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Wizardry Translation of a Japanese interview with Robert Woodhead

Helly

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As I was perusing jap rpg blogs and websites looking for old jap games, I didn't find any great forgotten gem but I did find two articles of interest:
First, did you know that (some) codexian interviews are so famous that they even get their jap translations? Yep, japs do love Phantasie.
That's one thing, but the really surprising one was this: as recently as last month, 4gamer.net (the japanese Gamespot basically) managed to get an interview with one of Wizardry's fathers, Robert Woodhead, in which they talk about old animes, old games, kickstarter and his current job as importer of anime. I just knew I had to translate it and post it here, if only for aweigh's sake.
Without further ado:​
Let's have a talk with Robert Woodhead, one of the founding fathers of the cultural breakthrough that was Wizardry, about his work and how his love of 80's anime influenced it.

During the spring of 1981, in Massachusetts Boston's computer show Applefest, "Wizardry: Dungeons of Despair", a game released on Apple II, stole the show. During this same year's autumn, the exhibitors, Sirotech Software (afterwards renamed Sir-Tech Software), released "Wizardry #1 - Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord". Together with the Ultima series, those Apple II releases started defining the nature of CRPGs.

One developer of that title, Trebor (Robert inverted), also known as Robert Woodhead, had many interviews starting from 1980 and over the years as the author of that legendary game and answered many questions. However, this series still hold many mysteries that have not been elucidated entirely.

Upon learning that he would be coming to the Anime Japan 2016 in Tokyo, 4gamer got in touch with him and arranged an interview. Not only did we talk about old games, we also talked about his current job as well as his love for the japanese anime world, amongst other things.

Robert Woodhead has started his own company, AnimEigo, which is specialized in importing to North America anime and Japanese historical plays. His company brought "Urusei yatsura", "Orange road" and "Ah my Goddess" overseas.

4Gamer: Thank you very much for taking some time to meet us. It's a great honor to meet you in person.

Woodhead: You're welcome! (laughs)

4Gamer: You are one of the founding fathers of the Wizardry series, and now you work for the anime industry. Can you tell us about that and your coming to this year's Anime Japan?

Woodhead: Sure. 25 years ago, I created the AnimEigo company and started importing anime and historical plays to north America. Since then, we've brought anime such as Riding Bean, Bubblegum Crisis and Gainax's Otaku no Video to the English world in VHS, LD and DVD format, although we're trying something new right now.

4Gamer: Meaning?

Woodhead: We are trying to raise some funds for Blu-ray releases through crowd funding using Kickstarter. Working with the fans and letting them vote on the packaging and add their name in the product. They also gave us some great ideas. Our three latest titles went over our initial goals.​


The items released through Kickstarter​

4Gamer: Hum, I see.

Woodhead: Now, we're trying to find a new project to work upon, and that's why we came to the Anime Japan, as buyers. We're looking for a good classic from the 80's or 90's.

4Gamer: We have checked the AnimEigo official site and its history page. The company was started one year after the release of Wizardry 4 - The Return of Werdna (1988). Together with Roe Adams, Wizardry's scenarist, you started this venture by releasing VHS with subtitles.

Woodhead: Exactly. To be precise, AnimEigo started some time before. Our first release was in 1988 though.

4Gamer: You're a long time fan of Japanese anime and historical plays, right?

Woodhead: I love all kind of movies, whether they are anime, historical plays or others. Hayao Miyazaki's works, Urusei Yatsura, Akira... But also Lensman. I watched all kind of movies, not limiting myself to a genre in particular.

4Gamer: Ooh, Lensman! The movie was quite different from the original novel though, how did you like it?

Woodhead: It was very interesting. I wish the anime had been closer to the original work though. E.E.Smith's Galactic Patrol (the first book in the Lensman series) was the first SF novel I ever read. I think I was 8 or 9 years old, it was a gift from my aunt. I remember searching through book-stores for the sequel, six months later.

4Gamer: This very much resonates with how I feel personally. At roughly the same age, I was also very passionate about the Japanese translation of Lensman (laugh). I know it isn't an easy question, but which Japanese anime would you say is the one you like the most?

