Victor Ireland Next Endeavor

[nodtveidt]

To Japanophiles, yes, WD/Vic was pretty much the focus of modern evil in the world... WD did evil things like taking way too many liberties in the script to make it more enjoyable, humorous, inserting awful US pop culture references where they just didn't belong, etc. thus violating the 'sacredness' of the original script authors' intent and all standards of decency/taste.

But Japanophiles are mostly boneheads anyways. And probably mostly Republicans! j/k of course

If WD had translated the scripts literally like so many other companies do, we'd have ended up with some extremely BORING games. So many things either do not translate correctly or simply don't make sense when translated to English, that's why things have to be locallized. WD went far beyond what any other company bothered to do and created scripts that were actually based on our culture rather than doing some stale literal translation (or ridiculously dry localization) that made zero sense (or little sense).

As far as "sacredness" goes...they can stuff it up their piehole. I'd rather see someone say "Yo wassup! I'm yo papa! Git yer ass in bed NOW punk!" in a 14th-century-based RPG than say "Hi! I you Father! You go sleep now, yes?". Bad example I realize, but still...you get the idea, I think.

[ParanoiaDragon]

To Japanophiles, yes, WD/Vic was pretty much the focus of modern evil in the world... WD did evil things like taking way too many liberties in the script to make it more enjoyable, humorous, inserting awful US pop culture references where they just didn't belong, etc. thus violating the 'sacredness' of the original script authors' intent and all standards of decency/taste.

But Japanophiles are mostly boneheads anyways. And probably mostly Republicans! j/k of course

If WD had translated the scripts literally like so many other companies do, we'd have ended up with some extremely BORING games. So many things either do not translate correctly or simply don't make sense when translated to English, that's why things have to be locallized. WD went far beyond what any other company bothered to do and created scripts that were actually based on our culture rather than doing some stale literal translation (or ridiculously dry localization) that made zero sense (or little sense).

As far as "sacredness" goes...they can stuff it up their piehole. I'd rather see someone say "Yo wassup! I'm yo papa! Git yer ass in bed NOW punk!" in a 14th-century-based RPG than say "Hi! I you Father! You go sleep now, yes?". Bad example I realize, but still...you get the idea, I think.

Word!  WD was great.  Plus, too many people focus on what we actually got, & what was supposedly wrong with it.

[esteban]

You know, it wasn't until recently that I learned that WD was the ire of so many purists who didn't like the way WD bastardized games (RPG's) during localization.

When we discussed this before, I think EmeraldRocker and maybe DungeonMasterDan mentioned that folks were also upset with WD for promising ship dates prematurely and delivering late, thus making fans wait a long time for certain titles.

I think this is bogus, but some folks are impatient / ungrateful and want everything now, now, now, it seems.

Also, I think EmeraldRocker mentioned that Victor claimed to have added a special new boss / stage in a shoot-em-up (Thunderforce ?), but this was revealed as a lie. If this is true, then it is indeed a sh*tty thing, but it is hardly justfies a hatred of WD.

WD ruled, especially during the 16-bit era.

[NightWolve]

And probably mostly Republicans! j/k of course

Well, I can speak for two who are definitely quite the opposite of that.

If WD had translated the scripts literally like so many other companies do, we'd have ended up with some extremely BORING games. So many things either do not translate correctly or simply don't make sense when translated to English, that's why things have to be locallized. WD went far beyond what any other company bothered to do and created scripts that were actually based on our culture rather than doing some stale literal translation (or ridiculously dry localization) that made zero sense (or little sense).

As far as "sacredness" goes...they can stuff it up their piehole. I'd rather see someone say "Yo wassup! I'm yo papa! Git yer ass in bed NOW punk!" in a 14th-century-based RPG than say "Hi! I you Father! You go sleep now, yes?". Bad example I realize, but still...you get the idea, I think.

Indeed.

Also, I think EmeraldRocker mentioned that Victor claimed to have added a special new boss / stage in a shoot-em-up (Thunderforce ?), but this was revealed as a lie. If this is true, then it is indeed a sh*tty thing, but it is hardly justfies a hatred of WD.

Looking back on that, I think a lot of it was a red herring, if that's the right phrase to use. Any objective mistakes they made would get hyped up to punish them/cost them credibility for their non-purist approach. So Vic made a shitty programming change and you being the Jap nerd that you are had the import to compare and found you liked it the way it was. Cry me an effin' river...

[esteban]

Looking back on that, I think a lot of it was a red herring, if that's the right phrase to use. Any objective mistakes they made would get hyped up to punish them/cost them credibility for their non-purist approach. So Vic made a shitty programming change and you being the Jap nerd that you are had the import to compare and found you liked it the way it was. Cry me an effin' river...

Seriously. I'm sure the haters would call us "apologists" but I honestly don't understand the hyper-critical approach to analyzing WD.  

I think you're right, everything WD did was open for scrutiny, as far as the purists were concerned. Any possible positive effect WD had was discounted quickly, in their eyes.

Hopefully, the *majority* of folks out there liked WD, with only a small, but vocal, segment of fans falling in to the anti-WD camp.


----------------
Finally, as for Victor supporting XBOX 360: he started by supporting the underdog (TG-16), so I think it is neat that he has "returned to his roots" and is supporting another underdog.

I know, lots of folks here will think I'm crazy for calling M$ an underdog, but, seriously, it is. Despite what you read at digg and various VG message boards, the PS3 is going to sell like hotcakes and be an incredibly successful console.

