WD Trivia/Storytime Thread

[Celebappren]

I know that Alundra was localized by you guys but Alundra II was handled by Activision. Why did Activision handle the second game and not you guys?

[vicireland]

Seriously? A Visual Novel? I dare say that I sometimes enjoy VNs more than RPGs and they often contest for my favorite genre, I grew up with choose your adventure books. I'll be certain to pick it up now thanks for the tip

Don't expect too much and you'll be happy. It's a solid 7, IMO. But I wouldn't have skipped working on it for the world because the research trip hosting the Japanese guys in Miami was a fantastic experience for me, too.

Ah I see, I wasn't aware that MP operated from Japan, now I understand the relationship between the two companies. Come to think of it it kinda looks similar to what GungHo and GungHo of America is doing with their PS1 imports recently. Given that MP were the first guys to release PSN imports in the west can I assume you aided in the creation of the import section on PSN as well?

Yeah, launching the import PSN store was what John and I worked on first. I helped him develop the list of "to get" games.

I agree with you in terms of the lack of fanservice we're facing. I think localization companies are growing too big and are becoming increasingly insecure. I considered Atlus a hero to RPGs and localizations in general, they used to have great collectors editions too. They used to be very active in the localization front(that's all they did) but then after Demon's Souls (my favorite PS3 game) they started to stiffen and their localizations dwindled in favor of mid-range and downloadable titles (The Cursed Crusade anyone?) some of the titles were good but they just weren't Atlus... Now they're increasing localizations again... but I dunno they don't seem to put as much heart as they used to IMO, it's just a feeling I get from their general attitude nowdays. In that sense I suppose a super-WD would be terrible, it's great to have another company fill in the void of great localizations. (I like all the other guys too but aside from Aksys everyone else just plays it safe...)

I've never been accused of playing it too safe. I think it's more an issue of everyone is so profit-centric, trying to squeeze every dime out of everything that doing the fan-centric stuff is the first to go or be cheapened, when it's the reason the fans are there to begin with. I proved that doung Deluxe Packs could be extremely profitable AND popular back in the day, and many followed suit, and I'll keep pushing in new ways now to provide cool things for fans to have in their game cases and be proud of, with a game in the box that's worth the case.

[vicireland]

I know that Alundra was localized by you guys but Alundra II was handled by Activision. Why did Activision handle the second game and not you guys?

Short answer? Because it sucked and wasn't Alundra, but a money-grab to capitalize on the first's success.

[vicireland]

Where does Gogen rank on the rarity scale?

I don't remember offhand. I have a spreadsheet somewhere with the exact percentages/numbers. I know Choko is the most rare and Diek one of the rarest after that, and that Arc/Elc/Alec are equally common, but after that I don't know the specific order offhand.

[Lord of Pirates]

Short answer? Because it sucked and wasn't Alundra, but a money-grab to capitalize on the first's success.

I think that's the only answer, I'm just glad I never blew money on it.

[PW_Patrick]

I think that's the only answer, I'm just glad I never blew money on it.

I did, but only for a few bucks at the local indie game store. Still haven't played it to this day. Guess I'm not missing out.

[Aristides]

Don't expect too much and you'll be happy. It's a solid 7, IMO. But I wouldn't have skipped working on it for the world because the research trip hosting the Japanese guys in Miami was a fantastic experience for me, too.

I doubt I'd be disappointed for $7 at Amazon lol besides I'm very flexible with games I'm not the picky type. I'm sure I'll enjoy it for what it is.

Yeah, launching the import PSN store was what John and I worked on first. I helped him develop the list of "to get" games.

Wow you weren't kidding when you've mentioned in the past that you got pretty good contacts/influence in the game industry. To be frank I was surprised that Sony supported the idea, back when it happened I was like "wow Sony's getting back on the saddle again". The CH2 P+D was quite a surprise as well, I'd be interesting to see what Gaijinworks can cook up next. :P

I've never been accused of playing it too safe. I think it's more an issue of everyone is so profit-centric, trying to squeeze every dime out of everything that doing the fan-centric stuff is the first to go or be cheapened, when it's the reason the fans are there to begin with. I proved that with the deluxe packs back in the day, and many followed suit, and I'll keep pushing in new ways now to provide cool things for fans to have in their game cases and be proud of, with a game in the box that's worth the case.

With that mentality I'm sure Gaijinworks will be able to build a strong fanbase :P , many of us are a bit wary of current localization groups thanks to a few unsavory incidents in the past. Given WD's past track record I believe we can expect quality from your releases, not just the cases but from the games as well. Thanks for answering my questions! This was very informative

[Celebappren]

I think that's the only answer, I'm just glad I never blew money on it.

I think that I was interested, but hearing all of the bad news about it was probably what made me overlook it.

[Tsukoblue]

I did, but only for a few bucks at the local indie game store. Still haven't played it to this day. Guess I'm not missing out.

If you got a copy, wouldn't hurt to try it, just because someone else didn't like it doesn't mean you wouldn't as well

[Celebappren]

I did, but only for a few bucks at the local indie game store. Still haven't played it to this day. Guess I'm not missing out.

If you aren't going to play it, I can take it off of your hands. I've always been very curious about Alundra II even though it has complaints against it. Like I was saying in another thread, I am a little bit easier to please when it comes to video games and I tend to not always follow the majority opinion.

Like Tsukoblue said, though, if you have it you might as well play it and see it for yourself. The 3D graphics, hardly any story or plot connection to the original, I think that it doesn't even involve dreams in that game for some reason, and the stricter RPG dynamics may actually either not bother you, or cause you to like the game.