Working Designs Game history! (Big Post)

**Katsuya** · November 23rd, 2003

Did you know, Working Designs has only made like 30+ games? anyway here is the history of Working Designs as told By... Working Designs.

1986
Working Designs is founded in Redding, California as a partnership between programmer Todd Mark and venture capitalist Sylvia Schmitt with the intent of creating and marketing accounting software for the IBM PC.

1988
Co-founder Todd Mark dies unexpectedly. Schmitt hires programmer and Redding resident Victor Ireland, who completes Mark's unfinished work, and the Master Accountant software series is released.

1990
Thanks to Ireland's personal interest in the video game market, Working Designs changes direction and prepares to enter the lucrative video game industry.

June
1991
Working Designs signs its first-ever publishing agreement, with Japanese game publisher Taito Corp., to localize and release the NEC TurboGrafx-16 title Parasol Stars in the United States. (In Japan, the TurboGrafx-16 is known as the PC Engine.) Cadash soon follows, and Working Designs becomes the fourth third-party publisher for the TurboGrafx-16 video game system in America.

December 1991
Parasol Stars is listed by Entertainment Weekly magazine as one of the top 20 video games released in 1991 for any system and Cadash is one of the TurboGrafx-16's top-selling games for the year.

1992
Working Designs signs a publishing agreement with Telenet Japan Co., Ltd., for the TurboGrafx-CD game Cosmic Fantasy 2. Localization work begins in April, and the product is released in September, making Working Designs the first-ever third-party publisher of CD-ROM video game software in the United States.

1992
Recording equipment is purchased and studio space is leased to facilitate the re-recording of audio for CD-ROM games in a professional environment.

1992
Working Designs signs its second publishing agreement with Telenet, acquiring U.S. rights to the TurboGrafx-16 game Exile. The product is released in October, one month after Cosmic Fantasy 2.

1993
Working Designs signs its third agreement with Telenet, licensing the TurboGrafx-16 game Exile 2: Wicked Phenomenon, Working Designs' first-ever sequel. The product is released in July.

1993
Work begins on two conversions for Hudson Soft, which will be marketed by Hudson Soft in the United States. This is Working Designs' first localization from Japanese to English to be marketed by another company.

1993
Shortly after January's Winter CES, Working Designs signs an agreement with Human Entertainment to release the TurboGrafx-CD strategy game Vasteel, which ships in June, and brings the total number of games the company markets or localizes in 1993 to eight.
May

1993
Working Designs receives verbal approval to become a third-party publisher for the Sega CD platform. Talks are already underway with Game Arts to license their role-playing game Lunar: The Silver Star for a U.S. release.

June
1993
The deal with Game Arts is finalized, and conversion work on Lunar begins; the product is released in December.

November 1993
Vay is announced as Working Designs' second Sega CD product. The game is licensed from SIMS Co., Ltd. of Japan, and ships in July 1994.

December 1993
Lunar receives a number of awards from video game magazines, the most notable being named GameFan's "Best RPG of 1993" and Sega's "Best RPG." This marks the second consecutive year in which a Working Designs RPG has received recognition as the "Best of the Year."

March
1994
Lunar passes the 50,000-unit sales mark, making it the best-selling RPG ever released for the Sega CD, and the #3 best-selling Sega CD game in all categories.
May

1994
Working Designs officially becomes a publisher for Sega's new Saturn video game system.
June

1994
Working Designs' third Sega CD product, the action/adventure title Popful Mail, is licensed from Sega of Japan.

July
1994
Vay is released to the retail channel amid great reviews and "Best RPG of 1994" awards from a number of publications.

1995
Popful Mail is released for the Sega CD and quickly garners rave reviews.
March

1995
Working Designs becomes a PlayStation third-party licensee, but no games are initially approved for publication, due to Sony Computer Entertainment America's lack of interest in the RPG market. This attitude changes (along with upper management) in December 1996.

September 1995
Lunar: Eternal Blue is released for the Sega CD, and becomes the platform's best-selling game of 1995.
April

1996
Working Designs releases its first Saturn product, Iron Storm, which goes on to win a number of awards from video game magazines, including "Best Strategy Game of 1996."

