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[Mupod]

I had only the vaguest idea of what Gaist Crusher was but I guess the fact that I stopped hearing about it should have been a bit of a warning sign.

The mention on the Bombcast was saddening but not terribly surprising. Ever since the day I rented Gunstar Heroes in the early 90s, it's been my sole answer to 'what is your single favorite game ever'. But it's not the only one, I I still boot up Alien Soldier now and then and it's as impressive now as it was when I first played it.

And yeah, Missile Fury is definitely its own game/sequel kind of thing. I always felt it was more of a blend of the actiony style of the DC game with the more puzzle-style of the DS game. And as I said in the Bangai-O thread it is fucking HARD which made it tough to recommend to people, as if being XBLA exclusive wasn't bad enough.

 

[Nerrel]

I'd buy Sin and Punishment 2 again if it would help. It's the ultimate Wii remote+ nunchuk shooter, everything I wanted a new Starfox game to be and more.

 

[Ridley327]

I had only the vaguest idea of what Gaist Crusher was but I guess the fact that I stopped hearing about it should have been a bit of a warning sign.

The mention on the Bombcast was saddening but not terribly surprising. Ever since the day I rented Gunstar Heroes in the early 90s, it's been my sole answer to 'what is your single favorite game ever'. But it's not the only one, I I still boot up Alien Soldier now and then and it's as impressive now as it was when I first played it.

And yeah, Missile Fury is definitely its own game/sequel kind of thing. I always felt it was more of a blend of the actiony style of the DC game with the more puzzle-style of the DS game. And as I said in the Bangai-O thread it is fucking HARD which made it tough to recommend to people, as if being XBLA exclusive wasn't bad enough.

Gaist Crusher was Capcom realizing, "hey, there's a bit of a vacuum in hunting action titles on the 3DS outside of the one we already put out, so let's put out another one and try to launch it into some kind of multimedia frenzy aimed at younger audiences." Needless to say, it did not work.

The writing has been on the wall for a while now, and earlier than being roped into Gaist Crusher at that, but it's still painful to see it come to this for the company.

 

[Needham]

FEELINGSHOCK! SOULSHOCK! NOTREALLYASHOCK!

NOW IS TIME TO THE TREASURE FAN HEART ON FIRE!

What's Tetsu Okano up to lately? They should make a successor to Astro Boy: Omega Factor.

Tetsu Okano's not a Treasure dude. It even says SEGA next to his name in the credits for the games he worked on.

But whatever became of Hideyuki Suganami? He was the one in charge of all the best games; Alien Soldier, Mischief Makers and Sin and Punishment.

 

[NormalFish]

Bummer, but I -- like some others it would appear -- didn't even realize Treasure wasn't already done. I can't even remember the last game they made, though to be fair I never paid as much attention to who was making the games I played as the average gaffer.

 

[mrmickfran]

Hopefully they dissolve into an awesome dev like Platinum.

If SEGA was in better financial shape, I wouldn't mind if they bought Treasure.

 

[Teknoman]

Maybe if you guys would've been attitude for gains, we wouldnt have this problem in the first place.

 

[Clive]

They made some absolutely legendary games back in the day but it feels like they made one relevant title in the past 10 years. It's like with Konami, we will barely miss them but they have given us many great memories.

 

[Sacul64GC]

If you didn't pay full price for Sin & Punishment 2 back in the day, you're part of the problem.

I got it the Day it came out and got the free 10$ Wii shop card that came with it. I latter got the rest of the cards we had when not a single other person bought the game for months.

 

[jj984jj]

Tetsu Okano has a doujin circle called Huga Studios and one of their games, a MSX pastiche called The Girl from Gunma KAI, is on Steam Greenlight right now: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=640592545

I think he founded this indie studio: http://www.huga-studio.com/

Don't think he was ever a Treasure employee though. He was with Sega right?

Yeah, he was with Sega. It's cool that he's joined the doujin/indie scene, makes it easier for Maegawa to get in touch, right? Then they just need a source of funding/IP to work with. I wonder if Nintendo has anything that can work in place of Astro Boy.

Treasure's staff has always been a weird thing to me, how many of their directors actually worked at Treasure? I always wondered if anyone other than Maegawa was permanent.

 

[nkarafo]

Wait, what? Only 3 dudes?

Is that 3 dudes holding the company or 3 dudes actually creating all these games?

