Lunar Threads

...to morn the passing of a legacy. And that legacy was Lunar. I'll always miss its music, its cheerful nature, and 2d sprites. But I think most of all I will miss the rich history of Lunar. It truly was a world that brought excitement back into our lives. What Lunar taught most was that love and music go hand in hand.

You will be truly missed...

-Aaron

Speak for yourself. Don't tell us why "we" are gathered here. If you're heading out, more power to you, but pretending to be a eulogist is no more convincing than any other type of flounce.

And for the record, Mr. Melodrama, your post doesn't even make sense. Do you actually know what the word "legacy" means?

I come not to praise Caesar Salad but bury it in a dressing that has become very similar to ranch with a splash Worcestershire sauce.

Aaron wrote:It truly was a world that brought excitement back into our lives.

But Lunar still brings excitement into my life. I love these games and cherish them. Just because we aren't getting a new Lunar game doesn't mean that Lunar is gone or "dead". Quite the contrary actually, Lunar doesn't die. It's everlasting. All I have to do is pick up the controller and I'm there again.
I will always carry fond memories of Lunar and these forums with me.
Lunar is called a "classic" for a reason.

Well at least one person got the point.


I wrote this because I feel like Lunar as an IP is dead. What if we as a community try to purchase the ip and use kickstarter to get a new game out?

Aaron wrote:What if we as a community try to purchase the ip and use kickstarter to get a new game out?

And how exactly would that work?

Aaron wrote:I wrote this because I feel like Lunar as an IP is dead.

Just because you may "feel" like its dead, doesn't mean it is. The license holders and publishing rights are still all valid. It just keeps moving around throughout its lifespan.

It just doesn't work that way, if I felt Mario is dead doesn't mean I can go and jump on kickstarter to get money and start publishing games based on a game that still has ownership with its current company.

We all got your point. If you think subtlety is your strength you are sadly mistaken.

Getting your point != agreeing with your point.

Well the way the Kickstarter would work is this:

Someone starts contacting whoever owns the Lunar IP. We see first if they are even willing to sell it. If they are, we set a price and explain to them that we want to buy it but need to raise the funds. At this point it we might need to make a corporation to hold the IP.

Begin a heavy HEAVY public relations campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and other game review sites as well as anime sites. To do this part we would need to fund raise out of our own pockets to post advertisements. In these advertisements we tell people about our Kickstarter.

At around the same time we start the kickstarter.

And until the last day of the kickstarter we keep posting/advertising daily on other sites until people are sick of us.

And thats how we get Lunar back.

After that...its time to make a game.

So either we just buy the IP or we do a combination purchase the IP/create a new game Kickstarter.

Come on now, seriously. They're certainly not going to sell you the IP at the kinds of prices you'd raise on Kickstarter.

Also, GungHo has definitely not forgotten Lunar.

To be honest, at this point I think I'd rather have a Lunar Magic School localization/remake than a Lunar 3. I was always bummed that Magic School wasn't brought over. And I'm not entirely confident that a successful Lunar 3 can be made.

DevNall wrote:Come on now, seriously. They're certainly not going to sell you the IP at the kinds of prices you'd raise on Kickstarter.

Also, GungHo has definitely not forgotten Lunar.

How much do you think the Lunar IP is worth?

Well other than SSH and the new iOS version we haven't seen new content in 7 years. I can't honestly see a new remake being made for the next gen systems. And I would be shocked if they made a new game for the Vita or some Nintendo product maybe on the iOS.

I really feel there is an opportunity here. I think that the amount of work that would be required is what most people have no interest in. But all of it is very possible.

EDIT:

VGchartz lists 190,000 SSH units sold globally. With the bulk of that being sold in the USA. If you assume an average price of around $40 per copy then you find that around $7,800,000 was made from the game. How much was net I don't know. This does not include any PSN digital purchases.

Maybe you're right. They probably aren't interested in selling it. They still make some nice change from it. But who knows how much XSeeD got from that.

LuNaRtIc wrote:And I'm not entirely confident that a successful Lunar 3 can be made.

I think that you're not the only one who feels this way. I am willing to bet that GungHo feels the same way too.

Yeah, I'm with DevNall. The kind of money needed to buy the IP for Lunar would be so far beyond a Kickstarter campaign it's not even funny. I honestly doubt the Lunar series is done. The iOS is still coming and think an EB remake has a better than to make the iOS platform than it did on the PSP, DS or GBA. I still feel like the little Four Heroes prelude in SSH was put in there for a Four Heroes game if the possibility came up.

GhaleonOne wrote:Yeah, I'm with DevNall. The kind of money needed to buy the IP for Lunar would be so far beyond a Kickstarter campaign it's not even funny. I honestly doubt the Lunar series is done. The iOS is still coming and think an EB remake has a better than to make the iOS platform than it did on the PSP, DS or GBA. I still feel like the little Four Heroes prelude in SSH was put in there for a Four Heroes game if the possibility came up.

First there's the impossibility of getting the Lunar IP. But even if you set that aside, given the huge failure rate of any fan-made project, the last thing a company should do is sell an IP to a group of fans -- at least, a group of fans who don't already have a game development studio with a few credentials behind them. That's not a fate I'd want to see happen to any series, much less Lunar. KF

Unfortunately, PR campaigns cost a lot of money and lots of time. It takes time to put together these things, and if you want ad space, lots of cash.

If you're not already on a system that's prepped to run programming utilities a game would take, you're pretty screwed. That costs a lot of money, and the programs cost a huge wad of cash.

Buying the rights would, as an everyday fan, essentially destroy your finances. Unless you're rolling in dough over there, bro.

Now, when you think about the profit you might make from it, compare that to investment and loss, and let's face it... It's not going to balance out.

Given the quality slip from the official studio, I'd buy a fan-made Lunar before I buy the recent official games.

But here's another thought... Lunar was based on a guy wanting to take over the world. The threat is essentially one man, albeit incredibly powerful. In Lunar 2, that's escalated to a omnipotent god of everything terrible. Lunar 3 would have to escalate on that. What's more pressing than a crazy, power hungry dude and much more than a psychotic god? Lunar 3 would have to be about whatever that is.

From time to time I have been jaded about the idea of a Lunar 3, but after seeing that Four Heroes intro on Silver Star Harmony I have a little bit more faith. If the same developers who were responsible for that section were to create a full game with a decent story, dialog, and likable characters I would love to play that. If I'm not mistaken Lunar SSH was fairly successful so I wouldn't rule out something like that -although now that the PSP is approaching the end of its lifecycle I'm not sure how that would work. Maybe the same engine with higher resolution graphics to make it a Vita title? And I also agree that there's a lot of potential for iOS both due to the sheer number of devices out in the wild, and that rpgs work well on the platform despite it's lack of physical buttons.