Vic Ireland (Of Working Designs fame) is back (READ)

[Fighter17]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154707.html

We'll see what he wants to do in the future, just read the article.

[roushimsx]

Oh wow. He's starting up a new japanophile company to bring over yet more second rate games at a pace of one game every 2 or 3 years with substandard voice acting, questionable translations, poorly thought out gameplay changes, and a shit load of extra crap packed into the box that drives the price up beyond any resonable level.

Joy.

I hope this company fails, too. That guy is a complete asshole and tool.

[le geek]

I hope this company fails, too. That guy is a complete asshole and tool.

Uhm, how old are you junior? Back in the Sega CD days Working Designs was awesome. Their PSOne output was pretty great too. Granted their PS2 output was lacking, but that also had to do with US Sony hating 2D games (and also Working Designs lack of willingness to adapt). It doesn't help that companies like ATLUS and Nippon Ichi fill much of the same niche these days.

So I'm curious to see what he comes up with...but if he tries the same thing again I don't think it will work.

Cheers,
Ben

[roushimsx]

Uhm, how old are you junior?

It's cute that you think that I'm a kid just because I dislike the complete waste of space that is Vic Ireland. Real cute. It looks like you forgot the questionably translated Exile and the incredibly fucked up Exile 2 from the Duo days.

Hell, Exile 2 was so bad that even Vic admitted that he fucked up when he decided to mess with the difficulty.

[le geek]

Fair enough and my appologies. I was just surprised by your level of vitrol for a company that in my mind had a good run of releasing quality games like Popful Mail, Lunar, Arc the Lad etc...

[XYXZYZ]

I have to go with Roushimsx here. I did not like Working Designs. They picked up some good titles, but all of their releases (that I've played) are so rank with their territorial urine, I can't enjoy them. All those stupid modern American culture jokes in fantasy RPGs, unforgivable. And their audio dubbing in games like Growlancer make me cringe, that's no way to enjoy a game.

I don't know, maybe it's just me. :|

Oh, and in Silpheed for PS2, there was lots of radio babbling during the game, commander talking to the squad, etc. I found it really annoying, was that in the Japanese version?

[Gamemaster_ca_2003]

Dude I had the News Post Before You Did.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=89957

[XYXZYZ]

Damn, now this thread will be locked and no one will answer my question about Silpheed. :(

Not that anyone would know...

[Fighter17]

Well Mods, lock it up!

[GrandAmChandler]

I am going to leave this one open due to the number of responses in this thread already. No offense to anyone.

-GAC-

[udisi]

Not that I don't like working designs stuff, but man, Ireland ran WD into the ground. If the man can't port a PS2 game in less than 3 years, he's gonna be in trouble. Look how long Growlancer took.

Others will also point to his americanizing of the games as blasphamy(although I kinda like the quirkyness)

WD was a love or hate company, and if he tries the same thing with this, it's just gonna end badly.

3 years isn't terrible for development, but for translation/localization, you're gonna lose money.

[smork]

I actually look forward to seeing what he can do. It's not that I am a huge WD fan, but it's nice to have somebody bringing over titles that otherwise likely wouldn't be here (didn't see anybody else scrambling to bring Growlanser over). We can complain about many things with WD and their products, but they are products we otherwise wouldn't have in English at all.

My $.02.

[lordnikon]

I have always been a fan of working design's high-gloss packaging. In general I am a fan of working designs, and I own many of their releases on the PS1 and PS2.

However, Vic Ireland's exentric nature is going to continue to cause problems for him. He often takes up the position that he knows best and everyone else are idiots. This is why games like Silhouette Mirage ended up getting ported with altered settings. He can't just localize games. He starts meddling with the gameplay itself.

This is a problem.

[mailman187666]

I thought that Working Designs had a lot of good saturn games (Iron Storm, Albert Odysee) PSX had the Lunar series along with an inovative game called Silhouette Mirage. I would actually really like to see some of these types of games make it out over here, aint nuthin' wrong with some new games from somebody with a different outlook on the games industry. Videogames in general are good, no need to be over critical

[MrRoboto19XX]

Alright, heres how I see the situation:

Working designs did things differently, I like that. Sure they made a few mistakes, but I challenge anyone to name one company that hasnt messed up at least one of their games or characters. For me, WD was always up there with Atlus, Natsume and Enix as far as releasing games that chances are, were worth taking a look at.

So there you have it, the gaming buisness is getting crowded, but theres always room for someone who thinks different.

And thats all I have to say about that.

[sega-trader]

I thought that Working Designs had a lot of good saturn games (Iron Storm, Albert Odysee) PSX had the Lunar series along with an inovative game called Silhouette Mirage. I would actually really like to see some of these types of games make it out over here, aint nuthin' wrong with some new games from somebody with a different outlook on the games industry. Videogames in general are good, no need to be over critical

Lets not forget Magic Knight Rayearth, the Last US Saturn game ever. Magic Knight was my second favorite RPG on the Saturn (Shining Force III #1, Panzer Dragoon Saga #3).

[Damaramu]

IThis is why games like Silhouette Mirage ended up getting ported with altered settings. He can't just localize games. He starts meddling with the gameplay itself.

I've got the PSX release for this game but have never played the JPN version of the game.

What did he change in the game?

[Push Upstairs]

I heard he upped the difficulty on it.

Increased prices of stuff and upped how much power items use (I think).

Looks like a fun and wacky game but i agree that the US version wasn't very fun because of the screwing around.

