About
Working Designs has a fairly storied history with the PlayStation, releasing some of the most beloved, revered, and sometimes feared Role Playing Games and shooting games to the system. They’re most infamous for releasing their games in packaging variants – that is, the same game could have multiple disc arts and possibly insert variants. Since the only way to tell which version you got was to open the case, it makes collecting them easier since you can always swap out pieces to make the match you need.
This is a photographical archive of all known Working Designs game releases and their variation re-releases. All games presented in this catalog are in my personal collection, so they are obviously verified to exist. More importantly, this doubles as a checklist and a want list. If you have a release that is not represented here, I would ask you to provide photographical proof, and more importantly, I would love to buy it off of you. You can contact me here!
Alundra (Game Page)
The inserts are tagged to their discs via the PSRM number. However, through many trials, only 6 inserts have been found. The same insert was used for the 3 CDs sharing the same art concept; the characters with the end boss in a blu background. Also important to point out, is that there is a missing variant. What would be the F disc does not exist, and according to Vic Ireland (president of Working Designs), it was never made. It would have been of Alundra’s caretaker.
Arc the Lad Collection (Game Page)
There are two known variants, but three randomly inserted memory card cases (at 1 per). Each of the two sets has 4 total discs, and are grouped in Set Full Color, and Set Monochromatic Red.
Elemental Gearbolt (Game Page)
The set is broken up into the two main female leads; Nell and Seana. The discs feature them in their armor, and within their confinement on the insert. The two inserts can be aligned to become one picture – the two girls are looking at each other inside a single sphere.
Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete (Game Page)
The “Fan Edition” is named so due to Working Designs using a consumer’s artwork on the CD illustrations. The artist was very popular in the old days when Working Designs would have art contests and the like. It was released last as an EB Games exclusive. It is the complete game sans the Omake Box and outer box. The manual is now a standard version rather than the hard bound book.
The other 4 come with a Hardbound Book, a cloth map, and a large outer box. Within the case is also a “Making of” CD and a Music CD. Please refer to the game’s main page for all details concerning the pack ins.
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (Game Page)
Nothing really bad here, just the usual non-conformist hi-jinx we’ve come to know and love. PSRMs are numbered as extra discs, not variants. No known ‘non lettered’ SLUS variant. Only 2 variants are known at this time, and there are no insert variants, be it the cardboard or the Omake box.
RayCrisis: Series Termination (Game Page)
The game disc is the only true variant, as the insert seems to be the same across all copies. There are two known variants, however, and they have peculiar issues.
The SLUS numbers are A and B (there should be a letter-less version), but when the PSRM numbers are referenced, they are not sequential nor variant sequential. More importantly though, is that this set does not adhere to any known WD rule of variants.
RayStorm (Game Page)
Due to the first disc’s SLUS number not having a letter designation, I spent many a year believing this was a variant-free game release from Working Designs. Silly me; thanks to a helpful reader’s tip, the red version was eventually retrieved. Interestingly, the ships designation numbers are the opposite of their PSRM designations. 1 is 2 and vice versa.
Silhouette Mirage (Game Page)
By default, all PSX game’s first print run would have a standard SLUS number (i.e. no letters after it) and a PSRM number that ends in 0. SM’s two variants are lettered B and C, with PSRM numbers ending in 1 and 2 respectively. That means that, unless there was a print run not accepted by Sony, there should be a 3rd variant somewhere, with a standard PSRM and SLUS number. So far nothing has turned up.
Thunder Force V: Perfect System (Game Page)
One of the easier variants to track down. These actually adhere to the rules of the SLUS and PSRM, so no frustrations from me. Like Silhouette Mirage, these are pretty easy to collect.
Vanguard Bandits (Game Page)
The yellow robot seems to be the harder to find one. The discs’ PSRM numbers are sequential, but not variant based. They’re numbered as if they were parts of the same game. The game features a slightly typo’d ESRB font.