History WhatCouldHaveBeen / VideoGamesNToS

* During its creation, Shigeru Miyamoto briefly proposed that ''VideoGame/Splatoon1'' become a ''Mario'' game, as the development team was having trouble crafting characters that would fit the game mechanics they've come up with it. The team was adamantly against it, pushing ahead and eventually decided upon squids once they included the ability to swim through ink.

*** The game would have originally been released for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem, then the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation (the final version is a Game Boy Color game). Towards the end of the game, Shantae would have received a blue version of her ordinary clothes, which were later made available to certain ''Half-Genie Hero'' donors as a DevelopmentGag.

Maxis had two groups of people that wanted to shape ''Spore'': those who wanted it to be scientific, and those who wanted it to be "accessible". According to Will Wright himself, the game had to be retooled, because the first group was winning, and ''it wasn't fun at all''. An early version had a sub atomic stage preceding the cell stage before it was cut.

* ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom'' has a theater in-game for viewing concept art, some of which shows off concepts that were never in the game proper. One such idea is a Robo-Squidward boss, to go along with Robo-Sandy, Robo-Patrick, and [[spoiler:[=SpongeBot SteelPants=] ]].

** ''Rainbow Six: Patriots'' was going to be the next game in the series after ''Vegas 2'', getting far enough to get a trailer or two and promotional camo patterns in ''VideoGame/GhostRecon: Future Soldier''. It would have involved a group known as the "True Patriots", a group that had legitimate grievances against the government and the rich, but chose to voice them with [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized shockingly-brutal acts against innocent people]], and the game would have also involved [[KarmaMeter some form of morality]], highlighted by the new Six being a former Navy SEAL who believed [[StartXToStopX ethics are wasted in dealing with the True Patriots]], meaning Team Rainbow would be forced to [[GreyAndGrayMorality make some difficult decisions]] to stop them, with the trailer showing an instance of them being forced to push a man off a bridge to his death so that the bomb strapped to him wouldn't kill many more people when it detonated. The game was announced in 2011, then went mostly quiet after that trailer, probably owing to the negative reaction it had garnered for its [[RippedFromTheHeadlines extremely on-the-nose story]], and saw no further news beyond an announcement that it was still in development before it was canned in 2014; the series finally saw a new release with ''VideoGame/RainbowSixSiege'' in 2015, which gained critical acclaim in part for going back to the series' roots as a tactical shooter.

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'':
** The game, as originally conceived by Valve, would have been a prequel set in Aperture Science's labs during the 1950s. This version of the game, known internally as ''F-STOP'', introduced a new gameplay mechanic (the details of which remain secret) and removed both portals and [=GLaDOS=] entirely. [=GLaDOS=]'s role as antagonist would be filled by Aperture founder Cave Johnson, who had been turned into an AI and now led a robot army against humanity. Though Valve loved the new gameplay mechanic behind ''F-STOP'', they found that players wanted [=GLaDOS=] and the Handheld Portal Device back, forcing a complete rewrite the game to make it a direct sequel to the original ''Portal''.
** The game was initially supposed to have six individual personality spheres instead of Wheatley following you around and helping the player in the early game. Over time, [=GLaDOS=] would grow more suspicious and jealous of you spending time with the spheres, culminating in her leaving out a candlelit dinner for you at the start of one test (frozen over, because you left it so long). Valve decided that this would be too confusing, and they scrapped these characters and replaced them with Wheatley. [[spoiler:Some of the scrapped spheres still appear in the final battle, however, like the Space Sphere, Adventure Sphere and Fact Sphere, and are a vital part of defeating Wheatley]]. Another of the scrapped spheres, the Paranoia Sphere, resurfaced in ''VideoGame/PokerNight2.''
** The game's ending would have included Chell [[SuddenlySpeaking revealing she can indeed talk]], and Want You Gone was to be a duet between her and [=GLaDOS=].
** The FinalBoss, [[spoiler:Wheatley,]] was originally supposed to have more attacks, including spike plates around the room, turrets strapped to the chassis, and flamethrowers. However, playtesters found keeping track of all these attacks too frustrating, and so the boss' sole remaining attack is throwing bombs at you.
** Multiplayer was originally envisioned to have human characters (Chell and Mel, another female) but Valve felt that it was a bit too gruesome to constantly watch a human falling into acid, getting crushed, etc. over and over again, so they changed the characters into robots, which would make deaths more hilarious since robots don't feel pain and are reassembled to justify respawning.
** The reveal of [[spoiler: Caroline becoming [=GLaDOS=]]] was originally going to have an audio only scene of the transformation with [[spoiler:Caroline]] trying to refuse Cave Johnson's decision. Apparently, Cave Johnson's [[Creator/JKSimmons voice actor]] refused to read his lines for the scene because it sounded too disturbing. The lines were DummiedOut and can only be accessed through the game's files.

