Topic: RUMOR: Square-Enix to sell two franchises

[NWR_pap64]

NOTE: I didn't know where to put this exactly, so I am putting it on the Wii forums. Mods, if you think that the thread is off topic, you can move it elsewhere.

There is a rumor flying around that says that Square-Enix might be willing to sell two of its franchises; The Kingdom Hearts series and the Mana series. Who is the potential buyer? Disney.

Selling Kingdom Hearts to Disney makes a lot of sense. I mean, the game is composed of a lot of Disney franchises (everything from the Disney princess line to the live action franchises is in the game), so its logical why Disney would want to buy the franchise. My main concern, however, is that if Square really does sell the franchise, it means that it will be in the hands of a whole new set of developers. I mean, the game was questionable in the hands of the original creators, think how it might turn out in someone else's hands...

As for Mana, I am surprised. Again, if the series barely took off in Square's hands what will happen to it in Disney's hands?

Again, this is all just a rumor, fueled by the speculations that both franchises are heading to the Wii and that Disney is creating a whole new team to create games solely for the Wii.

Here's the link:
Disney to get Mana and Kingdom Hearts?

[vudu]

Quote
Originally posted by: pap64
Selling Kingdom Hearts to Disney makes a lot of sense. I mean, the game is composed of a lot of Disney franchises (everything from the Disney princess line to the live action franchises is in the game), so its logical why Disney would want to buy the franchise. My main concern, however, is that if Square really does sell the franchise, it means that it will be in the hands of a whole new set of developers. I mean, the game was questionable in the hands of the original creators, think how it might turn out in someone else's hands...

Depends; would it be possible that SE would still develop the game and Disney would now publish it?  If so, there's really not much of a difference as far as the consumer is concerned (unless Disney cheaps out and puts unnecessary constraints on SE).

[JonLeung]

If Kingdom Hearts becomes a Disney property, they will still require Square-Enix's involvement for every instalment, would they not?

(Funnily enough, I was thinking earlier today about every game company involved with Disney.  They should do their own thing if they are capable, good for them.

Nintendo did some Hanafudu cards that were Disney-themed.  I had a couple Game & Watch games that were variations of existing Nintendo Game & Watches but one featured Mickey catching eggs and the two-screen firefighting one featured Mickey, Goofy, and Donald.

Then Capcom came along and did several 8-bit and 16-bit Capcom games, including Duck Tales and Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse, among others.  Most of these games were really good.  Then Sony Imagesoft did Mickey Mania, Rare did a couple Mickey racing games, Konami did some Disney Sports games, Square-Enix did Kingdom Hearts.

Boy, Disney's really hooked up with several developers...Nintendo, Capcom, Sony, Rare, Konami, Square-Enix?  That's almost like a who's who of the industry!)

But now we're talking about Disney taking on Mana.  Interesting.  I suppose the world of Mana does kind of fit with Disney's colourful aesthetic that they're known for.  But didn't Buena Vista Games (or BVG, a division of Disney) already buy up the Turok franchise?

I say Square-Enix should keep the Mana franchise if they can still make it better.  I'd like for Square-Enix to have more than just FF games and FF spinoffs (even if the Mana series was originally conceived as a sort of "Final Fantasy Gaiden").  The fact that Kingdom Hearts involves FF characters probably counts as something, not sure what, though.

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: vudu

Quote
Originally posted by: pap64
Selling Kingdom Hearts to Disney makes a lot of sense. I mean, the game is composed of a lot of Disney franchises (everything from the Disney princess line to the live action franchises is in the game), so its logical why Disney would want to buy the franchise. My main concern, however, is that if Square really does sell the franchise, it means that it will be in the hands of a whole new set of developers. I mean, the game was questionable in the hands of the original creators, think how it might turn out in someone else's hands...

Depends; would it be possible that SE would still develop the game and Disney would now publish it?  If so, there's really not much of a difference as far as the consumer is concerned (unless Disney cheaps out and puts unnecessary constraints on SE).

That might work.

I was thinking that one thing the series would lose if the series goes to Disney is the Final Fantasy cameos. Those are strictly owned by Square. If Disney wants the franchise but also wants to keep the FF characters, then they have no choice but to co-develop the game (which is basically what they are doing right now).

[Smash_Brother]

If that's true, it would probably cinch both franchises for the Wii.

Not only has Disney shown loads of enthusiasm for the Wii but they're in competition with Sony in the movie business.

