WD Trivia/Storytime Thread

[Fabrizo1]

Grandia was such a shame. I played a little of the Saturn version after beating it on PS1, and was surprised at how much better some things looked. The initial town iirc had shadows cast from the buildings, the ground textures actually made sense (the metal parts went around buildings and the stone was used like paths, on PS1 they were completely random), much better water effects (saturn games often had nice looking water for some reason), full 3D battle areas, and a few other things.

Plus the Grandia Digital Museum game which we never got.

[vicireland]

Grandia was such a shame. I played a little of the Saturn version after beating it on PS1, and was surprised at how much better some things looked. The initial town iirc had shadows cast from the buildings, the ground textures actually made sense (the metal parts went around buildings and the stone was used like paths, on PS1 they were completely random), much better water effects (saturn games often had nice looking water for some reason), full 3D battle areas, and a few other things.

And back to Bernie Stolar...thank him for not getting the Saturn version in the US. It *would* have happened (probably from WD) if he had not been in charge.

[PW_Patrick]

And back to Bernie Stolar...thank him for not getting the Saturn version in the US. It *would* have happened (probably from WD) if he had not been in charge.

Not surprising, still maddening.

You say "probably" though...were there other localization outfits in the running for that license?

[xelement5x]

Grandia was such a shame. I played a little of the Saturn version after beating it on PS1, and was surprised at how much better some things looked. The initial town iirc had shadows cast from the buildings, the ground textures actually made sense (the metal parts went around buildings and the stone was used like paths, on PS1 they were completely random), much better water effects (saturn games often had nice looking water for some reason), full 3D battle areas, and a few other things.

Plus the Grandia Digital Museum game which we never got.

Yeah, Game Arts did some awesome stuff. In fact, I personally enjoy Iwadare's music on Grandia over Lunar but that might be considered blasphemy by some. It's such a shame that Takeshi Miyaji just passed away too, he will be missed.

[PW_Patrick]

No, I think Iwadare really came into his own on the Grandia series. End Of The World and the second-disc battle theme (especially if you're lucky enough to hear it in-context the first time you do) are among the greatest tunes I've ever heard in a video game.

[vicireland]

Not surprising, still maddening.

You say "probably" though...were there other localization outfits in the running for that license?

No, we had the inside track, but anything's possible. It was highly likely we would have done it given our long relationship with Game Arts and the fact that we made LUNAR:SSSC Game Arts only #1 chart debut in the US ever.

[PW_Patrick]

No, we had the inside track, but anything's possible. It was highly likely we would have done it given our long relationship with Game Arts and the fact that we made LUNAR:SSSC Game Arts only #1 chart debut in the US ever.

Proud to have done my part on that, BTW.

Would've loved to have gotten to play THAT Grandia. Hopefully there's a remake or such someday...can't believe we're coming up on the 20th anniversary in just a few years.

[Tsukoblue]

And back to Bernie Stolar...thank him for not getting the Saturn version in the US. It *would* have happened (probably from WD) if he had not been in charge.

Hey Vic, do you have any idea where Stolar is working at now?

[PW_Patrick]

McDonald's if there's any justice in the world.

[Lord of Pirates]

We never got into the translation at large. Sony came in with big money and we bowed out, and waited for the release when they torpedoed the game's sales with a half-assed localization.

Speaking of Sony, what was the deal with Arc/Growlanser being forcibly crammed into single releases?