Valis: Downfall of a Franchise

[Melf]

In perhaps the saddest twist for a gaming franchise, Telenet Japan has once and for all proven that nothing is sacred. A new game in the Valis series was released this past Monday, but there's an evil twist that is sure to enfuriate fans everywhere. Sit down, take a deep breath, and prepare for your childhood to die a litttle more as you read our feature Valis: Downfall of a Franchise (http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=240&title=Valis:%20The%20Downfall%20of%20a%20Franchise ).

[Joe Redifer]

That's crazy! I didn't even know Telenet was still around. I thought they went away right before the 16-bit era ended. They released that awful Valis 4 and that was all she wrote for Telenet... but I guess not. Also, I thought it was "Yuko" not "Yukio".

[Melf]

Typo. :)

Fixed!

[Flash1087]

This is seriously the strangest turn of events I've ever seen for a game franchise.

Fan hentai? Sure. But for the company themselves to produce it? Did they not think they could make any money off a new, hentai-free Valis installment?

[j_factor]

I had no idea Telenet was still around (didn't they change their name at some point?), nor that a new Valis was in the works at all. Very interesting.

Also, Valis 4 was not awful. Super Valis 4 (snes) was awful, but Valis 4 on Turbo CD was decent.

[Joe Redifer]

Valis 4 didn't even have Yuko, did it? WTF? If Super Valis 4 was alwful, the non-super version (meaning mediocre) must have been even worse. Notice how nearly all SNES games were "Super". Like Super Castlevania IV. Much better than the run-of-the-mill mediocre Castlevania IV. :D

Also, is Valis actually telenet's to whore around like this? I thought the characters and story were created by someone else. I remember reading about it somewhere.

[winona]

It might be a doujinsoft title. Those are plentyful for pretty much any game with female characters.

Personaly I dont mind H-games. In fact there are quite a few good ones out there. Like kichikou Rance, Dai Aku Ji and tobi divine. Excellent RPGs.

Granted, 99,9% of h-games are mindnumbingly boring clickfeasts.

[GeckoYamori]

Was never much of a fan of Valis. I found this pretty hilarious.

[David J.]

The only Valis game I liked was Syd of Valis.

[j_factor]

lol, Syd of Valis.

[Demonic Weasel]

This is just sad.

[Drixxel]

That Castlevania hentai page... hilarious! What a prime example of misdirected free time.

[Kikoskia]

...O_O *watches spirit be crushed* Why, why do people think this will work? I'd rather you didn't continue a series then let it continue like... like THAT.

Seriously, it's like making Streets of Rage 4 in that format. It would make you want to hunt down every last programmer that made it.

..<_< *looks around* I really, REALLY hope none of the people at Sega haerd me say that. They might start getting ideas...

[GeckoYamori]

Why, why do people think this will work?

Because it does work? Hentai games sell like butter in Japan.

[Genesis Knight]

What an awful way for a franchise to die.

[kevinski]

I've known about this for several weeks now, and it disappoints me enough that I actually created an account here to comment on this. Although the Valis games weren't all that great from a gameplay standpoint, I was completely intrigued by the storyline that spanned the series.

Stranger, still, I was actually hoping for this to be a decent side-scrolling game. I realized that it'd have hentai scenes, and it didn't really bother me that much. I figured that it'd be worth playing, and that the hentai scenes might've been more of a twisted take on the original storyline. I was wrong.

Essentially, this game now has absolutely nothing to do with the original series, other than that it borrows the characters. Perhaps the greatest tragedy to come of this is the fact that this beautiful, beautiful artwork is being completely wasted. Imagine the original cut scenes, redone in this graphical style (sans the hentai scenes, though). It'd be absolutely incredible! Besides, wouldn't it make perfect sense? I mean, Telenet recently released a Valis game for cell phones in Japan, so why wouldn't they make a quality PC game?

Well, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, I was always a bit confused whenever I'd go to Telenet's Web site, only to be treated to what appeared to be some sort of hentai game site. It seems that my worst fears were true.

