View Full Version : NES versions of early American CRPGs
Ricochet
07-17-2009, 10:16 AM
I'd like to know specifically who developed the NES versions of Wizardy and Ultima III.
Were they developed for the Famicom, and if so, did they develop them in Japanese and then translate them back into English for NES release?
Jorpho
07-17-2009, 10:47 AM
Were they developed for the Famicom, and if so, did they develop them in Japanese and then translate them back into English for NES release?Probably, considering Japan actually got numerous versions of American RPGs for the Super Famicom that the US never saw.
No information on those two games at the Game Developer Research Institute (http://gdri.smspower.org), but the Ultima III port to the MSX was done by these guys (http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Company:Miki_%26_Fujiwara_Production/Opera_House), apparently.
There were three Wizardry games for the Famicom/NES, only one of which got released in the US. They were developed by Game Studio, a company started by Xevious creator Masanobu Endou.
NES Ultima III has credits, but I don't know what company did it.
Nikademus1969
07-18-2009, 05:47 AM
There were three Wizardry games for the Famicom/NES, only one of which got released in the US. They were developed by Game Studio, a company started by Xevious creator Masanobu Endou.
NES Ultima III has credits, but I don't know what company did it.
Are you sure about that? I distinctly recall owning 2, the first one and Knight Of Diamonds.
Are you sure about that? I distinctly recall owning 2, the first one and Knight Of Diamonds.
No, you're right. Only Llylgamyn no Isan (Legacy of Llylgamyn) wasn't released here.
Ricochet
07-18-2009, 02:53 PM
So Game Studio is one piece to the puzzle, thanks. I also found through my own hard work that Pony Canyon handled porting Ultima games to the Famicom, and these were published for the NES by FCI.
Does anyone know if the Game Studio port of Wizardry used Japanese text?
//edit: Nevermind. :) Yes, it does. I wonder who handled the translation BACK into Engish? I see ASCII on the splash screen of the Famicom version..
Jorpho
07-18-2009, 03:44 PM
I also found through my own hard work that Pony Canyon handled porting Ultima games to the FamicomYeah, that's so hard to find out (http://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/exodus-ultima-iii). :p (Okay, they information there is actually rather brazenly incorrect, but it's at least easy to infer Pony Canyon's involvement.)
The much more interesting question is, who did Pony Canyon contract to do the work for them?
Here's an old thread we did on Pony Canyon. (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70535)