 

[mrmickfran]

They made some absolutely legendary games back in the day but it feels like they made one relevant title in the past 10 years. It's like with Konami, we will barely miss them but they have given us many great memories.

Speak for yourself.

I'll miss Treasure dearly.

 

[Platy]

Sad .. the world needs more games like Astroboy for GBA and Sin & Punishment 2

 

[Yukinari]

All i ask of them is to please put Gunstar Super Heroes on virtual console.

The game didnt sell that well despite how hard Nintendo Power pushed it and its a great game.

 

[Gitaroo]

I thought the ikaruga creator was working on a ps4 game, Ubusana. He doesnt work at treasure anymore?

 

[Mechazawa]

Wait, what? Only 3 dudes?

Is that 3 dudes holding the company or 3 dudes actually creating all these games?

"3 dudes" was just a general exaggeration of how small Treasure has always been. I don't think it's literally 3 core employees(well, who knows about now), but historically, they've been a tiny ass company that always roped in others(G. Rev, Sega, Nintendo) to actually make games.

 

[jj984jj]

I thought the ikaruga creator was working on a ps4 game, Ubusana. He doesnt work at treasure anymore?

He's been freelance for a long time, he also worked on a 3DS game called Kokuga with G.rev. Apparently he's been working at M2 lately.

 

[ElTopo]

We still need a Steam release of Guardian Heroes and Radiant Silvergun.

 

[KnightimeX_Legacy]

I wonder if treasure would ever outsource their IPs to other companies who would be interested in making new games.
Would absolutely love to see a Radiant Silvergun 2 if put in the right hands.

 

[Dremark]

To be honest, I think Treasure lived and died with 2D games, particularly in the 16-bit era. I doubt any of the guys working have any desire to make games beyond that scope, not that they don't thrive on portable consoles.

Honestly I think thier 32 bit output puts thier earlier games to shame.

 

[Crownjo]

We still need a Steam release of Guardian Heroes and Radiant Silvergun.

Agreed.

 

[The Giant]

Wait, what? Only 3 dudes?

Is that 3 dudes holding the company or 3 dudes actually creating all these games?

More like 20-30 employees.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Yeah, he was with Sega. It's cool that he's joined the doujin/indie scene, makes it easier for Maegawa to get in touch, right? Then they just need a source of funding/IP to work with. I wonder if Nintendo has anything that can work in place of Astro Boy.

Treasure's staff has always been a weird thing to me, how many of their directors actually worked at Treasure? I always wondered if anyone other than Maegawa was permanent.

The rumours circulating at the time suggested Treasure was unhappy with their deal with Sega for those GBA games and that it caused a lot of friction internally, so there's no guaranteeing they'd even want to work with Okano again (and it's not like they need him, they have plenty of team leads internally).

As far as permanent staff members go, composer Norio Hanzawa and director/programmer/etc Yaiman were (are?) there from the beginning but I have no idea if they're still there or what they're doing nowadays.

Wait, what? Only 3 dudes?

Is that 3 dudes holding the company or 3 dudes actually creating all these games?

"3 dudes" is an exaggeration but a lot of their games were made by teams you could count on your fingers, certainly (not counting publisher middlemen and what have you).

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

Rare Replay style collection would be nice as a portfolio if they're not going to be releasing anything new. Shame to hear though, one of my favourite devs.

 

[NinjamicWZ]

Honestly I think thier 32 bit output puts thier earlier games to shame.

For sure. They held it down way past the Genesis. Gunstar and Alien are balls out amazing, but it was the Guardian Heroes, Radiant Silvergun and Silhouette Mirage era that made me really imprint Treasure in my brain and love them forever.

 

[GiantBreadbug]

1) fuck no Warioworld II uuuuurgh

2) I think it'd be cool if Nintendo or Sony funded/published a couple projects on their behalf. They've always had presences on multiple platforms anyway.

 

[Celine]

Sadly one of those old developer who can't keep it up with the times.
At least they went out with a bang, Sin & Punishment 2 is a masterpiece.

Best N64 game.

Treasure made some of the best games for Mega Drive, Saturn, N64, DC, GameCube, GBA, PS2, Wii.
Problem is they were all niche games but of exceptional quality.

 

[Terrell]

You tell me:

Treasure's output annually from 1993 to 2016. Ports are bolded.