But, you know, there's still hope: Nintendo has confirmed that both Sega and Hudson will be releasing games for Revolution. That means plenty of Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 games, soon available to the masses as legal downloads! Although I'm certainly hoping for Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, I'm hoping for a localized release of all of the TurboGrafx-16 Valis games for the American market, as well. Cross your fingers!

Here's the news: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146528.html

[Emerald Rocker]

Nice article, Melf!

Joe Redifer: Unfortunately, Valis is Telenet's property to do with as they please. They own all rights to everything about it.

I wrote up a super-melodramatic blog a few days ago that kind of explains the background of Valis (originally created by Wolf Team!) and why I'm so disturbed by Valis X:
Blog Entry: DAMN YOU, TELENET (http://www.honestgamers.com/blogs/replies.php?username=zigfried&root_id=3690)

The more depressing bits if you don't want to read it all are:
1) This is just the first episode out of five. That's right -- there will be FOUR MORE Valis hentai games before the year is over.
2) This year (2006) is the 20th Anniversary of Valis. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YUKO! Time to get ****ed!

Blergh.

[Joe Redifer]

You speak of level 4 in Midnight Resistance (in your blog), not level 3. Level 3 is standing on the platforms slowly going up. No mountains. No planes. I demand $20.

I agree that the Genesis game is better in every conceivable way.

[j_factor]

Seriously, it's like making Streets of Rage 4 in that format.

That would more likely be bishounen. I can just imagine Skate and Max Thunder.... ugh, damn you for putting such disturbing thoughts in my head!

[David J.]

I... would still play it. I'm a huge SoR fan, and I'll do anything for a fourth game.

[Melf]

Just as long as they don't include the kangaroo....

[Emerald Rocker]

Joe, your check is in the mail.

Thanks for the correction... I think this is a clear sign that I need to play Midnight Resistance again!

[ThunderForce]

]But, you know, there's still hope: Nintendo has confirmed that both Sega and Hudson will be releasing games for Revolution. That means plenty of Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 games, soon available to the masses as legal downloads! Although I'm certainly hoping for Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, I'm hoping for a localized release of all of the TurboGrafx-16 Valis games for the American market, as well. Cross your fingers!

Here's the news: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146528.html

Konami owns Hudson so Konami might also release their games as well (Dracula X, Snatcher). I'm keeping my fingers crossed. ;)

[kevinski]

Konami owns Hudson so Konami might also release their games as well (Dracula X, Snatcher). I'm keeping my fingers crossed. ;)

Ahh…that's pretty convenient. Let's hope that's the case. In either case, though, I'd much rather have the Valis games (localized, of course). I'll certainly be getting Dracula X: Rondo of Blood and Snatcher, though. :)

[Joe Redifer]

Konami owns Hudson
When did this occur?

[Kikoskia]

That would more likely be bishounen. I can just imagine Skate and Max Thunder.... ugh, damn you for putting such disturbing thoughts in my head!

Right, that's one person's mind in a slow and gradual decline into madness... Now for the rest of you... :p

[Drixxel]

When did this occur?

Last April. Hudson was having some rough times financially, and Konami bought a majority share in the company. It wasn't hostile at all, though.. as I understand it, Hudson encouraged the buy.

[j_factor]

Konami had already owned a share of Hudson (just not controlling), and the two had worked together on DreamMix TV: World Fighters with Takara, whom Konami also owns a share of.

[David J.]

I used to like Takara, not game wise, but for all of their other stuff, now they have gone downhill.

[Flash1087]

Konami had already owned a share of Hudson (just not controlling), and the two had worked together on DreamMix TV: World Fighters with Takara, whom Konami also owns a share of.

I thought it was reversed; I thought Takara owned part of Konami.

Great game, by the way. Optimus Prime and Solid Snake fighting? I'm sold.

[Valna]

I've known about this for several weeks now, and it disappoints me enough that I actually created an account here to comment on this. Although the Valis games weren't all that great from a gameplay standpoint, I was completely intrigued by the storyline that spanned the series.

