Value Wave Co., Ltd. (株式会社バリューウェーブ) (also written as Valuewave and later depicted as valuewave) is a company established on December 10, 1996 initially involved with the development and sales of PC software and peripherals, as well as the planning, design and maintenance of computer network systems. By the mid-2000s, its main business shifted to contract development of video game software and mobile phone content production. Value Wave's work with game software includes multi-platform programming and 3D modeling, its most notable client as a support company being Capcom (including Clover Studio). Other clients include Konami (Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu series), Yuke's (WWE series, The Dog Island), Dimps (Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit), SunArt (Yatterman DS), Platinum Games (Vanquish, Anarchy Reigns, The Wonderful 101) and Ignition Tokyo (El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron).
On December 17, 2008, some staff members (led by programmer Ryu Takada) left Value Wave and founded Sugarcut, LLC, which developed for games that would release as early as the following year. This includes work on later entries of series previously developed by Value Wave (ex. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 through WWE 2K19, The Wonderful 101: Remastered).
As of 2017, the company has seemingly become inactive.
Notable Staff[]
- Akio Watanabe (渡部 章生), President (CEO)/Representative Director
- Toshiji Hazumi (波積 敏治), Supervisor/Producer
Games Developed by Value Wave for Capcom[]
- X-Men vs. Street Fighter (PSX Version) (1998)[1][2] [NOTE: Uncredited; Program]
- Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (PSX Version) (1999)[1][2] [NOTE: Uncredited; Program]
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (PSX Version) (1999)[1][2] [NOTE: Uncredited; Program]
- Mega Man 64 (2000)[3][2] [NOTE: Uncredited; Program]
- Mega Man X5 (PSX Version) (2000)[1][2] [NOTE: Uncredited; Program]
- Mega Man Xtreme 2 (2001)[4][2] [NOTE: Uncredited; Program]
- Mega Man X6 (PSX Version) (2001)[1][2] [NOTE: Uncredited; Program / Graphic (partial responsibility)]
- Gyakuten Saiban 2 (GBA Version) (2002)[5][2] [NOTE: Uncredited; Program / Graphic]
- Mega Man X7 (PS2 Version) (2003) [NOTE: Program / Graphic (partial responsibility)][6][2]
- Gyakuten Saiban 3 (GBA Version) (2004)[5][2] [NOTE: Uncredited; Program / Graphic]
- Mega Man X: Command Mission (2004) [NOTE: Program / Graphic Support][7][6][2]
- Viewtiful Joe 2 (2004) [NOTE: Uncredited; Program (some part)/ Graphic (some part)][8]
- Mega Man X8 (PS2 Version) (2004) [NOTE: Program / Graphic Support / Planning Support][6][2]
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS Version) (2005) [NOTE: Uncredited; Program / Graphic][9][2] (though title is unspecified [not open to disclose], the given release date combined with the known in-game staff credits serve to verify its identity)
- Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble (GCN Version) (2005) [NOTE: Program / Graphic (partial responsibility) / Planning Support][7][2]
- Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble (PSP Version) (2006) [NOTE: Program / Planning Support][10][2]
- God Hand (2006) [NOTE: Program (partial responsibility) / Graphic (partial responsibility)][6][2]
Production History: Akio Watanabe[]
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (PSX Version) (1999) -- Special Thanks to (Consumer Staff)
- Mega Man X5 (2000/2002) -- Special Thanks
- Mega Man Xtreme 2 (2001) -- Special Thanks (as Watanabe)
- Mega Man X6 (2001/2002) -- Special Thanks (as Akiko Watanabe) [NOTE: Credited in overseas versions only]
- Mega Man X: Command Mission (2004) -- Special Thanks (Value Wave)
- Mega Man X8 (2004/2005) -- Special Thanks
- Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble (2005/2006) -- CEO (Value Wave)
Production History: Toshiji Hazumi[]
- Mega Man X5 (2000/2002) -- Special Thanks [NOTE: Credited as Toshizi Hazumi in original Japanese version]
- Mega Man X6 (2001/2002) -- Special Thanks [NOTE: Credited as Toshizi Hazumi in overseas versions only]
- Mega Man X: Command Mission (2004) -- Special Thanks (Value Wave)
- Mega Man X8 (2004/2005) -- Special Thanks
- Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble (2005/2006) -- Supervisor (Value Wave)
Trivia[]
- Prior to establishing Value Wave, Watanabe had been a coordinator for the Sega CD version of Nostalgia 1907 and the SNES title Super Wrestle Angels (both Japanese-exclusive titles).
- As a contractor, Value Wave has also been able to hire sound composers outside of the main development company, as revealed on the soundtracks of the Mega Man X series of games.
- In 2016, Value Wave's development site included an image[8] of the game cases of some of the titles they contributed to. Interestingly, Viewtiful Joe 2 can be found among them. Though VJ2 was never added to their worklist (as late as 2011), some Value Wave staff members were involved in that title, as seen in its in-game ending credits.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://web.archive.org/web/20080406123920/http://www.valuewave.co.jp/develop/dev_ps.html
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 https://web.archive.org/web/20110629132427/http://valuewave.co.jp/develop/kaihatu_E.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080406123908/http://www.valuewave.co.jp/develop/dev_n64.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080406123857/http://www.valuewave.co.jp/develop/dev_gbc.html
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20080406123852/http://www.valuewave.co.jp/develop/dev_gba.html
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20080406123925/http://www.valuewave.co.jp/develop/dev_ps2.html
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20080406123902/http://www.valuewave.co.jp/develop/dev_gc.html
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20160425075006/http://www.valuewave.co.jp/dev/game.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080406123915/http://www.valuewave.co.jp/develop/dev_nds.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080406123930/http://www.valuewave.co.jp/develop/dev_psp.html
External links[]
- Company website (archived)
- Value Wave's Game Development Site (archived)