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Kid Fenris
Joined: 17 Sep 2003
Posts: 301
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 Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 4:26 am Post subject: Wolfteam's Apros |
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You’ve probably heard of Wolfteam, the Japanese developer responsible for numerous titles on the Genesis, SegaCD, and PC-Engine. You probably also know that Wolfteam fell apart when most of the talent left in 1993. As prolific as the group had been, its dissolution apparently didn’t leave many projects in limbo. One of the few lost games was Apros, which I know next to nothing about. The only screenshots I’ve found are in this vaguely worded capsule preview from the February 1993 issue of (Diehard) Gamefan.
(That's Wario's head in the frame. I'm not sure why he's calling Mario his brother.)
Apros was mentioned again in the June 1993 Gamefan, where the letters columnist informed a reader that “the guy who was developing Apros has left Wolfteam (along with many others) and is starting his own company. He told Kei that he will continue development but is unsure of what format Apros will appear on. (It may be several.)”
Gamefan was not the most reliable magazine in 1993, but the screenshots are nonetheless interesting to me. Are they video sequences, or was the entire game going to look like that? And which system would have hosted the game?
Figuring that it might have seen release on PCs, I dug through a bunch of Japanese sites and found the word “Apros” on a list of PC-98 games, with no accompanying details.
I'm stumped. Any ideas?
Edit: Hey, here we go:
| Quote: | | MegaCD: Apros: An animated-cell game, not on LD, but completely created by CG on the MegaCD by Wolfteam, and based on characters in a novel series called Logout. The next announcement about the game was it's cancellation. |
Last edited by Kid Fenris on Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:33 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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FlowingMindspin
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Posts: 57
Location: Lewistown, PA USA
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| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 8:02 am Post subject: |
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Since the little blurb says Mega CD, My guess is it was for the Sega CD (since that's what it was called in Japan).
Other than that, I got nothin. :? |
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lugnut
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Joined: 09 Sep 2003
Posts: 147
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Smeg
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Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 1600
Location: beneath enemy scrotum
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| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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The only important person I can think of who left Wolfteam around that period was Masaaki Uno, who left to lead Camelot Software Planning. Wolfteam didn't dissolve then, though. Their last release was Cybernetic Empire for the PlayStation in 1999. All I've got for this game is that Telenet Japan's site lists it as being released on the PC98 in December of 1992. I'm guessing the screens shown in Gamefan are of an upgraded remake/port. As a hopeless Wolfteam junkie, I'd love to know more.
Also, Wario calls Mario his brother because he is. Dunno about that Waluigi fellow though. |
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Kid Fenris
Joined: 17 Sep 2003
Posts: 301
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| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Smeg wrote: | | The only important person I can think of who left Wolfteam around that period was Masaaki Uno, who left to lead Camelot Software Planning. Wolfteam didn't dissolve then, though. Their last release was Cybernetic Empire for the PlayStation in 1999. |
What about the folks who supposedly left to program Tales of Phantasia for Namco and later formed tri-Ace? When did they leave? Or is that just a rumor? A Gamefan blurb also mentioned that some ex-Wolfteam members went to form Gau (later Nextech), but I have no idea if that's accurate.
I was under the possibly mistaken impression that Wolfteam, like Compile, dropped out of the action-game spotlight after some core staffers left circa 1993/94, and that Cybernetic Empire was an attempt by the remaining members to get back into the field.
| Quote: | | Also, Wario calls Mario his brother because he is. Dunno about that Waluigi fellow though. |
All those years of playing Mario games, and I didn't know this. I thought that Mario and Wario were childhood friends, just because of that old Nintendo Power comic. |
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Smeg
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Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 1600
Location: beneath enemy scrotum
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| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Kid Fenris wrote: | What about the folks who supposedly left to program Tales of Phantasia for Namco and later formed tri-Ace? When did they leave? Or is that just a rumor? A Gamefan blurb also mentioned that some ex-Wolfteam members went to form Gau (later Nextech), but I have no idea if that's accurate.
