[Update: Reader hatesyou points out, there was a Burnout title for the DS, called Burnout Legends. Oops! Sorry about the confusion.]
The high-speed arcade racing franchise Burnout has found a home on nearly every platform over the years, but has managed to skip Nintendo’s consoles this current generation. But that wasn’t always the plan, as a title for both the Wii and the Nintendo DS, Burnout Freestyle, was apparently planned.
Word of the canceled project comes way of Paul Dibden, current Outsourcing Manager at Electronic Arts UK, and former artist on various EA projects including a number of previous Burnout titles. Dibden lists the Burnout Freestyle project as “unpublished” (obviously) on his website.
French game site Gamekyo first picked up on this, and dug up a bunch of early concept images which depict a stark, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars cartoon style and hint at quite a bit of touch control. Dibden’s public online portfolio also shows off “cartoon Burnout” cars, and a “Burnout Pinball” table, which could have been an early concept or simply a personal project for the artist.
