It probably got pushed by the wayside on account of video card manufacturers all deciding not to really support voxels.

I also thought Tiberian Sun's vehicles (RA2's, too - same engine?) were done with voxels. Am I mistaken?

Yeah, Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 both used voxels to render most of the vehicles. It might not have been full rendering, but I know it was at least partial. Blade Runner (which Westwood also worked on two years earlier) used voxels for a lot of its graphics, too.

Also, I remember there were lots of games on the PS2 that were supposed to have online modes, but scrapped them way before release when the whole PS2 modem plan imploded. Square said FFX was supposed to have an online mode of some kind way back when it was first announced, but never gave any details on what it was supposed to be. Most people thought certain scenarios would be played online with other people, which would be a sort of baby step for people getting ready to play FFXI, which was fully online and quite possibly the evolution of the series. As cool as it might have been, I'm glad the line between MMOs and CRPGs wasn't blurred too much here. You have to keep these genres fenced off in separate pastures, otherwise they'll interbreed and you'll have some gangly sterile hybrids on your hands that you can't sell.

Breath of Fire DQ was also supposed to have some sort of online function, but it was scrapped before programming even began, as well as a fishing mini-game like every other BoF that was cut when they fell behind schedule. This info never made it to previews, though (you had to read about it in the art book), so no one's hopes were really dashed here. I just thought it was neat.

You know, I remember hearing about that, but from what I recall it was something about using the PlayOnline service to "connect" to other users (which was a pretty vague statement) to get help to advance your quest, like asking others for advice and discussing aspects of the game as you play. I thought the whole concept was rather silly and pointless since it sounded like you'd just be using an online message board on the console or something like that. I think they were just using FFX to market their PlayOnline service for when they actually decided to use it in a game.

On the subject of cut online modes for PS2 games, Ace Combat 5 comes to mind. I was pretty disappointed that it was cut since I had just finished Ace Combat 4 right beforehand and was really looking forward to some online dogfights. I think that caused me to lose interest in the series, I loved Ace Combat 4 but I haven't even gotten around to playing 5 or Zero yet, and I didn't even care enough to bother seeing if Ace Combat 6 finally has that feature or not.

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot about one of the most horrible preview lies ever: Red Steel. It was the first Wii game that had any "screenshots" shown of it, and it looked quite impressive for a system that was supposed to just be an extension of the Gamecube. Then it turns out that those were just pre-renders, and the actual game looked like total crap and all those cool features that they talked about in the preview were incredibly boring, poorly executed, or non-existent.

I'd believe that. The whole thing does sounds kinda wonky, and I doubt Square had the infrastructure to host FFX and FFXI's servers at the time and provide full online modes for each one. Even if it was just a message board system or something, I think it takes something out of the game when you encourage interaction rather than let people figure stuff out on their own, especially in RPGs. Still, any gimmick like online features was exciting back then, especially since the Dreamcast was the only console getting it right at the time.

And since it fits the topic - beta screens! Including the old, minimalist menu, the old logo (coming 2001 - believe it!), and the virtually unchanged Tidus model. Shots are from GameCore back in 2000 when the game was announced.

Nall: I'd love a link to this minimalist menu that you mention.Oh, it just wasn't loading.

Incidentally, does anyone remember the PlayOnline that existed BEFORE the online service? The one where it had a guide to FFIX on there that sorta kinda taught you a couple things about the game, but was hyped to be like a completely comprehensive guide to the game?

Yeah, I remember that. It was supposed to be this huge online archive like you said, but it really wasn't anything that comprehensive. The original PlayOnline site was taken down for a while a few years after FFIX got old, but it was later integrated into the main Square Enix site. The codes from the strategy guide still work, too, for what it's worth.

Nice website. It reminded me of a section removed from Metal Gear Solid2, when snake is being chased through the tanker by water.

http://www.unseen64.net/xboxps2/xboxbeta2/mgs2pr37.jpg

This is more of a 'how not to localize', really, but...
Ace Combat 3 (reference).
The versions sold in the US and Europe had almost all of the story content (incuding all cutscenes) removed for some reason. Fortunately, Namco did not repeat this nonsense in subsequent iterations.
Cybernator is also guilty of this.