The video game preservation community, Hidden Palace, uploaded more than 700 video game demo and prototype files, all from the PlayStation 2 era, over the weekend. The collection, called Project Deluge, consists of “PlayStation 2 versions that have been confirmed as unique and do not correspond to the final version” of the games. Many of the games and demos can be played on the Windows PC using emulators.
The collections at Projeto Dilúvio were loaded with “various extinct media, developers and probabilities and ends of various collectors over a period of time,” said the Hidden Palace on its website, all apparently collected by a single person before being delivered to Hidden Palace, as seen by the VGC.
“These aged items were miraculously rescued from being destroyed, thrown away or sold by a person’s Herculean efforts,” wrote Hidden Palace. “This person not only took on the task of backing up everything in his possession on his own, but he was so generously generous that he allowed us to examine and preserve every item in his collection without any commitment. Yes, that’s right, all of it. For nothing in return. “
There are currently 752 games and demos loaded as part of the collection. Hidden Palace researchers said the project was “so big” that it “eclipses everything we’ve covered so far”
The full story of how Hidden Palace took on this huge project is on the organization’s website. The full list of prototypes is also there.
The large amount of compilations in the collection means that there are a ton of things to explore, but some of the highlights include E3 prototypes from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and Shadow of the Colossus, as well as prototypes and visualizations of Dino Stalker, Katamari Damacy, God’s hand, and Final fantasy 10-2. Hidden Palace played several games during a six-hour live broadcast over the weekend, highlighting games like The Simpsons Skateboard and Ty, the Tasmanian tiger.