Telenet Japan closes

[dairugger]

from insert coin:

Tokei News reports that Telenet Japan, once famous for games such as Valis and Arcus has closed down after 24 years in the business. Apparently selling their game properties to eroge makers wasn't enough to keep the company going.

They had been focusing on the pachinko business recently and recorded 452 million yen in sales last year in March but their profits were bad and they continued to be in constant debt. Strategies such as selling their gaming properties and selling their stock holdings in order to rebuild the company's financial ability reached a limit and they could no longer keep the company going.

<Brandon's note:> As of the closing date, only 18 people were still working for Telnet, which is pretty sad, considering its heyday. There's some vague stuff in here too, like talk of a failed U.S. subsidiary game center, which I can't even imagine anyone thinking was a good idea. I wonder who, if anyone, will buy the rights to their legacy titles? They had lots of good games in the 80s and 90s...I guess 3D killed them. That and Wolf Team going away, and their SFC RPGs not really taking off. They mention that they worked on a lot of the Tales games in their company profile. Unfortunately their history is updated only to 2001, but they did make Angel Golf and some idol mahjong games after that. Even more curious, they don't list Valis or Arcus as franchises they own - did they sell the rights completely? That would be quite distressing. The last game in the old style I've seen evidence of from them is Valis for mobile remake, but that may have been developed by Bandai. Must've been a depressing last few days around the offices, with all your licenses gone, and mountains of debt.

<Recap's note:> Telenet indeed 'worked' on many 'Tales of' games, since they co-owned Tales Team along with Namco till not too long ago. Let's not forget that Tales Team was formed up from some ex Wolf Team staff. And being honest, Telenet never released a truly remarkable quality title which wasn't signed by Wolf Team. It was the dissolution of this developer what actually put an end to Telenet's relevance as a video-game company.

its too bad theyre closing, i was hoping for a valis title in the future.

[XYXZYZ]

I loved the Valis series, I hope that property ends up in good hands.

[dairugger]

me too. shouldve known things were bad when they let valis become a hentai game awhile back.

[Graham Mitchell]

me too. shouldve known things were bad when they let valis become a hentai game awhile back.

Wow, that's news to me. I guess the series was always headed that way, what with the whole Reiko-Yuko tender moments in Fantasm Soldier.

[Aussie2B]

Honestly, I had thought Telenet had already gone under. Sad to hear, though.

The notes in the article are a little weird, though. What about SFC RPGs? Wolf Team willingly chose to ignore the Super Famicom for the most part. Nearly all of the Super Famicom games they released were so-so ports of games that appeared elsewhere already. Arcus Spirits was on Genesis as Arcus Odyssey and Hiouden was from a Japanese PC. The former was more of an action/adventure kind of game, while Hiouden is some weird strategy game, almost kind of real-time strategy. Neugier was the only completely original game Wolf Team had published on Super Famicom, but that was just another adventure game, which was a decent but unremarkable Zelda rip-off. Of course, there's Tales of Phantasia, but that was published by Namco. Nobody can argue that wasn't a huge success, though.

Seriously, if anyone wants to see the brilliance of Wolf Team, they gotta look farther than Super Famicom.

The Wolf Team history with the Tales of series seems to be worded a little funny too. The only people I'd describe as ex-Wolf Team staff are those that left to form tri-Ace. There really wasn't much of Wolf Team left at that point, but they continued on making Tales all those years. More and more of Namco was getting absorbed into the group, so by the time the time Wolf Team merged with Namco staff to become Tales Studio, I'd honestly doubt if much of any people were still left from the Super Famicom days.

[j_factor]

Ah Telenet, we hardly knew ye. Many a childhood hour was spent on Gaiares and Final Zone. I don't think Wolf Team was involved in either of those games, so screw you, Insert Credit.

Telenet lost a lot of people in the early 90s. Not only did Wolf Team split off, but a bunch of other Telenet employees left to form Gau/NexTech. Consequently, Telenet itself hasn't done much of anything since around 1993. I wonder what happened to NexTech anyway.

[CRV]

I wonder what happened to NexTech anyway.

It's now Nex Entertainment.
http://www.nex-ent.co.jp/

[Xexyz]

Ah Telenet, we hardly knew ye. Many a childhood hour was spent on Gaiares and Final Zone. I don't think Wolf Team was involved in either of those games, so screw you, Insert Credit.

Final Zone was by Wolf Team (similar idea to their other 360 degree shooter Granada, only in an isometric view). but Gaiares was all Telenet as well as the good (III & IV anyway) Valis series. I'll miss this company as I thought they were one of the better 3rd party publishers for the Genesis/Mega Drive. Heck, from 89-92, the only 3rd parties that seemed to really support the Genesis besides Telenet (Renovation) were Data East and Taito.