[capamerica]

I could see KH getting sold to Disney, Its mostly Disney's anyway. You pull Disney out of Kingdom Hearts you pretty much have nothing left, just a handfull of annoying kids.
Thou I always thought it would be cool to see Kingdom Hearts leave the Disney universe and have a Kingdom Hearts game in a differnt universe, like Warner Brothers. I mean wouldn't that be cool having Sora team up with Batman or the Scooby-Doo gang and have Pinky & the Brain running the gummy ship. Or maybe even a Kingdom Hearts game in the Nintendo Universe.

Anyway out side my wishful thinking that will never happen. I wouldn't care really if Square sold KH to Disney. It would be sad since I know the game would go right down the shitter but it wouldn't be that big of a deal to me since I pretty much already see it as a Disney game.

the Mana series on the other hand I can't see Square selling off, sure the games haven't been that great lately but that would be like Square selling off Star Ocean, its been part of Sqaure for so long that it would be weird seeing someone elses name on it.

I'm calling BS on this, if anything does happen I would say maybe the rumor is half true and Square will be selling KH to Disney

[Ian Sane]

Part of the hook of Kingdom Hearts is that it has characters and settings from Disney properties and Square properties.  Just roaming around Disney properties isn't quite as neat.  That can be done easily.  But both together makes a super game.  It's a unique collaboration like Super Mario RPG that loses some of it's oomph when the two groups seperate.

The Mana series is interesting as well in that it contains Final Fantasy stuff like Chocobos.  The assumption is that both series take place in the same universe, though I haven't really kept up with the series too well so that might have changed over time.  How does that work if someone else has the rights?  If I bought the rights to the Mana series from Square Enix then I should get the rights to the older games too, right?  If I don't then Square can't really re-release those old games without my permission.  But how can I re-release Secret of Mana if it has Chocobos in it which Square clearly has the rights to since it's a Final Fantasy trademark?  Sounds like a lot of legal mumbo jumbo is going to go down.

Personally I would rather the properties stick with Square Enix since because of legal problems like above we can get denied having perfect re-releases of classic games.  It comes up all the time whenever Goldeneye comes up because rights issues prevent it from being re-released.  Thus the game is going to slowly disappear and younger generations won't get a chance to play it.

Though since Kingdom Hearts was a crossover it had to come to an end at some point anyway.  For Square Enix selling it to Disney is probably the best solution because eventually they won't be able to make Kingdom Hearts games anymore so they might as well sell it off and get something from it.

[Pale]

Mana makes zero sense.  There aren't really any characters.  There really isn't much to buy.  Disney could make their own rpg and be ok.

Kingdom Hearts would be an interesting sale.  Square obviously wouldn't be selling any of the FF characters that are in the games, and they play an important role.  All disney would get is a powerful name brand, and sora, riku, kairi, roxas, etc.  While this makes more sense than the Mana sale, it's still a bit confusing.  The only REAL reason I could see in this happening is if Square doesn't want to spend the resources to make another game and Disney wants one so soon that they said they'll do it themselves.  Then square said well we won't put our name on it then... and so on.

I don't know.  It would really shake up the series though.  The next game would make or break it, if it sucks there would be a lot of fans pissed off at Disney.

[JonLeung]

In response to Ian, I don't remember Chocobos in the Mana games.  Or maybe there were, but are you sure you're not referring to Moogles?

Supposedly the Mana series was originally envisioned as a "Final Fantasy Gaiden" of sorts, even the North American name of the first Seiken Densetsu was originally called "Final Fantasy Adventure" before being rereleased as "Sword Of Mana" for the GBA.

The evolution of Mana games has made it now pretty distinct from the FF games.  It's hard to even imagine that FF games take place in the same universe as it is anyway, though a suppose such a varied universe could include the World of Mana.  If you look at the colour and detail and art in Legend/Sword/Children Of Mana, it's clearly unlike FF that there's little to no relation.

If someone like Disney were to buy the Mana series outright and do their own thing with it, they could still keep it pretty similar without any FF references.  They could ditch the lingering Chocobos and Moogles at any time.

And Pale's right, the Mana games don't have recurring characters, though there are thematic similarities between the games.  Maybe Disney thinks the "____ of Mana" title will sell, or they want an action RPG that involves a sword and a tree without stepping on S-Ex's toes.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Quote
Originally posted by: pap64
NOTE: I didn't know where to put this exactly, so I am putting it on the Wii forums. Mods, if you think that the thread is off topic, you can move it elsewhere.

There is a rumor flying around that says that Square-Enix might be willing to sell two of its franchises; The Kingdom Hearts series and the Mana series. Who is the potential buyer? Disney.

