First of all, excellent video, St1ka. You did an awesome job getting all this info together. I find it crazy that the people who worked on Pier Solar didn't get payed. EVERYONE on our game project got paid, some .ore than agreed and some who didn't deliver. Nobody should work for free. Time is money and if you're making money on something, then the team should have been paid something! Sadly, I was one of the folks that bought into this project. I hope it comes out, obviously, but I doubt it at this point. Can't wait to see part 2 of this!
I've worked as an artist in the games industry for years, my first was a MegaDrive game, When I meet people who want to do a game I give them the same advice " Don't do the game you WANT to do, Make the game you CAN do!", if you follow that one piece of advice you'll be ok.
Game sack also brought me here! I'm a Huge fan of beat'em up games, and it's a shame that this game won't be releasing anytime, soon.. In bed, I day dream, of me playing Paprium on my Sega Genesis/Mega Drive emulator.. 2021, make it happen!!! 😣 😖 😫
Really great work! Joined your channel. It's a fascinating look at how collectively, and with a lot of hard work, creators can achieve great things. And also how one bad attitude can poison the well. It's a shame too, because Paprium looked like an amazing idea.
Oh man. I remember learning about Pier Solar back in 2008 and what a triumph it was when it finally got its release in 2010. A shame that it all came down to this.
st1ka, good documentary so far, I'm looking forward to watching Part 2. It's a great look inside the do's and don'ts of indie game development studios. As someone who did preordered Paprium it is frustrating to come to a realization that I may never see the game or get my money back.
This is such a great part one dude. So refreshing to watch a documentary-style video which is actually concerned with allowing important players their own voice and full of fresh detail. The decision to keep your own voice free of personal opinion was a good one too.
Glad to see someone finally covering this, Paprium is a unique tragedy that deserves the recognition you are giving it. My question is: Were you able to interview Fonzie? Has he seen this yet?
I've been waiting for a comprehensive video on the mystery of the current case of Paprium and Watermelon games. Subscribed and looking forward to pt 2.
This was fantastic. A deep look into Watermelon and their history. It's also a very sad watch as we all know what comes next... Which is the downfall and what could have been. Either way though, great work and I look forward to part 2!
I'm glad that you made this video cause I've been wondering what the hell happen to Paprium. I was really looking forward to picking up this game. If this game is not coming out then I'm going to be really bummed out.
st1ka you did a great job! Thanks for all your work. It's amazing that you were able to connect with so many people who worked for WM. It's also wonderful that they were willing to participate. I also like that this video wasn't a slam fest against Fonzie. It felt like you were delivering facts and opinions direct from people who were very close to the subject. I hope Fonzie sees how deeply interested everyone still is I and I hope he see this in a positive way. I hope Fonzie is working hard at both completing Paprium and finding a way to pay those who should have been compensated.
Thanks for sharing this with all of us. Love your channel and your videos. I always wondered what happened to Paprium. Looks like a lot of crap went down at Watermelon Studios. All I gotta say is...damn it, Fonzie!
Agreed. Would've loved to see how the finished product would look like. Still sore that we won't see something like that. Paprium would've been a worthy addition to my Genesis/Mega Drive collection. Somehow I felt that the Kickstarter money didn't go towards Paprium, and mostly if not all of it, went towards that crazy trailer for the game, or that one party where Fonzie was showcasing an unfinished version of Paprium on a CRT.
As someone who's been waiting six years for this game there's a lot more I could say than 'damn it' but RUclips would probably delete my comment for the amount of expletives. Ahahaha!
@@pferreira1983 Your comment made me laugh. But other than that, I don't blame you for feeling the way you do. I'd be pissed and would unload with expletives galore.
What a great video. As an interested outside observer (I am a fan of Pier Solar, though I did not play it on the Genesis), I am shocked at just how poorly this has all turned out. WM has been odd all around - I'm in a very small group devoted to trophies for Pier Solar, and someone claiming to be from WM entered a thread after I criticized the company, claiming that Paprium was "on the way!" This was a long time ago, BTW.
@@st1ka Off the top of my head, no, but I can check it easily enough. I'll do so, and post it here Monday (I only post on youtube when I'm at work). ;-D
@@st1ka Sorry for the late reply - I got busy and just forgot. The PSNID of the poster was saviorsama. His comment (circa late 2018) was first that the game was on its way. I answered that hope still springs eternal among diehard fans, and he said that he worked at WM. I made a snarky comment after that, and never heard from him again.
@@st1ka If it wasn't intentional, why the fake release party in Paris and lies about shipping pre-orders? I swear I want to take this Fonzi person to court for fraud.
st1ka, you outdone yourself. Your videos keep increasing in quality exponentially. I don't understand why you don't have millons of followers. Keep up the good work! In the end, i will state, i was here when he was a tiny RUclipsr (now he's more famous than Pewdiepie). Regards from Argentina P.S: When is the 2nd part coming out?
Fico feliz pelo sonho de lançar um fan game ter sido realizado, tenho um reprint do pier solar e a versão do dreamcast aqui comigo. Confesso que fiquei otimista ao ponto de ter feito o pre-order do paprium, mas se soubesse que membros chave da equipe tinham partido, ou que tantos voluntários foram postos de fora do projeto, eu não teria pego.