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Woodhead: Well, there are many I like for many reasons, but... If I have to choose it'd have to be "Orange road", probably. That gently blooming love story kept me wholly interested. Urusei Yatsura too. Compared to other crazy dramas which peaked quickly then winded down, Urusei Yatsura was different. The story kept getting better and more intense until the end.

4Gamer: Then, which episode of Urusei Yatsura is your favorite?

Woodhead: Let's see...Maybe the one in the bath-house. When the boys try to peek into the woman's bath and end up breaking the wall, but the girls actually all wore swimsuits, that kind of stupid episode※. And, as the boys are naked, stage staff in black come running to hide their nether parts (laugh). I've seen that joke since, like with the "Teenage mutant ninja censor", but I do think they've been the first to do it.

※Urusei Yatsura's n°124

4Gamer: Indeed, quite the masterpiece (laugh). By the way, while we're talking about Urusei Yatsura, did you know that one of the directors, Mamoru Oshii, is known far and wide as a hardcore fan of the Wizardry series?

Woodhead: Actually, I just learned about it today. I heard this just before this interview.

4Gamer: Really? That's quite the coincidence. In "Ghost in the shell 2", "Trebor" and "Wizard" call signs are used, and in "Avalon" there is a character named Murphy.

Woodhead: I think I would have remembered that. Maybe it was lost in the English translation. Especially the Murphy part. I have to tell Andy※ about it!

※One of Wizardry's developers, Andrew Greenberg. The joke about Murphy's ghost comes from a friend of Andy, Paul Murphy.

4Gamer: Mamoru Oshii's feelings finally got through, albeit 20 years late! (laugh) By the way, the anime we talked about are all from the 80's, what do you think about more recent ones?

Woodhead: Actually, I've been so busy that I've never had the time to watch the more recent works. It seems a lot of the new works are aimed at a younger audience. I did watch the "Knights of Sidonia" series, though. To be fair, I like SF more than fantasy.

4Gamer: I see. But you know, there have been many releases that may appeal to your SF taste. I know you are a big fan of the Star Wars series, have you seen the latest movie?

Woodhead: Of course. I was there at the first screening of the movie. It felt a bit too classic, but still a lot of fun. It might be the second or third best in the series.

4Gamer: Then I have to ask which one is your number one. (laugh)

Woodhead: My favorite is "The empire strikes back". My second best is "A new hope" but I like it mostly because it's the original one. The latest movie is roughly at the same level as this one, which is great praise from me.


Robert Woodhead's chronological record
Date Event
1959/01/22 Born in England's Kent, in Royal Tunbridge Wells.
1966 Immigrated to Canada
1973 Migrated to New York Ogdensburg.
1975 His father passed away. His mother Janice took her husband's job. (Fred Sirotek was a business partner of his mother)
1970's Entered Cornell University. Had some part-time jobs at some computer companies.
1974 Release of the original "Dungeons & Dragons"
1975 Release of "Monty Python and the holy grail"
1975 Moria available on PLATO
1977 Release of "Star Wars"
Release of the Apple II
Bought a TRS-80 by the Tandy Corporation
Oubliette available on PLATO
1979 Founded the Sirotech Software company with Norman Sirotek
1980 1 year break from Cornell University. Started working on "Paladin" and met Andrew Greenberg as he was working on the BASIC version of Wizardry.
Released the database software "Info-Tree" and "Galactic Attack". The latter was a success.
1981 Sirotech Software's "Wizardry: Dungeons of Despair" became famous at the Boston's Applefest.
1981 Sirotech Software became Sir-Tech Software.
1981 "Wizardry #1 - Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord" released.
1982 "Wizardry #2 - The Knight of Diamonds" released. Got in Softalk's TOP30 in July.
1982 "Star Maze" released.
1983 "Wizardry #3 - Legacy of Llylgamyn" released.
1987 "Wizardry #4 - The Return of Werdna" released (released in 1988 in Japan).
1988 AnimEigo founded in New York, Ithaca (now in North Carolina).
"Wizardry #5 - Heart of the Maelstrom" released (released in 1990 in Japan).

