This is awful but I'm glad Phantasy Star 4 wasn't filled with terrible pop culture references and bad jokes.
You didn't want to see Nei talk about missing Melrose Place and her weekly dose of Heather!?
This is awful but I'm glad Phantasy Star 4 wasn't filled with terrible pop culture references and bad jokes.
Interesting, although I remember other RPGs also being sold for $99.99 at the time, like Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger.
People will lay blame at Sega of Americas feet but all the stories I've heard suggest there was a lot of bad blood between the Japanese HQ and the American branch and a lot of that was created by Sega Japan because the refused to support Sega US.
Some of the stories I've heard about Sega Japan purposely trying to sabotage Sega of America out of spite are pretty nuts.
It worked under Kalinske for a time.Not surprised. SoA was a mess. They wanted to do their own shit compared to Japan, thinking they knew what was the best for the west. Turns out they didn't.
I love AO's writing, but to each their own.I'm still mad at Working Designs for Albert Odyssey.
They made the game unplayable with that awful writing.
I'm actually still hoping for some kind of retranslation or something. I can't play it like that, it's too infuriating.
Wait, SF3 got a fan translation? All three episodes? Damn, that's awesome. I guess I gotta figure out how to get ahold of it. Probably expensive as hell.
Yep it sure did. Even retranslated Scenario 1 to fix the ending. In the US version of Scenario 1 (the only one we got in English for those who are unaware) the ending of the game was changed slightly to make it seem like it the story concluded. The Japanese version clearly ended on a cliffhanger which continued in Scenario 2.
You didn't want to see Nei talk about missing Melrose Place and her weekly dose of Heather!?
Oh, hey guys. Sorry for invading you. Let's just pretend none of this happened and maybe I'll invade you again in the future when you've rebuilt and recovered. By the way, this story is absolutely 100 % finished. Buy a Dreamcast!
Oh, hey guys. Sorry for invading you. Let's just pretend none of this happened and maybe I'll invade you again in the future when you've rebuilt and recovered. By the way, this story is absolutely 100 % finished. Buy a Dreamcast!
I'll forgive you for confusing Rika with Nei who was in Phantasy Star 2
Yeah, the knives came from every direction. SoA making the Genesis a big success in western market wasn't met with enthusiasm by SoJ, but with antagonization. Which forced Kalinske out, then Stolar perpetuated the same type of self-harm. The whole muddled 32X/Saturn transition was one big act of sabotage between the warring factions. It all went downhill from there.Both Sega of America and Sega of Japan were fucked up in their own ways. It's a big factor into why SEGA's console business failed hard after the Genesis.
PSIV's English script reads like a rough draft of a decent translation, so I wouldn't have been opposed to something more natural sounding, but at the same time I really wouldn't have cared for the kind of difficulty-increasing things that Working Designs tended to do in the early 90's.
Wasn't there a story of Sega Japan using Yakuza to kidnap developer's wife back in the day?
The Sega CD version of Lunar Eternal Blue was changed to cost a resource for saving the game I think? It might have been inconsequential ultimately, but those kind of things are kind of a pet peeve of mine.Like what? Lunar and Vay are pretty easy.
The Sega CD version of Lunar Eternal Blue was changed to cost a resource for saving the game I think? It might have been inconsequential ultimately, but those kind of things are kind of a pet peeve of mine.
Do you have a source for this? I really want to know if that's true. I feel like I remember some story about SoJ and developer's wives, but I'm not sure if it was Yakuza levels of terribleness.
why did Bernie hate JRPGs anyway
why did Bernie hate JRPGs anyway
why did Bernie hate JRPGs anyway
why did Bernie hate JRPGs anyway
I can't believe that decades later I am still angry when reading about what Sega did to itself.
I'm still mad at Working Designs for Albert Odyssey.
They made the game unplayable with that awful writing.
I'm actually still hoping for some kind of retranslation or something. I can't play it like that, it's too infuriating.
Were you in the USA or Canada? I've heard anecdotes of the latter paying $105 for those games mentioned.Interesting, although I remember other RPGs also being sold for $99.99 at the time, like Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger.
We do know something about the time frame that SEGA of America worked on PSIV thanks to the prototypes dated:
30 May 1994
8 June 1994
15 August 1994
27 October 1994
7 November 1994
The first draft translation was over 6 months after the Japanese release. However that it is not inconsistent with when compared Shining Force 2 has a similar gap in its builds and the Japanese release (April 4th, 1994 and June 7th, 1994*). Then again maybe that is just saying both games were treated poorly by SEGA of America.
*-Btw, I notice some Internet sources have a June 1994 release for SFII in Europe which doesn't make sense considering the minor script changes in this prototype and all the UK magazines I was able to find reviewing the game in usually did so in the October 1994 release. Mean Machines even says it came out in August 1994I hate release dates for old games you have made up crap on the Internet and guesses in magazines...rarely you find an official press release fax (what happened with Earthbound for example)
Were you in the USA or Canada? I've heard anecdotes of the latter paying $105 for those games mentioned.
The funny thing is, Sega is still trying to kill Phantasy Star in the west.
Eh, you can say what you want about Working Design's localizations, but let's get real: would anyone have noticed Lunar out of the dozens of similar-looking rpgs coming out on Mega CD and PC-CD if not for WD bringing it to the west? Would it have been as revered today? It would have been just another forgotten title that would maybe merit a fan translation at some point but mostly go unnoticed even by jrpg enthusiasts.
Gotta admit though, I had no idea Vic was interested in bringing established titles like Phantasy Star to NA when Sega was balking. Now I'm curious see what WD could do for the likes of Breath of Fire 1 and 2. I'm sure the localization, refs and all, would have been better than what we ended up with instead.
Didn't they have Shining Force 3 as low priority which affected its development?
FF3 and CT were NOT 100 bucks. They were like 79. 99 was unprecedented.
I remember renting it, loving it, asking for it for Christmas, and getting a used copy (which was in fantastic shape). At the time I was marginally miffed it wasn't new because I was a stupid bratty kid, but as an adult jesus fuck I wouldn't buy my kid a 99 dollar game when most games were 50 bucks either.
Not surprised. SoA was a mess. They wanted to do their own shit compared to Japan, thinking they knew what was the best for the west. Turns out they didn't.
Interesting, although I remember other RPGs also being sold for $99.99 at the time, like Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger.
Yeah, the knives came from every direction. SoA making the Genesis a big success in western market wasn't met with enthusiasm by SoJ, but with antagonization. Which forced Kalinske out, then Stolar perpetuated the same type of self-harm. The whole muddled 32X/Saturn transition was one big act of sabotage between the warring factions. It all went downhill from there.
Game industry executives are awful. There are exceptions to the rule, but it's a problem. I think Jim Sterling put it best. I can't remember his exact words, but it was funny and accurate.
Yeah DKC was 32 Mbit and released several months earlier. Actually even on Genesis SSF2 was 40 Mbit, released half a year earlier and was a 3rd party game. SOA was scalping with that price.WTF?
That was the reason the game cost $100 back then? That price made my eye bulge as a kid even in the more expensive cart days. The game was 24megs which is a nice big size at the time but games were like around $60-80 at those sizes back then.