May
1996
Magic Knight Rayearth, a Saturn action/RPG based on a popular Japanese anime series, is licensed for a U.S. release, but suffers numerous delays because of conflicts regarding the names of the characters, along with missing program code, which makes the localization process an excruciating one. The game is ultimately put on hold for two years until the problems are solved.

June
1996
The action/RPG Shining Wisdom is released for the Sega Saturn, and is later nominated for a number of awards, including "Best RPG of 1996."

December 1996
Dragon Force is released for the Sega Saturn, and wins numerous year-end awards, including "Best Strategy Game" and "Best RPG" from a host of publications. (Dragon Force also makes the top-five lists of five editors in "The Great Saturn Send-Off" feature, posted to ZD's videogames.com web site in January 1999.)

December 1996
The Saturn RPG Albert Odyssey Gaiden is licensed from Sunsoft and localization work begins (which includes dropping Gaiden from the title).

December 1996
Lunar: Silver Star Story for the Sega Saturn, an update of the Sega CD classic, is licensed from Game Arts and scheduled for an October 1997 release.

April
1997
Working Designs taps into the growing "retro-gaming" genre and licenses Sega Ages, a compilation featuring three classic Sega arcade games: After Burner II, OutRun, and Space Harrier. The product is released for the Sega Saturn in June.

June
1997
Working Designs ships the Taito-developed shooter RayStorm, its first PlayStation product and its first game under the action-oriented "Spaz" brand label.

July
1997
Albert Odyssey is released for the Sega Saturn and is cited by Game Informer magazine as "The Funniest RPG Ever."

November 1997
Recognizing the rapid decline of the Saturn market in the United States, Working Designs reluctantly cancels the Saturn version of Lunar: Silver Star Story and transfers the project to the Sony PlayStation, on which the game can be enjoyed by many more gamers. The title is also changed to Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, as the PlayStation version contains exclusive features not found in the Sega CD or Saturn versions of Lunar.

January 1998
Working Designs releases the action/RPG Alundra, licensed from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (Japan), which breaks the 100,000-unit sales mark in just over a month.

January 1998
The PlayStation shooter/RPG Elemental Gearbolt is licensed from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (Japan).

February 1998
Working Designs licenses the PlayStation action/platform game Silhouette Mirage from Treasure, the Japanese development group which produced the legendary Genesis platformer Gunstar Heroes and several other classic titles.

March
1998
Alundra receives an award from Sony Computer Entertainment America for Best Overall PlayStation Packaging at the annual Publisher's Conference.

April
1998
Working Designs ships the Alundra Official Strategy Guide, the company's first-ever strategy guide, which features full-color pages, an offer for a free Alundra poster, and two sheets of Memory Card and character stickers-which are among the most impressive bonuses ever included with any strategy guide.

May
1998
Alundra receives the Best RPG award from Sony Computer Entertainment at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

July
1998
Working Designs announces its plans for the deluxe packaging of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, which include a music soundtrack CD, a "Making of Lunar" movie CD, a cloth map, and a hardbound art book/instruction manual. This is a first for any game in the console market.

August 1998
Elemental Gearbolt is released for the PlayStation and receives instant recognition for its unique combination of shooting and RPG elements.

November 1998
Thunder Force V, Working Designs' second "Spaz" product for the Sony PlayStation (and the latest in the cult-classic series of side-scrolling shooters from Technosoft), is released.
December 1998
Working Designs ships its final Sega Saturn product, Magic Knight Rayearth, which immediately sells out at retailers nationwide, as game-starved Saturn owners (and game collectors) eagerly snatch up the last Saturn game ever released in the U.S.

April
1999
Working Designs ships its first-ever PlayStation demo disc, the limited-edition Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Demo CD, to gamers who have pre-purchased the game from Working Designs, Electronics Boutique, or Babbages/Software Etc.

