R.I.P. Working Designs

Razer · 4934 5157 5662 5658 Gender: Joined: 07 Oct 2002

from Gamepro.com-
"President of Working Designs, Victor Ireland, announced today via the company's website that he has dissolved the business, thus perhaps putting an end to an era of seeing unique and niche Japanese titles released in the US for console gamers.

Despite respectable sales of the company's latest title, Growlanser: Generations, the currently-in-development Goemon title has been cancelled. Despite the negative news, Ireland is surprisingly upbeat about the future.

"I know many of you will have lots of questions, and there will be some I can answer, and some I can't. Sony has made it clear that they do not want the details of their dealings with any publisher made public. Suffice to say that you would buy what we wanted to sell if we could sell it."

"I want to thank each and every one of you personally for being a fan, buying the games we released, and telling your friends. You HAVE made a difference, because you bought the crazy things we did. Thanks to YOU, there are deluxe packs, pack-in soundtracks, better packaging, great hint guides, and better localizations in general. We said it a lot, but it really was true. We were nothing without you."

"For the future, there are still great opportunities. I have been in touch with a number of other publishers and manufacturers and I will be working with some of the WD staff to do games for other publishers for the time being, but not as Working Designs. One thing that holds a ton of promise is XBOX 360 RPGs, and I've contacted Microsoft about getting what's underway in Japan out in the US and helping to get more done worldwide. We'll see what happens on that front, but please let them know that YOU WANT MORE JRPGs here. There's some amazing stuff coming for the '360 in Japan, and I know I want it - I think you will, too."

I'll be honest and admit I'm not a true WD fanboy but I have supported them thru the years, mostly back in the Sega CD/Saturn days. The thing that irks me is that I smell Sony's "no 2D, no this, no that" fingerprints all over this one. Maybe they didn't turn a kings ransom on each game but I'm sure they could have stayed afloat and still been mildly profitable. I'm glad I did get ahold of Growlanser before they died tho. I can expect it to start fetching millions on EBay soon.

GD · driven to tears Age: 49 Gender: Joined: 19 Jan 2005

I bought many a WD game back in the Sega CD-Saturn days. Their port of Dragon Force for Saturn is probably my favorite out of all their work. I also loved their ports of Albert Oddysey and Thunder Force. I never did get into Arc the Lad or Growlanser though..

And yes, Sony's draconian policies had a lot to do with WD missing out on porting some great games that the fans wanted. However, it would be remiss to attribute that as the sole reason for their closing. Why not move to greener pastures with Microsoft or Nintendo? Many other developers have done so. SNK couldn't get Metal Slug 3 published for the Playstation 2 in the US, so they went to Microsoft, and I think the sales were actually pretty good for a niche title.

Anyway, it's sad news for the industry as well as fans. Another classic developer/publisher bites the dust.. Crying or Very sad

Shino · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:42 pm Post subject:

I don't know about you guys, but I WAS a Working Designs fanboy.

I own every game they have ever made. All the way back to the Turbo Grafx!

They had the best packaging and very humorous translations. Most of their voice overs were pretty decent. If you take into account the competition at the time, they were awesome!

I will miss the quality that Working Designs pushed out. The waiting was annoying at times, but overall, it was usually worth it.

RuneLateralus · Otaku Knight Gender: Joined: 27 Sep 2002

Farewell Working Designs...your Sega CD, Saturn, and PSX titles are still some of my favorites.

I am not surprised if most of this was due to Sony's anti 2D feelings. At least their last game, Growlanser Generations, was a very worthwhile game to play.

MitchellTF · Senior Otaku Joined: 27 Sep 2005

Hm...what is all the stuff they have done? Goemon was neat...

Shino · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 12:17 pm Post subject:

Razer · 4934 5157 5662 5658 Gender: Joined: 07 Oct 2002

Shino · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:19 pm Post subject:

hahaha... yes... yes you are.

Sihouette Mirage is a saturn game. It was ported to PSX in Japan, then WD brought it over here.

Godwyn · Senior Otaku Gender: Joined: 25 Oct 2004

Hmm, I really don't pay attention to whose games I get, so long as the game looks cool. And while my game library is not quite as extensive Sad

I do own quite a few of those. Although, honestly it might be a good thing in some ways if they do start porting stuff to the Xbox 360, there will finally be a lot more good RPG's heading Microsoft's way.

Shino · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 9:06 am Post subject:

If they start making games for the 360... that will be enough reason for me to buy one.

After their first game comes out of course. Wink

And since there are no Japanese RPGs out yet, and it usually takes WD over a year to translate a game for US release, I think I have plenty of time before that happens. Smile