Sunsoft announced that they will publish games in North America again

[7th lutz]

http://www.sunsoftgames.com/news/200...r%20Master.php .

Sunsoft announced on December 4, 2009 their return to active console game publishing for the North American market, aided by startup GAIJINWORKS.

Sunsoft already announced that Blaster Master will be on the vc this month.

The website sounded like that additional titles coming to the US market will be announced in the coming weeks.

[Daria]

GAIJINWORKS is ...is real?

Screw Sunsoft... why isn't the focus of this thread on the return of Working Designs?

[Press_Start]

Wait....Sunsoft's still alive?! I thought they became one of those companies surrendering the US market and fade away in Japan. Great to hear two of the best things to video games making a big comeback.

He's hoping they bring a strong lineup of gaming goodness very soon.

[bombman]

I don't think Sunsoft's western branch has ever developed a decent game. Published from overseas yeah, but not actually made one.

[RCM]

I heard a rumor about some Sunsoft activity from a friend recently and didn't believe it. Shame on me I guess...

[Moon Jump]

Sunsoft really never went away. My friends and I did a podcast and the second episode we did was about Sunsoft. I checked their website and they were pretty much only doing cellphone mahjong games. They also released some of their games in collections on the PS1, with Blaster Master and Journey to Sillius (Rafworld) as some of them.

I hope they'll make some new games and not just release their old games on the Virtual Console. They had a lot of great games, up until they started making those horrible Loony Toons games on the SNES. If they can get back in the groove of great games like Batman, Waku Waku 7 and even Gremlins 2 it'd be awesome.

[Ed Oscuro]

GAIJINWORKS is ...is real?

Screw Sunsoft... why isn't the focus of this thread on the return of Working Designs?

Because all they were was a go-between. Nothing too amazing about another translation group.

[Wraith Storm]

This is incredible news!

I love Sunsoft. I hope that they have retained some of their original staff, especially Naoki Kodaka. What I would do to hear a new score from him. IMO he was among the greatest video game music composers of all time.

Honestly... Who doesn't like the music for Nes Batman, Blaster Master and Journey to Silius. And how could anyone not fall in love with the sweeping, powerful score to Albert Odyssey on the Saturn. Easily one of the greatest soundtracks ever recorded.

As long as Naoki Kodaka is employed with Sunsoft, I will be their manwhore.

[TonyTheTiger]

GAIJINWORKS is ...is real?

Screw Sunsoft... why isn't the focus of this thread on the return of Working Designs?

Because all they were was a go-between. Nothing too amazing about another translation group.

Unfortunately true. As much as I loved Working Designs and think Victor Ireland can be an asset to any publisher, the climate in which Working Designs thrived is a thing of the past. There's just not a whole lot of really great games that don't get localized by the original publisher anymore. Available titles dried up, localizations got better, damn near every game has limited edition packaging...so what's left to separate WD from the crowd? True, there was the WD flair that hasn't been replicated but that's not enough in today's market.

Oh, and Sunsoft's return? W00T!

[GameBoyGeek]

*Crosses fingers for batman nes game on wii*

[Cryomancer]

Hebereke/Ufouria please!

[Damaramu]

More Waku Waku 7, please!

[Fuyukaze]

Unfortunately true. As much as I loved Working Designs and think Victor Ireland can be an asset to any publisher, the climate in which Working Designs thrived is a thing of the past. There's just not a whole lot of really great games that don't get localized by the original publisher anymore. Available titles dried up, localizations got better, damn near every game has limited edition packaging...so what's left to separate WD from the crowd? True, there was the WD flair that hasn't been replicated but that's not enough in today's market.

Oh, and Sunsoft's return? W00T!

Bad presidential jokes. That's what. Oh, and tiny little cardboard pop ups of the charcters. Way too many companies took the place of WD and have done it better. Yeah, gotta say, Sunsoft has been slightly missed. Sad part is I never even noticed they were gone. Maybe they can take back the spy hunter license and release a good game for a change. Maybe do a blaster master game that's atleast half as good as the original or the Gen release. I'm expecting something more like the PS1 release though.