May
1999
With anticipation for the product at a fever pitch, Working Designs ships Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete to retailers, where it quickly becomes the most successful title in the company's history; NPD/TRSTS sales reports declare Lunar the best-selling PlayStation game for the month of June 1999 and the fifth-best-selling game across all platforms. Lunar ends the year as the #2 PlayStation RPG, with sales trailing only the behemoth Final Fantasy VII.

May
1999
Working Designs announces two additional PlayStation titles at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles: Vanguard Bandits, a strategy/RPG title from Human Entertainment (the developers of Working Designs' earlier TG-CD title, Vasteel), and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete, the obligatory follow-up to Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, with over an hour of animation and a host of gameplay improvements.

October 1999
In a revolutionary marketing move, Working Designs decides to voluntarily cease shipments of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete to stores on December 31, 1999, thereby turning the game into an instant collector's item. The advertising campaign announcing the decision stirs up controversy with its light-hearted mockery of game collectors who spend their time and money on the eBay auction web site, but the ads also spur a renewed interest in Lunar.

December 1999
Working Designs ships Silhouette Mirage with a host of improvements and features not found in the Japanese original, including a five-minute promotional video clip for Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete.

January 2000
Working Designs announces the most massive undertaking in company history: Arc The Lad Collection, featuring all three chapters in the Arc The Lad series, which were released as individual games in Japan, and which were the most popular Japanese RPGs never brought to the United States (until now). Arc The Lad Collection is scheduled for a first quarter, 2001 release.

March
2000
Working Designs makes a pair of announcements about the upcoming Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. The first announcement details the game's revolutionary pack-in items: three game CDs, a "Making of Lunar 2" movie CD, a Lunar 2 soundtrack CD with arranged and expanded music, a paper map of the world of Lunar, four character mini-standees, and a full-size gold metallic replica of Lucia's Pendant, a beautiful necklace worn by the game's female protagonist. The second announcement regards the most revolutionary preorder premium ever distributed by a video game company: consumers who make a $20 deposit receive a free "punching puppet" of Ghaleon (the Lunar series' enormously popular anti-hero), with design work by Toshiyuki Kubooka, character designer for Lunar: SSSC and Lunar 2: EBC.

June
2000
Vanguard Bandits is released to a host of appreciative RPG fans. According to Game Informer magazine, "plenty of play and an intriguing story" make Vanguard Bandits "an excellent addition [to] the PS-X's strategy library."

July
2000
Ghaleon punching puppets arrive at Software, Etc. and Babbage's. Fans scurry to preorder Lunar 2: EBC so that they won't become "while supplies last" casualties.

August 2000
Working Designs announces the October 26 release of Gungriffon Blaze and Silpheed: The Lost Planet, its first two PlayStation2 titles. Both games, licensed from Game Arts, will be released on October 26, along with Sony's new PS2 console.

October 2000
RayCrisis is released for the Playstation. It is the final "SPAZ" game to be released, as the label is being retired in favor of a return to the "Working Designs Ultra Series" brand.

October 2000
Working Designs releases Gungriffon Blaze for the Playstation 2 launch. Silpheed: The Lost Planet is delayed in order to fix slowdown problems present in the Japanese release and to add analog support.

May
2001
Working Designs releases Silpheed: The Lost Planet for the PlayStation 2 after many months making the game up to Working Designs standards of excellence.

January 2002
Due to public demand for LUNAR that could not be filled by the recently cancelled Lunar PC game, it was decided that Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Fan Art Edition should be released. This was a one-shot publication of the original Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete with special art that was designed especially for this release, by a host of frequent fan contributors.

April
2002

After many long years of development, Arc the Lad Collection was released. It is the largest console RPG anthology ever released, and the final game Working Designs published for the original PlayStation.

Last edited by Katsuya; December 13th, 2005 at 17:01..

op3n_skill · November 23rd, 2003

Any Lunar release for the PS2?

__________________
Member of "The Pessimistics Club"

Omega · November 23rd, 2003

1994
Lunar passes the 50,000-unit sales mark, making it the best-selling RPG ever released for the Sega CD, and the #3 best-selling Sega CD game in all categories

Damn I remember playing El Viento in my Sega CD

__________________
.:[ This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time ]:.
.:[ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last]:.

psicomaniaco · December 2nd, 2003

IMO, Lunar is one of the best games ever. Its even better than ANY Final Fantasy game. Lunar 2 is also fantastic. But IMO the PSX versions are better than the Sega CD versions.