* During its creation, Shigeru Miyamoto briefly proposed that ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' become a ''Mario'' game, as the development team was having trouble crafting characters that would fit the game mechanics they've come up with it. The team was adamantly against it, pushing ahead and eventually decided upon squids once they included the ability to swim through ink.

* ''Spyborgs'' is perhaps one of the most drastic case of a game being overhauled during development. First announced at Capcom's 2008 Captivate event, it was [[http://kotaku.com/5012553/capcom-announces-spyborgs-for-wii meant]] to be a humourous action-adventure game whose action would be framed by silly ''VideoGame/WarioWare''-esque commercials running through the levels. However, a tepid reception led to the developers scrapping their original idea and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xZq3rxtuGM overhauling]] the game in a gritty, generic hack & slash which only shared the design of the main characters.

** The game version of the first ''Film/SpiderMan'' movie had a few things removed from it:

* ''VideoGame/SpiderManWebOfShadows'':
** The credits of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/Xbox360 and PC versions of the game are accompanied with concept art, one of these pieces is the concept of a Symbiote Moon Knight, who is never infected in the game.
** [[http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/TastyBurgerReviews/news/?a=73588 There were plans to make a sequel]] featuring ComicBook/{{Carnage}} and Mysterio, but it was cancelled when the studio behind the original game was shut down. The design for Mysterio, however, would live on in ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions''.
** An interesting variation but one plan for a sequel was to make it a What-If take with Venom being the hero of New York and Spidey, heavily taken over by the Carnage symbiote, would be the villain who causes an almost WORSE variation of what Venom did in this game, essentially quarantining it from the rest of the world. Venom would be able to form different weapons and eat certain enemies. If that kinda sounds familiar? It should. It's now known as ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}''.

*** The original plot of the game would involve Shantae transitioning from a half- to a full genie, represented physically by her hair color changing from brown to purple. This plot was scrapped, and with it Shantae's change in hair color: her iconic purple ponytail is now strictly TheArtifact. [[spoiler:That said, a few games in the series do at least tease the idea of Shantae becoming a full genie: the ending of the Game Boy Color game has the option presented to her, but [[FriendOrIdolDecision she chooses not to because the alternative would mean abandoning her friends and family in Sequin Land]]. While she eventually does become a full genie at the ending of ''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'' without having to leave the others behind, the series promptly went through a SoftReboot and reverted this change.]]

** A sequel to the first game was briefly in development for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance under the titles ''Shantae Advance'' and ''Shantae 2: Risky Revolution'', many of the elements of which were recycled into ''VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge''. Unlike the fairly short ''Risky's Revenge'', this game would've been bigger than the original with over 20 hours of gameplay and a 4-player battle mode. Some other differences from the final game included the character artwork still using the first game's art style, Shantae being able to dive underwater without the mermaid transformation, and gameplay centered around being able to shift the background to progress, which likely became the basis for the layered outdoor levels in ''Risky's Revenge''.
** ''VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge'' was supposed to be an episodic game, but this was scrapped in favor of a single game.

** Work was started on a third game after ''Zero''[='=]s release, ''Perfect Dark Core'', though progress was only made for a year before the team for the project was cut down to three people and it got canned. Even in that short a time it made some rather large changes; it started as a more gritty and realistic sequel with [[TheLadette a less-feminine Joanna]] and ended as SomethingCompletelyDifferent, involving a male protagonist fighting HumongousMecha.

** The game was initially supposed to have six individual personality spheres instead of Wheatley following you around and helping the player in the early game. Over time, [=GLaDOS=] would grow more suspicious and jealous of you spending time with the spheres, culminating in [[FoeYay her leaving out a candlelit dinner for you at the start of one test (frozen over, because you left it so long).]] Valve decided that this would be too confusing, and they scrapped these characters and replaced them with Wheatley. [[spoiler:Some of the scrapped spheres still appear in the final battle, however, like the Space Sphere, Adventure Sphere and Fact Sphere, and are a vital part of defeating Wheatley]]. Another of the scrapped spheres, the Paranoia Sphere, resurfaced in ''VideoGame/PokerNight2.''

