"New" Suikoden Trademark

[patapi]

Thanks to LanceHeart for bringing this to attention.

http://www.skoar.com/news/admin/new-sui ... ?Itemid=46
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regs ... y=77765442

FWIW, looks like Konami hasn't completely forgotten the series, but it's awkward that this trademark -- which, by the way, is the series' full original title in Japan -- is only filed this month after how many years out for sale in NA?

How peculiar...

[Antimatzist]

The rumour in the first page you've posted about PS3/360 is absolutely unconfirmed, you should bear that in mind.

[LanceHeart]

I did a bit of digging and surfing and found out a few things that may or may not be related to this game.

1. The trademark talks about the game being distributed online and it having online leaderboards. This indicates a PSN/XBLA/WW/DSiW game, depending on what format they choose. Online leaderboards can definitely be done, much like the lazy Cross Edge one where people just max out their characters on Easy and use their 999 stats in other modes to reach the top spots on all leaderboards.

2. The actual "Suikoden" trademark was canceled last year, prior to the registration of Suikoden Tierkreis and prior to the first game's release on PSN. Vextor said on the Suikox boards that it might be a renewal of this trademark, though I still find it strange that Konami would wait more than a year to renew a trademark with a different one.

3. The trademark is for "Genso Suikoden". No other trademark in the US Trademark database has ever had the game's full Japanese name, including the first one. This means they never intended to use the word "Genso" until now, which leads to a lot of possibilities.

My conclusions are the following: If 2 is right, don't expect much, if at all. If 3 is right, we might be witnessing something Konami explicitly said they wouldn't do last time we questioned them: Remaking the first game/a game in the series. Failing that, this could be Konami's way of relaunching the entire franchise in North America with its original name, probably in a way to mirror the Final Fantasy jump from III to VII and ditch the crappy North American numbering system.

[KFCrispy]

i wouldn't be surprised about a release of Suikoden I for the Wii or something (and/or 360). i think the PSP/PS3 release didn't do too badly.

[LanceHeart]

Just a little note, the trademark has finally been getting some activity over the past two days.

2009-08-20 - Notification Of Non-Final Action E-Mailed

2009-08-20 - Non-final action e-mailed

2009-08-20 - Non-Final Action Written

2009-08-19 - Assigned To Examiner

[Antimatzist]

What does that mean?^^

[Vextor]

It means nobody can dispute the trademark anymore.

Whenever you try to register a trademark, you have to go through a period where others can challenge your claim before it's formally accepted.

[LanceHeart]

Basically, Konami just needs to wait for approval and they can start publishing content under that trademark.

However, I don't recall if something NEEDS to be published under it at least once for the trademark to be upheld and start to count down toward abandonment. The description of the trademark seems to be standard fare for digital download releases, though.

Edit: From the submission's history, it seems like a few wrinkles in the application need some sorting out (six months grace period) in order for the trademark to be reassessed for approval. For what it's worth, what they have left to do is something along the lines of fixing syntax errors and translating the word "Genso".

[skymansxeno]

In Lancehearts post I think 2 is the most likely scenerio if that is true. I doubt Konami will remake Suikoden at all. The way they sound in interviews etc. they are more interested in doing new titles.

[patapi]

And that's a good thing. There are way too many ports and remakes of the same games lately in the market; what's with Persona 3 Portable as well as Tales of Versperia and Star Ocean 4 going multiplatform with add-ons, etc.

[LanceHeart]

Interesting thing is, I wouldn't mind them re-releasing the games with bug fixes (Insert Recipe 34 hatred here) but I'm rather hoping Konami just shows us a sign that Tierkreis isn't going to be the absolute future of the franchise.

[Belcoot4]

I don't think Tierkreis is going to be the future of the series I just think they're working on SVI and they really want to wait before they reveal any information to ensure maximum sales once its released. I couldn't imagine them to be this dormant all this time with nothing waiting in the wings.

[Raww Le Klueze]

And that's a good thing. There are way too many ports and remakes of the same games lately in the market; what's with Persona 3 Portable as well as Tales of Versperia and Star Ocean 4 going multiplatform with add-ons, etc.

It's a bad thing that more people get to play a game?

[thcrock]

And that's a good thing. There are way too many ports and remakes of the same games lately in the market; what's with Persona 3 Portable as well as Tales of Versperia and Star Ocean 4 going multiplatform with add-ons, etc.

It's a bad thing that more people get to play a game?

Certainly not, although fans might be let down when their favorite developer is using time working on a remake/port instead of a new game.

Personally, while I can be guilty of that thinking sometimes, I generally welcome ways for my favorite developers to easily make more money. This can give them more freedom on the new games when they are able to make them. If 100% of the financial prospects of the series aren't riding on each main installment, they can afford to take more chances when making these main installments.

[daoster]

Don't think its a new game...no leak from any publications of any Suikoden, direct sequel or otherwise, and TGS is only a couple of days!

Another barren year, probably.