BTW, wasn't Grandia published by WD???

__________________
Goals: -Buy a new video Card; Buy F.E.A.R; Beat NOLF 1 and 2; Buy cat food.

Boltzmann · December 2nd, 2003

Quote:

Originally Posted by psicomaniaco

But IMO the PSX versions are better than the Sega CD versions.

You'll feel Kaiser Sigma's rage for this single statement

__________________
'You're spying and betraying Switzerland to try and keep alive somebody with a hook and spinal fluid and no skull in an irreversible coma? And I thought I was disturbed. You're making me totally reorient my idea of disturbed, mister.'

- David Foster Wallace, "Infinite Jest"

**_E_** · December 2nd, 2003

Hmm,...shouldnt that be in the Game discussion?

Interesting Post btw

Yours,
-Elly

__________________

-= Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always =-
the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.
Margaret C. Smith

Ghale0n · December 2nd, 2003

the only game thats better than Lunar : SSSC is Xenogears

__________________
R.I.P Steve Irwin, you were an inspiration to us all

DeathSight · December 2nd, 2003

Quote:

Any Lunar release for the PS2?

yes there will be a new Lunar 3 comming out for PS2 some time in 2004 i think. i have been sending alot of mail to Working Designs over the years and they say that there will be a Lunar 3 comming out. im not really sure if it is 2004 when it comes out, just a rondom guess......................and a really big hope, but moveing on, you get the general idea.

__________________

cloudvii · December 2nd, 2003

i really know working design because of Lunar .

but it's not that good as ffvii (but it's better than many ff .

it can beat crono cross easily but can't beat chrono trigger .

any way great review Katsuya

u should register at Game Faqs (seriously

)

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l3illyl3ob · December 2nd, 2003

Grandia was made by GameArts, and its various versions/sequals were published by a variety of companies, not WD. You think WD did because WD localised other GameArts games like Lunar.

And Working Designs doesn't actually make the games. They're a game publisher. This is really giving them much more credit than they deserve to be praising them so much. Their translations weren't always that fantastic. and the dubs in lunar... gah.

Kaiser Sigma · December 3rd, 2003

Quote:

Originally Posted by psicomaniaco

IMO, Lunar is one of the best games ever. Its even better than ANY Final Fantasy game. Lunar 2 is also fantastic. But IMO the PSX versions are better than the Sega CD versions.

BTW, wasn't Grandia published by WD???

Ohoh... PSX versions better than the SegaCD ones ? And aside from graphics (which is the only good thing so far) how are they "better" than the original ones... I mean, they rehashed the story and not for good, they changed the soundtrack replacing it with an awful set of new tunes, they added unnecessary stuff and removed some that was critical to the plot... better ? how ?

And no, Grandias were never published by WD... I don't recall who published the first one, but GII was published by Ubisoft IIRC...

l3illyl3ob · December 3rd, 2003

"ESP Software" released grandia here at first, then ubisoft, and then the all powerfull enix got all hold of game arts, so it's all them with the ps2 grandia 2, grandia xtreme, and any future grandias will be square-enix.

Boltzmann · December 19th, 2003

Quote:

Originally Posted by KABAL

can someone tell me where i can download some games for ps2?

I can't believe you revived a somewhat old thread to ask for illegal stuff

Please read the RULES !!!

Quote:

1. Discussions and Links to any kind of illegal material such as warez, ISO images, ROMs or BIOS images, are not permitted.

...and this is your first post...

Have you registered just to ask for warez??

__________________
'You're spying and betraying Switzerland to try and keep alive somebody with a hook and spinal fluid and no skull in an irreversible coma? And I thought I was disturbed. You're making me totally reorient my idea of disturbed, mister.'

- David Foster Wallace, "Infinite Jest"

**Kanodin** · December 19th, 2003

Damn you!!! boltz you beat me too it

TerrorShocked · December 19th, 2003

Buh Buh Buh Buh Buh Bannned!

