A couple of weeks ago I was browsing Irem’s websites for Zettai Zetsumei Toshi (Disaster Report/Raw Danger) and Bumpy Trot (Steambot Chronicles). I was planning a comprehensive article on the games since the man behind them agreed to an interview, and Irem had lovingly created websites filled with screenshots, character art, concept art, schematics to make your own Trotmobiles out of paper (these were amazing!), and even the vocalised songs from the game. Everything fans of the two series could want. I grabbed the songs and a couple of screens, but made a note to come back later and save everything else. Well today I find that Irem have removed their websites and all content – all in an attempt to cleanse the internet of any evidence that they existed (they've become "ungames" as one Irem fan put it). Did anyone save their archive of hi-res concept art? All that is left are Wayback archives, which never saved the hi-res imagery. Disaster Report isn’t too problematic, since I can just screengrab more images – but the Steambot Chronicles concept art and Trotmobile designs were beautiful, precious and unique, and now they’re gone forever.
Pleaso don't do that to your article. Try to release it with what you already have! And what happening to irem? Why would they do that???
ReplyDeleteI'm sad now.
ReplyDeleteThat's unfortunate. Steambot Chronicles was (although a clunky game in many ways) really charming & unique with its mix of gameplay styles.
ReplyDeleteActually Derboo showed me a trick with Wayback to find the image files, some of them were saved on obscure dates - so several are there, somewhere.
ReplyDeletetadabola - irem's probably going bankrupt that's what's happening
ReplyDeletewas my original comment posted? i went and searched for the stuff myself,now i feel like an idiot :/
Talk to Jeremy Parish. He's friends with Tom Hullet and I know Tom worked on Steambot in some fashion. Maybe he can help you out. :)
ReplyDeleteSo how is IREM trying to rewrite history?
ReplyDeleteshellshock, Irem isn't trying to rewriete history so much as they're trying to get us to question accepted history. Did 6 million really die?
ReplyDeleteApart from cancelling two games near completion, they're deleting online archives for earlier entries, which is unnecessary. Someone mentioned saving on bandwidth, but it's more than that. The guy behind them recently left the company - there are sinister machinations going on in the background. IREM appears almost ashamed of them, not wanting to acknowledge the games.
ReplyDeleteKotaku thinks it's cancelled:
ReplyDeletehttp://kotaku.com/5787094/is-disaster-reports-developer-okay
That's what happens to cancelled games: they are purged like so many "undesirables".
The 4th game, Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4, is indeed cancelled. But the website had images and artwork for games 1 through 3. IREM also stopped sales of ZZT3, and seem to be purging themselves of the entire series.
ReplyDeleteGod...damn it...Steambot Chronicles was one of the last sandbox games willing to be different.
ReplyDeleteWhat purpose does a purge actually serve? Are they trying to sell the company off...or protect IP from a bankruptcy?
Honestly, I don't blame them for divesting themselves of the series. Not just because of what people outside of the company might think, but also because if I were working there, I probably wouldn't have much enthusiasm for the topic matter anymore either.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad, but I don't think anyone in Japan really feels like playing a game about that these days.
Yeah, I'd second trying Parish. If I remember correctly he was all over that stuff even back in the Toastyfrog days.
ReplyDeleteIt's more like they're already committing suicide.
ReplyDeleteBesides, with Kujo gone, Irem doesn't really have much of a driving force behind it anymore. Cancelling ZZT4 was understandable, but I never found the logic of discontinuing Bumpy Trot and instead releasing two trashy titles (the undying but nonsensical PachiSlot and the haphazard galge disaster that is DokiSui)
I'm glad I got to save the ZZT3 character images and a wallpaper of Kana Nishizaki from ZZT2 before they destroyed everything. Unfortunately, I'm not very much into Bumpy Trot, so I can't help there.
Talbain of 'Select Button', and 'Et Tu, Gamer' (which has a nice gallery of hi-res. videogame illustrations), passed along these Steambot Chronicles images: http://www.mediafire.com/?uh5jpk6duhrtq3f
ReplyDeleteStill asking round for the rest.
Neat! That's super awesome. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThat really sucks. Would Irem themselves hold onto the concept art though. I'm sure people who worked on the games themselves would still hold onto their own concept art.
ReplyDeleteSo it looks like RPGamer has all of this stuff in its archive... somewhere. Anyway, here's some other stuff I've managed to find. This is Talbain, btw. Couldn't find it at any higher resolution than wallpaper size I'm afraid.
ReplyDelete[URL]http://www.mediafire.com/?q55u25h1giuy596[/URL]
Neat, thank you!
ReplyDelete