I think I have this perception that retro homebrew makers are or should be stronger than typical modern developers but they continue to show just how human they are. ^_^ For developers on the subject of reprinting homebrew, stop being surprised they sell, geez even the Pier Solar guys have self esteem issues. Nothing kills a games lifespan more than making it out of Unobtainium. :\
@@st1ka I don't know for sure. Just 4 months ago, Luis Martins said that he and Fonzie got to play the finished game together on a commercial release cart! The optimist in me says that I'm finally going to get my game.
Great job and subbed! I ordered and received the original release of Pier Solar on Genesis/MD back in the day. For Paprium, I did a "wait and see". I'm very fortunate to have not pre-ordered or else I'd be fighting for a refund right now. If and when the game ever releases, I would gladly put down money for it.
@@st1ka, is like same shit for Pier Solar. ordered mine in 2014, payed for it and still haven't gotten it. they\he even say (after manically talking to their stupid bot) that it's laying on the shelf waiting for paypal to open again so i can pay for shipment but doubt that is the case... gone to the stage that i have bought a second hand copy from ebay and if i ever get my game i can sell one off
Went full screen during the premiere and read the chat after. Nice to hear your channel has been doing better since reducing the frequency of livestreams. I hope you get a lot more viewership with this video and the next two, this is really well made and as neutral as I expected. Like others I hope the game gets released in the end (and as soon as possible really), partly because it still looks like it could be a hit, and also because I pre-ordered it on its official announcement nearly 2 years ago!
Interesting @@st1ka... Gwenaël Dieu maybe then... Or Gwenaël Maître Des Données :) That said, I never knew he had left WaterMelon and didn't see himself developing another game. Nice insider footage too. That video was very informative so, again, great job.
I appreciate this video so much, i am very upset about the Paprium debacle and never liked pier solar as i sold my copy nothing against the game just not for me. I really feel for the backers of Paprium that went all out and spent hundreds of dollars backing this game and now risk losing out but not only losing their money but the principal behind it too. If Paprium never comes out i only lost $50 dollars but i feel that losing my faith in watermelon games was way worse. I really believed in these guys and now i will never trust any thing that comes from them and has changed my motivation to back any indie kick starters to be honest. This is a big deal there was a lot riding on this release beyond just money, Fonzie, Watermelon or who ever is responsible has ruined a large part of this kick starting shit for a lot of people including me.
Sadly, it seems watermelon is dead as their website has been down for over a month now. In my case, I had pre-ordered the game and the manga, $90 in all
Yo St1ka you got a shout out and link from Joe at gamesack on his latest video about crowdfunded games. Congrats man, hope this leads to a whole bunch of subs for you!
Hi st1ka! Thanks a lot for the video. I think the background music is too loud when people are talking and it makes it more difficult to listen to them, I'd suggest lowering it down for the next one.
So I remember with Pier Solar at one point a volunteer artist left and took his art with him forcing Watermelon to hire some freelance artists. I was surprised that wasn't mentioned in the documentary, was that Daniel Horvath? Or someone else? I was kind of hoping to hear more about the incident.
From what I've read in the thread on Sega 16 the character designer for Paprium was not getting paid for his work at least in the beginning. I also would have liked to have heard from the pixel artist who quit early in Pier Solar's development.
@@st1ka I don't remember. I just remember one of the first major delays for Pier Solar was that one of their original pixel artists quit and they had to redo all his work. You can still see some of it in the original demo that came out.
SNES is more popular because it had a monopoly on a lot of popular 3rd party franchises. Sqaure Enix wasn't allowed to make Final Fantasy&Chrono Trigger For ex.
Oh man. I was on the edge of pre ordering this too. After the shitshow that was getting my damn collectors edition of another game they made i held back. Cant wait to see what happen
Something smelled funny about half a year into my preorder. I backed out, and they were like "Just so you're sure about this, you may not be able to order it later!" Got money back. Wasn't surprised at all when a full year afterwards it still hadn't launched (release was supposedly imminent when I preordered) and now it's back in the news.
@@st1ka Looking forward to your part two of this. The interviews, while discouraging were also informative. While I'd be pissed on losing out on the money, can't really hate on Watermelon as sometimes businesses just don't work out.. but also do wish the current team was a little more open and straightforward.
@@st1ka I don't know about "on time" but they did deliver. Here's the part I never understood: Why didn't they make more physical copies of Pier Solar (Genesis/MD) and Pier Solar HD (Dreamcast)? It's a revenue stream, every production run sold out and I guarantee you they could have sold thousands more copies, especially the cartridge release. I wanted a copy but by then they were already having issues (and Paypal had stepped in). Anyway, if WM was open from the start about developing with an extra chip in mind, I would have strongly dissuaded them. Nobody working on the game was capable of pulling that off... so unless they hired some old Sega hardware engineers, there's no farking way that was going to work. So IF we ever see a re-engineered Paprium, we'll be lucky if it's not a buggy mess.