__________________
-- TerrorShocked.

Boltzmann · December 19th, 2003

Quote:

Originally Posted by TerrorShocked

Buh Buh Buh Buh Buh Bannned!

You're truly evil, TerrorShocked. You not only banned the guy but deleted his post?

(p.s.: this is a compliment

)

Well, he deserved it

__________________
'You're spying and betraying Switzerland to try and keep alive somebody with a hook and spinal fluid and no skull in an irreversible coma? And I thought I was disturbed. You're making me totally reorient my idea of disturbed, mister.'

- David Foster Wallace, "Infinite Jest"

TerrorShocked · December 19th, 2003

One post is enought to do it, it is only a 2 day ban anyhow. If he cannot learn to look at the rules before he posts he should not be here.

__________________
-- TerrorShocked.

November 23rd, 2003	#1 (permalink)
Katsuya - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: - Posts: 1,934	Working Designs Game history! (Big Post) Did you know, Working Designs has only made like 30+ games? anyway here is the history of Working Designs as told By... Working Designs. 1986 Working Designs is founded in Redding, California as a partnership between programmer Todd Mark and venture capitalist Sylvia Schmitt with the intent of creating and marketing accounting software for the IBM PC. 1988 Co-founder Todd Mark dies unexpectedly. Schmitt hires programmer and Redding resident Victor Ireland, who completes Mark's unfinished work, and the Master Accountant software series is released. 1990 Thanks to Ireland's personal interest in the video game market, Working Designs changes direction and prepares to enter the lucrative video game industry. June 1991 Working Designs signs its first-ever publishing agreement, with Japanese game publisher Taito Corp., to localize and release the NEC TurboGrafx-16 title Parasol Stars in the United States. (In Japan, the TurboGrafx-16 is known as the PC Engine.) Cadash soon follows, and Working Designs becomes the fourth third-party publisher for the TurboGrafx-16 video game system in America. December 1991 Parasol Stars is listed by Entertainment Weekly magazine as one of the top 20 video games released in 1991 for any system and Cadash is one of the TurboGrafx-16's top-selling games for the year. 1992 Working Designs signs a publishing agreement with Telenet Japan Co., Ltd., for the TurboGrafx-CD game Cosmic Fantasy 2. Localization work begins in April, and the product is released in September, making Working Designs the first-ever third-party publisher of CD-ROM video game software in the United States. 1992 Recording equipment is purchased and studio space is leased to facilitate the re-recording of audio for CD-ROM games in a professional environment. 1992 Working Designs signs its second publishing agreement with Telenet, acquiring U.S. rights to the TurboGrafx-16 game Exile. The product is released in October, one month after Cosmic Fantasy 2. 1993 Working Designs signs its third agreement with Telenet, licensing the TurboGrafx-16 game Exile 2: Wicked Phenomenon, Working Designs' first-ever sequel. The product is released in July. 1993 Work begins on two conversions for Hudson Soft, which will be marketed by Hudson Soft in the United States. This is Working Designs' first localization from Japanese to English to be marketed by another company. 1993 Shortly after January's Winter CES, Working Designs signs an agreement with Human Entertainment to release the TurboGrafx-CD strategy game Vasteel, which ships in June, and brings the total number of games the company markets or localizes in 1993 to eight. May 1993 Working Designs receives verbal approval to become a third-party publisher for the Sega CD platform. Talks are already underway with Game Arts to license their role-playing game Lunar: The Silver Star for a U.S. release. June 1993 The deal with Game Arts is finalized, and conversion work on Lunar begins; the product is released in December. November 1993 Vay is announced as Working Designs' second Sega CD product. The game is licensed from SIMS Co., Ltd. of Japan, and ships in July 1994. December 1993 Lunar receives a number of awards from video game magazines, the most notable being named GameFan's "Best RPG of 1993" and Sega's "Best RPG." This marks the second consecutive year in which a Working Designs RPG has received recognition as the "Best of the Year." March 1994 Lunar passes the 50,000-unit sales mark, making it the best-selling RPG ever released for the Sega CD, and the #3 best-selling Sega CD game in all categories. May 1994 Working Designs officially becomes a publisher for Sega's new Saturn video game system. June 1994 Working Designs' third Sega CD product, the action/adventure title Popful Mail, is licensed from Sega of Japan. July 1994 Vay is released to the retail channel amid great reviews and "Best RPG of 1994" awards from a number of publications. 