1993 - Gunstar Heroes, Mcdonald Treasure Land Adventure
1994 - Dynamite Heady, Yuyu Hakusho
1995 - Alien Soldier, Light Crusader
1996 - Guardian Heroes
1997 - Mischief Makers, Silhouette Mirage
1998 - Radiant Silvergun
1999 - Rakugaki Showtime, Bangaio
2000 - Silpheed The Last Planet, Sin and Punishment
2001 - Stretch Panic, Ikaruga
2002 - Hajime no Ippo The Fighting
2003 - Dragon Drive, Astro Boy
2004 - Wario World, Gradius V, Advanced Guardian Heroes
2005 - Gunstar Super Heroes
2006 - Bleach DS
2007 - Bleach DS 2nd
2008 - Bangaio Spirits, Bleach Versus Crusade, Ikaruga XBLA
2009 - Sin and Punishment 2, Gunstar Heroes XBLA
2010 -
2011 - Bangaio Missile Fury XBLA, Radiant Silvergun XBLA, Guardian Heroes HD XBLA
2012 -
2013 - Gaist Crusher
2014 - Gaist Crusher God
2015 -
2016 -

Pretending that Treasure is business as usual these past 7 years is naive as hell.

NO ONE has been business as usual in this industry for that time period.

And second, I never implied that there wasn't cause for concern.

But since you brought it up, pretending that this dearth in activity automatically adds validity to the "OMG, Treasure is disappearing" panic attack I've seen GAF and the press have since the early 2000s ad infinitum, insider rumors included, is equally naive. Before, there was panic that all the licensed games were an indication that they were taking work just to keep the lights on and were in dire straits. That it's slightly more validated than prior panics doesn't make it real by default.

We have seen people crying wolf before. Let's actually substantiate it this time, perhaps.

 

[Sadist]

Man I like Gunstar Heroes and Sin & Punishment

 

[CTLance]

Aw poop.

I might not put their games on a pedestal like many others, but I generally enjoyed their output and would hate it if they stopped making games.

Ah well. Who can I direct my ire towards? Is this the fault of the mobile gaming revolution? The filthy casuals? Or is it nextgen? Gotta be nextgen. Fuck Wiiuwiiuwiiiu, XBone and Pissfour. Oldmanyellingatclouds.gif

 

[cireza]

Played most of their games, and loved them. That's very sad news.

 

[duckroll]

NO ONE has been business as usual in this industry for that time period.

And second, I never implied that there wasn't cause for concern.

But since you brought it up, pretending that this dearth in activity automatically adds validity to the "OMG, Treasure is disappearing" panic attack I've seen GAF and the press have since the early 2000s ad infinitum, insider rumors included, is equally naive. Before, there was panic that all the licensed games were an indication that they were taking work just to keep the lights on and were in dire straits. That it's slightly more validated than prior panics doesn't make it real by default.

We have seen people crying wolf before. Let's actually substantiate it this time, perhaps.

I dunno, I mean, I think their output speaks for itself. It's true that this has been a really tough period for Japanese developers in particular. And we've seen what happened to tons of Japanese developers.

You seem to imply that there's been a history of unsubstantiated "Treasure is dying" panic since the early 2000s. But is it really that far off? I remember when they signed Dragon Drive, people were wondering why they were shitting out a shovelware looking licensed game on the GC or whatever which looks like no effort went into it at all. There was concern that they would continue to make licensed stuff instead of new IPs.

And... it looks like that's exactly what happened? Since then they made an Astro Boy game, a Guardian Heroes spinoff, a Gunstar Heroes spinoff, more Bangaio games, a bunch of ports, a Gradius game for Konami, a Sin and Punishment sequel, THREE Bleach games, and two anime tie-in Gaist Crusher games. Zero new IPs from Treasure since 2001.

From 2010, people started to wonder if Treasure would ever make another "Treasure" game again. It's 2016 now, and we're still waiting. No announcements, no publishers, nothing.

 

[Kyoufu]

Can we get Guardian Heroes HD on other platforms before they go into hibernation? I'm still baffled why that is only on XBLA.

 

[LiK]

Feels that way. They haven't made anything new in a long while. I'm glad they finally started porting their games to other platforms.

 

[Muchi Muchi Pink]

Me too. Such an incredibly inventive game. The pinnacle of 2d shooters. I'll never sell my copy.

