Lunar Dragon Song, to hold us over till Lunar 3?

[segaboy7]

I was just thinking that Since Lunar Dragon Song is coming out, and that JAM is no stranger to the Lunar Series, Watch the Lunar EB credits there is a few developers with (JAM) by there names. So is it possible that Gamearts got JAM to make dragon Song to hold fans over and get new fans to the series as Gamearts works on Lunar 3?

[Lunar Eclipse]

More like Dragon Song is meant to hold us over until the Four Heroes game which is meant to hold us over until a possible Lunar 3.

[ilovemyguitar]

I wouldn't say it's to hold us over, as it is to see if there's even interest in a Lunar 3.

[Ardekh]

Well, 'they'd' know if they checked Lunar-net every now and then!

[Jyd3n]

Yeah according to Nintendo Power they are considering continuing the Lunar series depending on who well Lunar Dragon Song goes. All i have to say is that people better go out there and make it a best selling title so we can see more Lunar games in the future.

[Alunissage]

LunarNET is a small group of fanatics, though. We're not representative of consumers as a whole. It'd be nice if this being the first RPG on the DS helped reestablish the series, but I dunno.

[Rune Lai]

I don't think this will happen, since Lunar Legend did relatively well in the US, but it's important as a game publisher to realize that fan outcry does not translate into dollars. I don't have a good RPG analogy, but let's take a look at the Panzer Dragoon series (so picked because the third installment, Panzer Dragoon Saga routinely goes for over $100 on ebay, thus justifying the fan fanaticism).

Panzer Dragoon Saga capped off a series that began and seemingly ended on Sega's ill-fated Saturn system. Then there was silence. The Dreamcast came and went without a new PD game. So it seemed the series was done. PDS was a good ending to the series anyway, so it seemed fitting.

Then a funny thing happened. Xbox was coming out and there was going to be a new Panzer Dragoon game for it. Sega had heard the fan buzz and decided it was worth another go around. They rounded up a fair number of the original development team and cut them loose. Panzer Dragoon Orta was born. And landed with a financial thud. The problem was, even though the majority of the fans loved it, the fans turned out to be merely a vocal minority (a very vocal minority) and not representative of the general gaming public. There will likely not be a PD5.

There's nothing that says X number of fans on a message board equal Y number of sales so even if Ubi and GA checked the boards here, they wouldn't know. The only way Lunar 3 will come about if is they see the sales they need to justify working on that game as opposed to any other game. So buy the game, make your friends by the game. Vote with your pocketbook and show there really is enough interest out there for a Lunar 3.

[GhaleonOne]

Agreed on all accounts. I do think Lunar DS will do well here, and not because of us rabid fans. I think the fans had a great deal to do with Lunar SSSC and EBC's success. Especially SSSC. But I think with Legend, and likely Dragon Song, much of the fanbase for these two games was and is going to be newcomers to the series. There's still the hardcore base, but with Legend, it was definately apparent that many of the people who bought it were looking for a good GBA RPG and not a Lunar game specifically. I think with Lunar DS, it'll be the same. The market is there for handheld RPGs like this. We can only hope that GameArts decides to take a risk and put Lunar 3 on a console sometime in the future based on sales of the game here (as obviously Japan didn't eat it up based on poor sales for Lunar Genesis).

[drumlord]

Rune, I think that analogy works as well as any, but PDO had a number of things working against it. It was an early game on a system destined to be hated by Japanese gamers and the US gamers that like it are only interested in games put out by Microsoft, EA, and Ubisoft. So PDO, along with Phantom Crash, JSRF, and several other games had a lot going against it. The argument is even more true when you consider how awesome PDO was.

[YoungDyne]

I can't remember where I saw this, but the developers said they want to revive the series. They also said they'd like to start on a console LUNAR game, but the reason they haven't yet is because they don't have the funds they need. Which I think we all kind of knew, but hopefully the next couple handheld LUNAR games will solve that problem. Not to mention, and here's the part that got me excited, I also remember reading that if a console game doesn't happen they'll simply keep the game on handhelds...but one way or another, the series is coming back.

Now if only I could find where I read this information...that way, I could prove it wasn't just some crazy dream ^^;;

...It wasn't on another subject around these boards, was it?

...hmm, maybe it was simply a dream?

[GhaleonOne]

Nintendo Power article. It said they needed support to keep the series going, but I don't recall them saying the series was coming back even if the games sold like crap.

BTW, one downside is apparently more stores are pushing the pricetag up to 40 instead of 30. I'd like to get to the bottom of this, but haven't. Not only are GameStop and EBGames pushing it at that price, so is Circuit City now. In fact, the only places I've found it still at 30 bucks are UbiSoft direct, WalMart (which is using Lunar Genesis still as the title, and claims it'll be out Wednesday, showing that likely their information is extremely outdated and they may raise the price), Target and Amazon. Amazon is listing it as coming from Target as well, and I shows regular price as 39.99 slashed through giving it a special price of 29.99. Likely if Target is doing it, WalMart will do it for that price as well. But all the other stores seem to be pushing it higher. Hopefully if Target and WalMart sell lower, other stores will drop back to 30. I'm still not sure why the price was raised this late in the first place.

[Rune Lai]

drumlord, I don't believe the Japanese audience was as large of a factor in the creation of PDO, I think they were counting on a certain amount of sales abroad, but I would have to check to be sure. It's a pity it didn't do well though. It was the only game that made me consider buying an Xbox.

apparently more stores are pushing the pricetag up to 40 instead of 30. I'd like to get to the bottom of this, but haven't. Not only are GameStop and EBGames pushing it at that price, so is Circuit City now. In fact, the only places I've found it still at 30 bucks are UbiSoft direct, WalMart (which is using Lunar Genesis still as the title, and claims it'll be out Wednesday, showing that likely their information is extremely outdated and they may raise the price), Target and Amazon

I don't know the reasoning for this, but it sucks. I'm not a sales person so I can't fathom why the change in sticker price (other than for one reason or another Ubisoft feels it's in their best interests). Hopefully the $30 price will stay at Target/Amazon.

[DevNall]

Hopefully the $30 price will stay at Target/Amazon.

I like some of Amazon's recommended "Accessories for Lunar Dragon Song":

Rock 'N Fold Chair
Video Center
Deluxe Video Center
Video and Game Station

Clearly, very helpful. Especially that Video Center/Deluxe Video Center.

[GhaleonOne]

Well, after looking into it more, supposedly if you walk into the store and preorder/buy, it's still 30. Supposedly, it's only the only stores. I may call up to one of the stores today.