1995 Popful Mail is released for the Sega CD and quickly garners rave reviews. March 1995 Working Designs becomes a PlayStation third-party licensee, but no games are initially approved for publication, due to Sony Computer Entertainment America's lack of interest in the RPG market. This attitude changes (along with upper management) in December 1996. September 1995 Lunar: Eternal Blue is released for the Sega CD, and becomes the platform's best-selling game of 1995. April 1996 Working Designs releases its first Saturn product, Iron Storm, which goes on to win a number of awards from video game magazines, including "Best Strategy Game of 1996." May 1996 Magic Knight Rayearth, a Saturn action/RPG based on a popular Japanese anime series, is licensed for a U.S. release, but suffers numerous delays because of conflicts regarding the names of the characters, along with missing program code, which makes the localization process an excruciating one. The game is ultimately put on hold for two years until the problems are solved. June 1996 The action/RPG Shining Wisdom is released for the Sega Saturn, and is later nominated for a number of awards, including "Best RPG of 1996." December 1996 Dragon Force is released for the Sega Saturn, and wins numerous year-end awards, including "Best Strategy Game" and "Best RPG" from a host of publications. (Dragon Force also makes the top-five lists of five editors in "The Great Saturn Send-Off" feature, posted to ZD's videogames.com web site in January 1999.) December 1996 The Saturn RPG Albert Odyssey Gaiden is licensed from Sunsoft and localization work begins (which includes dropping Gaiden from the title). December 1996 Lunar: Silver Star Story for the Sega Saturn, an update of the Sega CD classic, is licensed from Game Arts and scheduled for an October 1997 release. April 1997 Working Designs taps into the growing "retro-gaming" genre and licenses Sega Ages, a compilation featuring three classic Sega arcade games: After Burner II, OutRun, and Space Harrier. The product is released for the Sega Saturn in June. June 1997 Working Designs ships the Taito-developed shooter RayStorm, its first PlayStation product and its first game under the action-oriented "Spaz" brand label. July 1997 Albert Odyssey is released for the Sega Saturn and is cited by Game Informer magazine as "The Funniest RPG Ever." November 1997 Recognizing the rapid decline of the Saturn market in the United States, Working Designs reluctantly cancels the Saturn version of Lunar: Silver Star Story and transfers the project to the Sony PlayStation, on which the game can be enjoyed by many more gamers. The title is also changed to Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, as the PlayStation version contains exclusive features not found in the Sega CD or Saturn versions of Lunar. January 1998 Working Designs releases the action/RPG Alundra, licensed from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (Japan), which breaks the 100,000-unit sales mark in just over a month. January 1998 The PlayStation shooter/RPG Elemental Gearbolt is licensed from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (Japan). February 1998 Working Designs licenses the PlayStation action/platform game Silhouette Mirage from Treasure, the Japanese development group which produced the legendary Genesis platformer Gunstar Heroes and several other classic titles. March 1998 Alundra receives an award from Sony Computer Entertainment America for Best Overall PlayStation Packaging at the annual Publisher's Conference. April 1998 Working Designs ships the Alundra Official Strategy Guide, the company's first-ever strategy guide, which features full-color pages, an offer for a free Alundra poster, and two sheets of Memory Card and character stickers-which are among the most impressive bonuses ever included with any strategy guide. May 1998 Alundra receives the Best RPG award from Sony Computer Entertainment at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). July 1998 Working Designs announces its plans for the deluxe packaging of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, which include a music soundtrack CD, a "Making of Lunar" movie CD, a cloth map, and a hardbound art book/instruction manual. This is a first for any game in the console market. August 1998 Elemental Gearbolt is released for the PlayStation and receives instant recognition for its unique combination of shooting and RPG elements. November 1998 Thunder Force V, Working Designs' second "Spaz" product for the Sony PlayStation (and the latest in the cult-classic series of side-scrolling shooters from Technosoft), is released. December 1998 Working Designs ships its final Sega Saturn product, Magic Knight Rayearth, which immediately sells out at retailers nationwide, as game-starved Saturn owners (and game collectors) eagerly snatch up the last Saturn game ever released in the U.S. April 1999 Working Designs ships its first-ever PlayStation demo disc, the