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The end of Working Designs
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 4:10 am
by Marc
http://www.workingdesigns.com/forum/sho ... p?t=118916
This is a sad day for the industry, losing a real consumer-oriented publisher like WD.
Thanks, Sony. I almost wish now that the PS3 was being developed and released by someone else so I wouldn't have to support their tyranny just to play MGS4.
Wait, I do wish it.
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:40 am
by 87th
That's a shame. Although I don't play many RPGs, I still know Alundra and Lunar as classics. I've also been looking out for Popful Mail on eBay for a little while, now. It's a pity to see any big supporter of original gaming die out.
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:28 am
by Snatcher2047
That really sucks. Their release of Magic Knight Rayearth on the Saturn is still one of my all-time favorite games.
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:57 am
by Modnar
Damn....Lunar and Vay, loved them so much.
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 3:16 pm
by OtakupunkX
I loved their release of Silouhette Mirage... I've heard it's butchered compared to the Japanese Saturn release, which I haven't played yet, but it was still a great game.
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 4:14 pm
by Artemio
I am really sad about this.. but what can be done.
precisely this friday I bought Popful mail and another Rayearth (with the UMI disc) this weekend from a friend that was selling them. I've really loved their work. Even the Ghaleon puppet is here next to me and it saddens me even a bit more.
Hope Victor Ireland can do some more work in the future in the 360 as he says.
Re: The end of Working Designs
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:25 pm
by Johnny Undaunted
I kinda surprised at didn't happen sooner. I was under the impression that they already went out of business.
Thanks, Sony. I almost wish now that the PS3 was being developed and released by someone else so I wouldn't have to support their tyranny just to play MGS4.
Wait, I do wish it.
Bah! It's easy to blame Sony for Working Designs' demise. Just like how Working Designs abandoned the TurboGrafx for Sega and then proceeded not to support the Sega Dreamcast after the Saturn. Ireland likes to play the blame game on everyone but himself.
It wasn't Sony that killed WD. It's the fact that they didn't know how to maintain a damn schedule. Especially when you have companies like Atlus and NIS America catering to the same niche market, but at a much faster rate.
Working Designs had their moment during the Sega CD and PlayStation era, but they outlived their usefulness after that.
Re: The end of Working Designs
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:57 am
by OtakupunkX
Johnny Undaunted wrote:
I kinda surprised at didn't happen sooner. I was under the impression that they already went out of business.
I was too. After Sony didn't let them release the PS2 Ganbare Goemon game in the U.S. they went under the radar for what seemed like a really long time. Didn't they just release Growlanser in the U.S. though?
I really would've liked to see what they could've done with the PSP. It'd be cool if they came back and released some really niche PS1 games that had no chance of being released over here in America at all, but I doubt that would happen.
Re: The end of Working Designs
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:31 pm
by Marc
Johnny Undaunted wrote:
I kinda surprised at didn't happen sooner. I was under the impression that they already went out of business.
Thanks, Sony. I almost wish now that the PS3 was being developed and released by someone else so I wouldn't have to support their tyranny just to play MGS4.
Wait, I do wish it.
Bah! It's easy to blame Sony for Working Designs' demise. Just like how Working Designs abandoned the TurboGrafx for Sega and then proceeded not to support the Sega Dreamcast after the Saturn. Ireland likes to play the blame game on everyone but himself.
It wasn't Sony that killed WD. It's the fact that they didn't know how to maintain a damn schedule. Especially when you have companies like Atlus and NIS America catering to the same niche market, but at a much faster rate.
Working Designs had their moment during the Sega CD and PlayStation era, but they outlived their usefulness after that.
We all know Sony's typical attitude towards 2D games. Capcom had to remind them of a certain game called Resident Evil 2 when they gave them hassle with the Megaman games on the PS. They seem to pick and choose their grudges, and I think it just happened that a few of WD's games fell into that category. WD were releasing several games a year for a while until things hit a dead end for whatever reason.
And you have to admit, they made hands-down the nicest limited edition box sets outside of Japan.
Re: The end of Working Designs
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:00 pm
by Artemio
Osiris wrote:And you have to admit, they made hands-down the nicest limited edition box sets outside of Japan.
They certainly always did that.
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:03 am
by Snake Plissken
I've been seeing this at almost every forum I've visited. It's making a big impact. It's a shame, but yet again an example of the shark-filled market on the consumer-open sea. You know I've been seeing alot of good companys that were big back in the day tumble these last 2 years. (some that don't really matter like Acclaim lol.) And still, what the fuck is up with Square Enix? That has to be worst merger to date in existance. Next it will be Capco-nami heheheeheh. Anyways, this pisses me off. Lunar (E)Blue was king shit back in 94.