Stranger, still, I was actually hoping for this to be a decent side-scrolling game. I realized that it'd have hentai scenes, and it didn't really bother me that much. I figured that it'd be worth playing, and that the hentai scenes might've been more of a twisted take on the original storyline. I was wrong.

Essentially, this game now has absolutely nothing to do with the original series, other than that it borrows the characters. Perhaps the greatest tragedy to come of this is the fact that this beautiful, beautiful artwork is being completely wasted. Imagine the original cut scenes, redone in this graphical style (sans the hentai scenes, though). It'd be absolutely incredible! Besides, wouldn't it make perfect sense? I mean, Telenet recently released a Valis game for cell phones in Japan, so why wouldn't they make a quality PC game?

Well, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, I was always a bit confused whenever I'd go to Telenet's Web site, only to be treated to what appeared to be some sort of hentai game site. It seems that my worst fears were true.

But, you know, there's still hope: Nintendo has confirmed that both Sega and Hudson will be releasing games for Revolution. That means plenty of Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 games, soon available to the masses as legal downloads! Although I'm certainly hoping for Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, I'm hoping for a localized release of all of the TurboGrafx-16 Valis games for the American market, as well. Cross your fingers!

Here's the news: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146528.html



Yeah i was dissapointed with the valis X because of its adult content. Thats not what valis represented i was hoping for a a mmorpg valis game instead.




As for the revolution games yes i hpoe telenet will realease all the valis games I mean ALL of them from the msx,msx2,sharpx68000,pc-88,nes, etc.. even the japanese valis game that had not realeased in the u.s. i wish they would bring all the series here that would make use fans proud.;)

[kevinski]

^ I'm not so sure about the "proud" part, but I think it's the least they could do after this atrocity. I'd certainly like to see localized versions of all the Valis games make it to Revolution, but my opinion of Telenet is set in stone.

[David J.]

Even though you are all mad over this, this seems to be the only way the Valis series would have made a comeback.

[kevinski]

^ This isn't a comeback; it's more of a cumback. :P

Seriously, though, don't you think that the Valis series has what it takes to be a decent 3D game series? I certainly do. This is nothing more than an easy way to milk a franchise. All they needed to do is draw up a bunch of stills and put in a bit of shallow dialog, and that's what they did.

[Valna]

^ I'm not so sure about the "proud" part, but I think it's the least they could do after this atrocity. I'd certainly like to see localized versions of all the Valis games make it to Revolution, but my opinion of Telenet is set in stone.



"Proud" i mean happy:p

[David J.]

^ This isn't a comeback; it's more of a cumback. :P

Seriously, though, don't you think that the Valis series has what it takes to be a decent 3D game series? I certainly do. This is nothing more than an easy way to milk a franchise. All they needed to do is draw up a bunch of stills and put in a bit of shallow dialog, and that's what they did.

It's all about money.

If a 3D Valis game was released, everyone at first would be happy, and then they would bicker and bitch about how bad it is, just like the newer Sonic games and various other series that jumped from 2D to 3D. Even if the game was good, the protesting would be every where. And how many Japanese or US gamers really remember this series today? It made a small blip on US gamers radar, and in Japan it was popular I won't deny, but once the last game was released, everyone cared less. Then there is people new to gaming... The game wouldn't sell, and people would bitch that it's bad. Oh wait, that's what's happening to Sega's games right now.

And honestly, the whole Shoujo-genre of anime and games is pretty stagnant right now, and what shows up is pretty ho-hum. Hentai games, despite the fact most all of them are the same, sell.

[Melf]

And honestly, the whole Shoujo-genre of anime and games is pretty stagnant right now, and what shows up is pretty ho-hum. Hentai games, despite the fact most all of them are the same, sell.
Then that says more about Japanese gamers than it does about Telenet. Them's some freaky people!

[Flash1087]

Then that says more about Japanese gamers than it does about Telenet. Them's some freaky people!

Quoted for truth!

[GeckoYamori]

Japan is super crazy. When the men aren't playing hentai games, they literally work themselves to death because their whole welfare is in the hands of the company they work for. If they survive that, they will probably party to death during the weekend after all the insane work.

