Tuesday, July 12, 2011

TSR's 1993 Wildspace Video Trailer: Spelljammer VHS Game!

Joethelawyer just posted the link to this. I found it to be so utterly amazing I just had to share it with you, my dear readers.

Apparently Wildspace was supposed to be a Spelljammer-based video game "cartridge". It seems that "cartridge" in this case meant VHS tape. Does anyone know anything more about this apparently abandoned venture?

 

UPDATE: Here's a picture of the Wildspace prototype game (from BGG - thanks to ze bulette for pointing this out!):



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Posted by Bob Reed at 12:57 PM
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16 comments:

  1. thekelvingreenJuly 12, 2011 at 1:34 PM

    There was a Spelljammer PC game in 1992, but it was nothing like this.

    If the video is indicative of what the game was supposed to look like, there's no way it was a cartridge-based game, because we're talking the era of the Megadrive and SNES; my guess is that it was a FMV-based game for something like the Mega-CD or CDi.

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  2. Bob ReedJuly 12, 2011 at 1:41 PM

    there's no way it was a cartridge-based game

    Maybe it was to have been a VHS game like Dragonstrike...? Technically a VHS tape is a "cartridge" as spelled out in the copyright.

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  3. JayJuly 12, 2011 at 1:44 PM

    Never heard of the game, but that video is all kinds of awesome. It's like a predecessor to Dungeon Majesty.

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  4. Jason ZavodaJuly 12, 2011 at 1:54 PM

    Wildspace was suppossed to be a video tape game like Dragonstrike. The game and 4 novels were proposed but never created from what I've read.

    There is a thread about it on theAcaeum (which also links to this blog).

    http://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=183641#183641

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  5. JayJuly 12, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    @Jason, would this video have been a "proof of concept" then? The thread doesn't seem to mention if it was made public (screened at a con maybe?) before YouTube.

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  6. ze buletteJuly 12, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    There's mention of this at boardgame geek with a prototype box photo. That makes it look like it was a cartridge meant to run on the AdventureVision. Possibly abandoned due to Atari's quick rise to dominance?

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  7. ze buletteJuly 12, 2011 at 2:14 PM

    Oops - if I'd looked at the box more carefully, it does say "VHS videocassette"...

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  8. Bob ReedJuly 12, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    There's mention of this at boardgame geek

    Nice find! The BGG posts says that an entire 30 minute video was made. Demon dogs, I'd love to see that! Especially if there's more footage of that gang of space witches flying through the stratosphere!

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  9. zhu bajieeJuly 12, 2011 at 4:27 PM

    Yes! A sequel to Dragonstrike, just what the doctor ordered.

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  10. TheronJuly 12, 2011 at 4:38 PM

    I seem to remember Dragon running some articles on "Wildspace" that made it seem like Mystara's equivalent to Spelljammer (since Mystara always seemed to need its own versions of things).

    But that may be faulty memory on my part.

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  11. christianJuly 12, 2011 at 7:57 PM

    YES! That was so awesome! I can't believe that lady stabbed the Barbarian with the +3 Heavy Metal Hair in the guts. Bummer!

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  12. JoethelawyerJuly 12, 2011 at 11:20 PM

    @Christian "...the Barbarian with the +3 Heavy Metal Hair" LMFAO!

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  13. WymarcJuly 13, 2011 at 5:43 AM

    I actually thought that the mind flayer was not too bad for being made when it was.

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  14. DuglasJuly 13, 2011 at 11:35 AM

    Wicked ass!

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  15. Aaron E. SteeleJuly 13, 2011 at 5:26 PM

    "What do you know of the elementals?"

    "Oh, boy!"

    Glad to see this project died on the vine.

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  16. AkrasiaJuly 13, 2011 at 10:24 PM

    If only this had been made into a full-blown film! :P

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