4Gamer: Now, please tell us more about the Wizardry series. The games are based on a BASIC prototype developed by Andrew Greenberg at the Cornell University that you translated into Pascal.

Woodhead: Exact.

4Gamer: At the time, you were part of a Dungeons&Dragons group named WARG (Wizardry Advanced Research Group), and it's with this group that you created the scenario for what was to be Wizardry?

Woodhead: No, I played D&D a lot then, but not with them. WARG was Andy's group. Incidentally, I used to have the original 1974 version, but sadly I had to part with it some time ago.

4Gamer: By the way, could the Wizardry series' name be related to that group's name?

Woodhead: I'm not really sure. It's Andy that actually came up with the name...but now that I think about it, it's quite possible that's where it came from.

4Gamer: I see. Wizardry has been influenced by D&D, but also by the computer you were working on at the time, PLATO and its subculture. You've said as much in a previous interview (ROCAS "Wizardry Collection" compilation).

※The learning computer used at the Illinois university at the time. The 1972's PLATO IV was used around the world by students in an effort to build a network and many online games were also created at the time.

Woodhead: Indeed.

4Gamer: What kind of games really had any sort of influence?

Woodhead: Games on the PLATO system that had any kind of influence? At least Moria, Oubliette, as well as Avatar.

14921_500.jpg
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14923_500.jpg
14922_500.jpg

14919_500.jpg
14918_500.jpg


4Gamer: Oubliette has spells with the same names as in Wizardry but with different effects, was that on purpose?

Woodhead: I have absolutely no idea about that. It's probably a coincidence they have the same name.

4Gamer: What about the Murasama Blade and the Shuriken? Ninjas and Samurais appear as jobs in Oubliette too, but only Wizardry had actual japanese weaponry.

※The original Apple II version of Wizardry 1 had Murasama instead of Muramasa.

Woodhead: Ah, no, this is the influence of James Clavell's Shogun (1975). The Murasama Blade and Shuriken came from that novel too.

4Gamer: And what about Wizardry #4 - The Return of Werdna's ARABIC DIARY(TALES OF MADNESS)? It became Necronomicon in the console game version, was it what it was supposed to be?

Woodhead: Yes, it was supposed to be the Necronomicon. 95% of Wizardry's n°4's scenario was written by Roe Adams, the ARABIC DIARY was his idea too. I read H.P.Lovecraft's works too, so I knew it was the Necronomicon.

4Gamer: I know a big part of the influence is D&D, but there is also some influence from J.R.R.Tolkien. In 1977 the NBC TV released the Hobbit's adventure anime. It was made by future studio Ghibli staff and was top of the line.

Woodhead: I didn't know about that anime. I read Tolkien's novels, obviously, but the principal influence is clearly D&D.

4Gamer: I thought Wizardry's unique spell lingo was similar to Tolkien's fictional languages though.

Woodhead: Ah, that's impossible (laugh). It's actually fake welsh, we chose that because it sounded good. Why welsh especially?...I totally forgot (laugh).

4Gamer: There is one word that I'd like to know more about: the Maelfic monster's name, where does it come from? In the Famicon version it uses the Pazuzu image, but...

Woodhead: It comes from the English word "malefic", meaning "Extremely evil". Like an embodiment of evil. It came from the witch's name in the Sleeping beauty fairy tale, Maleficent.

4Gamer: In the late 80's, there was a plan to make player character data from the software production house BPS's RPGs※ and SIR-TECH's Wizardry series convertible. I remember reading about it at the time in a PC magazine. What happened to that project?

※"Black onyx" and "Fire crystal", amongst others.

Woodhead: It probably happened while I was working on the Macintosh version of Wizardry, but...I vaguely remember BPS's Henk Rogers' name. I think it's just that it never actually happened.

4Gamer: I see... Ah, I'm sorry, I keep asking questions that kept me intrigued for a while.

Woodhead: No problem. You know, as most games, Wizardry is nothing but a ring in the chain that bind all games together. Games are influenced by their predecessors and cultural events, and Wizardry was no exception. And now, it is Wizardry's turn to influence the work of others. It really does feel like being part of a big chain.