[ary incorparated]

I like Valis on the megadrive cause of its music,but game play is as slow as snes.maybe those games fit the snes perfect,the fucking slow console,with its fake graphics,only presentation.

[Joe Redifer]

I hated those fake graphics on the SNES. I wish they would have used real graphics. :roll:

[Cless]

Poor Yuko... u_u

Truly Telenet doesn’t deserve a single yen for this.

[ary incorparated]

graphics on screen are always fake it isnt the real world even if its X box 360 it still isnt 3D ,since it been projected on a 2D screen ehy.Ahh wrong words,i gett it.but like KI on the snes looks like digtized(photo kind of) graphics.

[Melf]

Lol, I was googling the site and came upon this:

http://www.cross-changer.net/valisx.html

What a fucking tool. He uses some of the most childish and innane arguments to "refute" my article. I especially love this gem:

Sega-16 has ruined a perfectly viable hobby by catering to the most retarded and illiterate denominator. If this is what is to become of video games that we've treasured for so long, then perhaps gaming is deserving of much of the criticism it receives. I know I'll be hiding my head from now on whenever someone turns on their X-Box.
Lol. It'd actually be something worth discussing if he had actually argued against each point without resorting to sophmoric name-calling and witless sarcasm. I could care less if he agrees with my editorial or not, and pieces like this only reflect the emptiness of his logic and total lack of maturity regarding something with which he doesn't agree.

You basically have here someone vying to be the next Maddox, someone with so little to genuinely say that all they can muster is criticism of others. The sad thing is, he doesn't even do that right.

Still it was good for a laugh... :rofl:

[David J.]

I don't think he was meant to be serious...

[Melf]

Everything else in his "gaming" area is equally negative. If he's joking, than he fails there too. I guess you have to do that sort of thing though when no one notices your site.

[Joe Redifer]

Bubsy 2 is an American game.

[ary incorparated]

Everything else in his "gaming" area is equally negative. If he's joking, than he fails there too. I guess you have to do that sort of thing though when no one notices your site.

That guy who typed the artical doesnt know what hes talking about,You know better,he only dares to type the words like many can dare,but he isnt fronting you in person ill bet hes to scared to do that.ill bet there are many more of those idiots and they arent even funny,confronting others this way isnt funny no matter what,youre not a Real guy when doing it that way.I have my good days at sega 16 and dont know WTF that dude is talking about,the so called retarded stuff is great and i rate Retro over the games released 2006,ill bet there are people hating me,thats not my probe i didnt choose for that,same for you ken,you never picked at that dude so negleck what he says,it just goes one ear in other one out,you and youre m8tes know youre a great person and that most important and you know it,and not some nitwit that enjoys himself with Valis anime pictures(the lil perfert)cheers m8 and forget it.

[Melf]

It seems to witty "writer" who hated my Valis article read my post about his site. He said this about my post:


The italicized text came from Ken Horowitz, who you may know from my making fun of him in my Valis X article. It seems he finally read it. Probably while chomping a fine Cuban. Cigar, that is. No, really, that whole “lol Sega-16 is full of Commies” might actually be for real, and not just something I made up for laughs.

It’s about time, really. I mean, how long has that Valis X article been out now? Was the Third Moon so angry that they forgot to tell him, even though they link to him and respect him and write erotic fanfiction where he’s paired up with Rick from Splatterhouse?
Of course, since I’m an American, it should be obvious that my sarcasm lacks wit. Like anyone (like the writers at Sega-16) who views our country (the Wrong Side of the Pacific) through hurtful stereotypes knows, all our comedians like to yell out GIT ER DONE as punchlines while we buy our clothes at Wal-Mart and our latest Grand Theft Auto from Hot Topic and 16-bit graphics are for kids who are too stupid to put down the Yu-Gi-Oh shit or for old men who met their wives through mail-order catalogues. Also, we all worship God (also known as Regis Philbin), and have no qualms with starting wars in his name.

