WD Trivia/Storytime Thread

[TempestOne]

LOL I do not know why I find that so completely funny.

I have no other PlayStation-related anecdotes besides... touching that lens thing over and over in wonderment being all "What the Hell is this thing?" It'd always make a crunchy or scratchy noise whenever I'd do it, too, and it was entirely different from the Discmans I've had in my life. And then I eventually found out you're not supposed to do that. *giggle* My PSX is still in really good condition. All you really have to do is keep video game consoles clean and I've been pretty lucky in the new console department when it came to getting a model that'd stay in working order. Once I got my hands on the box, I'd jiggle it around without being too obvious because if there's, like, a rock in an empty head sound I'd just try to exchange it in-store.

[ramzastrife]

Growlanser Generations is fantastic. So much so that I think we got pretty screwed missing out on Growlanser I and a more timely/competent localization of IV. But be warned about something if you're playing on an old model PS2. Growlanser Generations is on blue bottom CDs, not DVD. And most old PS2s start to crap out playing that format even if DVDs still work. I guess it wasn't widely known at the time but it did make playing certain games a pain for a lot of people.

Maybe it was cheaper to publish that game as two CDs as opposed to combining them onto one DVD? All I know is that for a while whenever I wanted to play a game and saw it was a blue bottom disc I'd give a resigned sigh and pull out the screwdriver to go laser fiddlin'.

I had 2 ps2 phats, my original launch one stopped reading DVDs, and would only read the blue backs and ps1 games. I sent it back to sony for repair, and it worked like a champ. I got the other phat from a friend that was having trouble reading both. I did some work and got it working temporarily and then I traded it towards a slim at Gamestop when they were giving like $75 trade in for it towards the slim. I then sold my original phat to a friend and it is still working to this day afaik. I think I still have a first party ps2 controller that when plugged in prevents the system from booting up. I tried to get it working with my friends ps2 so I could trade it in too, but never could.

[TempestOne]

Man, I am glad you brought that up because... I think the PlayStation 2 era of gaming is where I completely stopped straight up playing for no apparent reason. I mean, there are semi-random reasons like Working Designs sinking under the forest mounds or my just growing up but for some crazy non-explanation I think I thought it'd be funny to just drop what I was doing and "grow up real fast" so I can really concentrate on all the fabulous RPGs we have out on the market now. I know that sounds ludicrous and perhaps I was just being ghetto and trying to save on the electricity bill.

[Gypsy]

Growlanser Generations is fantastic. So much so that I think we got pretty screwed missing out on Growlanser I and a more timely/competent localization of IV.

Poor Growlanser. Fun series that just didn't really make it in the west. I wish it would have just been brought over from the start. It would have been a great late life PS1 release. I was happy to see IV though, even if it was late and on PSP.

I had 2 ps2 phats, my original launch one stopped reading DVDs, and would only read the blue backs and ps1 games. I sent it back to sony for repair, and it worked like a champ. I got the other phat from a friend that was having trouble reading both. I did some work and got it working temporarily and then I traded it towards a slim at Gamestop when they were giving like $75 trade in for it towards the slim. I then sold my original phat to a friend and it is still working to this day afaik. I think I still have a first party ps2 controller that when plugged in prevents the system from booting up. I tried to get it working with my friends ps2 so I could trade it in too, but never could.

I have a launch PS2 that still works like a tank. From my experiences with PS2s though it's pretty lucky to find one that good. I keep a couple back-ups on hand just in case though. I've personally had no luck with slims. I wouldn't mind keeping a slim with a good laser because of the top loading aspect but I've yet to encounter one that could survive my full testing of the laser.

[Aristides]

I've had my fat PS2 since like a year or two after launch. It has been dragging it's feet for the last couple of years but given how old it is and how much abuse it has (let's say it's shell screws are all missing, and I think it's rusted) it seems like I ended up with a good tank model. I rarely use it but I think I won't have to put it to sleep for another several years given it still works.

[xelement5x]

It sounds like someone has been raiding old Working Designs storage lockers!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRA-MEGA-R...item565fedb6d0

You are bidding on an ULTRA-MEGA-RARE GREEN PLAYSTATION DTL-H1201 PROGRAMMER’S TOOL DEBUGGING UNIT PRODUCED BY SONY FOR GAME PROGRAMMERS. This unit was made in 1995. It is green in color. Following are the specifications I found concerning its features the following information: R3000A CPU, 16.8M COLORS, 2MB RAM, 32-BIT. Apparently it can boot games from any region as well as CD-R copies. I verified that it can play NTSC games but I don’t have any foreign games to test on it. It also apparently does not display PAL video mode. These systems were originally sold by Sony to game developers for $4,000. It aided game developers to program and develop games for resale to the public. These are very rare units and extremely hard to fine. I was told that this unit was used by the game publisher Working Designs, but I have no way of verifying it. High Bidder pays USPS Priority Mail Shipping costs of $12.75.