4Gamer: Oh yes indeed. The "ring" that Wizardry created in Japan is quite noticeable. I don't think I would be exaggerating saying that many games, anime and novels are directly influenced by the Wizardry series.

Woodhead: It's an honor. But I do think we were lucky more than anything else. And I do think most of the thanks are due to the localization For Tune and GameStudio as well as Asuki's staffs. I especially think that the Famicon release was our best version of Wizardry. At the very least it didn't contain my badly drawn pictures! (bitter laugh)

4Gamer: When I replay the Apple II version now, I see how Wizardry was born from a melting pot of various influencing works. The character's jobs and races, the monsters, the pictures and text messages. But what did you accomplish with Wizardry that you feel was entirely original?

Woodhead: Well...the presence of a scenario, I think. Older Computer RPGs didn't have a defined goal and were not made with an end goal in mind. We added a scenario with puzzle-like components to our game. That's the thing that make it different from the other titles, I think. The n°4 of the series was the more representative of what we aimed to do.

4Gamer: You added a scenario to the fusion of a net game, Oubliette, and a tabletop game, D&D, on the Apple II, is that it?

Woodhead: Yes, we were really thinking about how to better represent them in that little box. Also, our puzzle-ridden n°4 was made using a faster machine, the PC-9801, thanks to our Japanese staff. They installed a Pascal development environment/operating system and so we were able to work with a "Fast Apple II".


The Apple II version of Wizardry 1's manual signed by Robert Woodhead.​
4Gamer: Before we conclude, I would like to ask you more about the future, even though you're now working in the anime business. I personally would love a new game, so what about a game with a SF theme since you're a big fan of SF?

Woodhead: It would be hard to do, considering how much work the anime business requires, but I did think about a new game for a while. During my first 6 years after AnimEigo was created, I lived in Japan and had 3 goals in mind. First, to court a woman. Then, to make a new game. Finally, to create an anime company.

4Gamer: A woman?...

Woodhead: Now my wife. She was a translator at the time and I came running after her to Japan (laugh).

4Gamer: Oh, that's great. So in the end you did succeed at the first goal.

Woodhead: Yes, goals one and three were great successes. But the second goal, the game making one was a failure in the end. Had it happened, it could have become the first MMORPG in the world.

4Gamer: Really? What kind of game was it?

Woodhead: It would have looked like a middle-age European fantasy world, but as the game went on, you would have discovered that it was in fact a post-apocalyptic world. That was the idea. But the economic bubble busted when I moved to Japan and I never managed to find enough funds for it (bitter laugh).

4Gamer: That's...I really wish I could have seen it. By the way, you have been saying several times from the 80's that computer RPGs would become online games. And in the end, "Ultima Online" fulfilled this prediction.

Woodhead: I wouldn't call it a prediction, but it was inevitable that it would happen.

4Gamer: But this world setting does closely look like the Ultima series' one. It's regrettable that it was Ultima Online that ended up hugely successful as the first MMORPG.

Woodhead: Well, my game was going badly, and I was trying to court my wife. AnimEigo was starting to go as planned too, so I told myself it wasn't such a big deal (laugh).

4Gamer: Do you have plans to come back to Japan?

Woodhead: I have my work at AnimEigo. Since my children are grown up, I think I'll have some opportunities to come for some events. But depending on the current presidential election's results...I might come living in Japan like before (laughs)

4Gamer: Ah (bitter laugh). If this were to happen, I would love to talk with you again. Have you anything more to say to your japanese fans?

Woodhead: Let's see...Well, "Thank you for your support!"

4Gamer: Thank you very much for today.



So he was a pioneer of the MMO decadence, chose a woman and anime over gaming and doesn't think America will be made Great again? :decline:
For extra cringe, let's check AnimEigo's "Secret History":
And oh yes, Natsumi finally gave in and married Robert in a ceremony that involved an interactive "adventure game" wedding in which the guests got to decide how things progressed
:roll:
 
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Mustawd

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4Gamer: You are one of the founding fathers of the Wizardry series, and now you work for the anime industry

Wow. Had no idea he was a Weaboo.
 