The fact is, I didn’t even bother trying to make Valis X (the article) look good; it was just something sitting, unfinished, on my hard drive. Hell, the original draft had a Natalie Holloway joke in there. NATALIE HOLLOWAY! You know, that girl who got drunk with a Dutch guy and two seedy looking brothers and disappeared somewhere that wasn’t in America? Yeah, that’s how long ago I started writing that thing.
ASIDE: Here was the joke (paraphrasing a bit, since I no longer have the original draft): “Calling for a boycott of Telenet for ruining a series they haven’t cared to even touch in over a decade is like boycotting an island because your idiot daughter got drunk with some dude who’s last name sounds like Slut.” Now you know why there was more than one draft.

As far as sophomoric name calling goes: You shut your mouth, you big butthead! Nanny nanny boo-boo stick your head in doo-doo! Jerk! You big jerk!

I love the fact that he’s calling me a Maddox rip-off (like everyone in the Classic Gaming Community has pretty much done). Especially when I clearly am not. You see, I have this thing called “writing ability.” Not to mention “the ability to not make a webpage look like shit” “have an audience who (Thank God) is pretty damned intelligent” “be better looking (pictures forthcoming)” and the biggest one of all: “Not suck.” That last one is different than the one about writing ability.

And why is Ken so down on Maddox anyways? You’d think a guy who idolizes the main characters from Guerilla War would be ecstatic over a guy who made himself look like Guevara in his site banner.

As I may have subtly mentioned a couple posts down, I have nothing but disdain towards the whole CGC. So whenever one of you idiots gets mad at me, it only keeps the flame burning. I love watching you guys squirm.

And how old are these guys, anyways? Like, in their mid-thirties? Yet here they are calling me, a guy who’s almost twenty, immature? A group of guys who get their jollies on owning expensive toys nobody else has and surrounding themselves with people who agree with every word they say and if they don’t GOD HELP YOUR TROLLING SOUL YOU EA LOVING SACK OF CRAP want to say that I am an immature pest for making fun of them for this?

ATTENTION CLASSIC GAMERS: YOU ARE NOT INTELLIGENT. YOUR WIT MAKES SEGA SLAYER LOOK LIKE SEANBABY. YOU LOVE SHITTY GAMES THAT PEOPLE WITH ANY SENSE IN THEIR SKULLS AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE. NO, AXELAY, GRADIUS, BREAKDOWN, DEAD OR ALIVE, UNDERCOVER COPS, KAZE KIRI, SKYBLAZER AND REVENGE OF SHINOBI ARE NOT FUN; NOT EVEN PLAYABLE, MUCH LESS ONE OF THE BEST EVER. THE FACT THAT I SHARE THE SAME HOBBY AS YOU PEOPLE MAKES ME FEEL ILL. SEGA IS DEAD, AND IF IT PISSES YOU PEOPLE OFF, THEN I HOPE SONY AND NINTENDO PISS ON THEIR GRAVES.

It would appear that he reads our forum, as well as the site! He also thinks we're communists for some reason (LAWWWL). He should perhaps look at a map and realize that Puerto Rico and Cuba are not the same place. :p

However, he then posts this in the comments section of his post:

Anways, even back when I wrote that thing, I still thought (think) your stie was tip-top and ready to take on the World at Large. Hell, I had the thing on my links page the whole time! Whereas with every other site I make fun of, I do it due to the fact that I despise the idea of Retro Gaming in any form. There’s a difference between playing an old game and liking it, and playing an old game because it’s the Thing to Do. That idea has never sat well with me.

Something I should’ve made clear when I wrote that Valis thing though: I love Valis. I seriously think the three Genesis games (the only ones I’ve played because those X68000 roms you gave me don’t work) are fucking rad. I was certainly taken aback by the Valis news, to
say the least.

But the way everyone else acted was downright ridiculous. Valis X will not kill gaming. The only reason it’s even a talked about subject is due to the three of us keeping it fresh in people’s minds. Hell, if I could bury the hatchet with Duke Davis (despite never having a problem with him), I could certainly try with Sega-16. Janus wrote a few reviews, how bad could they really be?