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei''
** ''VideoGame/DevilSummoner'': There were official attempts to bring the Saturn and PSP versions to North America at one point, but both were cancelled at the last minute. Atlus has never revealed the reason why; some members of the rom hacking community claim that the game's coding is an absolute nightmare, thus making any sort of translation next to impossible.
** ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'': The game was originally planned to have a slightly different story, however the writer, Yu Godai, was forced to abandon the work due to illness and Atlus where left with trying to finish up the story on their own. Yu would continue the story after she recovered, however, which led to the ''Literature/QuantumDevilSagaAvatarTuner'' novels.
** ''VideoGame/Persona1'':
*** There is an unused track in the official soundtrack which is called [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bNcount0AaU&t=1s "Time Count Event"]]. The track was later remixed in ''VideoGame/Persona2'' as the [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NY7euXMRq4Y "Time Castle"]], which is owned by the titular count. Given TheReveal in ''Eternal Punishment'' that [[spoiler:the Count is an avatar of Nyarlathotep]], it's fairly obvious that he was meant to appear in the game.
*** Yuka Ayase's role in the Snow Queen Quest was meant to be much greater; there is a key item in the game's files called "Ambrosia" which she had cooked herself. This is referenced in the final game, as she wonders where the Home Economy room is.
*** The files from the game's initial western release also reveal that the Snow Queen Quest was meant to be included. It's entirety still exists in the game's data, and the first line of the Quest is even translated. It is possible to trigger it by hacking the game, but it is incredibly glitchy and completely freezes from a point onward.
** ''VideoGame/Persona2'':
*** Supposedly, the player could have influenced [[spoiler:Joker's OneWingedAngel form by spreading rumors describing the Joker as angelic or devilish]]. The [=NPCs=] that reference this are still in the game, and both the concept art and a sprite of [[spoiler:the Joker's "devil" form]] still exist, but there's no way to influence his appearance.
*** A find in ''Eternal Punishment'' almost 20 years later; apparently, ''[[https://www.reddit.com/r/Megaten/comments/adh35e/unused_data_inside_eternal_punishment_has/ the protagonist was supposed to be Jun]]''.
** ''VideoGame/Persona3'':
*** As far as the game's development itself, it seems that, in addition to battles taking place on-screen instead of changing (like a RandomEncounter), Persona-users would use tarot cards for summoning, which is more or less what goes on in both the earlier games and in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''. The evokers were made to better [[{{Pun}} evoke]] the theme of death that the game is built on.
*** Apparently, the creators had always intended to let the player pick the Protagonist's gender; for the original release, it could not be implemented in time.
*** Most of the characters' personalities remained consistent throughout development, but with some drastic design changes: Fuuka's early designs had her more resembling Chihiro Fushimi (a Social Link), a lot of Mitsuru's early concept art featured her with short hair, and one of the dog breeds that Koromaru was considered as was a dalmatian. Ironically, one early concept of Akihiko penned him as an outright obnoxious [[TheCasanova ladies' man]], whereas he's [[CannotTalkToWomen the complete opposite]] in the final product. Aigis also went through a lot of design changes, on top of the fact that a sizable portion of the staff were reluctant to put a robot of her caliber in the game in the first place.
*** Junpei was going to be a romance option for the female protagonist in ''Portable''. One can actually hack the game to see a video of him being the one to find her and hold her at the ending of a NewGamePlus (link [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF6Sfb1d4f0 here]].) There was also the intention of making Yukari the [[OfficialCouple straight up canon]] LoveInterest for the male protagonist, which was phased out when Social Links were put in the game.
*** Ken was originally planned to use thrown projectiles ([[FlechetteStorm darts]] in this case) as his WeaponOfChoice, like [[VideoGame/{{Persona1}} Yukino]], [[VideoGame/{{Persona 2}} Jun, and Baofu]] before him, instead of the [[BladeOnAStick spear]] he would end up using.
*** The game taking place over the course of three school years was an early consideration before being cut down to a single year.
*** A [[spoiler:funeral scene for the protagonist]] was considered, with more attendees depending on how far Social Links were progressed over the course of the game.
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' had a lot of unused concepts:
*** Kanji Tatsumi originally had a much more adult-looking design.
*** Rise Kujikawa was to be a juvenile delinquent with Saki Konishi's design and chains for weapons.
*** Naoto and Teddie switched genders in development; Naoto was originally going a boy, and Teddie a girl. According to the artbook, when it was decided Naoto would be female, Teddie was made male in response just to keep the party's gender ratio even. An early sketch of his female form resembles his Alice Costume from the final game, except looking somewhat older.
*** Also, weird little things like Chie and Yukiko having long and short hair, respectively.
*** Some character portraits from ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' were found in the game data, albeit it's been said that those are actually leftovers from the fact that Persona 4 was made with Persona 3 FES' engine.
*** Some DummiedOut dub dialogue seems to have implied a romantic route for ''[[GayOption Yosuke]]'', despite no such option being available in the original. However, Yosuke's Social Link actually ''does'' contain a "Girlfriend Flag" usually only used for Romance Routes - except that in his case, said flag only determines whether or not you get to hug him at a certain point in the final game. This all has become a huge subject of fan art and fanfiction.