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aweigh

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I fucking love that I am no considered knowledgable enough and passionate enough about Wizardry and turn-based, tile-based RPGs in general to be tagged in posts like these :D

I already knew all of this stuff but I had not read this specific interview, Helly. Thanks a million anyway for linking me to this (i assume new?) translation of this interview.

and yes people, of course he is a weeaboe. I mean, why the FUCK do you think the Sir-Tech "brothers" (I know they're not brothers) split up the company and gave the reins, literally, literally the reins, and the key to the kingdom to D.W. Bradley and had basically zero involvement with western Wizardry titles after Wizardry 5?

One of the two went to japan, (the one in this article), he saw the unbelievably gorgeous sideways hatchet-wound on display underneath some japanese Bae's kimono and said, fuck Wizardry I'm gonna fuck this bitch, marry her because she's beautiful and as a good japanese woman will cater to my every whim; and fuck western Wizardry the other guy (the one not mentioned in this article) can take care of that shit.

what happened after that is fairly predictable:

- the other guy said, what? you're staying in japan? fuck you, i'm taking my money and fucking off. oh, the Wizardry series we've devoted our entire lives to? Well there's this massive, massive unbelievably faggot of a shit pile named D.W. Bradley who is sperging out to me about how he reverse-engineered Wiz 5 and how he has a bunch of ideas for Wizardry 6, soooo.... I guess the series is his now! HAVE FUN IN JAPAN YOU FUCK-HEAD. (they didn't speak again for decades; but are now friends again).

- meanwhile D.W. bradley basically out-Peter Jackson'd Peter Jackson by taking out everything that made Wizardry games actual Wizardry games and inserting his own competent, sometimes good, but always flawed ideas of what Wizardry should be like from Wizardry 6 onwards. It is no fucking coincidence people that at the end of W6 the party takes off in A GIANT FUCKING SPACESHIP THAT COMPLETELY DISTANCES EVERYTHING FROM PREVIOUS WIZARDRY SHIT. HE WANTED TO SO COMPLETELY AND IRREVERSIBLY CHANGE THE ENTIRE D.N.A. OF THE WIZARDRY GAMES THAT HE HAD THE ENDING OF W6 HAVE THE PARTY LITERALLY SAY FAREWELL AND FUCK YOU TO THE WIZARDRY FANTASY SETTING AND TAKE OFF IN A SPACESHIP. BERUUGHRTUGHUGHGUHGUGH.

- But... it all worked out. The sideways cherry-blossom underneath interview-guy's wife's kimono talked to him in his sleep, or as the Island Dwarves (derogatory and extremely racist term/naming for japanese people utilized by the fucking chinese, who are barely 1 cm taller LOLOL)-- or as the Island Dwarves like to call it, "pillow talk" interview-guy into not giving up the series completely and retaining enough rights/control/etc to continue the Wizardry series right there in Japan where it was explosively popular for many, many reasons, most of which I've mentioned before and which are easily google'd.

(main reason is japanese-language Wizardry was single-handedly responsible for the very first country-wide boom in japanese sales of home-use Personal Computers, and the many ports of Wizardry for all of the different japanese computers and consoles, all the way up to motherfucking PS1 and Sega Saturn are proof enough; however it might interest you guys to know that in Japan interview-guy also let his wife run incredibly successful Wizardry marketing which included strategy guides, nation-wide Wizardry contests of all sorts, and yep, you guessed it, official Wizardry-brand manga, novelizations, motherfucking STUFFED TOYS and god knows what else-- i'm imagining a Tiltowait dildo)

- It was she who actually made shit like Wizardry Empire, Wizardry Gaiden, and basically I guess the entire fucking DRPG genre currently en vogue in japan and she doesn't get any of the fucking credit. It takes serious googling to even find mentions of this fact but I have read 1 specific interview (which if I could find right now I would link it) where interview-guy flat out states that it was his japanese wife who handled the "business side of things".