@@st1ka That doesn't really explain anything, where's the motive? I mean seriously if you want to release more games you need revenue. Not producing more copies leaves money on the table for no good reason. It doesn't make sense unless Fonzie is either A) unstable B) incredibly petty and vindictive. Normally when you see a company fall apart and everyone go their own way, there's a lot of blame to go around. But after the "party" debacle? I'm really leaning towards it mostly being Fonzie's fault. Maybe he wasn't a bad guy in the beginning, but Watermelon is destroyed and I think he had a lot to do with that. Thankfully there have been a couple other shining examples in the Genesis scene. I'm really looking forwards to playing Xeno Crisis.
This should be a good one (not saying your other videos are bad or anything... *hyperventilates*). The videos that came out in Oct 2018 was not looking good at all: Glitches galore, no music, no enemies, and so on.
It sounds like that if they replaced Fonzie with someone more reliable, alot of these problems might have been avoided. And possibly get them back on track in general.
@@pferreira1983 These two statements don't coexist. Clearly, Fonzie can't get the game finished by himself. If he also can't afford to have others around, he should refund money (something that was promised, multiple times, on the WM website, but has never materialized as far as I know).
@@adrianjenkins5877 No, he cannot get the game finished and has not paid some of the people who has worked on the game. He just wants to finish it by himself. To be fair Watermelon has refunded people in the past. It's only when Camille left that refunds stopped being given out.
@@pferreira1983 Man - it's no wonder you people get fleeced so easily. I know that sounds dickish, but I can't help it. "Fonzie" may want to finish the game by himself, but it's increasingly apparent that he can't. Perhaps if he didn't isolate employees, or actually pay them, we would be in a different place. Development is obviously going to have bumps and bruises, but this Paprium thing is just obnoxious. Again, you can go straight to WM's site - they have multiple posts on their front page claiming that anyone wanting a refund can get one. To my knowledge, no refunds have been given.
@@adrianjenkins5877 As I said when Camille was there people were getting refunds. Refunds have only stopped being given out in the past six months. Fonzie needs to ask for help and stop hoarding this project.
so today they sent out emails... saying the refunds had been processed (after 2 years!) and they were releasing the game IN THREE DAYS (at double the original price). well, it's labelled pre-order. was this a desperate last minute move? who knows, but I'm not taking the bait this time. good luck sir, but I'll just play SOR4 until the unpaid reviews come in
Sad story that there are so many creative heads, that could code this old consoles and could create great retro games. a great enjoyment for all retro gamers but it get handled wrong, like sega history repeat again. I wish so much for a new SegaCD or Sega Saturn game god know :D
@@st1ka oh great ! is there any website about new releases for old consoles ? i find sometimes videos about a new game but no status. like there should come a new saturn game sonic xtreme but then i read the dev did not work on it anymore...
I feel like, basically, they were too ambitious and not experimented enough. Pier Solar was already an extremely ambitious RPG for the system and it was their 1st game, and it took them a lot of time. Paprium was kind of pretentious too. Yeah, they were amateurs that acted as professionals...
So basically Fonzie is an egotistical maniac who steals from fans and doesn't pay his developers. Sounds like a great guy! So... about that Class Action Lawsuit.. let's get that set up. I just collected a $466.23 check from Ambit Energy yesterday, so sometimes they are worth pursuing. I would very much like to get my money back here as well, but more importantly, I would like to see the other developers who put hard work into this game get some justice.
Thanks man. I'll have to look into that. I also think you've done a wonderful job with this video. As much as it angers me to have been taken advantage of as a customer, I still enjoy watching this as it enlightens me to how it all came together, and inevitably falls apart. You've got a sub from me. Keep up the great work.
Streets of Rage 2 IS and will ALWAYS be the absolute fucking best beat em up the world will ever see. I like Neo Geo a lot but even the beat em ups on that with superior graphics and sound just dont seem to have that same magic. Good games none the less but no contest. Same with Final Fight, which I feel is second and Golden Axe sits at a comfortable 3rd . Paprium would have always been 2nd best to SOR2. 1 and 3 were good games also but 2 was just on another level.
@@st1ka Yeah I totally agree. It may not be better but it can at the very least be the second best beat em up if it really is as good as the limited footage of it appears to be. Trailer, not party video.
@@st1ka Like I really want this game to come out. New Genesis games are always welcome. I just came back from the store, secured a mint boxed copy of Streets of Rage 2. I had it when I was a kid but have only had part 1 since I started collecting again for years. Your video made me do it.
@@st1ka I also think it will see a release. Fonzie just seems like an absolute psychotic control freak. The fact he wont share the rom speaks volumes. That guy is determined. Being overly protective of something is a sign of love. He'll get it done, this just isn't easy to figure out. I do feel he should drop the online aspect of it. Just keep it as traditional as possible and it might see a release.
@@st1ka website is still up and that's a good sign. Shit costs money to keep running. That going under would have been the first sign. If he releases an update soon and says it's still coming, I'm gonna pre order it. This game looks like it would be worth the wait.......though it has been long as is.
