A lost console version of SimCopter 64 has been found and preserved

gamedeveloper.com:

This week, the Video Game History Foundation released a new deep dive into Maxis' planned console version of its helicopter sim, SimCopter. The Foundation recently received a pre-alpha build of the console game, and conducted a further investigation into the title that offers an interesting look into its cancellation.

Maxis released SimCopter in 1996 for PC, and had planned torelease a version for the Nintendo 64. At the time, the developer was known for PC titles, and as told by the Video Game History Foundation, wanted SimCopter 64 to be its break into the console market. It also wanted to begin making its own console ports, a duty previously handed off to Japanese developer Imagineer.  

Per VGHF, SimCopter 64 was in development primarily by Japanese subsidiary Maxis Kabushiki Kaisha, and the studio largely had free reign to develop the port. 

SimCopter 64 was early in development when it was a part of Maxis' E3 showing in 1997. In the footage shown, its pre-alpha status is quite evident: several features such as collision physics weren't implemented, and as was common in N64 titles back then, the world was surrounded in a thick layer of fog. 

Over time, production on SimCopter 64 became troubled. As former Maxis KK president Aki Kodama put it, the primary issue was the game itself not being much of a good fit for consoles. 

"It was boring and not fun to play at all," said Kodama. "It was very difficult to make SimCopter a [console] game, because SimCopter had no goal and it is just flying over a virtual city, just like another flight simulator."

There are two key factors that played into SimCopter 64's fall: Maxis being acquired by Electronic Arts, and Nintendo's desire to compete with its console competition. 

EA acquired