Selling Kingdom Hearts to Disney makes a lot of sense. I mean, the game is composed of a lot of Disney franchises (everything from the Disney princess line to the live action franchises is in the game), so its logical why Disney would want to buy the franchise. My main concern, however, is that if Square really does sell the franchise, it means that it will be in the hands of a whole new set of developers. I mean, the game was questionable in the hands of the original creators, think how it might turn out in someone else's hands...

As for Mana, I am surprised. Again, if the series barely took off in Square's hands what will happen to it in Disney's hands?

Again, this is all just a rumor, fueled by the speculations that both franchises are heading to the Wii and that Disney is creating a whole new team to create games solely for the Wii.

Here's the link:
Disney to get Mana and Kingdom Hearts?

I had already posted this a couple of days ago, but if you guys want to discuss it here, thats fine too
The OFFICIAL Wii Rumor Thread

 

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: capamerica
Or maybe even a Kingdom Hearts game in the Nintendo Universe.

Funny you should mention that....

Just as I was done posted this on NWR and our site, Go Nintendo posted a VERY interesting editorial about how Kingdom Hearts on the Wii could re-invent the franchise, and it states the rumors of how Disney wants the series on the Wii.


This is the whole editorial

The guy makes A LOT of good points. While I enjoyed KH 2, it felt like more of the same, and in many cases it looked like Square was running out of ideas for stories and characters.

However, the part that made all the hair in my body stand up in fanboy glee was this...

"The fact that it’s a Disney game is why this rumour carries so much clout – Disney have just set up a studio devoted to just the Wii and nothing else, and Disney and Nintendo are of course companies with a similar aim and target audience – Like Nintendo wants to create games to be played by the whole family, Disney wants to create children’s films that everybody can watch – the Lion King, for example, is loved by kids and adults alike for very different reasons, and is in my opinion the greatest animated movie of all time. The two companies are undoubtedly similar.

The rumour states that Disney has told Square that they want the next Kingdom Hearts game to be on the Wii – something which is perfectly possible considering the excellent Disney/Nintendo relationship. From there, it’s down to Square – if they want to make another KH – and frankly, it’s too successful not to – they will have to follow Disney’s lead.

Despite all the problems I’ve listed above, I do enjoy the series. There’s something satisfying about visiting those Disney worlds in the way you do and the trio of Donald, Goofy and Sora are a genuinely fun party to be running around the worlds with. No game is perfect, and I think what holds Kingdom Hearts up despite it’s flaws is that it’s truly charming, much like the Disney movies it copies.

The charm and wonder of being able to visit all your favourite Disney characters in one game helps people to overlook its very simple gameplay and at times a headache of a plot. There’s also the fan factor – huge fans of Final Fantasy will buy this game regardless, just to see Cloud and Sephiroth face off one last time. However, this greatest asset of the series is beginning to fail – they are running out of worlds to visit, and revisiting them can be tiresome and boring, as KHII proved. But how can being on Wii help this series?

Well, let’s stop for a second. Nintendo. What’s their greatest asset? Their properties. We all know they’re also not afraid to lend their properties out to other companies, with a Mario edition of Dance Dance Revolution, and Mario appearing in EA games for the Gamecube.

That’s right, I’m going there. How’s that for some interesting new worlds to visit? With the allegiance that Square has shown Nintendo recently, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Nintendo lend them some of their IP’s for a new Kingdom Hearts with Super Smash Bros levels of joy - Sora, Donald and Goofy can land in Hyrule, the Mushroom Kingdom, Planet Zebes or travel across the Lylat System with Fox McCloud."

This is ALL one HUGE fanboy's wet dream, but remember that Square has already put FF characters in the Mario games they have developed and vice versa (the FF characters in Mario Hoops, the FFV boss in Mario RPG and Itadaki street DS). So idea isn't that far fetched...

[Ian Sane]

"Mana makes zero sense. There aren't really any characters. There really isn't much to buy. Disney could make their own rpg and be ok."

Maybe Square Enix went to Disney with the idea of selling them Kingdom Hearts because once the deal with Disney was up Square would lose the series anyway.  Disney however would only agree if the deal included a Square Enix franchise.  So Square gave them the Mana series which isn't too valuable anymore anyway and doesn't really mean much but is still a name that the Disney execs might recognize so they think they bought this major property from Square when in reality they didn't really get anything but a name.

[JonLeung]

If I recall correctly, I heard S-Ex bought the rights to Ogre Battle, only to not make any Ogre Battle games after that.

They might have the rights to other franchises that no one even knows about and they could be selling those and would we ever know it?

Unless the rumours are pretty sure that it's specifically Kingdom Hearts and Mana.