limited-edition Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Demo CD, to gamers who have pre-purchased the game from Working Designs, Electronics Boutique, or Babbages/Software Etc. May 1999 With anticipation for the product at a fever pitch, Working Designs ships Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete to retailers, where it quickly becomes the most successful title in the company's history; NPD/TRSTS sales reports declare Lunar the best-selling PlayStation game for the month of June 1999 and the fifth-best-selling game across all platforms. Lunar ends the year as the #2 PlayStation RPG, with sales trailing only the behemoth Final Fantasy VII. May 1999 Working Designs announces two additional PlayStation titles at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles: Vanguard Bandits, a strategy/RPG title from Human Entertainment (the developers of Working Designs' earlier TG-CD title, Vasteel), and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete, the obligatory follow-up to Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, with over an hour of animation and a host of gameplay improvements. October 1999 In a revolutionary marketing move, Working Designs decides to voluntarily cease shipments of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete to stores on December 31, 1999, thereby turning the game into an instant collector's item. The advertising campaign announcing the decision stirs up controversy with its light-hearted mockery of game collectors who spend their time and money on the eBay auction web site, but the ads also spur a renewed interest in Lunar. December 1999 Working Designs ships Silhouette Mirage with a host of improvements and features not found in the Japanese original, including a five-minute promotional video clip for Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. January 2000 Working Designs announces the most massive undertaking in company history: Arc The Lad Collection, featuring all three chapters in the Arc The Lad series, which were released as individual games in Japan, and which were the most popular Japanese RPGs never brought to the United States (until now). Arc The Lad Collection is scheduled for a first quarter, 2001 release. March 2000 Working Designs makes a pair of announcements about the upcoming Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. The first announcement details the game's revolutionary pack-in items: three game CDs, a "Making of Lunar 2" movie CD, a Lunar 2 soundtrack CD with arranged and expanded music, a paper map of the world of Lunar, four character mini-standees, and a full-size gold metallic replica of Lucia's Pendant, a beautiful necklace worn by the game's female protagonist. The second announcement regards the most revolutionary preorder premium ever distributed by a video game company: consumers who make a $20 deposit receive a free "punching puppet" of Ghaleon (the Lunar series' enormously popular anti-hero), with design work by Toshiyuki Kubooka, character designer for Lunar: SSSC and Lunar 2: EBC. June 2000 Vanguard Bandits is released to a host of appreciative RPG fans. According to Game Informer magazine, "plenty of play and an intriguing story" make Vanguard Bandits "an excellent addition [to] the PS-X's strategy library." July 2000 Ghaleon punching puppets arrive at Software, Etc. and Babbage's. Fans scurry to preorder Lunar 2: EBC so that they won't become "while supplies last" casualties. August 2000 Working Designs announces the October 26 release of Gungriffon Blaze and Silpheed: The Lost Planet, its first two PlayStation2 titles. Both games, licensed from Game Arts, will be released on October 26, along with Sony's new PS2 console. October 2000 RayCrisis is released for the Playstation. It is the final "SPAZ" game to be released, as the label is being retired in favor of a return to the "Working Designs Ultra Series" brand. October 2000 Working Designs releases Gungriffon Blaze for the Playstation 2 launch. Silpheed: The Lost Planet is delayed in order to fix slowdown problems present in the Japanese release and to add analog support. May 2001 Working Designs releases Silpheed: The Lost Planet for the PlayStation 2 after many months making the game up to Working Designs standards of excellence. January 2002 Due to public demand for LUNAR that could not be filled by the recently cancelled Lunar PC game, it was decided that Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Fan Art Edition should be released. This was a one-shot publication of the original Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete with special art that was designed especially for this release, by a host of frequent fan contributors. April 2002 After many long years of development, Arc the Lad Collection was released. It is the largest console RPG anthology ever released, and the final game Working Designs published for the original PlayStation. Last edited by Katsuya; December 13th, 2005 at 17:01..

