It’s always fascinating when a previously unseen game enters the limelight after so many years. Old cancelled games or beta builds occasionally prop up, either because the developers release them or collectors / video game preservationists uncover them. SimCopter 64, a cancelled game in development for the Nintendo 64, is one such title. We haven’t seen any official gameplay or screenshots of this game since it was scrapped — until now.
Reddit user a707northbayer, who also goes by Biscuits, uploaded screenshots and a brief gameplay video from a playable build of SimCopter 64 on Tuesday. According to them, they bought a dev cartridge containing the build (dated Dec. 26, 1997) from a former member of the gaming industry on Craigslist.
See the brief gameplay video here, courtesy of Biscuits on r/gamecollecting.
SimCopter 64 and the playable build: a brief history
SimCopter originally launched for PC in 1996, developed and published by Maxis. While the PC version wasn’t as successful as the company’s flagship SimCity series, Nintendo still courted the game for an exclusive console release. Alongside other Sim games, Nintendo was working on a Nintendo 64 Disk Drive version of SimCopter.
Japan-exclusive 64DD versions of SimCity and SimCity 2000 eventually hit store shelves. However, the SimCopter release never happened. Nintendo slated it for a cartridge release in America, but neither that nor the disk-based Japanese version ever launched. It’s not known why Nintendo cancelled the game, though the cancellation of the Disk Drive is the likely reason.
Until Biscuits uploaded the screenshots / video, no one outside the developers had even seen the game. Other Reddit users recommended that Biscuits dump the game in order to preserve it. No word yet on whether or not they will, but regardless, it’s an interesting look at what could have been.
What do you think of this build of SimCopter 64? Let us know!
Via VG247.
