VGDensetsu

@vgdensetsu.bsky.social

Hi! I talk about video games (History, illustrations, graphic design, cancelled games, sales figures, etc.) By @domauffret.bsky.social http://vgdensetsu.net/ https://www.patreon.com/vgdensetsu

EA's annual Ebitda is around $1.5 billion, which should be enough to service the interest payments. But the publisher has told debt investors that it will cut $700 million in annual costs including $170 million in "organizational efficiencies," per Bloomberg. In other words: mass layoffs

EA officially goes private tonight, meaning: - EA will no longer trade on the NASDAQ for the first time in 36 years - All stockholders of EA (including many employees) will receive $210/share - EA will take on $18 billion (!) in debt, putting it on the hook to pay ~$1.8 billion/year in interest

Hitoshi Yoneda was told by Sega that, up until Phantasy Star II, all the artworks were made in-house. Although we know that some Mark III games had been illustrated in-house, we also know that Sega was already commissioning external artists as early as 1983, if not before. x.com/Brise_Marine...

I’m still discovering PS1 games published by Capcom in Japan. This one was originally released in 1997 in the West, but Capcom took charge of publishing it in Japan in 1999. The cover art resembles the style of Daichan / Tatsuya Nakae.

One front box

For those unfamiliar with the history of Seiken Densetsu, the game released on the Game Boy in 1991 (also known as Final Fantasy Adventure / Mystic Quest) is actually the third project developed by Square to bear that name; before that, there was: _a 3D dungeon RPG co-developed with Bits, ... 1/2

VGDensetsu@vgdensetsu.bsky.social · last wk.

Hitomichi Tanaka cites The Eidolon as a source of inspiration for the 3D dungeons in his cancelled version of Seiken Densetsu (Famicom). Yuji Naka, for his part, mentioned a Commodore 64 game with 3D dungeons as an inspiration for Phantasy Star, and it is likely that this is the same game.

Kishin Dōji Zenki FX: Vajra Fight proposal dated May 30, 1994. For about a month and a half, the team was working on an action RPG, then their project was shelved and they started working on Zenki. It was originally meant to be a PC Engine CD game using the Arcade card, ... 1/2

Kishin Dōji Zenki proposalKishin Dōji Zenki proposalKishin Dōji Zenki proposalKishin Dōji Zenki proposal

Hitomichi Tanaka cites The Eidolon as a source of inspiration for the 3D dungeons in his cancelled version of Seiken Densetsu (Famicom). Yuji Naka, for his part, mentioned a Commodore 64 game with 3D dungeons as an inspiration for Phantasy Star, and it is likely that this is the same game.

In the early 90s, Taito worked several times with illustrator and background artist Tomoaki Okada / 岡田有章 from the design studio Mecaman (known for their work on Gundam, Nausicäa, Speed Racer, etc.). _Rayforce / Galactic Attack _Gun Force (Master System version) _Darius Force (SFC) _Cyber Sterra 1/3

Rayforce / レイフォース, AKA Gunlock (Arcade - Taito - 1993) Flyer illustration.
Also used for Layer Section / レイヤーセクション, AKA Galactic Attack (Saturn - 1995) Box artSpace Gun (Master System - 1992) Box artDarius Force / ダライアスフォース, AKA Super Nova (SFC - 1993) Box artCyber Sterra / サイバーステラ (Arcade - Taito - 1993) Illustration / logo

Seeing Yasushi Yamaguchi and Tomohiro Yamamoto talk about cases of potential copyright infringements at Sega in the late 1980s and early 1990s makes me wonder how often the company actually faced problems of this sort back then, between Godzilla in The Revenge of Shinobi 1/3 x.com/rew_w/status...