NOT-REALLY-AN-EDIT-BUT-RATHER-AN-ADDENDUM: btw, another huge reason the japanese press have historically cited as part of the huge, huuuuge appeal that Wizardry 1-5 had on the RPG players of Japan in the late 80's, and all throughout the entire decade of the 90's is something that is so incredibly superficial I bet you're all gonna think it's made up, but I assure you my friends, when it comes to Wizardry I do not lie:

- the japanese, at the time of roughly circa late 80's, very early 90's, quite literally and quite simply did not have available to enjoy any, *any* RPGs which featured character classes such as Samurai and Ninja, and this fucking FASCINATED THE SHIT OUT OF THEM.

true story.
 
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Helly

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I must say, every weeaboo and jrpg fan should have a small shrine dedicated to that guy. Without Robert, there might have been a Wizardry, but it probably would never have made its way into japan and the whole gaming industry would have evolved differently. Without Wizardry (and Ultima), there is no Final Fantasy, no Dragon Quest, and thus none of any of the subsequent games or game-inspired anime.
 

felipepepe

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Yup, Woodhead went to glorious nihon, got a waifu and converted a whole nation into Wizardry-ism. To this day the whole country produces and consumes dungeon crawlers, so I take it as a win.

195puedk8xrfzgif.gif


aweigh should really be mad at Sir-Tech, for destroying the legal viability of Wizardry in the west. After Thunder God Bradley took the reins, they stopped paying Greenberg's royalty in 1991, so he sued the company.

Shit got so real (and people were so sleazy) that they declared Sir-Tech bankrupt, then founded SirTech Canada and bought all of Sir-Tech's assets through a Canadian holding (1259190 Ontario), to be beyond US law reach. Or so they thought, because Greenberg managed to use a "Long Arm" law (basically, the US court had jurisdiction over Sir-Tech Canada because they were releasing Wizardry products in the US) to keep the lawsuit running... but the Siroteks kept appealing, and it dragged on for years and years.

That's also why none of the Japanese games ever came back, Sir-Tech couldn't release anything Wizardy-related in the US or they would legitimize Greenberg's "Long Arm" claim.

All of that is public, just google for "Greenberg Sirotek lawsuit" and you'll find the judge rulings. And a lot of sludge.

Stones of Arnhem was another sleazy move. They couldn't do another Wizardry game, so they sent the Wizardry VII code to a team in Australia, asked them to create a sequel altering the code (that they couldn't use) and they intended to publish it under a different name... that's what Cleve told, and while he isn't a very reliable source, the court documents make his story sound quite plausible.
 

Hobo Elf

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Cool interview. On one hand it's sad that he chose anime over vidya as one would've liked to see what he could've done more for the medium and genre, but on the other hand if it's just going to be more MMORPG stuff then perhaps it's better if he just stays with his anime.
 

abnaxus

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I must say, every weeaboo and jrpg fan should have a small shrine dedicated to that guy. Without Robert, there might have been a Wizardry, but it probably would never have made its way into japan and the whole gaming industry would have evolved differently. Without Wizardry (and Ultima), there is no Final Fantasy, no Dragon Quest, and thus none of any of the subsequent games or game-inspired anime.
But most importantly, there even would be no Rance.

:salute:
 

Jacob

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Grab the Codex by the pussy
:creamyblood:

(I don't even know what's this smiley supposed to mean but it has Lum from Urusei Yatsura)
 

grimace

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Cool interview. On one hand it's sad that he chose anime over vidya as one would've liked to see what he could've done more for the medium and genre, but on the other hand if it's just going to be more MMORPG stuff then perhaps it's better if he just stays with his anime.

Does Robert Woodhead write the stories for anime series? If so, what series?
 

Machine

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used to like Trebor b4 he tried to suicide gank me in Amarr space

jk that made me like him even more
 

octavius

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With Robert Woodhead delving into the perverted world of anime I guess Werdna was right all along: Trebor sux!
 

SausageInYourFace

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Shit got so real (and people were so sleazy) that they declared Sir-Tech bankrupt, then founded SirTech Canada and bought all of Sir-Tech's assets through a Canadian holding (1259190 Ontario), to be beyond US law reach. Or so they thought, because Greenberg managed to use a "Long Arm" law (basically, the US court had jurisdiction over Sir-Tech Canada because they were releasing Wizardry products in the US) to keep the lawsuit running... but the Siroteks kept appealing, and it dragged on for years and years.