At this point, it is still unclear when MS will actually make a profit with Xbox. Perhaps Xbox 720 will be the turning point in the "console wars", but don't hold your breath.

[FM-77]

At this point, it is still unclear when MS will actually make a profit with Xbox. Perhaps Xbox 720 will be the turning point in the "console wars", but don't hold your breath.

Console gamers hate computers for a reason.  

[nodtveidt]

Console gamers hate computers for a reason.  

Which is ironic, considering every console that's ever been released IS a computer.

[takashirose]

Actually all the systems except PS1 and 2 that Working Designs worked on were underdogs: TG16, Sega CD, and Sega Saturn.  I personally liked Working Designs.  I loved their high quality packaging.  I want to get Exile 2 for TG-CD.  I saw the packaging and said "wow".  I didn't want them gone.  I also liked their logo, but never knew its meaning.

[FM-77]

I think Working Designs made terrible game packages. Just look at Magic Knight Rayearth, for example... looks like a seven year old girl designed that one.

What's up with all the gold and shiny textures? Horrible! And WHY does it say Action RPG in the middle of the picure?  



Another  



They sure like putting borders on their pics. And ridiculous text (Ultra Series). A third  

[Black Tiger]

I never completely loved WD but I certainly never hated them.

Its pretty much the same as any other publisher. Although I love so many Capcom games, I probably don't like 90% of their entire catalog now.

Although I loved some WD scripts/dubs, the only one I wound up skipping through quite a bit was the Hanz & Franz character in Popful Mail. But I loved most of the rest of the localization(except for the dificulty, if WD really did up it) of the same game.

And even with all of the little jokes/references in places of some of their games which I might not have appreciated, the cool thing is that you usually can just skip it and enjoy the rest of the game.

But at least you'd be playing the game in english and not have to import in the first place(although I couldn't wait for Lunar SSS).

Although WD's translations seem to be known for their sense of humour, what I always loved most and remember most is their dark serious work, like Exile or even Vay.

[nodtveidt]

Some of their work ended up better than the original stuff...the best example of this was the opening song for the original Lunar. The Japanese one is some of the sappiest BS I've ever had the misfortune of having to see and hear but the WD version is much much better.

[Black Tiger]

Some of their work ended up better than the original stuff...the best example of this was the opening song for the original Lunar. The Japanese one is some of the sappiest BS I've ever had the misfortune of having to see and hear but the WD version is much much better.

I still wonder how much of Exile's story/back story was part of the japanese original and how much, if any, WD brainstormed.

Although its not my kinda music, I was really impressed by the english them song in Lunar SS when it first came out, if for no other reason than the fact that they actually even made an attempt to to do a professional english song, let alone pull it off so well. I'm not dissing it, but thinking about the little 'rap' section(hey! hey! scritch! scratch!) still makes me laugh a little.  

What was very cool, again for the time it was unheard of, is the english vs japanese lyrics sections in the manuals and general translation notes/essay. I valued this kinda stuff more than the foil embossed covers.

[nodtveidt]

From what I understand, Exile got a lot of changes because the story was too harsh for the oversensitive US public.

Thje intro to Lunar was pretty cool, the music was pretty decent. What I always had a problem with though is the cinema itself...about half of it was a total ripoff of the opening cinema in Ys I. Watch the cinema for the TG-CD Ys (when you start a new game), then the Lunar cinema and make note of all the stuff that's practically identical...it's rather shameful IMO.

[Black Tiger]

From what I understand, Exile got a lot of changes because the story was too harsh for the oversensitive US public.

Thje intro to Lunar was pretty cool, the music was pretty decent. What I always had a problem with though is the cinema itself...about half of it was a total ripoff of the opening cinema in Ys I. Watch the cinema for the TG-CD Ys (when you start a new game), then the Lunar cinema and make note of all the stuff that's practically identical...it's rather shameful IMO.

Isn't Lunar the game with the confused goddess/human girl who is the romantic interest of a teenaged boy who ventures forth from a small village and must collect a legendary set of equipment along the way to defeating a powerful evil creep who hangs out at the top of a tower?  

[esteban]

From what I understand, Exile got a lot of changes because the story was too harsh for the oversensitive US public.

Thje intro to Lunar was pretty cool, the music was pretty decent. What I always had a problem with though is the cinema itself...about half of it was a total ripoff of the opening cinema in Ys I. Watch the cinema for the TG-CD Ys (when you start a new game), then the Lunar cinema and make note of all the stuff that's practically identical...it's rather shameful IMO.

Isn't Lunar the game with the confused goddess/human girl who is the romantic interest of a teenaged boy who ventures forth from a small village and must collect a legendary set of equipment along the way to defeating a powerful evil creep who hangs out at the top of a tower?  

Hahahahahhaahhaa. You guys rock

I honestly never even thought about the Lunar <-> TG-CD Ys connection. Had I noticed, I would have chalked it up to being "generic" similarities, rather than a direct rip-off, since so many games are derivative of earlier ones.

Perhaps I was being too forgiving of Lunar.
-------------

As for Working Designs, I can safely say that I never regretted a single dollar spent on any of their releases. I thoroughly enjoyed the games they published and *always* got my money's worth, which is quite a feat, as far as I am concerned.

No, not all of their releases were *the best ever*, but their was a *LOVE* that permeated through their entire catalog and you couldn't help but notice it, even if you only occassionally sampled their stuff.

WD had been dying a slow death for several years -- and I think folks tend to remember this moribund phase of WD's lifespan instead of their earlier, more dazzling eras.