XyZ - A Tribute to the Xak, Ys and Zelda Series

[SkyeWelse]

I've been working on developing a new site concept in the last couple of weeks, but I didn't want to drop a link to it before I had something to show. This was originally intended to be strictly a Xak series fansite but along the way I turned my thoughts on making the site a bit of a broader spectrum by including the Ys series and Zelda series.

I am hoping that I can successfully tie the three games together with the theme of not only the similarity of genre, but also the similarity concerning one constant hero moving from one chapter to the next in his ongoing saga that is so epic that the story is retold again and again and updated over time. I think that this "could" be a great way to connect the three series and hopefully turn fans of one particular series onto the next.

I'm aiming for it to grab Zelda fans and turn them over to the Ys series and for the Ys fans to find their way into the Xak series, but oddly enough this could work in reverse as well. While working closely with the translator of the original MSX Xak 1 game, he has really enjoyed the Xak series and Ys series, but never really got into the Zelda series and now after visiting the site, he thinks it is time he tried playing the Zelda series since he didn't originally take to it in the beginning and never really followed up with it.

Mostly I want this to be a Xak series information megasite, with a bit of Ys information and Zelda information here and there. I don't really need to focus as much on expanding the Ys and Zelda sections as much as the Xak section since there are already pretty decent Zelda and Ys sites that I couldn't hope to surpass to begin with. But there are not a whole lot of Xak sites out there. Besides Nightwolve's Xak III shrine and a Japanese Fray/Xak site called Flamebird, that's really about it.

-SkyeWelse

[Gillian Seed]

Good luck on your site !
Nice pic with the three main characters. (the XyZ logo is nice too)
Maybe you should give a bigger link, for a moment I thought your site was accessible only through the banner in your sign (and was nowhere to be found).

[SkyeWelse]

Thanks for your comments. I had fun creating those images and  I'm still working on th site as I go along so new stuff will be added over time. I still need to finish all the different versions of the Xak games as well so that I can improve what is already there at the site information-wise. Right now I'm still stuck near the end of the game in Xak II. : (

-SkyeWelse

[MP83]

Looks like a nice start.

My only complain would be the text "A Tribute Site to the Xak, Ys, and Zelda Series" in the logo. The font is kinda messy IMHO, and I can't recognize the word "Ys" from there - looks more like an ink blot to me.

Other than that, it looks pretty good already. Good luck with the site, SkyeWelse.

[SkyeWelse]

My only complain would be the text "A Tribute Site to the Xak, Ys, and Zelda Series" in the logo. The font is kinda messy IMHO, and I can't recognize the word "Ys" from there - looks more like an ink blot to me.

Other than that, it looks pretty good already. Good luck with the site, SkyeWelse.

Thanks. I'll have to think about changing that sometime. I always kind of liked the font in how weird or exotic it looked, but your right in that it is kind of hard to read the word "Ys" in there. Maybe after I get some more stuff done on the site I can touch it up a bit. Thanks for the critique, it helps me improve it. ^^

-SkyeWelse

[turbofan]

Hey cool site,good luck with it.I wonder why Xak never expanded beyond the pc engine.

[Gillian Seed]

Hey cool site,good luck with it.I wonder why Xak never expanded beyond the pc engine.

It also made its way on the snes, msx, pc98, x68000...

[Seldane]

Hey cool site,good luck with it.I wonder why Xak never expanded beyond the pc engine.

Did you check his site? The PCE versions of Xak I-III are ports! The Xak-series didn't originate on the PCE at all.

[turbofan]

Ah yeah I was referring to the saturn and playstation.I was wondering why it never expanded to 32-bit sytems and so forth.

[SkyeWelse]

Thanks for checking it out everyone. : )

Yeah the Xak series kind of ended with the PC-Engine back in 1994. I believe the series was originally meant to be a trilogy... with some added side adventures in there of course, bringing the total of different Xak games (without counting Tower of Cabin) to 5 that have multiple versions and various updated ports. In talking with the translator of the first game who is also a big fan of this series, he mentioned that Xak III: The Eternal Recurrence was originally going to be for the MSX system, but it was scrapped. Eventuallly Microcabin released it on the NEC PC-9801 and Fujitsu FM-Towns computers and then on to the NEC PC-Engine in '94.

It really is a shame that no new ports with updated graphics have been made. I'm not real sure if Microcabin still around anymore as a developer. If they are they have been very quiet. I do know that they've made a version of Xak I The Art of Visual Stage for mobile phones in Japan which would place it probably within the last 4-5 years, but aside from that no news about this series being re-released.