*** There's also evidence that at one point in the story the killer was going to turn out to be [[spoiler:your uncle Dojima]] but this was apparently so disturbing to testers that it was changed during production. Some elements of this early version stayed around with the eventual killer [[spoiler:Tohru Adachi]], such as [[spoiler:him being someone you trust implicitly and who's welcome in the house at any time]] but dialed down somewhat.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'':
*** Ryotaro Dojima [[http://www.siliconera.com/2012/03/23/what-if-ryotaro-dojima-in-persona-4-the-arena/ was considered]] as a playable character (instead of a Persona, he'd summon Nanako, giving the impression he would have been a JokeCharacter), but Atlus bluntly shot the idea down.
*** Akihiko's initial design for the game was, in the words of Zen United, similar to Creator/JasonStatham in ''Film/TheTransporter'', implying Soejima may have planned to give him a design similar to his ''[[Anime/PersonaTrinitySoul Trinity Soul]]'' appearance. However, the director felt a 'wild man' was needed, and influenced Akihiko's drastic change in appearance.
*** Aigis was intended to have a braided ponytail in her new design. That went to Fuuka in the end.
*** Going through the sound test in Gallery mode shows some unused lines for each of the characters, including the Investigation Team calling out their Ultimate Personas, and the Shadow Operatives calling out their own initial Personas. Obviously, the unused Personas were considered for the game at some time, but ultimately failed to make it into the final product.
** ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'': [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140926141132/megamitensei/images/c/c8/Zen_%26_Rei_PQ_Artbook_2.png Some]] [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140926141250/megamitensei/images/5/57/Zen_%26_Rei_PQ_Artbook_3.png discarded]] [[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140926141344/megamitensei/images/0/04/Zen_%26_Rei_PQ_Artbook_4.png designs]] exist for Zen and Rei that were surprisingly different from the final product. Most of them had a DeliberatelyMonochrome color palette for their clothes, and some designs had them ''physically bound to each other'' to emphasize their [[TheDividual codependency.]]
** For ''VideoGame/Persona5'', it is best to visit its [[Trivia/Persona5 trivia page]], as there is so much cut content and scenarios that they are separated by folders.
** ''VideoGame/MegamiTenseiII'': The Dark Hero was supposed to be a boss fought during the player's trip to the Suzuki Company, hence his boss data and incredibly high stats. Also, Yumiko, a major character from the original ''VideoGame/MegamiTensei'' (now an old woman), was supposed to make a cameo in an unknown capacity according to a magazine preview.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'':
*** The artbook had designs of demons that did not make the final cut.
*** Originally the game was only meant to start in Tokyo and then to take place on a global scale before ending in Israel.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiSynchronicityPrologue'': Jack Ripper was originally going to be a playable character, but was scrapped for unknown reasons.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'':
*** The standard Samurai uniforms used to be gray and black until they decided that it wouldn't make sense for the Black Samurai to be considered conspicuous if all Samurai wore dark uniforms so they switched to blue and white.
*** The audience room of Mikado Castle was cut as a visitable location because of how little importance the king ended up having in the game itself.
*** Lucifer Palace and Purgatorium were originally the final dungeons for the opposite alignment route, Lucifer Palace for the Chaos route and Purgatorium for the Law route, they were switched for symbolism.
*** An idea that went unused for Lucifer Palace was Lucifer's eye being seen in windows, watching the party as they make their way through the dungeon.
*** Akihabara was originally going to be explorable before being cut entirely. It's explained in-universe as the Ashura-Kai destroying the ward in what appeared to be a military strike.
*** Reverse Hills had some content that was too graphic for a Cero C rating, so they toned it down.
*** The designer of Chemtrail, Tamotsu Shinohara, had initially wanted to put Illuminati symbolism in its design as part of its conspiracy theory aspect, like a one eyed pyramid imprinted on its stomach, before deciding that it might cause problems later and scrapped the idea.
*** Jonathan used to look like an older [[VideoGame/Persona3 Ken Amada]]. Similarly, Nevarre has gone under several redesigns.
*** According to the Megaten Maniax book, the original script Kaneko had created for the game was so massive, it is described to have been able to fill upwards of 7 to 8 volumes of Japanese novels. Supposedly it was split into two huge parts internally called the Resurrection arc and the Destruction arc. The game is mostly based on the content in the Resurrection arc, while the material of the Destruction arc mostly went unused. According to revealed material about the second arc, it was supposed to take place in [[YearX 201X]] and was going to act as a sort of interactive backstory for the Resurrection Arc. It also reveals that Kenji was originally going to have a much more central role.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'':
*** The game started as an Updated Re-release of Shin Megami Tensei IV, until the production staff realized they had so much new content and so many new ideas they needed an entirely new game to fit them all.
*** Nanashi was initially meant to be a middle-aged man trying to save his daughter. This was scrapped for a 15-year old protagonist, and Nanashi's original design was recycled for Asahi's father. Likewise, several young playable characters such as Toki and Asahi appeared much older in their initial designs.
** The Japanese UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} exclusive ''Shin Megami Tensei NINE'' was planned to lead into a ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' MMORPG which was never released.

* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'':
** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'':
*** Mike Haggar from ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' was originally planned to initially appear as the game's wrestling character and that his appearance would've helped [[SharedUniverse connect the two series together]] (a concept that would later be used with the appearances of Guy, Sodom, Rolento, Cody, Maki, Hugo, and Poison in both the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' and ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' sub-series respectively), but later on in development, he was replaced by Zangief after the creative team had noticed that there were already three other American fighters (Ken, Guile, and Balrog) in the game. Zangief was also originally going to be named "Vodka Gobalsky".
*** T. Hawk's proposed name was ''Geronimo'', but thankfully, a member of the American development team suggested that they change it to something else.
*** Two of the four new fighters in ''Super Street Fighter II'' were originally meant to be {{Head Swap}}s of each other, two Kung Fu twin brothers from Hong Kong who would be very similar yet different from each other. James Goddard argued against the idea (since Ryu and Ken were already head swaps of one another), leading to the two brothers being reworked into a single kung fu fighter, Fei Long, and the creation of an entirely new fourth fighter, Dee Jay. Also, they pitched the names "Mantis" and "JJ Bam" for the character who would eventually became Dee Jay, as well as intending for "Mantis" to be written along his pants; they settled on "Maximum" instead because [[AmbidextrousSprite it would still be readable when his sprite was flipped]]. The initial concept of the two Kung Fu twin brothers would eventually make it later on in the series via Yun and Yang in ''Street Fighter III''.
*** A few proposed gameplay mechanics never made it in, such as characters having weak points, characters taking more damage while dizzied, the ability to duck underneath projectiles, and the ability to perform juggle combos.
*** [[https://tcrf.net/Super_Street_Fighter_II_Turbo_(Arcade)%23.22The_League_Battle.22 Remnants have been discovered]] for a League mode in ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo''. Similar to ''Super Street Fighter II''[='=]s tournament mode, the game would have pit players fighting each other in a Round Robin system.
** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'':
*** The game was initially meant to be a clean slate from the previous installments, with none of the original cast returning, hence the subtitle of the first game in the sub-series, ''New Generation''. However, Capcom had ended up not going through with this initial plan and eventually included both Ryu and Ken in order to avoid potential fan backlash, with Akuma and Chun-Li following suit and returning to the roster as well in the respective ''2nd Impact'' and ''3rd Strike'' {{Updated Rerelease}}s. Originally, Sean was supposed to have been the only {{Shotoclone}} character in the game (effectively being the successor to Ryu and Ken), and had this happened, he might not have been {{Nerf}}ed so hard or regarded as [[ButtMonkey a joke]].
*** Dan was considered for the roster at one point.
*** Hugo was meant to appear in ''New Generation'', and Shin Akuma in ''3rd Strike''. Hugo later made it into ''2nd Impact'', but Shin Akuma was left out of ''3rd Strike''.
*** A poison-using fighter was planned, but was ultimately replaced with Remy. The idea would later be revisited with F.A.N.G. in ''Street Fighter V''.
*** [[BigBad Gill]] was originally planned to wield [[LightEmUp light]] and [[CastingAShadow darkness]], but Capcom had decided to have him use [[PlayingWithFire fire]] and [[AnIcePerson ice]] instead as it would be a much better demonstration of their new CPS-III arcade hardware.
** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'':
*** ''Alpha 3'' was originally going to have Joe (from the original ''VideoGame/StreetFighterI'') as the escaped prisoner fighter, which would've continued ''Alpha'''s pattern of bringing back and re-introducing forgotten ''[=SF1=]'' characters as the previous revisions had already done with Adon, Birdie, and Gen. However, he was dropped and replaced with Cody from ''Final Fight''.
*** Karin, Sakura's rival, was originally supposed to debut in ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesVsStreetFighter'' similarly to how Shadaloo Cammy first appeared in ''VideoGame/XMenVsStreetFighter''. An early version of her sprite can be found in the game's data, which reveals that she was originally planned to be a simple head swap of Sakura.
** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'':
*** Dee Jay and T. Hawk were meant to appear in the first iteration of the game.
*** The ''Super Street Fighter IV'' artbook proves that Strider Hiryu was originally going to be an alternate outfit for Guy.