@@st1ka I got a copy of RPG Maker and tried recreating the opening scenes of Final Fantasy IV as a test - and it's more work than you think, even for a PC game with mature tools. A homebrew Genesis/Megadrive RPG has to build everything from the game engine and the tools, - it's a LOT of work before you have anything that's considered presentable - and you need fantastic pixel artists too, because everyone has Phantasy Star IV or Chrono Trigger in mind.
Its hard to judge whos fault is this when all of em just basically point at someone whos not there.. im actually curious to hear what fonzie has to say.. still tho its all about delusions of grandeur
I tried to be pretty fair and balanced with my questions, but most of the answers led to Fonzie. I did try to contact Fonzie several times as I was making this series, but sadly, he never replied
@@st1ka yeah its unfortunate we're not gonna hear his thoughts. Btw pier solar is the only game I ever heard bout this company, and now I wonder do they ever released those 2 japanese translated games?
@@keypath4389 Sadly, they have not. The mech game has had its rights passed around several times now. It went from Watermelon to Super Fighter Team and from Super Fighter Team to Piko Interactive. As far as I know Langrisser 2 is a lost cause... :\
@@st1ka I see, i heard japanese got a new release of langrisser on switch but yeah.. that mech game tho.. looks yummy, if only it got released in english in whatever format, just loove mech games.. btw great channel man, found out after watching the latest gamesack
@@keypath4389 Aww thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video ^^ As for Langrisser, yeah, there was a remake of Langrisser 1 and 2 released for the Switch. The game received a western release and can be bought from the NIS store.
Check out my review of Paprium here: ruclips.net/video/trQ48SWi2WM/видео.html
There needs to be a part 4 documenting the game's eventual release.
LOL eventual. Cute.
First of all, excellent video, St1ka. You did an awesome job getting all this info together. I find it crazy that the people who worked on Pier Solar didn't get payed. EVERYONE on our game project got paid, some .ore than agreed and some who didn't deliver. Nobody should work for free. Time is money and if you're making money on something, then the team should have been paid something!
Sadly, I was one of the folks that bought into this project. I hope it comes out, obviously, but I doubt it at this point.
Can't wait to see part 2 of this!
I've worked as an artist in the games industry for years, my first was a MegaDrive game, When I meet people who want to do a game I give them the same advice " Don't do the game you WANT to do, Make the game you CAN do!", if you follow that one piece of advice you'll be ok.
Cool
That SOR2 soundtrack is timeless.
Damn right! :D
Thanks for the recommendation, Game Sack.
Hope you enjoyed the video ^^
Game sack also brought me here! I'm a Huge fan of beat'em up games, and it's a shame that this game won't be releasing anytime, soon.. In bed, I day dream, of me playing Paprium on my Sega Genesis/Mega Drive emulator.. 2021, make it happen!!! 😣 😖 😫
@@harryhapsh8214 Thank you for checking out my channel! I hope you'll enjoy my content! ^^
@@harryhapsh8214 It happened. Got my copy on Christmas eve 2020
@@AtariBorn Yep, I know. Watched Game Sack's review of this game!
Everyone who gets the e-mail saying it's ready to ship: Make sure you're clicking on the check-out button to confirm the order and shipping address!
Just got an email from Magical Game Factory that my preorder of Paprium is shipping
Really great work! Joined your channel.
It's a fascinating look at how collectively, and with a lot of hard work, creators can achieve great things. And also how one bad attitude can poison the well. It's a shame too, because Paprium looked like an amazing idea.
Oh man. I remember learning about Pier Solar back in 2008 and what a triumph it was when it finally got its release in 2010.
A shame that it all came down to this.
st1ka, good documentary so far, I'm looking forward to watching Part 2. It's a great look inside the do's and don'ts of indie game development studios. As someone who did preordered Paprium it is frustrating to come to a realization that I may never see the game or get my money back.
This is such a great part one dude. So refreshing to watch a documentary-style video which is actually concerned with allowing important players their own voice and full of fresh detail. The decision to keep your own voice free of personal opinion was a good one too.
Fascinating stuff. Good job with the video. Can't wait for part 2.
I’ve been waiting for this game for so many years! Can’t wait to know more about the development of the game.
Glad to see someone finally covering this, Paprium is a unique tragedy that deserves the recognition you are giving it.
My question is: Were you able to interview Fonzie? Has he seen this yet?
Wow, great doc... Crazy story, cool interviews! Interesting footage. All the good stuff can't wait to see more.
I've been waiting for a comprehensive video on the mystery of the current case of Paprium and Watermelon games. Subscribed and looking forward to pt 2.
This was fantastic. A deep look into Watermelon and their history. It's also a very sad watch as we all know what comes next... Which is the downfall and what could have been. Either way though, great work and I look forward to part 2!
I'm glad that you made this video cause I've been wondering what the hell happen to Paprium. I was really looking forward to picking up this game. If this game is not coming out then I'm going to be really bummed out.
st1ka you did a great job! Thanks for all your work. It's amazing that you were able to connect with so many people who worked for WM. It's also wonderful that they were willing to participate. I also like that this video wasn't a slam fest against Fonzie. It felt like you were delivering facts and opinions direct from people who were very close to the subject. I hope Fonzie sees how deeply interested everyone still is I and I hope he see this in a positive way.