Eehh... It's fine but highly overrated and overpriced once.

 

[HyperZone<3]

that Astro Boy game is pretty legit tho. I'd even rank it ahead of their other GBA games. Gradius V is the best game in the series, and Star Successor was thier most dense game in terms of asset and feature set yet.

and its not like the industry as a whole didn't also tilt further and further into the cycle of sequels and revivals as well.

 

[LiK]

that Astro Boy game is pretty legit tho. I'd even rank it ahead of their other GBA games. Gradius V is the best game in the series, and Star Successor was thier most dense game in terms of asset and feature set yet.

and its not like the industry as a whole didn't also tilt further and further into the cycle of sequels and revivals as well.

Yea, Astro Boy was insanely good. Everyone should check that out.

 

[Celine]

Rare Replay style collection would be nice as a portfolio if they're not going to be releasing anything new. Shame to hear though, one of my favourite devs.

Problem is that Treasure own just part of their legacy IPs (basically those games developed under ESP).
Some of the best games they've developed were published by Sega, Nintendo, Enix, Konami which own the rights.

 

[retroman]

Perhaps they could use Kickstarter to create (spiritual) sequels to their classic games.

 

[Dascu]

Damn. One of the best game developers of all time.

Would be sad not to get anymore games out of them.

 

[magnetic]

Are those Bleach games on DS any good?

 

[Mdk7]

It's time for Nintendo to fund Sin & Punishment 3.

Give Treasure something to do.

THIS!

 

[Lord British]

Are those Bleach games on DS any good?

Second one is wonderful, and makes the first one redundant imo.

 

[Neff]

They were never able to top Gunstar Heroes or Dynamite Headdy for my money. Astro Boy Omega Factor was truly stunning.

A fantastic studio at their peak, but that peak was a very long time ago.

 

[Finaika]

You tell me:

Treasure's output annually from 1993 to 2016. Ports are bolded.

1993 - Gunstar Heroes, Mcdonald Treasure Land Adventure
1994 - Dynamite Heady, Yuyu Hakusho
1995 - Alien Soldier, Light Crusader
1996 - Guardian Heroes
1997 - Mischief Makers, Silhouette Mirage
1998 - Radiant Silvergun
1999 - Rakugaki Showtime, Bangaio
2000 - Silpheed The Last Planet, Sin and Punishment
2001 - Stretch Panic, Ikaruga
2002 - Hajime no Ippo The Fighting
2003 - Dragon Drive, Astro Boy
2004 - Wario World, Gradius V, Advanced Guardian Heroes
2005 - Gunstar Super Heroes
2006 - Bleach DS
2007 - Bleach DS 2nd
2008 - Bangaio Spirits, Bleach Versus Crusade, Ikaruga XBLA
2009 - Sin and Punishment 2, Gunstar Heroes XBLA
2010 -
2011 - Bangaio Missile Fury XBLA, Radiant Silvergun XBLA, Guardian Heroes HD XBLA
2012 -
2013 - Gaist Crusher
2014 - Gaist Crusher God
2015 -
2016 -

Pretending that Treasure is business as usual these past 7 years is naive as hell.

They had a goon run.

 

[Eolz]

People unfamiliar with how small Treasure always were and how they worked should really read this great Iwata Asks:
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/sinandpunishment/0/0

 

[magnetic]

Second one is wonderful, and makes the first one redundant imo.

Great, I'll head over to Amazon! I'm usually cautious with licensed games, but since Astro Boy was so good and I'm in the mood for beat em ups recently, the choice is easy.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I really do think they'd have a decent shot at crowdfunding, provided they;

-still have enough people from the old days who are still there or are still willing to return for a new game

-explain what the hell they've been doing for the last however-many years and why their output has slowed down so dramatically

Combine that with the marketing talents of, say, the team behind the record-breaking Mighty No.9 Kickstarter, and they'd get funded no problem.

 

[Eolz]

.

They should stay as far away from the MN9 guys as they can. Even Double Fine is a better choice, plenty of guys of guys knowing how to make successful kickstarters out there.
Iga is probably the closest for them.

 

[magnetic]

I think the best shot they have would either be a new shmup or a third Gunstar Heroes game if they ever did a Kickstarter.

Given how different Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga are from each other, I would love to see what a third game like this would play like.