Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

A place to post news and also give your ideas about the future of the Suikoden series.
Please justify all speculations with reasons why you think such an event could happen.
Antimatzist
Posts: 2770
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:48 am
Location: Germany, yeah baby
Contact:

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by Antimatzist »

@Ellyos: The Suikoden V manga was only released in France outside of Japan, and I think the Suikoden III manga was also released in Italy. A worldwide English release of the mangas would be nice. I can speak only for Germany, but mangas are an emerging market here (and TokyoPop has still their office here.)
User avatar
KC_MCDOHL
Posts: 593
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:44 am
Location: Scotland
Contact:

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by KC_MCDOHL »

@ Ellyos:


Yeah, thats what I mean. But not neccesarily Suikoden VI. I mean, a spin off set in the traditional Suikoden geography and timeline would suffice.

Well, I dont see why that should be a problem. I mean, we could say we want it released worldwide before we agree to fund it. However, language barriers would probably be an issue so perhaps we could only afford to fund an Japanese/English release.

I'm not too sure that the ''old style'' look of Suikodens would not sell to well to modern gamers. I mean, SII still looks lovely and up to date even today and I'm sure they could make it look even better and add many new details by todays standards. I think the gaming public would love to see a gorgeous game like SII released nowadays. But thats just my opinion. Lets see what others think. Yeah, we could do these games ourselves. But it would probably be much easier for us to help pay Konami to do it lol Atleast that way Suikoden would be getting more publicity and money.

But yeah, I do agree that the crowdsolution idea does seem pretty uncertain. Theres no garauntee that we can even do it. Theres no garauntee that we would get the sort of game/s that we want. And theres no garauntee that it would even help the Suikoden franchise in the long run. But I think its certainly worth a try :)

I'm also more keen on using crowdfunding for licensed projects. Atleast to start of with. Lets get Suikoden I + II in HD!!!!! :P
Last edited by KC_MCDOHL on Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:46 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Luke
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 3:23 pm
Location: Italy

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by Luke »

Antimatzist wrote:@Ellyos: The Suikoden V manga was only released in France outside of Japan, and I think the Suikoden III manga was also released in Italy
No, the opposite. In Italy there is Suikoden V manga, but not the III
LanceHeart
Posts: 790
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:48 pm

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by LanceHeart »

Actually, both Suikoden III and Suikoden V came out in French. The translators of III had a tendency to localize names in French, while the ones who did V just took the list of English names instead.
Formerly known as: Gothann
User avatar
dragons_descent4
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:53 pm

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by dragons_descent4 »

Reviving the old games would be a good idea,and maybe a re release of the newer games later down the line. That's an idea I could definitely get behind. Or even getting the translations on the novels.
Bringing in a Suikoden VI would be too difficult at this point because a lot of potential new fans won't know what's going on,and it's hard enough getting all of the games now.
"Now we can fight to our hearts' content."
"Too bad I have to fight with you."
- Viktor and Flik


Into dark humor? Check out my upcoming webseries!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Morb ... 1697490455
luceys
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:00 pm

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by luceys »

@KC_MCDOHL and Ellyos

I actually like the idea of making the graphics more like that of I and II; but hopefully also updated enough to satisfy nonSuikoden fanboys. Games like Tales of Vesperia and the upcoming Ni No Kuni seem to indicate that there could be a market for that style of game. Granted Studio Ghibli is behind Ni No Kuni, so I wouldn't expect Konami to be able to quite match that game in terms of graphics.

I actually thought Suikoden III-IV suffered because Konami tried TOO much graphically, which led to irritating loadtimes, slow-downs, etc.

Preview of Ni No Kuni as a reference

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1213880p1.html

Edit: And to drive the point home, does this picture for Tales of Vesperia look familiar to anyone?

Image
Ellyos
Posts: 129
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:19 pm
Location: France

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by Ellyos »

Hmm, you're comparing 2D sprites (Suikoden I & II) and 3D cell-shading (Tales of Vesperia and Ni No Kuni), that's two different things. Moreover, even the point of view is different. The only thing I could compare is probably the atmosphere emanating from those games.

If that's what you say by similar graphics, then okay, of course that could be nice. And I have nothing against Suikoden I and II atmosphere.

Anyway the development will be probably more expensive than any other Suikoden so, for me, that's again a crowdfunding for a "too" high budget project.

Graphically, Suikoden III or IV were too much for the budget. Graphics were poor in those games by the standard. Suikoden III could almost be a PS One game and the texturing gave a "dirty" impression. Suikoden IV spent all the talents on the stars and monsters, but the décor was just "empty" with large plain surfaces. Same for Suikoden V in fact, but the quality was better.
If you think Suikoden III or IV was too much, it will be worse with a Tales of Vesperia style.
luceys
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:00 pm

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by luceys »

Ellyos wrote:Hmm, you're comparing 2D sprites (Suikoden I & II) and 3D cell-shading (Tales of Vesperia and Ni No Kuni), that's two different things. Moreover, even the point of view is different. The only thing I could compare is probably the atmosphere emanating from those games.