[j_factor]

Final Zone was by Wolf Team (similar idea to their other 360 degree shooter Granada, only in an isometric view).

Hmm, so it was. I didn't see any credit to Wolf Team in Final Zone II, though.

but Gaiares was all Telnet as well as the good (III & IV anyway) Valis series. I'll miss this company as I thought they were one of the better 3rd party publishers for the Genesis/Mega Drive.

Indeed. They also put out some good stuff for the ol' Turbo. I don't remember them doing anything for a Nintendo system, which is interesting.

Heck, from 89-92, the only 3rd parties that seemed to really support the Genesis besides Telnet (Renovation) were Data East and Taito.

There was also Ballistic. They get trashed by a lot of people, but they put out some well-received games. Star Control was awesome. Don't forget Namco either. A lot of their stuff wasn't that great but it was pretty significant. And then there was this little company called Electronic Arts that you might have heard of.

[7th lutz]

Heck, from 89-92, the only 3rd parties that seemed to really support the Genesis besides Telnet (Renovation) were Data East and Taito.

You forgot Namco and Electronic Arts. While Namco was a bigtime supporting for the tg-16 during this era, Namco did some genesis games also like Rolling Thunder 2, and splatterhouse 2.

EA was under Trip Hawkins when they started doing sega games. While EA was a publisher, they were not a "Evil company" during the early days of the sega genesis. They became an evil company around the mid 90's or when Trip left in 1991 for 3do. Ea was one of the reasons why the sega Genesis was sucessful in that ea. While ea did some stinkers, they also were involved some major games at the time as a publisher/ Developer.

[Melf]

Heck, from 89-92, the only 3rd parties that seemed to really support the Genesis besides Telnet (Renovation) were Data East and Taito.

Thank Nintendo's fascist licensing policies for that.

[Kid Fenris]

It's comforting to think that Telenet's remaining staffers weren't the people who made games like El Viento and Gaiares. They were, for the most part, the people who sold the licenses for Valis, Arcus and Silky Lip to filthy pornographers.

And it's also sobering to remember that most of Telenet's games weren't great. They had some solid titles, but the only real standouts were El Viento, Gaiares, Granada, and the Exile series. It's not one of the prouder legacies in Japanese gaming.

The notes in the article are a little weird, though. What about SFC RPGs? Wolf Team willingly chose to ignore the Super Famicom for the most part.

Do you have a source on this, or are you just making stuff up? It's more likely that Wolf Team didn't "willingly" ignore anything; they simply didn't make that many Super Famicom games because Telenet, and Wolfteam with it, was in decline when the SFC became the dominant force in Japanese RPGs.

The Wolf Team history with the Tales of series seems to be worded a little funny too. The only people I'd describe as ex-Wolf Team staff are those that left to form tri-Ace. More and more of Namco was getting absorbed into the group, so by the time the time Wolf Team merged with Namco staff to become Tales Studio, I'd honestly doubt if much of any people were still left from the Super Famicom days.

Again, that's not really true. About a third of Wolfteam's staffers from Tales of Phantasia stayed with the series for some time. Eiji Kikuchi, a Wolfteam/Telenet designer and the director of Phantasia, is in charge of Tales Studio.

[Wraith Storm]

Goodbye Telenet. Along with Wolf Team and Rennovation you brought me not just games but experiances.

Very few companies had the creativity that you exumed. From the Valis universe to the El Viento games your character designs were second to none. The music swept me away and got my blood pumping with their techno/dance tunes and the experiance will live with me forever. You were the Hardest of Hardcore gaming and It's a sad day for us all but your games will live on.

Knowing that Falcom and Irem are still afloat also reassures me that Hardcore gaming is not dead yet.

[Tron 2.0]

I herd about it last week but i'll miss telenet.

I enjoyed there work on the genesis and TG16/PCE as well.

The only shame i find is what they did in the end by making a,Valis hentai game

Realy what a sorry excuse for a quick in cash run by telenet.

Hmm i just hope who ever get's there ip's can make use out of them.

Another exile and valis would be nice for a change.

[Aussie2B]

Do you have a source on this, or are you just making stuff up? It's more likely that Wolf Team didn't "willingly" ignore anything; they simply didn't make that many Super Famicom games because Telenet, and Wolfteam with it, was in decline when the SFC became the dominant force in Japanese RPGs.