*** In the case of Abel and Rufus, their original designs were ''very'' different, especially the latter: Abel was originally a judo practitioner with a [[WeakButSkilled "the weak can beat the strong"]] gimmick. He was also a teenager and [[DudeLooksLikeALady could be mistaken for]] a [[http://images.wikia.com/streetfighter/images/3/37/Abel_girl.jpg girl]]. As for Rufus, instead of being a middle-aged, obese white guy who taught himself kung-fu, he was originally a ''young, thin (yet muscular) [[RaceLift black]]'' male who combined his kung-fu skills with breakdancing, calling it [[DanceBattler "breakung-fu"]]. [[http://fightingstreet.com/folders/artworkfolder/artworkpics/sf_art/sfiv_art/SF_IV_Concept_Art/SFIV_PC_Concept_Art_Various_12.jpg He was]] [[http://fast1.onesite.com/capcom-unity.com/user/trueststrike/66e0b707c8289b768867ec9bad21c9fd.jpg?v=154007 originally named]] [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/Rufus-design1.jpg "King Cobra"]] and had a rivalry with Ken, although it most likely wouldn't have been PlayedForLaughs as it is with the version of him that made it into the game. All in all, he was redesigned, because the developers wanted an absurd, over-the-top design that would "freak people out". What's left of Cobra in the final release of ''Street Fighter IV'' is his gi, which is Ken's 1st [[DownloadableContent DLC]] costume.
*** Karin, Elena and R. Mika were all considered for ''Super Street Fighter IV'', and while Elena eventually made it into ''Ultra'', the other two would have to wait until ''Street Fighter V'' for their next-gen debut.
*** For the initial brainstorming session for ''Street Fighter IV'', there was an idea for a character that never made it past the idea board: ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Karate Klown]].''
** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken'':
*** Dan and Anna were initially considered for the main character roster, but the two of them were eventually rejected.
*** [[VideoGame/{{Halo}} Master Chief]] and [[VideoGame/GearsOfWar Marcus Fenix]] were considered for the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 edition, but bad timing led to them being unavailable for use.
*** Classic VideoGame/MegaMan was considered, but Creator/KeijiInafune vetoed this, as he felt the idea was uninteresting and had already been done in the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' games. This is what led to the inclusion of [[FightingClown Bad Box Art Mega Man]] instead.
*** [[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} Nathan Drake]] was considered as a potential [[GuestFighter guest character]] for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 version, but [[VideoGame/{{Infamous}} Cole McGrath]] was chosen instead because his abilities fit a fighting game better.
** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'':
*** The game was originally going to have a much more realistic visual style in the vein of ''Tekken'' or ''Mortal Kombat''. Ryu's shirtless and bearded "Hot Ryu" look was going to be his default design, with the idea being that he'd only recently returned to civilization after an extended period training in the mountains. M. Bison/Dictator also would've sported a radical redesign with slicked back white hair and glowing purple TronLines. This build of the game was shelved due to worries about the photorealistic visuals being too big of a departure, as well as concerns that the more naturalistic body proportions made it difficult to tell what was going on during the fights.
*** Sodom from ''Final Fight'' was considered for the launch roster, but Capcom couldn't think of a way to work him into the story.
*** Necalli was originally going to eat his opponents, but this was considered too violent for a T-rated game.
*** Numerous concepts were considered but abandoned, including a President Fighter (who looked suspiciously like Bison's ''[[Film/StreetFighterTheLegendOfChunLi Legend of Chun-Li]]'' incarnation. However, this concept was able to make it into second wave of DLC in the form of G, the "President of the World"), a Literary Master (a BadassBookworm), Careless Sexy-chan (a dark-skinned young woman who'd accidentally tear up her own clothes during battle; the character eventually became Laura), Gen's disciple (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin), a football-themed female fighter from America and a hockey-themed female fighter from Canada, a Yeti (rejected for seeming like something out of ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' rather than ''Street Fighter''), a Brazilian Soccer Fighter (rejected for being too similar to Roberto from ''VideoGame/RivalSchools''), Asuka (a young, female aikido practitioner who looked suspiciously like Hokuto from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterEX''; rejected because the game already had too many Japanese fighters), Elizabeth (a wealthy French savate user; rejected because Karin's inclusion made another rich girl character redundant), and a South American assassin (rejected in favor of Necalli).
*** Momotaro, a character from a very early Capcom arcade game called ''Pirate Ship Higemaru'', was considered but ultimately dropped.
*** Menat went through several potential iterations before the concept of an Egyptian fortune teller was chosen. One idea was that she'd be Rita, an Italian schoolgirl delinquent [[OccidentalOtaku with a passion for manga and cosplay]]. Other ideas included her as a magician who could create birds made of Soul Power, a rhythmic gymnast, an Egyptian stick fighter and a cutsey redheaded "pizza assassin" in the vein of [[Videogame/{{Darkstalkers}} B.B. Hood]].