[Flashback2012]

Bad presidential jokes. That's what. Oh, and tiny little cardboard pop ups of the charcters. Way too many companies took the place of WD and have done it better. Yeah, gotta say, Sunsoft has been slightly missed. Sad part is I never even noticed they were gone. Maybe they can take back the spy hunter license and release a good game for a change. Maybe do a blaster master game that's atleast half as good as the original or the Gen release. I'm expecting something more like the PS1 release though.

That's one of my concerns about Gaijinworks, or more specifically Victor Ireland, localizing anything for the US market. What I DON'T want to see is rampant toilet humor and obnoxious puns in their localizations that weren't present in the original. I completely understand that you can't have a 100% accurate translation but when Working Designs were at their pinnacle, their heads apparently swelled to massive proportions and the quality of their localizations were pretty horrible IMO. I still have a hard time firing up Albert Odyssey on Saturn because the dialogue in that game is almost unbearable to read.

As for Sunsoft, I'm rather surprised that they didn't get absorbed into a larger company like Taito and Hudson did. At least they didn't go the route of Data East and disappear off the gaming map (I know G-Mode owns their IPs but it's not quite the same thing). It's good that they didn't I suppose, because I'm looking forward to seeing their titles, both new and old, make their way stateside.

[swlovinist]

It would be really neat if Sunsoft could make a Blaster Master for the DS. I knew of person back in the day that was present when Sunsoft closed its US office. Like others have said, I hope that Sunsoft can do something with its franchises rather than just release old titles.

As for Working Designs, I grew up near Redding, CA and got to hear some amazing stories from friends about the environment at Working Designs. While I would love to see them come back, I agree that the market has changed and they would have to change with it.

[MrRoboto19XX]

This is great news, and oddly enough I was just looking up some info on Sunsoft a few days ago after playing their rerelease of Final Fantasy Legend II and wondering what the deal was.

And I agree, nobody's really stepped up and given games the treatment Working Designs once did. Atulus, NIS and XSeed are the closest we have currently, but WD had this flair about them. It was as if the company themselves were happier with putting out a game that stood out from the rest and was loved by few, rather than another cookie cutter that everyone purchased.

Welcome back, Sunsoft.

And on a comical side note, this only gives me more hope that Vic Tokai may someday as well rise from the ashes, giving a new generation of gamers a publisher whose name and logo is a symbol for the best in B-List games from the Land of the Rising Sun.

[Xexyz]

It'd be ace if Mr. Gimmick and Uforia got a NA VC release. Can't believe Sunsoft USA skipped on those two back in the NES days...

Oh yeah, and Irem USA annoyed me as well when they didn't localize Hammerin' Harry.

[Raedon]

As long as Sunsoft or Working Designs don't become name brands, like Westinghouse, that just become the dumping ground for poor quality widgets ... I'm good.

[j_factor]

Unfortunately true. As much as I loved Working Designs and think Victor Ireland can be an asset to any publisher, the climate in which Working Designs thrived is a thing of the past. There's just not a whole lot of really great games that don't get localized by the original publisher anymore.

People keep saying this, so why am I still constantly disappointed with Japanese releases not making it overseas? Still no word on a translation for 7th Dragon, an RPG produced by Rieko Kodama and with a soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro. No sign of 428, which got a perfect score in Famitsu. No localization for Front Mission 5, which was considered by many in Japan to be the best in the series. They've hinted that Yakuza 3 might someday see the light of day, but I've given up hope on Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan (which was very highly rated in Japanese media). Nintendo sure didn't bother with Mother 3, and whatever happened to Fatal Frame IV? I could go on.

It is true that Working Designs releases were very few and far between towards the end of their existence, but that wasn't due to a lack of appropriate games, it was just stupidity on their part. The above are recent examples, but I could come up with just as many for 2001-2004.

[Daria]

People keep saying this, so why am I still constantly disappointed with Japanese releases not making it overseas? Still no word on a translation for 7th Dragon, an RPG produced by Rieko Kodama and with a soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro. No sign of 428, which got a perfect score in Famitsu. No localization for Front Mission 5, which was considered by many in Japan to be the best in the series. They've hinted that Yakuza 3 might someday see the light of day, but I've given up hope on Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan (which was very highly rated in Japanese media). Nintendo sure didn't bother with Mother 3, and whatever happened to Fatal Frame IV? I could go on.

This. And Retro Game Challenge II.

There's always room for more localization teams. And besides, I liked their style. The pop culture crap was usually spouted off by otherwise faceless NPCs.