In the world of gaming development, there may be more scrapped games than there are officially released ones. In the case of Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil, that statement could not be more accurate. Outside of Resident Evil, Mikami has had his hand in the development of a number of different games outside of the series he's best known for, and a number of games that never saw the light of day.
Mikami served as the director of the very first Resident Evil title back in 1996 and since then has served as a major proponent in most of the classic Resident Evil games. Though, Mikami hasn't been involved in a Resident Evil title since Resident Evil 4, and revealed in a recent interview that he has not been contacted for the remake of Resident Evil 4.
In the exact same interview, Mikami revealed that he and his fellow developers over at Tango Gameworks previously worked on a title that, while entirely completed, never saw the light of day as it was not approved by the lead executives. It was a much smaller title compared to The Evil Within, which Shini Mikami directed. The game was about a four-inch cockroach and the goal was to defeat human enemies using guns.
The game was codenamed "Noah" and it would have been a game that was entirely Mikami's vision. While an incredibly odd premise for a game, it is certainly a unique one that presumably a lot of people could potentially find interesting. This game, while entirely finished, seems like it could have been a Japanese exclusive game. There are, after all, plenty of unique Japanese games that were never released for the American public.
It begs to question then, how many other games met a similar fate. Considering how many Resident Evil games there are, it's more than possible that a large number of spin-off games never released. However, it seems likely that those hypothetical games would be more likely to get published considering the premise of Resident Evil is easier to digest then a gun-wielding cockroach.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds in terms of Shinji Mikami. With the release of the Resident Evil 4 remake on the horizon, it's possible that Mikami could be contacted to consult on the upcoming remake. It would be nice to know what an industry professional like Mikami could bring to a remake of a game that he not only directed, but did so over ten years ago.
Source: PC Gamer