[TempestOne]

Man, I've never lost a system besides just misplacing the wires... that can happen to anyone, right? Even lost Game Boys I've managed to sniff out who "borrowed" it and track it down. The one thing that's disconcerting is traveling abroad with videogames and regularly plugging it in... I've heard of some systems just, well, exploding for the lack of a better term.

[IrishNinja]

what an awesome thread - had some questions of my own when you've got time, Vic!

1) if the DC was still viable when Moore took over, would you have resumed working with Sega or stuck with Sony at that point, you think?

2) since i didn't see it asked prior: what's your dream project, if licensing/budget weren't an issue?

3) was Cosmic Fantasy 3 as soul-crushing in the end as 2?

4) to the extent that you can speak on it: what finally ended WD? i remember being bummed as hell when i read the news (i think on theGIA in the day), and you've mentioned a now-unemployed female exec, just wondering if there any other details you could give us.

"Fanservice here is diminishing rather than increasing. I want to try to fix that." - is a fantastic quote by the way.

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.

speaking of, what other projects did you have in the pipeline for the Saturn that ended up canned? ive read rumors of Hyper Duel, Thunder Force Gold Packs & some others but it'd be interesting to see what specifically.

If this Naka was making such a big deal about it then SoJ should have been given the boot because threatening to leave just because the NA Sega branch is trying to make a Sonic game is very unprofessional

I think another key detail here that's being left out is Naka & his team's work on the NiGHTS engine was being used without his permission, which i'm vague on but understand that to be a no-no in japanese dev culture at that point. also Sonic 1 & 2 helped push Sega's marketshare from 4% during the illegal contract nintendo days to something like 60%, so you may largely be underestimating what he brought to the table around that time.

That Fire Emblem feature in 96 was horrible.

Haha really? I'm so gonna try to look this up when i get home.

I honestly don't know what their master plan is. I'm not even sure they have one. They hired me to help them, which I did, and after the initial rush, they ignored or did the opposite of most of the advice I gave them. I'm a little ticked I turned them on to the Telenet library, only to have it essentially languish again with them.

damn, first Taito now Telenet, which is particularly crushing after running through some of their Genesis' finest last year...was wondering what became of them too.

[vicireland]

It sounds like someone has been raiding old Working Designs storage lockers!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRA-MEGA-R...item565fedb6d0

I don't know who of the original staff may have five fingered this, but it's possible. It wouldn't have been in storage, though. Would have had to have gone straight from the office to someone's house. All of that was supposed to come back when WD closed, but it's very possible this one didn't.

[vicireland]

what an awesome thread - had some questions of my own when you've got time, Vic!

1) if the DC was still viable when Moore took over, would you have resumed working with Sega or stuck with Sony at that point, you think?

Unlikely. So many bridges had been burned by that point, it was pretty unlikely. I know I was considering the Langrisser that played kind of like Dragon Force, but it was pretty weak and buggy, so it wasn't enough to pull me back to SEGA.

2) since i didn't see it asked prior: what's your dream project, if licensing/budget weren't an issue?

Buy LUNAR IP, re-assemble Studio Alex, get Kubooka, Shigema and Iwadare-san juiced up and make a real LUNAR 3. Start by telling the story of Ghaleon's race/origins. None of that comedy 4 heroes crap, either. I want high adventure, crazy plot twists, and lots of gods and dragons.

Barring that 30 million+ fantasy, I have another IP I'd love to do, but it may happen someday, so keeping that one in my head for now.

3) was Cosmic Fantasy 3 as soul-crushing in the end as 2?

No, 2 was the most emotional. The rest were lighthearted by comparison.

4) to the extent that you can speak on it: what finally ended WD? i remember being bummed as hell when i read the news (i think on theGIA in the day), and you've mentioned a now-unemployed female exec, just wondering if there any other details you could give us.

Basically we were blocked from doing what we do. We couldn't get approval for the games we did well and had a market for, and after fighting for Growlanser, we got it, but on very unfavorable terms. The bulk of our specific approval problems fell to one person at Sony here that was gone shortly after she helped kill WD (I've heard other stories similar to the stunts she pulled with us from other small pubs, too. Pure evil, IMO). She should never have been in games and was a symptom of everything that was wrong with Sony in the PS2/early PS3 era. They have their mojo back now, largely by getting back to basics - games and gamers, and getting rid of the people that were inhibiting that internally.