Draugoth
Gold Member
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Yuji Naka reveals that 6 months before Balan Wonderworld came out he was removed as director and therefore filed a lawsuit against Square Enix
ranmafan
Member
I've been waiting for this news from Yuji Naka ever since that tweet after his time at Square-Enix where he promised to talk more about Balan in the future when he can. I would love to know the whole story behind the scenes on this game. Its got to be very fascinating especially with this new info.
Lunarorbit
Gold Member
Nothing to add except I always thought yuji Naka was a last name, not their entire name. I've only heard his name on podcasts
nominedomine
Banned
I need a reality show that covers what is going on inside Square Enix.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Sounds like he has a solid lawsuit honestly. It's definitely damaged his reputation to plaster his name all over it as director if he was removed from the project. He probably has valid complaints.
But also he was likely removed because the game looked pretty dang rough. Both sides probably messed up in this one.
But also he was likely removed because the game looked pretty dang rough. Both sides probably messed up in this one.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Video game employee whining on social media. What a surprise.
Still waiting for all the people I have ever worked with in 20+ years who got fired or pressured out to publicly go on social media and tell the world why their company sucked. Havent seen one yet.
Still waiting for all the people I have ever worked with in 20+ years who got fired or pressured out to publicly go on social media and tell the world why their company sucked. Havent seen one yet.
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Furball
Member
People may shit on Wada but i think majority of the game released during his time are far more polish in their platform and seem to actually has budget , milk the series but with actual passion . Now they cant even make custom UI for new game and reused on so many game and most of them look like they dont even has budget
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//DEVIL//
Member
Dice and anthem ? That’s BioWare if I m not mistaken ..
Thirty7ven
Banned
Square Enix is pure trash these days.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
SE
Astral Dog
Member
there are companies that simply would refuse to release a Balan Wonderworld in that state , not many mind you but they do exist
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Dick Jones
Gold Member
If I was him, I'd sue to get my name off Balan Wonderworld too.
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ParaSeoul
Member
Naka allegedly killed Star Fox-like Dreamcast game
Former Sega producer alleges Yuji Naka killed promising Star Fox-like Dreamcast game.
www.vg247.com
Square these days is shit but I wouldn't trust Naka's word
SlimeGooGoo
Banned
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Wow that sucks ..
Fuck Square Enix ..
Fuck Square Enix ..
SlimeGooGoo
Banned
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TheInfamousKira
Reseterror Resettler
Companies most definitely don't care about fans, Mister Baldass Wunderlame dude. Corporations, either. It's the individuals who make up said companies that you have to put your stocks into and hope that they can worm enough passion under the radar to express their talent, love for their properties, or ambition past the paint by numbers trend chasing.
This is why games felt more personal and focused back in the day, at Square especially. Because the development teams were so small. You had eight guys in a room and maybe four or five more people doing PR, artwork, etc. The more complex and technical it all got, the more hands had to be on deck, and the more diluted the end product was.
There are small glimmers of old school mentality left over. I think FFXIV is the best example, maybe FFVIIR as a distant second, and FFXVI appears like it could be on the list, but yeah. Maybe sixteen people in several hundred care about the player, the rest logically care about the player's wallet.
This is why games felt more personal and focused back in the day, at Square especially. Because the development teams were so small. You had eight guys in a room and maybe four or five more people doing PR, artwork, etc. The more complex and technical it all got, the more hands had to be on deck, and the more diluted the end product was.
There are small glimmers of old school mentality left over. I think FFXIV is the best example, maybe FFVIIR as a distant second, and FFXVI appears like it could be on the list, but yeah. Maybe sixteen people in several hundred care about the player, the rest logically care about the player's wallet.
ProgenitorCastle
Banned
I knew there was something off about the game so this story makes alot of sense.
wvnative
Member
Hugare
Gold Member
Yeah, get fucked, NakaNaka allegedly killed Star Fox-like Dreamcast game
Former Sega producer alleges Yuji Naka killed promising Star Fox-like Dreamcast game.
Square these days is shit but I wouldn't trust Naka's word
Trying to imply that this shitty game was ruined by Square and not by his directing
Neff
Member
Honestly I wouldn't be surprised. And while BW's budgeting/scheduling shortcomings are clear, there are catastrophic issues at a concept/design level which obviously hurt it way more. This one's on him as far as I'm concerned.
He's a superb programmer but his creative skills are lacking and he's an abysmal people person. The fact that he has to rely heavily on creative types to make videogames, yet tends to blame others when things go wrong is a recipe for disaster, and the fact that his career is in tatters once again is testament to this.