* The BaraGenre BeatEmUp ''Strange Flesh'' [[https://blog.greatestbear.com/post/131751737033/evolution-of-the-hud was originally envisioned]] to be much more story and text driven, and to have Joe's face visibly change as you progressed on throughout the levels. Those aspects were eventually scrapped to make development and gameplay far more streamlined.

* (* The original plot of the game would involve Shantae transitioning from a half- to a full genie, represented physically by her hair color changing from brown to purple. This plot was scrapped, and with it Shantae's change in hair color: her iconic purple ponytail is now strictly TheArtifact. [[spoiler:That said, a few games in the series do at least tease the idea of Shantae becoming a full genie: the ending of the Game Boy Color game has the option presented to her, but [[FriendOrIdolDecision she chooses not to because the alternative would mean abandoning her friends and family in Sequin Land]]. While she eventually does become a full genie at the ending of ''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'' without having to leave the others behind, the series promptly went through a SoftReboot and reverted this change.]]

* The Atari game ''Name This Game And Win $10.000'' was going to have a contest to give the game a name. The winner would get ten thousand dollars. The company went bankrupt before the contest could be held.

* ''Spyborgs'' is perhaps one of the most drastic case of a game being overhauled during development. First announced at Capcom's 2008 Captivate event, it was [[http://kotaku.com/5012553/capcom-announces-spyborgs-for-wii meant]] to be a humourous action-adventure game whose action would be framed by silly ''VideoGame/WarioWare''-esque commercial running through the levels. However, a tepid reception led to the developers scrapping their original idea and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xZq3rxtuGM overhauling]] the game in a gritty, generic hack & slash which only shared the design of the main characters.

* (* The original plot of the game would involve Shantae transitioning from a half- to a full genie, represented physically by her hair color changing from brown to purple. This plot was scrapped, and with it Shantae's change in hair color: her iconic purple ponytail is now strictly because YouGottaHaveBlueHair. [[spoiler:That said, a few games in the series do at least tease the idea of Shantae becoming a full genie: the ending of the Game Boy Color game has the option presented to her, but [[FriendOrIdolDecision she chooses not to because the alternative would mean abandoning her friends and family in Sequin Land]]. While she eventually does become a full genie at the ending of ''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'' without having to leave the others behind, the series promptly went through a SoftReboot and reverted this change.]]