I hope Fonzie is working hard at both completing Paprium and finding a way to pay those who should have been compensated.
@@st1ka Your a credit to the retro gaming scene!
Thanks for sharing this with all of us. Love your channel and your videos. I always wondered what happened to Paprium. Looks like a lot of crap went down at Watermelon Studios. All I gotta say is...damn it, Fonzie!
Agreed. Would've loved to see how the finished product would look like. Still sore that we won't see something like that. Paprium would've been a worthy addition to my Genesis/Mega Drive collection. Somehow I felt that the Kickstarter money didn't go towards Paprium, and mostly if not all of it, went towards that crazy trailer for the game, or that one party where Fonzie was showcasing an unfinished version of Paprium on a CRT.
As someone who's been waiting six years for this game there's a lot more I could say than 'damn it' but RUclips would probably delete my comment for the amount of expletives. Ahahaha!
@@pferreira1983 Your comment made me laugh. But other than that, I don't blame you for feeling the way you do. I'd be pissed and would unload with expletives galore.
@@st1ka oh okay! I didn't know that there wasn't a Kickstarter for the game! My bad! But yeah, I look forward to Part 2
My body is ready
Fonzie's ain't.
Your heart's on fire?
2020 was strange enough then Paprium actually comes out
Well made. Excellent video. Waiting for part 2 :)
This video is great. Very detailed information on Watermelon's history. Really enjoyed it. When might we expect Part 2 to come out?
Sometime before Paprium
Recently discovered your channel and am currently going through several of your videos.
That Fonzie guy seems like French Phil Fish
What a great video. As an interested outside observer (I am a fan of Pier Solar, though I did not play it on the Genesis), I am shocked at just how poorly this has all turned out. WM has been odd all around - I'm in a very small group devoted to trophies for Pier Solar, and someone claiming to be from WM entered a thread after I criticized the company, claiming that Paprium was "on the way!" This was a long time ago, BTW.
@@st1ka Off the top of my head, no, but I can check it easily enough. I'll do so, and post it here Monday (I only post on youtube when I'm at work). ;-D
@@st1ka Sorry for the late reply - I got busy and just forgot.
The PSNID of the poster was saviorsama. His comment (circa late 2018) was first that the game was on its way. I answered that hope still springs eternal among diehard fans, and he said that he worked at WM. I made a snarky comment after that, and never heard from him again.
An amazing documentary! So well put together! Looking forward to next part!
How has it been 7 YEARS since I just NOW hear about this game? Maybe a good thing because I would have donated haha
They stole our money.
@@st1ka If it wasn't intentional, why the fake release party in Paris and lies about shipping pre-orders? I swear I want to take this Fonzi person to court for fraud.
To be fair they were very quick to refund me when I requested it
@@willhowlett when did you request? how did you contact them for it?
@@simskc Wild Bill is probably talking about before Fonzie decided to let all his staff go. Getting a refund from Watermelon now is impossible.
@@simskc It was March last year via their website. They refunded me straight away, but maybe they're behaving differently to people now
st1ka, you outdone yourself. Your videos keep increasing in quality exponentially. I don't understand why you don't have millons of followers. Keep up the good work! In the end, i will state, i was here when he was a tiny RUclipsr (now he's more famous than Pewdiepie).
Regards from Argentina
P.S: When is the 2nd part coming out?
Fico feliz pelo sonho de lançar um fan game ter sido realizado, tenho um reprint do pier solar e a versão do dreamcast aqui comigo. Confesso que fiquei otimista ao ponto de ter feito o pre-order do paprium, mas se soubesse que membros chave da equipe tinham partido, ou que tantos voluntários foram postos de fora do projeto, eu não teria pego.
I think I have this perception that retro homebrew makers are or should be stronger than typical modern developers but they continue to show just how human they are. ^_^ For developers on the subject of reprinting homebrew, stop being surprised they sell, geez even the Pier Solar guys have self esteem issues. Nothing kills a games lifespan more than making it out of Unobtainium. :\
You did some excellent reporting on this! I totally forgot about Paprium!
Thank you for making this.
@@st1ka I don't know for sure. Just 4 months ago, Luis Martins said that he and Fonzie got to play the finished game together on a commercial release cart! The optimist in me says that I'm finally going to get my game.
Amazing work, st1ka! Waiting for pt2 ;)
Cheers!
Sent here by Joe from Game Sack. Great video!
Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the video. :D
I'll try my best to create content you'll enjoy!
Great job and subbed! I ordered and received the original release of Pier Solar on Genesis/MD back in the day. For Paprium, I did a "wait and see". I'm very fortunate to have not pre-ordered or else I'd be fighting for a refund right now. If and when the game ever releases, I would gladly put down money for it.
@@st1ka, is like same shit for Pier Solar.
ordered mine in 2014, payed for it and still haven't gotten it.
they\he even say (after manically talking to their stupid bot) that it's laying on the shelf waiting for paypal to open again so i can pay for shipment but doubt that is the case...
gone to the stage that i have bought a second hand copy from ebay and if i ever get my game i can sell one off
Paprium isn’t coming to video games?