See, I'm at a loss with someone like this. He hates retro gaming in all its forms, which is fine, as everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, where does he get that Sega-16 is about retro gaming being "the thing to do?" If he perhaps read our content, perhaps he'd see that we're about Genesis gaming because we love it. One doesn't start a site like this as a fad, and to suggest otherwise just reeks of ignorance about what we do here.

But then, most of the criticism I encounter about our content is uninformed at best. This guy appears to have some talent' it's just lamentable that he has to paint his dislike of retro gaming with such broad strokes. One article on Valis does not represent the entire site, and we have a diverse group of writers here.




But hey, his loss. :)

[darkwingduck13]

To be honest, it kinda sounds like someone outbid him by a dollar for a copy of Pirates! Gold, and he's just venting. :D

[Drixxel]

Rise from your grave..!!

I randomly came upon this thread while Googlin'.. I'd somehow missed the whole controversy in its second half the first time around. I feel compelled to let everyone know that the infamous http://www.cross-changer.net no longer exists, unless it was always a hackjob misclick sinkhole. Who knows how long the site has been down.. at any rate, who's the fad now?! Bwahahaha!

[Valna]

It seems to witty "writer" who hated my Valis article read my post about his site. He said this about my post:



It would appear that he reads our forum, as well as the site! He also thinks we're communists for some reason (LAWWWL). He should perhaps look at a map and realize that Puerto Rico and Cuba are not the same place. :p

However, he then posts this in the comments section of his post:



See, I'm at a loss with someone like this. He hates retro gaming in all its forms, which is fine, as everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, where does he get that Sega-16 is about retro gaming being "the thing to do?" If he perhaps read our content, perhaps he'd see that we're about Genesis gaming because we love it. One doesn't start a site like this as a fad, and to suggest otherwise just reeks of ignorance about what we do here.

But then, most of the criticism I encounter about our content is uninformed at best. This guy appears to have some talent' it's just lamentable that he has to paint his dislike of retro gaming with such broad strokes. One article on Valis does not represent the entire site, and we have a diverse group of writers here.




But hey, his loss. :)




Telenet is dead i hope valis will continue on with the manga or mobile.

[Black_Tiger]

I wish I had a chance to check out that cross-changer.net site before it went down, to see if I could get a clearer idea of what exactly it was on sega16 or that article that he took such offense to.

I agree with a couple points that were quoted, like not boycotting an entire company over a single game(I'd just not buy the games you don't like, otherwise they won't get the message).

But I don't remember those points being forwarded in the Sega16 article in the first place.

[Genesis Knight]

WISE FWOM YOUR GWAAAAAVE!

http://web.archive.org/web/20060901032651/http://www.cross-changer.net/

[Melf]

Meh, it's no big loss. He's gone, and we're still here. Hopefully we're still pissing him off with our dumb classic gaming talk!

[Black_Tiger]

WISE FWOM YOUR GWAAAAAVE!

http://web.archive.org/web/20060901032651/http://www.cross-changer.net/

Thanks, most of the links were dead, but from what I saw it looks like one of those sites where they just trash things, so I wouldn't make much of anything negative they have to say. :p

[KenshiroX]

Wait a second. The Telenet site says this (the 5 games) are Valis project 1.

What are the other ones, hmm?

[Genesis Knight]

Oh, yeah, and I just found out that they raped Arcus as well. But as one site pointed out, there's like four loyal Arcus fans these days so I guess nobody cares like they did about Valis.

I liked Arcus Odyssey, at least. Were there three other games or just Arcus and Arcus 2 for those Japanese PCs?

[KenshiroX]

There were other games. But they were left in the land of the rising sun. I believe one was on the Sega CD.

Kind of low, turning all these game to Hentai.

I'm scared...if they got El Viento...

[Genesis Knight]

Yeah, IIRC, Sega CD had Arcus 1-2-3, which was a compilation of remakes. Too bad that one didn't get translated.