You're being rather nitpicky over words here, although maybe I deserve it for me nitpicking the article in the first place.

The point is, for whatever reason, Wolf Team barely supported the Super Famicom, so it's peculiar that the writer feels the need to even mention those releases, in particular RPGs when Tales of Phantasia was about the only true RPG they released on Super Famicom. While ToP was a significant release (and successful, going against the writer's statements), I'm sure their other Super Famicom games did not have a huge impact on the company, definitely not something to make or break them. The SFC releases mostly exist as cheap cash-ins to reach an audience that didn't have access to the systems the games were originally released on.

I don't buy that they were simply unable to make Super Famicom games either, unless you honestly believe the company was already in decline in 1991. While perhaps later on it would've been difficult, someone, whether that be a higher-up at Wolf Team or Telenet, made the decision to not offer much support to the Super Famicom in its early years.

Again, that's not really true. About a third of Wolfteam's staffers from Tales of Phantasia stayed with the series for some time. Eiji Kikuchi, a Wolfteam/Telenet designer and the director of Phantasia, is in charge of Tales Studio.

I didn't say everybody left immediately. My point was that after many left upon the completion of Tales of Phantasia, more and more newcomers got involved in the creation of the Tales series. Of course there are still some people left, but the far majority were not working under Wolf Team in the 16-bit generation.

[Kid Fenris]

The point is, for whatever reason, Wolf Team barely supported the Super Famicom

Compared to what they did for Japanese PCs, no, they didn't support the Super Famicom much. But Wolfteam's SFC output isn't that much smaller than their Mega Drive, PC Engine, or Mega-CD catalogs, which are mostly ports of Wolfteam PC games and even some older arcade titles.

I'm sure their other Super Famicom games did not have a huge impact on the company, definitely not something to make or break them. The SFC releases mostly exist as cheap cash-ins to reach an audience that didn't have access to the systems the games were originally released on.

You're forgetting that the Super Famicom was the leading system in the Japanese console market by 1993, as opposed to the never-a-hit Mega Drive and the waning PC Engine. Successful SFC RPGs, even ports, would've helped Telenet immensely, particularly after the dissolution of their American branch. Insert Credit has a point, and one that didn't need to be challenged.

I don't buy that they were simply unable to make Super Famicom games either, unless you honestly believe the company was already in decline in 1991.

The company was in decline not in 1991, but in 1993 or 1994, the point at which the Super Famicom became a popular destination for RPGs, and the point at which Wolfteam began making and porting games for it.

My point was that after many left upon the completion of Tales of Phantasia, more and more newcomers got involved in the creation of the Tales series. Of course there are still some people left, but the far majority were not working under Wolf Team in the 16-bit generation.

Your point is irrelevant, as the article doesn't overstate Wolfteam's involvement with the Tales series. It says that "some ex Wolf Team staff" formed the Tales Team, which is an accurate statement.

[E Nice]

The only shame i find is what they did in the end by making a,Valis hentai game

Realy what a sorry excuse for a quick in cash run by telenet.

Hmm i just hope who ever get's there ip's can make use out of them.

Another exile and valis would be nice for a change.

Were the stories no good? I'm assuming they were visual novels.

[Tron 2.0]

Were the stories no good? I'm assuming they were visual novels.

You talking about the valis hentai game ?

I do see that as a waste beside being fanboy service.

I prefer the serise to be a action side scroller.

The last one that did that was,Valis IV.

[E Nice]

You talking about the valis hentai game ?

I do see that as a waste beside being fanboy service.

I prefer the serise to be a action side scroller.

The last one that did that was,Valis IV.

There seems to have been several Valis X games. Most hentai games seem to be visual novels of some sort. It seems that the Valis X games were retellings of the original Valis games and I'm guessing that they were stories but that still leaves some questions.

Were the stories any good, what was the length of the stories, the complexity of multiple branch storylines within the game, the amount of unlockables to be obtained by traveling the various story paths?

Though I suppose a retelling would be hard pressed to compare to the original, assuming anyone's gripe was with that aspect.

[Tron 2.0]

There seems to have been several Valis X games. Most hentai games seem to be visual novels of some sort. It seems that the Valis X games were retellings of the original Valis games and I'm guessing that they were stories but that still leaves some questions.

Were the stories any good, what was the length of the stories, the complexity of multiple branch storylines within the game, the amount of unlockables to be obtained by traveling the various story paths?

Though I suppose a retelling would be hard pressed to compare to the original, assuming anyone's gripe was with that aspect.

Dunno hmmm there was a thread about it here though.
http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=1482.0
Afther what i read what it was about it made my blood boil.