Off topic: In your sig, who is the "Love" chic shooting the ska band in the heart with a gun?

And wtf was that one with Baloo and the squirting on the face stuff?

[lordnikon]

I thought that Working Designs had a lot of good saturn games (Iron Storm, Albert Odysee) PSX had the Lunar series along with an inovative game called Silhouette Mirage. I would actually really like to see some of these types of games make it out over here, aint nuthin' wrong with some new games from somebody with a different outlook on the games industry. Videogames in general are good, no need to be over critical
I think some people in this thread are unaware that Working Designs are not the developers of the games they put out. They are a localization team / publisher. They are simply bringing games from japan to america, that were developed by other companies.

There is a need to be critical. Vic Ireland and his team takes it upon themselves to not only localize the game, but also, "meddle" with it's gameplay. Silhouette Mirage(developed by TREASURE) is a great example. The saturn version of this game was fine. However, the North American PS1 release was all changed around. Vic Ireland thought it would be a good idea to start changing the difficulty level and messing with the in-game items. Bad idea.

I am a fan of Working Designs for the simple fact that they were a middle man. A company that brought games from Japan, to North America. This is similar to my appreciation for other companies like Agetec. However the news of Vic starting a new company, does not have me very excited. Unless he has had some sort of awakening, we can be sure there will be a trickle of import titles and plenty of "I am right and the rest of the Industry is nuts" ideology.

[Half Japanese]

Anyone else remember when Zach Meston wrote that article for DP that Mr. Ireland issued a cease-and-desist over? (At least I think that's how it happened). It was a shame too, because I started to read it, had something else to do, figured "oh, I'll read it later" and by the time I got back around to it the shit had hit the fan and the article was gone. I'd still like to read it, but I doubt that'll happen.

[unbroken]

Working Designs is one of the best game companys of all time. Lunar destroys every rpg practically ever made.

[lordnikon]

Working Designs is one of the best game companys of all time. Lunar destroys every rpg practically ever made.
For which you should be praising GameArts (http://www.gamearts.co.jp/).

[Promophile]

There seems to be alot of confusion with people thinking that WD actually made Lunar and many of the other games they brought over. Actually, it seems to be very very common for gamers to confuse publishers with developers. I can't remember how many times I've read posts expressing how awesome Atlus is for making Disgaea, when it was Nippon Ichi that made it.

Anyways, even though WD didn't create Lunar, they deserve lots of praise for bringing it over. If they hadn't, I doubt any company would have, and because of Lunars success we see companies like Atlus bringing over games that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day in the US.

[GarrettCRW]

And Working Designs was the only company to alter gameplay and/or story elements upon bringing a game to the US?

Um, no. A big no, even if you toss out notorious NES-era censorship jobs like Bionic Commando. I seems to recall Tecmo releasing half a dozen versions of one of the DOA games, with the differences being gameplay tweaks across regions.

If Victor Ireland is guilty of anything, it's of being honest. WD never, ever kept their changes a secret, for one thing, and the company was one of the few to openly call out Sega, Interact, and Sony for completely valid reasons that members of this board (present company included) have complained about. And, as for the games they localized, WD was a lot more faithful than other companies. Remember, Popful Mail was going to be a Sonic game in the States before Working Designs stepped in. If that means having background characters reference Dragnet and Euro-Disney (or a boss who thinks he's the current governor of California), so be it.

[Fighter17]

If Victor Ireland is guilty of anything, it's of being honest. WD never, ever kept their changes a secret, for one thing, and the company was one of the few to openly call out Sega, Interact, and Sony for completely valid reasons that members of this board (present company included) have complained about. And, as for the games they localized, WD was a lot more faithful than other companies. Remember, Popful Mail was going to be a Sonic game in the States before Working Designs stepped in. If that means having background characters reference Dragnet and Euro-Disney (or a boss who thinks he's the current governor of California), so be it.

The hell you got this info from?

While I like what WD did for the gaming world, it's Vic thinking that cause the death of WD. Also if you add in SCEA's policy of Graphics > Gameplay, then it also fits the death of WD.

[Griking]

Anyone else remember when Zach Meston wrote that article for DP that Mr. Ireland issued a cease-and-desist over?

What ever happened to Zach Meston?

[roushimsx]

I seems to recall Tecmo releasing half a dozen versions of one of the DOA games, with the differences being gameplay tweaks across regions.


That was just Tecmo whoring the hell out of their fanbase. The first release on DC was like the arcade and then each incremental release afterwards added more and more crap to the game , with the final release (DoA2 Hardcore jpn) being the best version available.

Until they remade the game for Xbox, of course. Those crazy bastards at Tecmo love their money.

p.s. PS1 Dead or Alive always has been and always will be better than Saturn Dead or Alive.

[Half Japanese]

Anyone else remember when Zach Meston wrote that article for DP that Mr. Ireland issued a cease-and-desist over?

What ever happened to Zach Meston?

I didn't know either, but according to the recent thread in off-topic about publicly acknowledging banned users, he was banned some time ago. I never minded him much myself, as it always seemed to be a fellow ego he did battle with.

[Kamino]

Working designs was great because they brought me a handful of shmups.

I hereby declare JIHAD on all those who have ill will for working designs!!!

[dairugger]

wasnt popful mail supposed to become sister sonic for the us??

[GarrettCRW]

wasnt popful mail supposed to become sister sonic for the us??

Yes.

[vincewy]

The only thing I didn't like was the beef between Vic and Sega, imagine all the games that would've been made to Dreamcast instead.