Victor Ireland is a very busy man. After all, he is responsible for getting Working Designs into the gaming industry. However, after months of badgering, Gaming World X has been fortunate enough to snag a few moments of his time to ask some of our questions and some of our readers' questions about the past, present, and future of his company.
GWX: Could you tell us a bit about your and Working Designs' shift from its original focus of accounting software to game development? Where did the idea come from and did it take much doing to make the switch?
WD: Well, the idea to get into game software came from me and grew out of my hobby, which was games, and specifically the import gaming scene. Because I had been doing freelance reviewing on the side for game magazines, I made a number of good contacts in Japan and with some effort, things just progressed from there.
GWX: What led to the decision of starting with the TurboGrafx-16 rather than Nintendo or Sega machines? Was it the popularity of the PC Engine in Japan?
WD: Yes. For good or ill, I was a huge fan of the PC-Engine CD games. There were so many I wanted to bring over. It's kind of funny that due to the way things worked out, our first two games were the first and only carts we ever published, Cadash and Parasol Stars. After that it was all CD-ROM. In fact, in hindsight I realized that we were the first third party to publish CD-ROM games for consoles in the US! That didn't strike me until much later.
GWX: What prompted WD to move from the Turbo systems to the Sega CD?
WD: The Turbo-CD was dying a long, slow death, and we wanted to use the experience we'd gained on the Turbo to reach a wider audience. I had seen LUNAR and realized immediately it was our kinda game.
GWX: In light of the recent work by Media Rings on Lunar Legend for GBA, has WD considered re-releasing some of its older conversions such as Parasol Stars, Cosmic Fantasy 2 or others for Game Boy Advance?
WD: Um...well, we're not really in the cart business, but I wouldn't rule it our entirely. CD-ROM remains our focus for now.
GWX: You've been quoted saying that the "GameCube is very, very interesting" to you. Does WD have any plans or interest in working on Nintendo's latest console?
WD: Once there is more RPG software available for the 'Cube, we're very interested. It's a nice machine, but we have to have Japanese games that are suitable to localize before we can jump in. The RPGs thus far for it in Japan have been pretty mediocre.
GWX: Konami has never licensed a console title to a third party before. Can you tell us how WD came to work with Konami on the forthcoming Goemon game for PS2?
WD: About 10 years of nagging. I stayed in contact with them from time to time over a ten-year period, and it turned out that some people I worked with at SEGA back in the SEGA CD era ended up at Konami. They knew our work and we knew them. It really helped push that "last mile" to get a deal made.
GWX: Arc the Lad Collection, with its numerous delays and improvements, shows WD's dedication to producing a quality product. As a result of this perfectionism, the game has been released after the lifespan of the PS-one. Have the sales met your expectations and does the company have any regrets about the length of this project?
WD: The game certainly met our expectations, but the sales have been about average for us, which is somewhat disappointing. Of course, our biggest battle is getting retailers to stock the game in sufficient quantities. When they do, it sells fine. It'll definitely be a hot Ebay item in a year or two.
Our readers have posted a few questions for you on our Forums:
Distorted1 asks: When selecting games for conversion and translation, what does Working Designs look for?
WD: Story and gameplay. If a game reeks of those things, we can fix or adjust virtually anything else. And as far as I'm concerned, those are the two things that make a game the MOST satisfying. That's why WD games rarely sport graphics that would be considered "cutting edge." Sometimes it happens, but it's just a bonus and not the primary consideration.
Ben asks: Silpheed was an excellent shooter. Does WD have any plans to release another shooter in the near future?
WD: I personally love shooters, but it's a tough market here and in Japan. Very few are even being made in Japan anymore, and few rise above the 16-bit heyday. It's possible, but it's getting harder and harder to find great ones.
Adam asks: Where does the classic WD sense of humor in their scripting come from?
WD: Primarily me and whomever I work with on the script of a game. I grew up playing poorly-translated Japanese games, and really strive to make dialogue interesting and moving in our games. Of course, humor's a big part of that. The biggest compliment I hear is that we ruin people's enjoyment of other RPGs because once they play one of ours they can't go back to boring, repetitive dialogue in ones from other manufacturers. That's the goal. Hopefully others will up their game, and I think you've seen that happening, albeit on a very limited basis, already.
Joe asks: Beyond Goemon and the Growlanser games, what does WD have in store for us for the future?
WD: More RPGs, Strat/RPGs, and Action/RPGs. We'll just continue to evolve along the same path. I'm hoping we can get a Goemon retrospective CD soundtrack packed in with the PS2 game. If we can get permission, we'll include the greatest Goemon tunes from all past games, arranged and orchestrated for a special pack-in CD. Cross your fingers.
Gaming World X would like to thank Mr. Ireland for taking the time to speak with us. It is has certainly been an honor.