If that's what you say by similar graphics, then okay, of course that could be nice. And I have nothing against Suikoden I and II atmosphere.

Anyway the development will be probably more expensive than any other Suikoden so, for me, that's again a crowdfunding for a "too" high budget project.

Graphically, Suikoden III or IV were too much for the budget. Graphics were poor in those games by the standard. Suikoden III could almost be a PS One game and the texturing gave a "dirty" impression. Suikoden IV spent all the talents on the stars and monsters, but the décor was just "empty" with large plain surfaces. Same for Suikoden V in fact, but the quality was better.
If you think Suikoden III or IV was too much, it will be worse with a Tales of Vesperia style.
Valid points, but I was comparing the general artistic feel of both games, which I think are very similar; especially given that they are 10 years and 2 console generations apart.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/media/360/ ... eria02.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mQGf ... odenII.jpg

I am still with you that crowdfunding probably isn't a viable option for the game most hardcore fans would want, but going retro with the graphic style may not alienate as many gamers as some would think. Frequent/long load times, slow downs and unnecessarily large cities would, however. As would poor business planning and marketing (think Konami should know that by now).
JiggleBiscuits
Posts: 91
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:39 pm

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by JiggleBiscuits »

The more I hear about crowd funding, the less I like it.

It's like companies will hold what you want hostage unless you give them your money.
LanceHeart
Posts: 790
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:48 pm

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by LanceHeart »

JiggleBiscuits wrote:It's like companies will hold what you want hostage unless you give them your money.
...what?

That's the point of any kind of funding for projects. Whether it's from the company itself or crowd funded, they still don't give you the product until you pay for it.
Formerly known as: Gothann
Ellyos
Posts: 129
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:19 pm
Location: France

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by Ellyos »

That's a bit different since company or producer get back their funds by the sales (or try to), not the "crowdfunder".
That's more a donation by crowdfunding. Even if you have reduction on the final price, you still have to finally spend money.

Anyway, I guess crowdfunding is better for "new" companies who can't find funds but have a good idea (or an idea they think good).
For a company like Konami, it is not a fund issue. If they wanted to fund a Suikoden properly, they'd do it because they can. That's why I'm not really opened to crowdfunding for a Suikoden game.

Even for translation, I don't think crowdfunding must be applied to Konami but more to the national editor who want to get the license.
Honestly, for France, I don't think Konami decided to release Suikoden manga. This decision originally came from french editors who acquired the license.
A fan network wanting to take a translation/edition project in charge by themselves is another application for crowdfunding, that's more like an association. So you could try to get license properly, but you can do it "illegally" too (rom-hacking or scan-translation)...
LanceHeart
Posts: 790
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:48 pm

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by LanceHeart »

Crowdfunding in the fashion KickStarter does it is supposed to ensure different levels of compensation for the investment you put into the project. A simple example would be Double Fine's, where donating a minimum of $15 nets you the game itself. Anything higher than that includes the game and adds more incentive for higher amounts of investment.

While yes, you're correct in saying that crowdfunding doesn't often (barely ever) allow you to make money back, you can still obtain the intended product if you actually spend enough.

That's also where the initial suggestion doesn't work: Crowdfunding needs to come from the actual product producer, else you can't guarantee anything to potential participants.
Formerly known as: Gothann
Vaizer
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:46 pm

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by Vaizer »

So where do we stand on this? Yes or no?
Antimatzist
Posts: 2770
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:48 am
Location: Germany, yeah baby
Contact:

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by Antimatzist »

Vaizer wrote:So where do we stand on this? Yes or no?
It's nothing we could decide. I just wanted to know opinions, if fans would like this idea or not. Totally theoretical, Konami would never ever do this.
For a company like Konami, it is not a fund issue. If they wanted to fund a Suikoden properly, they'd do it because they can. That's why I'm not really opened to crowdfunding for a Suikoden game.
I agree on that - still, maybe this would then be an idea for localizing games and maybe stuff like the encyclopedeia in the US or even Europe? Of course, Konami has money for that too - theoretical speaking.
User avatar
KC_MCDOHL
Posts: 593
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:44 am
Location: Scotland
Contact:

Re: Crowdfunding - a possible future for Suikoden?

Post by KC_MCDOHL »

Here is a link somewhat related to discussions here that I thought may be of interest. Posted by Evert Gabberner on the SUIKODEN DAY 2011 wall:


http://www.npr.org/2012/03/09/148278061 ... publishers
Post Reply