Topic: Vic Ireland's take on the XBox/GCN DS/PSP

[ruby_onix]

From IGN PS2

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IGN: Why not include Growlanser 1 in the collection as well? And have you given any consideration to bringing Wayfarer of Time (Growlanser IV) over here as well?

Vic: It's just the way it worked out. By the time we realized Atlus US wasn't doing Growlanser, it was too late to do it for PSone. In fact, Arc was actually too late, but we were already almost done with that by that point. And, focusing on the PS2 release, adding ANOTHER game to the Generations box would have created logistical problems and delayed the release another 9-12 months while we localized another huge game. We do have to occasionally release games to keep making more! That said I would still love to do the original Growlanser on a newer platform, be that PSP or something else.

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IGN: What are your feelings on the upcoming Sony PSP and Nintendo DS formats? And can we expect to see anything from WD for these platforms other than the possible Growlanser?

Vic: I'm interested in the PSP, but like everyone else, for me battery life is the potential joykill. The machine is certainly sweet. I just hope they get some decent single-charge playtime out of the final machine. We'll have to see how the market goes before publishing for it.

Nintendo DS will be a no-brainer for us to play because of the GBA compatibility, but as a publisher, we'll have to see. The new Goemon is on DS, though, and it's a return to the "classic" Goemon look, so I'm excited about that.

IGN: There has yet to be a Working Designs-release game for the GameCube and Xbox. Any particular reason why? And while we're on the subject of other platforms, how soon before you start looking forward to the next generation of hardware?

Vic: Gamecube just can't support our kind of titles in the US because of the tiny userbase, and there's not many localization prospects to choose from in Japan.

Xbox we have been actively looking for a title to publish, but it has even LESS titles to choose from in Japan. There is finally one RPG title we may do next year, though.

What does he mean about the GameCube's "tiny userbase"? AFAIK, the spread is something like XBox=10 million, and GCN=8 million in America right now. How does that make one "tiny" and the other one not? And what does that say about Vic's earlier choices, like the TurboGrafx and the Sega CD? Plus, you have to look at the demographics. Who bought those XBoxes? Fans of Halo and XBox Live. Who bought those Cubes? Fans of Mario and Zelda, and other oldschool goodness. Why did the GameCube version of Megaman Anniversary Collection outsell the PS2 version? I think Vic's making a mistake on this one.

Plus, he's looking forward to the PSP? More than that, why PSone ports on the PSP? At one point Vic mentioned that he was considering releasing a GBA game, since cart royalties had come down to non-absurd levels. Then he skipped releasing Lunar Legend, which he later said was a mistake. What does he think about the nearly-CD royalty rates of the DS?

Ah, whatever. I think I'm ranting. What do you think?

[Ian Sane]

Working Designs doesn't make new games.  They just localize titles that other's won't.  There aren't really any Cube titles that are Japan-only that need to be localized so that's why they aren't going to release anything.  I don't know exactly what the Xbox has but apparently they have something in mind.  And he's right about the userbase.  In the US the Cube has a smaller userbase.  Supporting the Xbox makes no sense but not supporting the Cube sadly does.  I imagine that in regards to the Xbox it's the usual persuasion method.

[couchmonkey]

While the Cube's userbase is smaller than Xbox here, I think you could also argue that Japanese games and the Japanese "style" in general is more popular on the GameCube than the Xbox.

Still, I agree with Ian that translating games for either of these systems makes a less sense than translating games for the PS2, by far.  

[KDR_11k]

Considering the import sales they should try translating Naruto 3 for the GC.

[ruby_onix]

Okay, now I'm not really worried about the reasons behind WD's XBox support.

IGN XBox's "Off The Record"

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Phantom Dust
Looking on the horizon, we've learned that while Microsoft is unlikely to pick up Phantom Dust, a small, California-based publisher which has for the last four or five years been a PlayStation backer may very well pick up this game for Xbox. I cannot say which publisher, but let's say it's a very small one that likes to obtain Japanese RPGs, spend an enormous amount of time localizing them, and then packages them with an abundance of goodies.

IGN XBox's "Phantom Dust" Import Review

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Japan hasn't shown much interest in Xbox. No amount of Team Ninja-developed games or custom bundles seem to make a dent in the Japanese market for the big MS. It's a lost cause, at least for this current gen. It's curious, then, why Microsoft decided to make Phantom Dust, one of its better first-party titles, a Japan exclusive. Even more curious is that -- as anyone who decides to import PD will discover -- the entire game is offered in both English and Japanese. Microsoft has no plans to bring Phantom Dust to the U.S., despite the fact that it's already been localized, so your only choice is to import the first-party online action title.

Of course, I still think Vic snubbed the GameCube for no apparent reason.