Considering what has been shown it will never come out.
Jenovi No.
No, it’s not coming to video games 😞
I think you should check your email
@@benthomas3328 I got that email too
Great video documentary. Looking forward to parts 2 and 3. Thanks, and keep up the good work! (Liked & subbed)
Congrats on the mention on Gamesack!
Thank you! It was a really awesome surprise! :D
I have it pre-ordered for a few years, I still hold out hope that it might be released.
I’m here because I looked it up after the CUpodcast!
st1ka ohh man. Well I’ll give u credit.
st1ka I messaged Camille and while she knows as much as we do she did say she hopes to be playing Paprium in less than three months time.
@@st1ka It would.
Went full screen during the premiere and read the chat after. Nice to hear your channel has been doing better since reducing the frequency of livestreams. I hope you get a lot more viewership with this video and the next two, this is really well made and as neutral as I expected.
Like others I hope the game gets released in the end (and as soon as possible really), partly because it still looks like it could be a hit, and also because I pre-ordered it on its official announcement nearly 2 years ago!
@@st1ka You could use SOR3 music when things about Paprium start to go wrong though ;)
Oh and Godde is pronounced like "God", I'm not joking!
@@st1ka ...Unless one of his close collaborators says otherwise for hearing it from the man himself.
Interesting @@st1ka... Gwenaël Dieu maybe then... Or Gwenaël Maître Des Données :)
That said, I never knew he had left WaterMelon and didn't see himself developing another game. Nice insider footage too. That video was very informative so, again, great job.
I appreciate this video so much, i am very upset about the Paprium debacle and never liked pier solar as i sold my copy nothing against the game just not for me. I really feel for the backers of Paprium that went all out and spent hundreds of dollars backing this game and now risk losing out but not only losing their money but the principal behind it too. If Paprium never comes out i only lost $50 dollars but i feel that losing my faith in watermelon games was way worse. I really believed in these guys and now i will never trust any thing that comes from them and has changed my motivation to back any indie kick starters to be honest. This is a big deal there was a lot riding on this release beyond just money, Fonzie, Watermelon or who ever is responsible has ruined a large part of this kick starting shit for a lot of people including me.
Sadly, it seems watermelon is dead as their website has been down for over a month now. In my case, I had pre-ordered the game and the manga, $90 in all
@@st1ka You were lucky. I invested in the LE stick as well, and in Project N, unfortunately. I got robbed of almost 270 bucks.
@@Shendue Ouch!
Great video and very interesting infos here. Well done!
I Hope that series of yours could be Fair.
Yo St1ka you got a shout out and link from Joe at gamesack on his latest video about crowdfunded games. Congrats man, hope this leads to a whole bunch of subs for you!
I saw! That such an amazing surprise. So far it's giving me a nice little boost! ^^
Game Sack sent me
Hope you enjoy your stay. :)
I'll do my best to provide quality content. :D
Hi st1ka! Thanks a lot for the video.
I think the background music is too loud when people are talking and it makes it more difficult to listen to them, I'd suggest lowering it down for the next one.
@@st1ka Thank you.
Holy shit it's been 7 years already? Goddamn.
So I remember with Pier Solar at one point a volunteer artist left and took his art with him forcing Watermelon to hire some freelance artists. I was surprised that wasn't mentioned in the documentary, was that Daniel Horvath? Or someone else? I was kind of hoping to hear more about the incident.
From what I've read in the thread on Sega 16 the character designer for Paprium was not getting paid for his work at least in the beginning. I also would have liked to have heard from the pixel artist who quit early in Pier Solar's development.
@@st1ka I don't remember. I just remember one of the first major delays for Pier Solar was that one of their original pixel artists quit and they had to redo all his work. You can still see some of it in the original demo that came out.
very interesting video. thanks for sharing this...
Great Vid Dude!
WTF! I just received an email from watermelon and my paprium pre-order is finally ready to ship after 3 years! Whaaaaa?!
I got the same email. Let's see how it plays out
In the meantime Project N engine was already used in a released SNES homebrew game.
@@st1ka Super Boss Gaiden
If this game comes out, sega wins the battle against SNES
Never lost the battle
David Steck you god damn right boy!!
Condor Q-G-MacKie isn’t project N an RPG?
SNES is more popular because it had a monopoly on a lot of popular 3rd party franchises. Sqaure Enix wasn't allowed to make Final Fantasy&Chrono Trigger For ex.
it's happening man, preorders are shipping now.
I'm here more for the Pier Solar dirt, but this video is very well done!
Thanks Stika!
Oh man. I was on the edge of pre ordering this too. After the shitshow that was getting my damn collectors edition of another game they made i held back. Cant wait to see what happen
Something smelled funny about half a year into my preorder. I backed out, and they were like "Just so you're sure about this, you may not be able to order it later!"
Got money back. Wasn't surprised at all when a full year afterwards it still hadn't launched (release was supposedly imminent when I preordered) and now it's back in the news.
Nice vid man!