*** According to the Megaten Maniax book, the original script Kaneko had created for the game was so massive, it is described to have been able to fill upwards of 7 to 8 volumes of Japanese novels. Supposedly it was split into two huge parts internally called the Resurrection arc and the Destruction arc. The game is mostly based on the content in the Resurrection arc, while the material of the Destruction arc mostly went unused. According to revealed material about the second arc, it was supposed to take place in [[ExtyYearsFromNow 201X]] and was going to act as a sort of interactive backstory for the Resurrection Arc. It also reveals that Kenji was originally going to have a much more central role.

** There was meant to be a map for the planet Ferenginar which would have been home to a Featured Episode series starring Chase Masterson reprising her role as Leeta.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** ''[[VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed Star Wars: The Force Unleashed]]'': Darth Vader's apprentice was to use Starkiller only as a call sign, and was supposed to have an actual Darth title, but this was dropped when the official suggestions were Darth Icky or Darth Insanius.
** The ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' games are rife with WhatCouldHaveBeen. The second game in particular is infamous for it, but both have some cut content:
*** The first ''KOTOR'' game had some cut material - most notably the star map on the volcanic planet of Sleheyron. The planet was cut early on in the production schedule, so most of the content relating to it was removed from the game files. The character of Yuthura Ban was given a backstory with the planet in reference to the cut material. There was also an alternate Dark Side ending for the PlayerCharacter if they were female that got cut.
*** Originally, ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' had an intricate and complex finale which resolved all the outstanding storylines and gave all the {{N|onPlayerCharacter}}PCs and their subplots decent closure. Thanks to [=LucasArts=] rushing the game out before Christmas, most of this stuff was cut and the game's ending doesn't entirely make much sense any more.
*** In addition to the material left out of the ending (such as the fact that "Darth Traya" could have been one of two different characters depending on certain choices), [=KotOR=] II was also supposed to include a planet of droids, where you would have found and talked with one of the Jedi Masters (who in the released game is found already dead on Korriban), and the HK-50 factory as a late-game solo mission for HK-47, where you would have had the option of either destroying the factory and all the droids outright, or convincing either the HK-50s or a new set of HK-51 droids to assist HK-47. Also, according to Avellone, Bao-Dur was supposed to die while helping HK-47 reach the factory, which explains his [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse complete absence]] (save for a pre-programmed recording in his remote) during the finale.
*** ''[=KotOR=] II'' also includes a LampshadeHanging regarding another what-could-have-been; with the right conditions met, Atton Rand breaks the fourth wall to comment that he was originally intended to be the protagonist of ''VideoGame/JediKnightJediAcademy'' before that character was named Jaden Korr instead.
** ''VideoGame/XWingAlliance'': Planned ships that didn't made the final cut were the Starviper from ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' and a modified Strike Cruiser. Also, a multiplayer function would have allowed one player to fly the ship and a second one control the turret (for freighter ships). The odd bit is that the turret function is programmed into the game, but [[DummiedOut none of the ships are flagged for being flyable with a gunner]]. It is unknown why this is the case, since re-enabling the function causes no issues.

** The game would have originally been released for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem, then the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation (the final version is a Game Boy Color game). Towards the end of the game, Shantae would have received a blue version of her ordinary clothes, which were later made available to certain ''Half-Genie Hero'' donors as a DevelopmentGag.
** The original plot of the game would involve Shantae transitioning from a half- to a full genie, represented physically by her hair color changing from brown to purple. This plot was scrapped, and with it Shantae's change in hair color: her iconic purple ponytail is now strictly because YouGottaHaveBlueHair. [[spoiler:That said, a few games in the series do at least tease the idea of Shantae becoming a full genie: the ending of the Game Boy Color game has the option presented to her, but [[FriendOrIdolDecision she chooses not to because the alternative would mean abandoning her friends and family in Sequin Land]]. While she eventually does become a full genie at the ending of ''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'' without having to leave the others behind, the series promptly went through a SoftReboot and reverted this change.]]
** At some point, Risky Boots was going to be the ''ghost'' of a notorious piratess, which would explain her unearthly appearance. In the final games, she's just a regular pirate [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation who happens to have blueish-gray skin]].
** ''Shantae: Risky's Revenge'' was supposed to be an episodic game, but this was scrapped in favor of a single game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin 3}}'':