Oh and there is apparently a Fray In Magical Adventure game for the Sega Game Gear, but as I've not been able to find it anywhere, it may not be true. Gamefaqs and one other Japanese Game Gear list states that it is real however.

-SkyeWelse

[Game_Hunter]

I remember seeing a screen shot or 2 of Fray in an old Sega mag I used to buy and a mailorder site I am using here in Japan does indeed list Fray for the GG but as can be expected it has a huge "premium" price   

I love the Xak site you have (shame there are no FM Towns versions for Dl though, DAMN that system's games are hard to find!) but just 2 notes.  You have listed all versions of Xak games for the PC-E as being made by Riot which is incorrect.  Xak III was made by NEC Home Electronics (I am not sure if it was co-developed by Microcabin or not though) and Fray CD was made and published by Microcabin themselves.

I think it is a great shame that Microcabin never made remakes for the Saturn and I think it's a shame they aren't really around anymore as I really enjoyed their games, especially Sword & Sorcery on the Saturn.

[SkyeWelse]

Thanks for checking it out Game_Hunter and I'm glad you like it. There is always more content being added as I can find the time to add more Xak stuff. Recently there have been a great deal of extra content submissions that are being implemented into the site that will hopefully expand it a bit more. The ultimate goal of all of this mainly is to generate more interest in the series so that perhaps more of the Xak games can be translated, but now it looks like the soundtracks will be made available soon enough, so perhaps that will give people a bit more access for "rare game music" to do a video game remix to. There is also a project to display the artwork of the Xak series, the overall Geography of the games, and even an English scanlation of the Xak manga at some point.

As for the FM-Towns versions, I need to update the page with a bit more information sometime, but if I recall correctly there are two Xak games that were released for FM-Towns: Xak II and Xak III. The Xak III FM-Towns is something that will eventually get uploaded, but I'm still waiting to receive it.

Perhaps you're right about that statement about the PC-Engine versions being developed by Riot being incorrect. I think you are definitely right about Fray CD, however I believe Riot is a subsidary of NEC Home Electronics. Perhaps I should phrase it a bit differently on the next site update.

Thanks for checking it out! I'm also hoping to put together a Xak series Wikipedia article at some point, though the Xak projects have been kind of a slow process lately since I've been busy with college stuff and moving to a new apartment.

Sorry it took me so long to post a reply.

Edit: I wish I could find that version of Fray for Gamegear. I've been searching for it forever it seems now. I'd even think about ordering it sometime if I could find it reasonably priced.

-SkyeWelse

[Game_Hunter]

Actually Riot was one of the Nihon Telenet subsidaries,  I think it was LaserSoft and later changed it's name to Riot as the original Cosmic Fantasy games were by LaserSoft and the Mega-CD compilation is Riot, same as the Valis series, the CD-ROMROM versions were LaserSoft and the remake of the original is Riot. 

I own the original's of Xak III and Fray CD but as they are at home in Australia and I am in Japan, I can't double check the Xak III game case to see if there is any indication of Microcabin working on the PC Engine version although it seems highly likely as it and the 68000 versions are so identical.  As far as I remember though (maybe someone else with the game can check), it said "1994 Microcabin, 1994 NEC Home Electronics"

Good luck with finding GG Fray, I can't even find a damn rom of the game and the site that I mentioned before that listed it as in stock is charging about 25,000 yen for it....

[NightWolve]

Hey SkyeWelse, I noticed you've got an obselete Xak III link of mine so I thought I'd mention it - It died when I terminated my service with my old ISP.

Anyway, on here:

http://gameflaws.com/xyz/links.htm

Your first link there for "Nightwolve's Xak III Shrine and Translation Patch Information" needs to change either to https://www.ysutopia.net/translations/xakiii/ or https://www.ysutopia.net/translations/xak3/

The 'iii' is the full shrine one and the '3' is a standard project page meant to conform to all my other project pages. Whichever one you wanna use is fine.

P.S.

Very nice Links page. It was fun seeing screenshots from all those NES/SNES RPG games of yesteryear I enjoyed in my boyhood.

[SkyeWelse]

Ah, thanks. I didn't realize that when your old IP died it altered the links. I'll make sure to update the link information in the next site update.

Glad you liked the links page and thanks for checking it out. It will get a lot bigger soon as I have the time to try and add more games to it, but I need to figure out a better way to categorize them and display them from what they currently look like now. The look could definitely use some improvement. If only time grew on trees, along with money... then I'd be set. ^_^ Perhaps after we move into the new apartment that page can get the update it needs.

-SkyeWelse