Within the mid-90s, with the Saturn bombing and the online game panorama altering quickly, Sega rolled the cube and made a couple of dangerous bets. A kind of was, uh, sinking $3 million into the creation of an adult-oriented FMV recreation referred to as Sacred Swimming pools, that was so dangerous it ended up being binned earlier than it was ever launched.
Now, although, in 2022, we are able to play it! Due to Gaming Alexandria, who not solely bought maintain of the sport however has made it accessible to obtain and play on emulators, we are able to all get the prospect to, if not get pleasure from, then at the very least expertise this misplaced piece of online game historical past.
Sacred Swimming pools went into improvement in 1996, because the FMV craze was already winding down, so by the point it was prepared for its public showings and impending launch the market’s urge for food for the style had—due to an limitless parade of low-effort dogshit—soured.
Whereas focused at adults, and described as an “erotic thriller,” the sport didn’t characteristic any footage that was outright sexual. Tright here was no full nudity proven, just a few “racy” costumes and “scantily clad ladies,” although this was sufficient to permit Sega’s advertising and marketing workforce to concentrate on the sport’s “stunning creatures” in a trailer.
Sacred Swimming pools was in improvement for the Saturn, PC, PlayStation and Mac, however would by no means be launched on any of them. After a exhibiting at E3 in 1996 which was panned by the press, “the sport repeatedly missed its launch date and quietly disappeared from the schedule by mid-1997. SegaSoft had given up on the sport, and no sum of money or events might repair it.”
G/O Media could get a fee
For 25 years that was just about all the general public had ever seen or identified concerning the recreation, till Gaming Alexandria managed to pay money for “alpha builds” of Sacred Swimming pools for all of its platforms. They got here from David Grey, a former affiliate producer on the sport, who had been given the discs as a “parting reward” when he left SegaSoft in 1999. These builds are actually accessible for obtain, however when you’d reasonably simply watch a little bit footage as a substitute, right here’s the primary jiffy of the sport in motion:
To learn extra concerning the recreation, its improvement, and the way these copies have been obtained, you must undoubtedly try Gaming Alexandria’s characteristic, which fits into much more element—like Gap enjoying at events, and Hollywood veterans serving to in manufacturing—than you’d count on for a comparatively obscure title like this.
