Discovering long lost unreleased games from yesteryear is always fun, but can sometimes come with mixed emotions. The discovery of a working prototype of Armed, which was cancelled mid way through its development, is one of those instances when it comes with mixed emotions.

Armed, also known as Aftermath, was in development by Point of View and was being published by Interplay for both the Saturn and PlayStation with a planned release in 1996. However, despite being previewed in various gaming magazines at the time, the game was cancelled. According to the previews, the game was billed as a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up with a sci-fi setting, rendered visuals, and cinematic cut-scenes.

Armed in action on a real Sega Saturn

Unfortunately, this recent discovery doesn’t mean that the game has been preserved in digital form. Here is where the slight dampner comes in on this great discovery; a physical copy of the prototype game has appeared for sale on eBay in a ‘buy it now’ auction listing. Billed as “Sega Saturn Armed (Unreleased) Holy Grail prototype”, the seller is asking for a $2,500 (plus $20 for shipping) for the prototype game. According to the auction listing, the game comes on disc and is fully playable, but lacks certain cut scenes and music.

It’s unsure if anyone will take the seller up on that high valuation of the game. Whatever the outcome, here’s hoping that the game is preserved digitally and archived as it should be.

eBay link: Sega Saturn Armed (Unreleased) Holy Grail prototype

Source: RetroCollect

Neil Reive

An avid retrogamer who has worked on various projects, magazines, and fanzines. He started his videogaming journey with the Amstrad CPC464 computer before moving onto a Commodore 64, then the Sega Mega Drive, followed by a multitude of PCs.