I was under the possibly mistaken impression that Wolfteam, like Compile, dropped out of the action-game spotlight after some core staffers left circa 1993/94, and that Cybernetic Empire was an attempt by the remaining members to get back into the field. |
You're probably on the money about Cybernetic Empire, but no one left Wolfteam to create Tales of Phantasia - it's a Wolfteam game, but Namco didn't see fit to put any other company's name on the project. I think that may have been part of the reason the "three aces" departed to form tri-Ace - that, and the fact that Namco wanted them to do nothing but sequel the piss outta Tales. That'd be circa '95-96 though, a bit later than what you mentioned. I think. I believe one of the more recent GBA games in the Tales series actually makes mention of Wolfteam, but what remains is now officially "Namco Tales Studio", condemned to make the same game over and over again. I'm not familiar with Gau/Nextech.
Compile, man. More deceased homies. |
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Li Wang
SnHX WiIYrd
Joined: 29 Aug 2003
Posts: 798
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| Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 12:05 am Post subject: |
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| Kid Fenris wrote: | | All those years of playing Mario games, and I didn't know this. I thought that Mario and Wario were childhood friends, just because of that old Nintendo Power comic. |
They're......not cousins? That's what I remember the story being when Wario Land was first coming out... |
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KingMike
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 898
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| Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 3:51 am Post subject: |
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| Smeg wrote: |
Also, Wario calls Mario his brother because he is. Dunno about that Waluigi fellow though. |
I gotta find it. I know there was an interview in NP August 2000. Supposedly, Waluigi was just made up as a doules partner for someone in Mario Tennis (N64).
And his name is from warui ("bad" in Japanese). |
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ArnoldRimmer83
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Joined: 28 Aug 2003
Posts: 540
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| Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 6:02 am Post subject: |
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| The Marioland 2 manual mentions that Wario was jealous of Mario's popularity when they were boys. I had assumed they were rivals, though it would make sense if he was related to Mario and Luigi in some way. I just wonder where in Mario's family, Wario could've inherited those pointy ears from. :P |
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Smeg
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Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 1600
Location: beneath enemy scrotum
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| Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 6:54 am Post subject: |
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| KingMike wrote: | | Smeg wrote: |
Also, Wario calls Mario his brother because he is. Dunno about that Waluigi fellow though. |
I gotta find it. I know there was an interview in NP August 2000. Supposedly, Waluigi was just made up as a doules partner for someone in Mario Tennis (N64).
And his name is from warui ("bad" in Japanese). |
Yeah, it was pretty obvious there was no actual plot behind Waluigi. I never knew there was a logical reasoning for his name, though. I always just thought it was goofy (and it is :P). |
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Tongueman
Joined: 27 Feb 2004
Posts: 631
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 1:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Smeg wrote: | | KingMike wrote: | | Smeg wrote: |
Also, Wario calls Mario his brother because he is. Dunno about that Waluigi fellow though. |
I gotta find it. I know there was an interview in NP August 2000. Supposedly, Waluigi was just made up as a doules partner for someone in Mario Tennis (N64).
And his name is from warui ("bad" in Japanese). |
Yeah, it was pretty obvious there was no actual plot behind Waluigi. I never knew there was a logical reasoning for his name, though. I always just thought it was goofy (and it is :P). |
It's got a few plays on words:
Waruiji = bad old man |
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Richter Belmont
Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 286
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
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| Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 8:47 am Post subject: |
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I remember my friend and I wincing when they announced his name was Waluigi. It's just so... EXTRANEOUS compared to Wario. We thought it should be Waigi, or even Weege (either would be pronounced wee-gee).
It would be more consistent and logical (after all, they didn't call the first one Wamario) instead of merely trying to avoid a slight pronounciation debacle. I mean, his name would get said aloud in-game, people would have figured it out. |
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Kid Fenris
Joined: 17 Sep 2003
Posts: 301
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:45 am Post subject: |
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I liked it when Mario Tennis pulled Princess Daisy out of obscurity, just so Luigi wouldn't be lonely.
| Smeg wrote: | | Interesting stuff. |
Thanks for clearing up some of my misconceptions about Wolfteam. I'm strangely fascinated by their catalog, but much of what I know about them comes from rumors, like the Gau/Nextech bit. It's probably not true, even if Ranger-X looks vaguely like a Wolfteam title. |
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