HUMANS! I HAVE COME FROM THE FUTURE TO INFORM YOU THAT PAPRIUM WILL BE RELEASED IN DECEMBER 2020!
Muito bom vídeo amigo
Brasil!
And a year has passed since this video... :'-(
Yep, the dream is dead I'm afraid.
I'm still hopeful on Paprium releasing sometime in the future. Would be sad for it to just die off. Looks too cool to just die off.
@@st1ka Looking forward to your part two of this. The interviews, while discouraging were also informative. While I'd be pissed on losing out on the money, can't really hate on Watermelon as sometimes businesses just don't work out.. but also do wish the current team was a little more open and straightforward.
And again still haven't given up hope. Even if it took several more years I'd love to see something come out of this.
Yeah, I wish I knew more about Watermelon before I preordered...
Exactly, that´s why I trusted them. I didn´t know every Pier Solar veteran but Fonzie were out by the time of preorder though...
@@st1ka I don't know about "on time" but they did deliver.
Here's the part I never understood: Why didn't they make more physical copies of Pier Solar (Genesis/MD) and Pier Solar HD (Dreamcast)? It's a revenue stream, every production run sold out and I guarantee you they could have sold thousands more copies, especially the cartridge release. I wanted a copy but by then they were already having issues (and Paypal had stepped in).
Anyway, if WM was open from the start about developing with an extra chip in mind, I would have strongly dissuaded them. Nobody working on the game was capable of pulling that off... so unless they hired some old Sega hardware engineers, there's no farking way that was going to work. So IF we ever see a re-engineered Paprium, we'll be lucky if it's not a buggy mess.
@@st1ka That doesn't really explain anything, where's the motive? I mean seriously if you want to release more games you need revenue. Not producing more copies leaves money on the table for no good reason. It doesn't make sense unless Fonzie is either A) unstable B) incredibly petty and vindictive. Normally when you see a company fall apart and everyone go their own way, there's a lot of blame to go around. But after the "party" debacle? I'm really leaning towards it mostly being Fonzie's fault. Maybe he wasn't a bad guy in the beginning, but Watermelon is destroyed and I think he had a lot to do with that.
Thankfully there have been a couple other shining examples in the Genesis scene. I'm really looking forwards to playing Xeno Crisis.
I know this guy and can assure you he is not an undercover Paprium developer... as far as I know.
This should be a good one (not saying your other videos are bad or anything... *hyperventilates*). The videos that came out in Oct 2018 was not looking good at all: Glitches galore, no music, no enemies, and so on.
It sounds like that if they replaced Fonzie with someone more reliable, alot of these problems might have been avoided.
And possibly get them back on track in general.
Fonzie is a one man team now as he can't afford to have others around plus he wants to work on the game by himself.
@@pferreira1983 These two statements don't coexist. Clearly, Fonzie can't get the game finished by himself. If he also can't afford to have others around, he should refund money (something that was promised, multiple times, on the WM website, but has never materialized as far as I know).
@@adrianjenkins5877 No, he cannot get the game finished and has not paid some of the people who has worked on the game. He just wants to finish it by himself. To be fair Watermelon has refunded people in the past. It's only when Camille left that refunds stopped being given out.
@@pferreira1983 Man - it's no wonder you people get fleeced so easily. I know that sounds dickish, but I can't help it.
"Fonzie" may want to finish the game by himself, but it's increasingly apparent that he can't. Perhaps if he didn't isolate employees, or actually pay them, we would be in a different place.
Development is obviously going to have bumps and bruises, but this Paprium thing is just obnoxious. Again, you can go straight to WM's site - they have multiple posts on their front page claiming that anyone wanting a refund can get one. To my knowledge, no refunds have been given.
@@adrianjenkins5877 As I said when Camille was there people were getting refunds. Refunds have only stopped being given out in the past six months. Fonzie needs to ask for help and stop hoarding this project.
I just got an email saying my copy has been shipped.
Whoa
I didn't but I liked, thumbs up
Not paying the creators is beyond despicable. Really disgusting.
Get HYPE!
Subbed!
I preordered this sad about it but they did release pier solar so it might happen
so today they sent out emails... saying the refunds had been processed (after 2 years!) and they were releasing the game IN THREE DAYS (at double the original price). well, it's labelled pre-order. was this a desperate last minute move? who knows, but I'm not taking the bait this time. good luck sir, but I'll just play SOR4 until the unpaid reviews come in
Yeah I was excited for awhile and now I am just sad
@@st1ka your good the video was well done . it's not your fault lol
Sad story that there are so many creative heads, that could code this old consoles and could create great retro games. a great enjoyment for all retro gamers but it get handled wrong, like sega history repeat again. I wish so much for a new SegaCD or Sega Saturn game god know :D
@@st1ka oh great ! is there any website about new releases for old consoles ? i find sometimes videos about a new game but no status. like there should come a new saturn game sonic xtreme but then i read the dev did not work on it anymore...
I feel like, basically, they were too ambitious and not experimented enough.
Pier Solar was already an extremely ambitious RPG for the system and it was their 1st game, and it took them a lot of time.
Paprium was kind of pretentious too.
Yeah, they were amateurs that acted as professionals...
