Pre order goodies?

Wolfman_Samurai · Post by **Wolfman_Samurai** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 5:26 pm

Does anybody know if Gamestop, EB, etc. are doing any pre-order bonuses for Dragon Song?

Post by **Erroneous** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:26 pm

This is not a remake so doubtfully IMHO.

Post by **Rune Lai** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:31 am

I doubt it. Ubisoft is not known for having pre-order goodies. Keep in mind that most companies that offer pre-orders are niche publishers who live and die by the hardcore audience. Ubisoft is more diversified and does not live from game to game, project to project. For them to offer a pre-order for a tiny DS game that's probably a blip on their quarterly earnings radar doesn't make any sense. If they don't give pre-order bonuses for Splinter Cell you're not going to see them for Lunar.

YoungDyne · Post by **YoungDyne** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 6:04 am

True, but some have hope because you'd figure they might know something about the series, how a lot of people have been waiting for a new LUNAR for too long. Me? I'm about 98% sure they won't be doing any pre-order stuff, cause for the stores in my area the day it goes on pre-prder is the day you know if something extra is included, even if it is only a poster or whatever.

Speaking of pre-orders, I did just that yesterday and I'm excited as hell for September 21st (the people who work at the store I pre-ordered at said this is the day they'll get Genesis on their shelves).

Post by **Rune Lai** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:03 am

I'm sure Ubisoft believes there is a potential untapped audience that it has not fully addressed. Its partnership with Game Arts is likely a way to diversify its offerings since Lunar is already a known franchise and sales of the GBA version were respectable (over 100,000 units if I remember right). They probably do know that people have been waiting for a new Lunar, and they're willing enough to take advantage of that and bring over a new game. (I have a suspicion that Ubisoft may even be funding part of Lunar: DS's development.) It's just that at the same time Lunar is just one of many projects and won't get as much special attention as their flagship series like Splinter Cell or Prince of Persia.

urabob · Post by **urabob** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 10:49 pm

POP and Spinter Cell don't seem to need much in regards to promotional items. Something like a DS rpg would lend itself pretty well to a freebie promotion. Harvest Moon, Finny the Fish and Tales of Symphonia all had cool enough freebies to pursade me or my other half to pre-order. I'm not saying I won't buy Dragon Song without a freebie, but it sure wouldn't hurt.

Greensky · Post by **Greensky** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 3:15 am

It would be awesome to see a hard cover book pre-order item. Just like the manuals from the Lunar Complete games.

Post by **Rune Lai** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 5:50 am

urabob wrote:POP and Spinter Cell don't seem to need much in regards to promotional items. Something like a DS rpg would lend itself pretty well to a freebie promotion. Harvest Moon, Finny the Fish and Tales of Symphonia all had cool enough freebies to pursade me or my other half to pre-order. I'm not saying I won't buy Dragon Song without a freebie, but it sure wouldn't hurt.

True, POP and Splinter Cell don't need it, but going a step further, that could also mean that Ubisoft doesn't need it. When was the last time Electronic Arts gave away pre-order goodies?

Harvest Moon and Finny the Fish are both done by Natsume, one of the niche publishers that have to cater to the hardcore fan. If Natsume couldn't sell copies of Harvest Moon it would probably shrivel up and die. Namco is probably two or three times Natsume's size, but they're still fairly small fry (especially compared to someone like Ubi).

The way I see it, a company offers pre-order bonuses when it cannot afford to lose its audience and it has potential audience to gain, especially when that audience can become a fan of the company's work. There are Atlus fans, Working Designs fans, and fans for many niche publishers/developers.

I can't think of anyone who has ever considered themselves an Ubisoft fan. Ubi just doesn't have that kind of brand identity with its products; there are too many of them across too diverse a range of genres. Considering that pre-order bonuses may actually cost the company money if the game does not sell enough copies, and that getting the pre-order bonuses probably won't make Lunar fans buy other Ubisoft games (would you buy Rainbow Six because Ubisoft gave you a Lunar artbook?), why offer a bonus?

Post by **Alunissage** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 7:25 am

Greensky wrote:It would be awesome to see a hard cover book pre-order item. Just like the manuals from the Lunar Complete games.

Yup, it'd fit right into that DS game box.

Look, wake up, folks. The closest we're likely to get for a bonus is a demo for some other Ubi game. I'd love to be proven wrong on this, but don't get your hopes up just because WD did this stuff...and they didn't do it at first, I'm sure. The most games WD has ever put out in a year is three, I think, and they're down to less than one...how many does Ubi put out? You're being spoiled because a niche publisher who was betting it all put extra stuff in...if this game disappears without a trace, Ubi will go on just fine (as they did after BG&E...sob).

And to illustrate my point, I never heard of Finny the Fish before tonight. Clearly the bonuses did not achieve the aim of getting the game known as far as this consumer is concerned.

Greensky · Post by **Greensky** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:54 pm

I know it wouldn't fit in the DS box Alunissage

I just meant that I hope it's a pre-order item that they just hand out when you pick up the game. An artbook would be hot too

dreadsofcrass · Post by **dreadsofcrass** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:11 am

i pre-ordered it off amazon and i didn't get anything extra...but i cancelled the order once i heard it was bumped back to september.

Lord_Ghaleon · Post by **Lord_Ghaleon** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:11 am

I doubt that there will be pre order items, but there is a possiblility that you can buy extras seperate like an artbook and the such. but hey who know.

DevNall · Post by **DevNall** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:58 am

Lord_Ghaleon wrote:I doubt that there will be pre order items, but there is a possiblility that you can buy extras seperate like an artbook and the such. but hey who know.

A complete soundtrack would be nice. (Available for purchase separately, I mean).

Post by **Alunissage** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:22 am

Well, to be fair, we don't know yet if the music will be any good. =) But yeah, I'll be happy if a Japanese soundtrack comes out for it. And/or a US one, but I'm not really expecting one on this side of the ocean.

Post by **GhaleonOne** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 2:30 pm

Agreed, other than the SM versions of EB and EB Prelude, I now own all the soundtracks, so I have incentive to keep up on that. I will say I'm worried regarding the lack of Iwadare though. His music has been perfect for the series in the past, so without him, we'll have to see how things go. I do think second choice would be Rune's option in Mitsuda. I think his work could do the series justice.

DevNall · Post by **DevNall** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:45 pm

Alunissage wrote:Well, to be fair, we don't know yet if the music will be any good. =) But yeah, I'll be happy if a Japanese soundtrack comes out for it. And/or a US one, but I'm not really expecting one on this side of the ocean.

Very true, but here's hoping it will be good.

And yeah, I wouldn't expect to see it domestically released. Although it would be nice if more gaming companies took after SquareSoft's recent example and started offering soundtracks on iTunes. You don't get a physical CD and packaging, but it sure is a lot cheaper and quicker than importing (or buying from an importer).

And, actually, now that I think about it... I'd probably buy a "Lunar: Genesis" Poster or Wallscroll if they were available.

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