Vic's Grave Error
John Hokanson Jr.
isamu@alphainfo.comUnless you probably haven't already heard. It has been announced that Working Designs has once again pushed back the release of Magic Knights Rayearth in order to devote more manpower and resources to the continued development of Alundra. Alundra is the much touted Climax (same people that did Landstalker on the Genesis) RPG co-released by Sony in Japan. This announcement is just the latest revelation in what has been a string of upsets among the core of Saturn fans who have previously turned to Working Designs in order to satisfy their unquenchable thrust for Role Playing and Fantasy. It's no surprise, nor secret, that President Victor Ireland is slowly beginning to loose respect among those that were once his loyal followers.
Magic Knights Rayearth was released in Japan in 1995. Almost immediately following that, Mr. Ireland announced that Working Designs would be picking it up for a subsequent US release. While not a traditional RPG (which the Saturn is sorely lacking aside from Albert Odyssey Gaiden), Magic Knights Rayearth nevertheless would add to the Saturn's already enjoyable library, and satisfy the niche market that has grown to love the genre (anime otaku among others). Two years later we're still waiting. The excuse for the inordinately long translation time as blamed on a disagreement between Ireland and the hierarchy at Sega of Japan. This regarded the use of the original Japanese names (Hikaru, Umi, Fuu), thus forfeiting the names that were proposed for the failed US TV adaptation (Blaze, Anamone, and Windy, which would have made it a lot like Sailor Moon no doubt). CLAMP apparently sided with Ireland, and never liked the proposed US names. Ireland eventually got his wish, but only after a long and unfortunate delay. Credit must be given to Victor for sticking to his guns on the matter, and not waning. In all honesty, I would have just accepted the goddamned US names as they were given to me regardless of how immoderate they actually are. But this was all took place before the now infamous E3 incident in which Ireland blew his top over an alleged skirmish between his company and Sega of America concerning floor space during the convention. Now Sega has apparently alienated WD and there is next to no hope that there will be any form of reconcilation between the two. Because of this, it's my own personal observation that Ireland has lost his motivation to finish the work that he already started. Even worse, is the obvious lack of communication between himself and the fan community on rec.games.video.sega. While at one time you could expect his presence almost in the same regard you would expect the sun to rise every morning, now you can't expect him to even answer those threads with "Vic" in the header that so often stand out like a sore thumb. Is Vic abandoning the the Saturn fans? Are we to learn the fate of long awaited Lunar: Silver Star Story? Which with the possible exception of Grandia, might be the most demanded Saturn RPG for US Release.
Back to the situation with MRK. The game has (going by information on WD's web page) a release date of December of 1997. However, the newest info circulating places it as late as sometime in early 98. Which would probably coincide with Lunar's release date. While many of us thought that we might be able to play the game as a Christmas present, it's now seriously under question. Delays have never been a stranger to those that are familiar with WD, but this is easily the longest ordeal WD has put it's loyal customers though. (But by far not the worst. That has yet to come with Lunar: Eternal Blue. Whose very future existence in the US is up in the air). Still many have chosen to wait patiently for the forthcoming release. The reason why people have begun to berate WD is because Vic has obviously bitten off more then he can crew. In it's the personal opinion of this writer that the decision to go forward with Alundra was very ill placed. With WD's *one* programmer, translating four games (Rayearth, Alundra, Lunar, and Sega Ages) is very taxing and would no doubt a great strain on both their schedule and product quality. More puzzling is the decision to sign on to the game in the first place. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that WD would make far more money off the PSX then they ever made off the Saturn. It might not even be totally out of the realm of possibility that Alundra could make more money then both Lunar and Rayearth combined. The PSX userbase (which there is no real accurate measurement of), is at least twice that of the Saturn. While it was once thought that Victor Ireland was was the most non-capitalist individual in the business (this is probably a contradiction in terms) that idealism has become tarnished as of late. Fans are crying foul upon news that work on Rayeath is being delayed so that work on Alundra could push forward. Alundra was only announced this year. While Rayearth and SSS are over two years old. Rayearth only has 30 minutes of FMV, but latest reports claim most of it hasn't been dubbed yet. At the E3 show the game was shown with the original Japanese voice acting, but English text. Why is it taking WD so long to translate it? And if it's such a burden, how come Alundra was picked up? It seems to me that picking up more baggage at this point is entirely counterproductive. Like previously mentioned, an uncomfortable veal of silence has covered corner of the room. Fans are becoming restless. The real bombshell will drop if Vic decides to cancel Rayearth, or Lunar (or worse yet, Both!).
The opinions of John Hokanson Jr. are not the opinions of DaveZ's Sega Saturn page. As a freelance writer, John Hokanson makes no guarantees as to the accuracy of his information. He does not however, knowingly or intentionally spread misinformation. Mr. Hokanson is NOT an English major, so don't expect everything to be grammatically correct. Gripes, complaints, corrections, and death threats from anti-sega zealots, or intelligent, mature individuals alike may be sent to: isamu@usagi.com. Have a nice day. ^_^