That's also why none of the Japanese games ever came back, Sir-Tech couldn't release anything Wizardy-related in the US or they would legitimize Greenberg's "Long Arm" claim.

Whats with the legal status of the original Wizardries by the way? Why are Wiz6-8 available on GOG and Steam but the ealier ones are not?
 

Archibald

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I'm rather ignorant of Wizardry's status in Japan asides of it being super mega turbo influential on their video game series so excuse me for couple retardo questions:

1) Are rights split and someone is still releasing new Wizardry games in Japan or is it mostly spiritual successors?

2) I somewhat recall Wizardry MMO being released few years ago and dying in few months. Was it any good and who was responsible for it?
 

felipepepe

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Whats with the legal status of the original Wizardries by the way? Why are Wiz6-8 available on GOG and Steam but the ealier ones are not?
Wizardry 6-8 have been sold to IPM, who now distributes it worldwide.
Robert Sirotek mentioned he still owns the right to Wiz 1-5 in his Matt Chat interview, so that's probably in legal hell (likely due to the Greenberg lawsuit), or he would definitely be monetizing it.

2) I somewhat recall Wizardry MMO being released few years ago and dying in few months. Was it any good and who was responsible for it?
Japan did an extensive reboot of the series in 2009 called Wizardry Renaissance, culminating in the Wizardry 30th Anniversary event in 2011, with a big show and several new games & spin-offs from several companies, including PS3, NDS, PSP and mobile games, the MMO and even a manga:

manga-zeo4a.jpg


AFAIK, it all kinda flopped and only a few mobile Wizardry games were made since.

I played the Wizardry MMO, it was pretty lame. You controlled one character, and instead of an open world you had a hub town and could warp to dungeons. Combat was Guild Wars 2-ish, but it had a weird permadeth mechanic, were you needed money to resurrect, but it could fail & permanently wipe your character. The dungeons also had some very light platforming sequences and traps, which has really odd but kinda cool.

Graphic were pretty shitty, and they added those "small & cute" races that Japanese MMOs require by law or something:

wizardry-online-screenshot-1.jpg


Also worth mentioning is that none of the western Wizardry devs (Greenberg, Woodhead, Bradley, Brenda & Cleve) attended the 30th Anniversary event... There's a gallery of pictures & slides from the event HERE if anyone's interested.
 
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LESS T_T

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Codex 2014
:necro:

4Gamer asked Woodhead about his favorite game and entertainment in 2016 along with other 148 (mostly) Japanese creators: http://www.4gamer.net/games/000/G000000/20161208073/index_9.html (scroll down to the end)

Thankfully, they published his original answer in English alongside.

Game:

My kids made me play Fallout 4 over Xmas last year. I ended up forgetting to eat and lost 5 pounds. I tend to like games where I can build computers in the game, but I can't do that in Fallout because their logic gates have bugs in them.

Entertainment:

I greatly enjoyed The Force Awakens. I have seen *every* Star Wars film at the first show of opening day. In books, anything by Charles Stross, Peter F. Hamilton, John Scalzi or Neal Stephenson. On TV there is so much good stuff these days, but HBO's WestWorld was very interesting.

Person:

Elon Musk. I have been a huge astronomy & space exploration fan since my childhood in the 1960s and what he is doing at SpaceX and other companies recaptures the spirit of those exciting times.

New year's resolution or message to readers:

In 2017 I will do what I have always done -- weird little projects using computers. Oh, and if you really want to understand computers and get an idea of what it was like back when I was writing games, check out http://nand2tetris.org/

:deathclaw:
 

Siveon

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Eh, sounds par for the course for older designers who are too busy to play most video games. If it wasn't for his kids he probably wouldn't have played anything at all.
 

Archibald

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No parent is really going to say that he didn't like the game that his kids gave him.
 

Somberlain

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My kids made me play Fallout 4 over Xmas last year. I ended up forgetting to eat and lost 5 pounds.

Playing Fallout 4 is like being confined to concentration camp.
 

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