More videos st1ka prease
I try ^^
So you gonna review the game ?
Yep
So, I see I've got an email regarding project N and Y! Anyone else got one?
I got one. I wouldn't believe its contents though
We are going to have Streets Of Rage 4 to compensate for paprium
Paprium is Alive!!!
It's really not
@@st1ka I just received a slew of detailed emails and now my shipping notification...
@@st1ka yes it is
Will the game come out before Half Live 3?
4:53 - Guys, Who is the author of this animation?
Hey St1ka, do you have a discord? If not, it would be cool if you did :)
So basically Fonzie is an egotistical maniac who steals from fans and doesn't pay his developers. Sounds like a great guy!
So... about that Class Action Lawsuit.. let's get that set up.
I just collected a $466.23 check from Ambit Energy yesterday, so sometimes they are worth pursuing. I would very much like to get my money back here as well, but more importantly, I would like to see the other developers who put hard work into this game get some justice.
Thanks man. I'll have to look into that. I also think you've done a wonderful job with this video. As much as it angers me to have been taken advantage of as a customer, I still enjoy watching this as it enlightens me to how it all came together, and inevitably falls apart.
You've got a sub from me. Keep up the great work.
When I paid for this game I was prepared for this being me paying a 60€ idiot tax, but I'm still unhappy about what happened
Streets of Rage 2 IS and will ALWAYS be the absolute fucking best beat em up the world will ever see.
I like Neo Geo a lot but even the beat em ups on that with superior graphics and sound just dont seem to have that same magic. Good games none the less but no contest. Same with Final Fight, which I feel is second and Golden Axe sits at a comfortable 3rd .
Paprium would have always been 2nd best to SOR2. 1 and 3 were good games also but 2 was just on another level.
@@st1ka Yeah I totally agree. It may not be better but it can at the very least be the second best beat em up if it really is as good as the limited footage of it appears to be. Trailer, not party video.
@@st1ka Like I really want this game to come out. New Genesis games are always welcome. I just came back from the store, secured a mint boxed copy of Streets of Rage 2. I had it when I was a kid but have only had part 1 since I started collecting again for years.
Your video made me do it.
@@st1ka I also think it will see a release. Fonzie just seems like an absolute psychotic control freak. The fact he wont share the rom speaks volumes. That guy is determined.
Being overly protective of something is a sign of love. He'll get it done, this just isn't easy to figure out. I do feel he should drop the online aspect of it. Just keep it as traditional as possible and it might see a release.
@@st1ka website is still up and that's a good sign. Shit costs money to keep running. That going under would have been the first sign.
If he releases an update soon and says it's still coming, I'm gonna pre order it. This game looks like it would be worth the wait.......though it has been long as is.
“Do not make an an RPG your first game.” Lol
I'm no developer, but those seem like wise words lol
@@st1ka I got a copy of RPG Maker and tried recreating the opening scenes of Final Fantasy IV as a test - and it's more work than you think, even for a PC game with mature tools.
A homebrew Genesis/Megadrive RPG has to build everything from the game engine and the tools, - it's a LOT of work before you have anything that's considered presentable - and you need fantastic pixel artists too, because everyone has Phantasy Star IV or Chrono Trigger in mind.
@@johnsimon8457 Oh I remember when I tried my hands on RPG Maker. It was a TON of work
12:33 What lunatic gave Pier Solar a 9 out of 10? Definitely doesn't deserve anything higher than a 6.5. That game has tons of flaws.
People were so excited for a new game on the mega drive they overlooked a lot of the game's faults
@ 4:25 that pixel robot is lit!
No idea what it is.
Anyone got the songlist in the video?
@@st1ka Thanks man.
Os grandes tempos dos beat em ups ainda me lembro de foder moedas de 50 escudos como se fossem caricas em arcades
You sound like Malkovich from Malkovich's Gaming Guilty Pleasures
Not gonna happen, they got your money and your dreams!!!
Its hard to judge whos fault is this when all of em just basically point at someone whos not there.. im actually curious to hear what fonzie has to say.. still tho its all about delusions of grandeur
I tried to be pretty fair and balanced with my questions, but most of the answers led to Fonzie. I did try to contact Fonzie several times as I was making this series, but sadly, he never replied
@@st1ka yeah its unfortunate we're not gonna hear his thoughts. Btw pier solar is the only game I ever heard bout this company, and now I wonder do they ever released those 2 japanese translated games?
@@keypath4389 Sadly, they have not. The mech game has had its rights passed around several times now. It went from Watermelon to Super Fighter Team and from Super Fighter Team to Piko Interactive.
As far as I know Langrisser 2 is a lost cause... :\
@@st1ka I see, i heard japanese got a new release of langrisser on switch but yeah.. that mech game tho.. looks yummy, if only it got released in english in whatever format, just loove mech games.. btw great channel man, found out after watching the latest gamesack
@@keypath4389 Aww thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video ^^
As for Langrisser, yeah, there was a remake of Langrisser 1 and 2 released for the Switch. The game received a western release and can be bought from the NIS store.
Toujours pas de nouvelle ? =(
no :(
@@st1ka X(