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Mister Wolf
Gold Member
The game is shit. Giving it more development time(money) would have been lipstick on a pig.
Arkangelus0
Banned
I dont believe a single Word naka says and gaf should not either, the guy was not removed, the guy was FIRED from the project, he have an history of lies and subpar games
Lies like he make the dreamcast 2 if ivy the wiki sold well, and shipped terrible games since the majority of his carrer
And meta not forget how he FUCKED a group of devs over sonic extreme when they needed help most, the guy is an asshole, its well documented the guy is an asshole and his stupid game, balan wondwerold was broken even in the most básic cconcept of game design
Lies like he make the dreamcast 2 if ivy the wiki sold well, and shipped terrible games since the majority of his carrer
And meta not forget how he FUCKED a group of devs over sonic extreme when they needed help most, the guy is an asshole, its well documented the guy is an asshole and his stupid game, balan wondwerold was broken even in the most básic cconcept of game design
SlimeGooGoo
Banned
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Because unlike Yuji Naka you never did anything notable in your life, so why would you go publicly on social media?
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
Square is the worst modern AAA publisher by far. All they care about is moneyhats and throwing their westen devs under the bus. Their only good games recently have been Nintendo AA moneyhats.
Arkangelus0
Banned
Yeah because ff7 remake, kh3, dragon quest xi, nier automata and ffxiv endwalker, all of them are terrible games...
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
His track record the past 20 years is junk. His last notable games were on DC, and his best games were on Genesis 30 years ago. The past 10 years or so he's been making indie games most people have never heard of before, including some Wii StreetPass games.
So for him to come out saying the company is at fault on social media is a laugh. He could had had double the budget and double the time and Banal Wonderlaugh would still be awful.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Why would I go on social media ever aside from talking with fam or for careers? I dont even have Twitter or Instagram accounts.
If he thinks Square did hum wrong, them clam up and take Square to court to get retribution. What is social media whining going to do to solve his situation?
Arkangelus0
Banned
I can tell you 3 possible outcomes
1 he cant find a job after balan Wonder World, the guy is 56,so he is old and expensive, and dont look like he can ship a hit after this fiasco, so he blame square in order to save his carrrer
2 he kill his posibilitys in getting work in the game industry aftwr this, because any publisher is going to question if naka fuck up another project, if he is going to Sue then as well
3 he planned to retire, so hoping to win this legal battle, he can get some nice retirement money
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
I wouldn’t consider Nier and DQ11 recent but other than that I totally agree
Kiddo Cabbusses
Member
A few points to make here:
1) For those of you saying "6 months couldn't have done all that much", it might be a good reminder that most projects Naka was involved literally only start fully coming together in the last three months. Just take a look at any Sonic Team game prototype that's up on HiddenPalace.org to get a gist what I mean here. I'm not saying for certain that 6 months could have saved it, but it'd either be that, or Naka leaving the project anyway (IE Sonic 06)
2) Considering that Naka is discussing the lawsuit and whatnot as though it was past tense, it seems he's allowed to speak on the case as though he won it in court, so it's presumably best to accept his word here, especially as there's no apparent challenge to it yet.
3) Regardless of what you think about whether Naka was any good or not, it was rather scummy for Square-Enix to use Naka as a marketing tool for the game, putting his reputation on the line, with the knowledge that his removal from the project was either imminent or already happened behind the scenes.
I seriously hope this post is an elaborate troll. Nobody ever promised you a Dreamcast 2 except for the imaginary friends in your head.
1) For those of you saying "6 months couldn't have done all that much", it might be a good reminder that most projects Naka was involved literally only start fully coming together in the last three months. Just take a look at any Sonic Team game prototype that's up on HiddenPalace.org to get a gist what I mean here. I'm not saying for certain that 6 months could have saved it, but it'd either be that, or Naka leaving the project anyway (IE Sonic 06)
2) Considering that Naka is discussing the lawsuit and whatnot as though it was past tense, it seems he's allowed to speak on the case as though he won it in court, so it's presumably best to accept his word here, especially as there's no apparent challenge to it yet.
3) Regardless of what you think about whether Naka was any good or not, it was rather scummy for Square-Enix to use Naka as a marketing tool for the game, putting his reputation on the line, with the knowledge that his removal from the project was either imminent or already happened behind the scenes.
I seriously hope this post is an elaborate troll. Nobody ever promised you a Dreamcast 2 except for the imaginary friends in your head.
Shits_McGiggles
Member
Balan Wonderworld’s fundamental gameplay was the issue, so I don’t think any amount of polishing or additional development time would have saved this game. The game was designed so poorly from the get-go.