Saturn retrospective on 1up.com

[Alunissage]

With abundant quotage from one V. Ireland and a sidebar on Lunar.

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3142283&did=1

[GhaleonOne]

Great article, though I wish they had mentioned Dragon Force somewhere.

[Silver Phoenix]

Such a depressing era for those of us that were die hard gamers. I was one of those Saturn importers, and own all of those hard to find games that sell high on eBay. I still remember all the discussions/arguments with Vic and Bernie Stolar vs the public. Vic still screwed us Saturn fans when we were promised Lunar, and then he basically spited us when he said he'd only bring it to the PlayStation. Yes, we got the games, but not as they were intended. Well at least with the PS versions we had cleaner anime sequences.

[drumlord]

No, Vic didn't screw us on Lunar. I don't view it that way anyway. I think it's more apt to say we got screwed by not getting the Saturn Shooter Pack WD was working on. I don't blame Vic for that; I just really wish we could have gotten it.

[phyco126]

I say blame Sega. If you where a game developer, would you honestly continue to make games for the Sega system after they pretty much crap on you, stomp on you, and hide you in the back (which is a pretty big insult.)?

Besides, look at the numbers. Alot more people had playstations than Sega Saturns. I had a Playstation, not a Saturn, therefore I was able to have Lunar: SSSC. If it was on the Saturn, it might not have been very successful, but on the PSX, it was WD's most successful game out there (though I wish I could say the same but for worldwide success, not just a hardcore fan base.)

[Silver Phoenix]

That had been after the fact. We were waiting a long time for the game, and it was delayed, and delayed, and delayed, and delayed much in traditional WD fashion. Then it got to the point where the Saturn fell on it's ass, and Vic said sorry Sega fans, Lunar will only be on the PlayStation in the US.

It was something people were expecting, and whether or not Sega or Stolar f*cked up, we were left wondering when, and if we were ever going to get the game. You must not have been around during the petitioning and whatnot to have the game localized for the Saturn, in the US. The PlayStation announcement didn't come until way after we all suffered in waiting.

[drumlord]

Anybody remember the white on black theme that all Lunar sites adopted during that time? Good stuff.

[Kizyr]

Anybody remember the white on black theme that all Lunar sites adopted during that time? Good stuff.

Hehe, I remember. My first website had most of the pages white-on-black. KF

[phyco126]

Then it got to the point where the Saturn fell on it's ass, and Vic said sorry Sega fans, Lunar will only be on the PlayStation in the US.

You must not have been around during the petitioning and whatnot to have the game localized for the Saturn, in the US. The PlayStation announcement didn't come until way after we all suffered in waiting.

From how the article put it, it sounded like they where going to put it on the Satarn regardless of how well the system was doing. It sounds to me they only did it because Sega pissed Vic off. (Though, I'm not saying they didn't do it because of sale outlook, just my opinion that they did it for other reasons.) Besides, even if it was for sales reasons as well, think about it. You just spent a ton of money translating this game, would you put it on a system that would get them less money than what they put into the game? Not a very wise choice.

As for your second comment, no, I wasn't around then, but I can assure you that I know all about it. I know alot of people where mad. If I'm not mistaken, alot of them turned anti-wd. I recall seeing the petition on alot of old (and now defunct) fan sites.

[DragonmasterDan]

From how the article put it, it sounded like they where going to put it on the Satarn regardless of how well the system was doing. It sounds to me they only did it because Sega pissed Vic off. (Though, I'm not saying they didn't do it because of sale outlook, just my opinion that they did it for other reasons.) Besides, even if it was for sales reasons as well, think about it. You just spent a ton of money translating this game, would you put it on a system that would get them less money than what they put into the game? Not a very wise choice.

As for your second comment, no, I wasn't around then, but I can assure you that I know all about it. I know alot of people where mad. If I'm not mistaken, alot of them turned anti-wd. I recall seeing the petition on alot of old (and now defunct) fan sites.

Vic made it clear by Summer 1997 that Lunar SSS was coming out for PSone, he had given a number of interviews and such inferring that, my
assumption is that was when Game Arts decided to port it over to PSone and Vic was under NDA until it was announced in Japan, since he couldn't officially announce it, he hinted at it and even went as far as to say WD themselves might port it from Saturn to PSone (which would be quite a feat considering such a small company). Because Vic was beating around the bush about it, and also publicly -Borgan- about Sega after an incident involving an E3 booth (and also lambasting their announcement of the system that would eventually be the Dreamcast while the Saturn was still alive) many people in the Sega community took a very anti-WD stance. There was quite a lot of upset people over the situation since many people bought Saturns for Lunar: SSS only to have it not be released in the US.

[GhaleonOne]

I bought a Saturn for Lunar, but ended up making $10,000 instead. I was happy with the outcome.

[Silver Phoenix]

You got $10,000, and I couldn't even get them to mail me posters I paid for! That's my luck for ya. I remember when you won the contest, isn't it when you first showed up on the Lunar-L?

[GhaleonOne]

I actually never signed up for the Lunar-L. I showed up at the Lunar Threads, and about the time I learned of the Lunar-L, it was in it's dying days.

[Silver Phoenix]

Okay, I must have been thinking your first post on Dave's page was a post on the Lunar-L. It's a shame you were late in the game, because it was a great list and it was sad to see it dismantled.

[phyco126]

Wow, I must have missed something. From the sounds of it, you go 10K from a contest G1?

[Kizyr]

Wow, I must have missed something. From the sounds of it, you go 10K from a contest G1?

Old news, man. He won $10,000 for sitting in front of the TV and playing Shining Wisdom all day.

And I'm just bitter 'cause I wanted that money. But I wasn't good enough, 'cause once I got the toy car I spent all my time driving around trying to run monsters over. KF

[GhaleonOne]

Dude, that game was the most frustrating game in the world trying to pull that off. I had a notebook full of notes about that game. I learned to shave time using so many methods. Even the smallest stuff like going left around a tree instead of right, or getting yourself killed at a certain location so you could shave a few seconds via respawn. I think there was some jumping boots that let you jump insanely high. I might see if I can get a copy of the videotape from Vic someday. It would be cool to rewatch it.

[phyco126]

You won $10,000 from beating a game in a contest? They should do something like that for Grand Tourismo XD

[GhaleonOne]

Yeah, it was a hell of a time getting there though. You don't realize how many times I had to replay that game.

http://www.workingdesigns.com/news/1997 ... 997-02.htm
http://www.workingdesigns.com/news/1997 ... 997-01.htm

BTW, that time listed isn't the best I did. I did better than that on a previous play, the tape I sent them had a glitch, so I had to replay it, and after a few tries, gave up with that score hoping it was enough.

[phyco126]

Haha, I love the caption under your picture