November 23rd, 2003	#2 (permalink)
op3n_skill Finally!! :D Join Date: May 2003 Location: Manila, Philippines Posts: 1,842	Re: Working Designs Game history! (Big Post) Any Lunar release for the PS2? __________________ Member of "The Pessimistics Club"

November 23rd, 2003	#3 (permalink)
Omega User addicted to Diazepam Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: WIRED Posts: 4,740	Re: Working Designs Game history! (Big Post) 1994 Lunar passes the 50,000-unit sales mark, making it the best-selling RPG ever released for the Sega CD, and the #3 best-selling Sega CD game in all categories Damn I remember playing El Viento in my Sega CD __________________ .:[ This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time ]:. .:[ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last]:.

December 2nd, 2003	#4 (permalink)
psicomaniaco Eh?? Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: I'm ashamed to say... Posts: 1,645	Re: Working Designs Game history! (Big Post) IMO, Lunar is one of the best games ever. Its even better than ANY Final Fantasy game. Lunar 2 is also fantastic. But IMO the PSX versions are better than the Sega CD versions. BTW, wasn't Grandia published by WD??? __________________ Goals: -Buy a new video Card; Buy F.E.A.R; Beat NOLF 1 and 2; Buy cat food.

December 2nd, 2003	#6 (permalink)
_E_ Lurking Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Gone Posts: 8,958	Re: Working Designs Game history! (Big Post) Hmm,...shouldnt that be in the Game discussion? Interesting Post btw Yours, -Elly __________________ -= Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always =- the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character. Margaret C. Smith

December 2nd, 2003	#7 (permalink)
Ghale0n No Prayer For The Dying Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 248	Re: Working Designs Game history! (Big Post) the only game thats better than Lunar : SSSC is Xenogears __________________ *R.I.P Steve Irwin, you were an inspiration to us all*

December 2nd, 2003	#9 (permalink)
cloudvii Emunext fanboy Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Cairo , Egypt Posts: 4,241	Re: Working Designs Game history! (Big Post) i really know working design because of Lunar . but it's not that good as ffvii (but it's better than many ff . it can beat crono cross easily but can't beat chrono trigger . any way great review Katsuya u should register at Game Faqs (seriously ) __________________ Fekra Online magazine Fekra Magazine Fekra Magazine readers Facebook group

December 2nd, 2003	#10 (permalink)
l3illyl3ob Link to the Underworld Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Detroit Posts: 1,148	Re: Working Designs Game history! (Big Post) Grandia was made by GameArts, and its various versions/sequals were published by a variety of companies, not WD. You think WD did because WD localised other GameArts games like Lunar. And Working Designs doesn't actually make the games. They're a game publisher. This is really giving them much more credit than they deserve to be praising them so much. Their translations weren't always that fantastic. and the dubs in lunar... gah.

December 3rd, 2003	#12 (permalink)
l3illyl3ob Link to the Underworld Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Detroit Posts: 1,148	Re: Working Designs Game history! (Big Post) "ESP Software" released grandia here at first, then ubisoft, and then the all powerfull enix got all hold of game arts, so it's all them with the ps2 grandia 2, grandia xtreme, and any future grandias will be square-enix.

December 19th, 2003	#14 (permalink)
Kanodin Emu author Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Dunno Posts: 668	Damn you!!! boltz you beat me too it

December 19th, 2003	#15 (permalink)
TerrorShocked Registered Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 229	Buh Buh Buh Buh Buh Bannned! __________________ -- TerrorShocked.

December 19th, 2003	#17 (permalink)
TerrorShocked Registered Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 229	One post is enought to do it, it is only a 2 day ban anyhow. If he cannot learn to look at the rules before he posts he should not be here. __________________ -- TerrorShocked.

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