| Wolfteam | |
|---|---|
 Wolfteam's logo from 1990 to 1995 | |
|
Location: |
Tokyo, Japan |
|
Head People: |
Eiji Kikuchi |
|
Founded: |
1986 |
|
Defunct: |
2011 |
|
Also Known as: |
Namco Tales Studio |
Wolfteam (株)ウルフチーム Urufu Chīmu?) was a Japanese video game development company founded in 1986 as a Telenet subsidiary.The company was renamed in 2003 when Telenet Japan sold part of its stake and made Namco the majority shareholder. Namco Tales Studio continues to be the primary developer of the Tales RPG series, as they had been since the series' beginning. Wolfteam were best known for developing the Arcus series of games as well as Earnest Evans.
History[]
Originally headed by Masahiro Akishino, Wolfteam became independent from Telenet in 1987, was reintegrated in 1990 and got merged with another Telenet subsidiary called Lasersoft, then was completely absorbed in an internal restructuring at Telenet in 1993 at which point most of the staff left together with Akishino.
The remaining staff were the then-very-young programmer Yoshiharu Gotanda, designer Masaki Norimoto, director Joe Asanuma, graphic artist Yoshiaki Inagaki, sound composer Motoi Sakuraba, and sound effect designer Ryota Furuya. Wolfteam went on to create games such as Sol Feace and Hiouden: Mamono-tachi tono Chikai, which faced weak sales due to Telenet's bad reputation. For Tale Phantasia, a game concept by Gotanda, they looked for an outside publisher with a better reputation.[2] After approaching Enix, Telenet struck a contract with Namco.
Namco, however, insisted upon many changes to the game, including renaming the title to Tales of Phantasia. The conflict over these changes pushed the game's release from 1994 into late 1995. Most of the initial staff left during this dispute and founded tri-Ace in early 1995.
To continue the lucrative arrangement with Namco to develop the Tales series, Telenet re-staffed Wolf Team and retained some other staff, such as Motoi Sakuraba, on a freelance basis. They developed or co-developed nearly every game in the series until Wolf Team was renamed to Namco Tales Studio in early 2003, and Namco assumed majority ownership. In October 2007, Telenet filed for bankruptcy, and closed its doors, likely putting an end to the Wolf Team name.
In 2011, Namco Tales Studio was finally dissolved and the staff was merged with its main company, Namco-Bandai.
Developed games[]
As Wolfteam[]
- Aisle Lord
- Anett Futatabi
- Arcus
- Arcus II: Silent Symphony
- Arcus III
- Arcus Odyssey
- Akushu: Kagerou no Jidai wo Koe te
- Apros: Daichi no Shou Kaze no Tankyuu Sha hen
- Cobra Command
- Crystal Chaser: Tenkuu no Masuishou
- D: European Mirage
- Daitoua Mokujiroku Goh
- Diamond Players
- Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (MSX)
- Devastator
- Dino Land
- Earnest Evans
- El Viento
- Fhey Area
- Final Zone (FZ Senki AXIS)
- Gaudi: Barcelona no Kaze
- Granada
- Goh 2
- Gulf War Soukouden
- Hiōden
- Hiōden 2
- Hiōden: Mamono-tachi tono Chikai
- Jinmu Denshou
- Mid-Garts
- Neugier: Umi to Kaze no Kōdō
- Niko^2
- Road Avenger
- Ryū: Naki no Ryū Yori
- Shinsengumi: Bakumatsu Genshikou
- Sol-Feace/Sol-Deace
- Span of Dream
- Suzaku
- Tales of Destiny
- Tales of Destiny 2
- Tales of Eternia
- Tales of Phantasia
- Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon
- Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2
- Tenbu Limited / Mankan Zenseki
- Tenbu: Sangokushi Seishi
- The Grail Hunter
- Tokyo Twilight Busters
- Time Gal
- Yaksa
- Zan: Kagerou no Toki
- Zan: Yasha Enbukyoku
- Zan II: Spirits
- Zan 2: Kagerou no Jidai
- Zan 2: Kagerou no Jidai Soshuhen
- Zan 3: Tenun Ware ni Ari
- Zan Gear
As Namco Tales Studio[]
| Game Title | Release Date | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Tales of Phantasia | 1995,2003 | SNES, Game Boy Advance |
| Tales of Symphonia | 2003/2004 | Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 |
| Tales of Rebirth | 2004/2008 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable |
| Tales of Eternia | 2005 | PlayStation Portable |
| Tales of the Abyss | 2005/2011 | PlayStation 2, Nintendo 3DS |
| Tales of the Tempest | 2006 | Nintendo DS |
| Tales of Destiny 2 | 2007 | PlayStation Portable |
| Tales of Destiny (Director's Cut) | 2006/2008 | PlayStation 2 |
| Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World | 2008 | Wii |
| Tales of Vesperia | 2008/2009 | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
| Tales of Hearts | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Tales of Graces | 2009 | Wii |
| Keroro RPG: Kishi to Musha to Densetsu no Kaizoku | 2010 | Nintendo DS |
| Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X | 2010 | PlayStation Portable |
| Pac-Man Party | 2010 | Wii |
| Tales of Graces F | 2010 | PlayStation 3 |
| Tales of Xillia | 2011 | PlayStation 3 |
| Pac-Man Party 3D | 2011 | Nintendo 3DS |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The most notable contributor from Wolfteam to the Valis series was Motoi Sakuraba, as he composed the music for the first game and its adaptions.
- Except for the Valis series and Tales series, most of Wolfteam's games were never released outside Japan.
- When Telenet and Eants released the adult visual novel based on Valis (Valis X) in 2007, they also released another one based on Arcus (Arcus X) the same year.
- Wolfteam is the only one of Telenet's subsidiaries that had an entire staff reforming.