I've said it before...Namco should buy Mana and make a "Tales of Mana" game.  If only because of the name compatibiliy.  

[BlackNMild2k1]

Actually if you check the link I posted, the original rumor was that S-E is selling two franchises, it was only speculation that KH and Mana were the franchises and that Disney is the buyer.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

BRING ON THE MUSHROOM HEARTS SEQUELS

[Artimus]

Quote
Originally posted by: Pale
Mana makes zero sense.  There aren't really any characters.  There really isn't much to buy.  Disney could make their own rpg and be ok.

I'm sorry, what Square series does have characters? Yes there are people like Cloud, but the Final Fantasies have nothing in common with each other besides their name (and random things like Chocobos and Cid). If anything, the lack of characters makes it an ideal property for Square to sell.

[Adrock]

Somehow, I doubt the Mana series being sold. SquareEnix has been trying to resurrect the franchise with the World of Mana label so it seems odd that they'd give up so soon. Didn't Dawn of Mana just launch in Japan? There's also Heroes of mana coming up.

I feel that Mana was just tossed in the rumor because it's S-E's most light-hearted series that isn't heavily connected to Final Fantasy. If they'd sell anything and not just with Disney as a potential buyer, I'd see Ogre Battle or even Chrono going first. Others like Tobal hold no weight.

[Pittbboi]

Ummm, am I the only one thinking this would be a terrible idea?

If Square-Enix sold Kingdom Hearts to Disney, even if Square-Enix remained involved and liscensed their characters the bulk of the work would fall on Disney...and last time I checked, Disney was terrible at making games. Just because Disney created a Wii-specific games studio doesn't mean we're about to start seeing well...good Wii-specific Disney games.

Besides, I thought I read somewhere that KH III was going to be more focused on Square's IPs in comparison to the last two games?  

[SixthAngel]

Disney buying it makes a lot of sense to me.  The cooperation between the two companies would still happen just like it is now but Disney could do so much more with the franchise.  The only Square games worth visiting would be final fantasy and dragon quest because they are well know while other games most people would probably know nothing about.

Long after the squarenix well runs dry Disney will still have old and new properties to visit and revisit.  Disney seems to be the main draw as well.  Disney could also team up with any other videogame company like Nintendo/Capcom/Konami/Sega/anybody to make the next game.  If Disney wanted to they could probably even give the game out to their partners to develop.

[Terranigma Freak]

Hey guys, you know that the original Mana team left Square around the end of the PS1 era, right? Most of them are now at Browny Brown, a Nintendo funded second party. I heard about this rumor as well, but nothing about selling BOTH to Disney. For one thing, Mana doesn't even fit Disney, so why would they do that? Or why would Disney want Mana? Nintendo on the other hand has the original team working for them, so they can put the series to good use.

Still, it doesn't bother me if they don't. I don't give a damn about either Mana or KH (or any SE franchise for that matter... well maybe Ogre Battle).

[Ceric]

Square could have a licensing deal with Disney if they bought KH for the characters.

[vudu]

I think it's more likely that if SE is going to sell some IPs, they will be for games/series that haven't been active for a while.  Think ActRaiser, Parasite Eve, etc.

[The Omen]

Maybe this is to skirt the issue of Sony owning part of SE.  Maybe that's over with now, but this still smells like a step to allow SE to create exclusive Wii content without all the problems.

[Pale]

I've been saying KH should come to Nintendo systems and add the Nintendo worlds to the mix for over 2 years...

GoNintendo's editorial isn't that special.

[Darkheart]

I'd like to add that Tetsuya Nomura WANTED the original Kingdom Hearts ON Gamecube to begin with.  When he announced to some press that he was going to do that, they responded with " OH I get it, it has disney characters, its for the kiddies therefore it makes sense, yeah put it on the Gamecube (aka k1ddie system)."  Nomura wanted Kingdom Hearts to appeal to all age groups and have a semi dark storyline, so in the end he released it on Ps2 to prove those people wrong.  

Oh in regards to what Pale said, well first of all that wasn't Gonintendos editorial, they just linked someones blog.  Two I think there is one good thing out of that piece of writing regarding the big "what if disney got KH".  He mentions a rumor that Disney would want Kingdom Hearts on Wii not on Ps3.  I thought that would be interesting because Disney is stubborn with its licenses and I could totally see them  viewing the Ps3 as not a kid friendly system.

Im going to go out on a limb and make a definite prediction.   Kingdom Hearts will be appearing on DS AND Wii at some point of their lifecycles.  I am not sure if they will be side series, but they will both carry the franchise name.  Trust me it will happen.