, Matthew Smith, Dan Malone, Eugene Jarvis, Dylan Cuthbert, Andrew and Philip Oliver, Geoff Crammond, Scott Adams, Jon Hare and many more, The Games That Weren't showcases and pays tribute to well-known and not-so-well-known unreleased titles, as well as games you might never have heard of – until now. As if that wasn't enough, the book has been produced to the signature high standard Bitmap Books readers have come to expect, with eye-catching fluorescent colours and high-quality binding on superb paper stock, and it comes with a free digital copy, so you can take it with you everywhere.

While the games industry has much to celebrate in the games that did make it onto shelves, there's something uniquely captivating in looking at titles that never achieved the finish line. We hope that The Games That Weren't will keep the memory of these failed masterpieces alive.

Book Specifications

644 pages. 170mm × 210mm. Edge-to-edge high quality lithographic print. Special fluorescent ink throughout. Hardback. Sewn binding for enduring quality and the ability to lay flat for ideal double-page image viewing. Coloured bookmark ribbon. Shrink-wrapped. Free PDF for viewing on the go. Volumetric weight: 2.5kg

Games featured

100 Bullets / 8 Kings / Akira / Akka Arrh / Attack of the Mutant Camels ‘89 / Attack of the Mutant Zombie Flesh Eating Chickens from Mars / Bandersnatch / Black Death / Black Hawk / Blackjack / Blaster / Boggle / Bound High! / Boxer / Bubble Bobble / Burnt Out Cop / Cannonball / Captain Seahawk / Carmageddon TV / CCTV / Chip's Challenge / Conquest / Creation / Daffy Duck / Dark Seed (a.k.a. Dragon's Heaven) / Dark Tower / Deadlock / Death Pit / Deathwatch / Dick Special / Die Hard 64 / Dizzy Returns / Elite / Eye of the Moon / Fallout 3 / Flashback Legend / Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge / Gauntlet / Gazza / Green Lantern / Half-Life / Hard Drivin’ / Heart of Yesod / Human Element / Keystone Kannonball / The Last Ninja / Lemmings 2 / Lethal Weapon / The Lizzie Borden Murders / Mail Plane / MARSOC / Mega Twins / Millipede / Mini Golf / Oops! / Primal Rage 2 / Propeller Arena / Putty Squad / Rescue on Fractalus! / Resident Evil / Ridge Racer / Rolling Thunder / Safire / Sebring / Sex 'n' Drugs ’n’ Rock 'n' Roll / SimMars / Snow Bros. / Solar Jetman / Sonic X-treme / Space Fantasy Zone / Spitfire Fury / Spooky / Star Fox 2 / Starring Charlie Chaplin / Stunt Car Racer Pro / Subtraddition / Super Mario’s Wacky Worlds / The Terminator / Tetris DS / Thrill Kill / Time Bomb / Tiny Toon Adventures / Tony Hawk’s Shred Session / Tork / USSA / Vindicators / Virtua Hamster / Virtual Tank / Waterworld / Wolf Pack

Shipping

At Bitmap we want our packaging to protect your books to the extreme, while also being affordable, memorable and sustainable. Equally, we want shipping that’s reliable, fast and economical. More details can be found here.

Reprint Updates

This edition may have received minor updates when reprinted. If not specified here, these changes will not be significant, and likely be small text amends.

4.9
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
Based on 320 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 302 Total 4 star reviews: 17 Total 3 star reviews: 1 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
100%would recommend this product
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320 reviews
  • AV
    Adrián V.
    Flag of Hungary
    Verified Buyer
    6 months ago
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Happy buyer

    The book arrived in good condition, unharmed.

    If you're interested in videogame history this is a must buy.

    I'm pleased with the service, will order again in the future. :)

  • HS
    Heather S.
    Flag of United States
    Verified Buyer
    10 months ago
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Fun Read

    First of all, kudos to Bitmap Books for the amazing quality of shipping. I wish more companies would show this much care with shipment. The book arrived in a box, and inside that box was another book box with the book wrapped in paper and held in place by very sturdy foam corners. No damage here!

    Now, the book. This was recommended to me as someone that loves gaming and loves learning new gaming related trivia. It did not disappoint. I am still in the process of reading because this book is over 600 pages of great information. The quality of the printing is phenomenal with glossy, full color pages and great binding. I love the insight from publishers that is included throughout. This is a great read for anyone that loves gaming trivia. Definitely recommend.

  • JL
    Jose L.
    Flag of United States
    Verified Buyer
    2 years ago
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    This is just amazing!

    Didn't realize how thick this was, but so much is crammed into this great book. I always found it interesting why certain games didn't make the cut or finding out what could have been. Anyone out there with a love for everything retro gaming, I highly recommend. And as always, the packaging is incredible and shipping was fast.

  • FH
    Filip H.
    Flag of Czech Republic
    2 years ago
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Great book

    Very nicely done book. Interesting and useful information about games and gaming hardware that was never finished or released for sale.

    Carefully packaged to prevent damage during shipping. Protective cover/box in retro design.

  • MW
    Matthew W.
    Flag of Canada
    Verified Buyer
    2 years ago
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Plenty of reading to be had!

    So far I'm really enjoying "The Games That Weren't." I can tell that there was a lot of thought and effort that went into making this. There's quite a bit of detailed information/pictures to enjoy looking through.

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