| Black ICE\White Noise | |
|---|---|
 Preliminary cover art featuring the three planned playable characters | |
| Developer(s) | Atari Corporation |
| Publisher(s) | Atari Corporation |
| Director(s) | David Frost (Interactive Alliance Corp.) |
| Producer(s) | Faran Thomason B.J. West |
| Designer(s) | B.J. West Chris Hudak Keoni Chavez Sean Patten |
| Programmer(s) | Eric Smith Pradip Fatepuria Scott Chandler |
| Artist(s) | Bryce Nakagawa Chris Thompson Mira Soriano-Gillet |
| Writer(s) | B.J. West Chris Hudak Keoni Chavez |
| Composer(s) | Andy Armer |
| Engine | Ken Rose |
| Platform(s) | Atari Jaguar CD |
| Release | Unreleased |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Black ICE\White Noise is an unreleased action-adventure video game that was in development and planned to be published by Atari Corporation on a scheduled December 1995 release date exclusively for the Atari Jaguar CD.[1][2] It is influenced by the works of American-Canadian writer William Gibson such as Neuromancer and its plot is very reminiscent of The Matrix, which came three years later after the project was discontinued.[3]
The player would have followed the story of a group of three characters in a fictional United States city in the year 2042, as they performed multiple missions and tasks such as assassination, computer hacking, exploration, street fighting and other assignments.[4] Originally conceived internally in 1994 as a mascot platform game by Sam Tramiel to represent Atari Corp., it later evolved into a more mature title involving a cyberpunk setting.[3][5][6]
After multiple delays and expenses, Atari Corp. cancelled the game in 1996, a decision seen by the video game press as an indication that the company was preparing to stop support for the Jaguar, especially as one of the other games for the system, Thea Realm Fighters, was also cancelled at the same time,[7] with the game being close to completion.[3] Although unreleased, several playable prototypes have been released and sold online by people such as B.J. West, one of the original producers of the game, and video game collector Clint Thompson, who got the rights to publish one of the playable prototypes.[8][9]
- ^ Gore, Chris (August 1995). "The Gorescore - Industry News You Can - Upcoming Jaguar Software Titles". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. No. 79. L.F.P., Inc. p. 14.
- ^ Burns, Benjamin (February 19, 2020). "The story of the Atari Jaguar saviour that never came out". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
- ^ a b c Reutter, Hans. "Unreleased Or Unfinished Jaguar Games - Black ICE\White Noise aka Chaos Agenda". cyberroach.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-30. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
- ^ West, B.J. (2006). "Black ICE\White Noise Game Manual" (PDF). bjwest.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
- ^ Wallett, Adrian (July 7, 2017). "BJ West (Atari) – Interview". Arcade Attack. Archived from the original on 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
- ^ Sillifant, Ross (2017). "B.J. West interview". ataricompendium.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
- ^ "ProNews: Atari Axes New Games". GamePro. No. 79. IDG. February 1996. p. 17.
- ^ West, B.J. "Black ICE\White Noise (Official website)". bjwest.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
- ^ Thompson, Clint (September 20, 2002). "Ambient Distortions Productions Studio - Projects - Black Ice/White Noise". Ambient Distortions Productions Studio. Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2018-07-09.