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:28 am
by OtakupunkX
Snake Plissken wrote:And still, what the fuck is up with Square Enix? That has to be worst merger to date in existance. Next it will be Capco-nami heheheeheh.
Apparently "Squeenix" just bought Taito and will be absorbing them as their arcade brand, possibly meaning an Einhander sequel, and Namco and Bandai merged a few months ago.
I'm going to try and write a gigantic, enormous article on the rise and fall of Working Designs, I'm not sure where I'd put it (probably not on my blog because I have a silly audience), but I'm going to write it. I'm trying to get in touch with some people who have worked at Working Designs.[/quote]
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:12 am
by 87th
OtakupunkX wrote:
Apparently "Squeenix" just bought Taito and will be absorbing them as their arcade brand, possibly meaning an Einhander sequel, and Namco and Bandai merged a few months ago.
*prays for New Zealand Story RPG*
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:16 am
by OtakupunkX
87th wrote:OtakupunkX wrote:
Apparently "Squeenix" just bought Taito and will be absorbing them as their arcade brand, possibly meaning an Einhander sequel, and Namco and Bandai merged a few months ago.
*prays for New Zealand Story RPG*
That'd be crazy. They could do a Bubble Bobble RPG too that starts off with Bub and Bob as dragons and it could go through Rainbow Islands and all the games. Then they could do a true Final Fantasy fighting game that's not Ehrgeiz (although I'm probably the only person in the world who didn't like that game). Gah, an Elevator Action RPG would be cool too.
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:24 am
by 87th
OtakupunkX wrote:Then they could do a true Final Fantasy fighting game that's not Ehrgeiz (although I'm probably the only person in the world who didn't like that game).
To be honest, I can't remember the last Taito fighting game. Adding developers from Square-Enix to games like Magic Pengel would be a good idea, though. Hopefully Taito still have the rights to Akira (from the NES days). There could be a good RPG, there (even though RPGs based on films don't usually work very well).
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:59 am
by OtakupunkX
87th wrote: Hopefully Taito still have the rights to Akira (from the NES days). There could be a good RPG, there (even though RPGs based on films don't usually work very well).
Some random company (I want to say NIS America but I know that's not right, it's an acronym though) bought the rights to Akira and was planning to release Akira Pyschoball, a virtual Akira-themed pinball sim designed by someone who worked at Stern Pinball, on the Playstation 2 in time for the re-dubbed version of the film that came out a few years ago. I think it only came out in Japan though, from what I understand it was a solid pinball sim but, predictibly, the Akira license was underused. There
might have been a European version, and there's bound to be an English prototype version floating around somewhere.
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:01 pm
by 87th
OtakupunkX wrote:There might have been a European version
There was, I remember seeing it in a shop.
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:27 am
by Johnny Undaunted
Osiris wrote:We all know Sony's typical attitude towards 2D games. Capcom had to remind them of a certain game called Resident Evil 2 when they gave them hassle with the Megaman games on the PS. They seem to pick and choose their grudges, and I think it just happened that a few of WD's games fell into that category. WD were releasing several games a year for a while until things hit a dead end for whatever reason.
Even if Goemon's rejection was a factor at WD's financial loses, it was hardly the only reason they closed down. Even during their heyday (prior to the PlayStation 2), their games took almost forever to come out, to the point of losing interest. Working Designs could've easily released other stuff after reworking Goemon.
Also, like you said, alot of other small companies have to put up with SCEA's bullshit and double standards. Atlus had Devil Summoner (or Soul Hacker, one or the other) rejected, while SNK has to release their KoF and Metal Slug ports in bundles (or bargain prices) to get approval. But still manage to salvage what they can and maintain themselves. WD on the other had, simply had piss-poor management and Vic Ireland is a self-centered primadonna who can't handle criticism (he denied GameFan access to review copies just because of Nick Rox's negative review of Eternal Blue).
Also, to play devil's advocate for a moment, SCEA seems to be more anti-shovelware than anti-2D. There has been quite a bit of 2D games released for the PS2 in the US (namely the Guilty Gear series and nearly everything by NIS). Also, the PS2 Goemon and Battle & Chase (the Mega Man game that got rejected by SCEA) were both 3D.
And you have to admit, they made hands-down the nicest limited edition box sets outside of Japan.
Which is I think was one of the factors to their downfall. I wished they would've also sold bare-bone editions of their games too in addition to all those overpriced box sets. I'm pretty sure not everyone wants to have a cloth map of the game or a punching sock puppet. Sometimes they just overdid it with the extras. I would've purchased the Arc the Lad Collection back when it was released if it wasn't so expensive.