Topic: Seaman Port Planned for 3DS?

[NdIGiTy]

The surreal Dreamcast classic might be headed to the handheld.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rumor/29313

A port of the virtual pet simulation game Seaman might be on its way to the 3DS, according to an article in the online edition of Japan's Nikkei business newspaper.

The article, which focuses on Nintendo, mentions an initiative on the part of the company to revive other publisher's titles on the 3DS in order to provide the system with stronger games, and cites Seaman, one of the best-selling Dreamcast games in Japan, as an example.

Series creator Yoot Saito hinted at the possibility of a Seaman game on 3DS in June of 2010 as part of an exchange with a Twitter follower.

[ThePerm]

neat, next step buy Sega...revive Shenmue too

[Shaymin]

Picking 3 companies out of thin air here for other IPs that could use this treatment...

Sega: Jet Set Radio, Skies of Arcadia (sup Xenoblade team)

SquareEnix: ActRaiser

Konami: LifeForce

[Ian Sane]

So who is making this game?  Sega or Nintendo?

Nintendo's strategy to build a stronger lineup is to rehash old IP from other companies?  See the problem with this?  I want new stuff and in typical Iwata era Nintendo fashion this is all about sequels and spin-offs of existing franchises.

Part of the whole benefit of third party support is the variety it provides.  This reminds me too much of when Nintendo made deals with Namco and Sega to work on Star Fox and F-Zero.  While F-Zero turned out good, having these third parties work on Nintendo IP provided none of the variety good third party support provides.  Developers have unique traits and styles and having them work on someone else's IP keeps things too homogenous.  There is no variety if everyone just works on existing Nintendo IP (I believe this same issue is holding Retro Studios back).

This could be the opposite approach where Nintendo uses someone else's IP.  I would prefer it to third parties making Nintendo games but again, it's going to make things too homogenous.  So now we'll get third party games with Nintendo's influence and fingerprints all over it - which, as before, could restrict variety.

I think the best approach is for developers to create their own identity and style by working with their own IP.  That approach can better allow for innovation and creativity than having a few big companies poking their fingers into everything.  Sometimes you'll get something better due to stricter QA but things will move in a safe and stale direction.  In the last ten years we've seen many companies merge together and I don't want to see Nintendo be more involved in that sort of thing.  If Nintendo just makes everyone's games it is going to get stale and old really quick.

I think a better approach would be for Nintendo to help fund new projects with promising developers and provide minimal interference.  They can and should step in in regards to delivering on budget and ensuring a quality product but should not dictate the style, genre, IP, target audience and general gameplay design.  The goal should be merely to assist the developer in achieving their vision in a quality game and not strictly Nintendo's own vision.

[broodwars]

Umm...assuming this rumor is true, of course, was anyone really asking for Seaman to get revived, especially for 3DS?  It does fit the classic Sega mold of decision-making, though: don't port or make sequels people actually want like Valkyria Chronicles; Skies of Arcadia; Jet Grind Radio; *sigh* Shenmue; etc.

[ROiDS]

If they would revive some games, I would want to see Little Samson, Space Channel 5, Custom Robo, Eternal Darkness, Ganbare Goemon, I-Ninja, Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, Psychonauts, Feel the Magic, and Megaman Legends 3 (it's not old, but I want it back up again). I also want Nintendo to bring their own series back to life, like Mother/Earthbound, Ice Climber, and Wave Race.

[Luigi Dude]

Umm...assuming this rumor is true, of course, was anyone really asking for Seaman to get revived, especially for 3DS?  It does fit the classic Sega mold of decision-making, though: don't port or make sequels people actually want like Valkyria Chronicles; Skies of Arcadia; Jet Grind Radio; *sigh* Shenmue; etc.

In Japan, the original Seaman was pretty popular.  According to Wikipedia the original sold 400,000 on the Dreamcast and the PS2 port of the original sold 300,000.  The sequel for the PS2 bombed though and only did around 60k.  But fact still stands that the first Seaman is one of Sega's best selling games in Japan and so it shouldn't be too surprising if Nintendo offered to help them revive a dead IP, this would be one of their top choices.

[TJ Spyke]

Custom Robo and Eternal Darkness are Nintendo IP's (this is about third party IP's). Double Fine Productions plans to do Psychonauts 2 if they can find the funding.

[NWR_insanolord]

Didn't they recently announce that Notch, the guy behind Minecraft, was putting up the money for them to do Psychonauts 2?

[TJ Spyke]

Markus Perrson (aka Notch) said he plans to meet with Tim Schafer at GDC, but nothing official. Schafer said that Notch's offer has made him re-consider the project, but they are till having a tough time getting a publisher because of how the first game sold (less than 500K in its initial release). This is from a Venture Beat article 2 days ago:

"It’s definitely a possibility. Notch and I know each other, and he has some resources, and so it could happen. But I think it’s going to be a while before we’ll be able to figure out what it would take to actually make it a reality,” he said. “Publishers take months to move on a deal like that, and it’s not any one person’s money. In this case, it’s one guy talking about millions of dollars being put into a risky proposition. So, it’s not something that happens overnight.”

[MegaByte]

Also, Notch had to reconsider since the estimated costs were quite a bit higher than he anticipated.

[TJ Spyke]

Let's remember that the first game was taking so long to complete and costs kept going up that Microsoft backed out of its agreement to publish the game, until Majesco stepped in (back when they published full games and not just budget/handheld games).

[GoldenPhoenix]

Can't say I'm excited about a straight port, but if it is more then that I am definitely interested. I LOVED the original game, it was so quirky and fun for a pet simulator.

[TJ Spyke]

I don't think it would be a port, that is just a misleading headline. The story is about reviving franchises, so it most likely would be a new game.

[motang]

For it's time this game was awesome! Good to see it being revived.