News: Nintendo DS Media | Heroes of Mana - First Scans! Page 1

Nintendo DS Media | Heroes of Mana - First Scans!

14.09.2006

Update #2:After the confirmation of the game Heroes of Mana, the first scans have been revealed in this week's Famitsu magazine. Thanks to Jonnyram of NeoGAF for scanning them in [ Click to Enlarge ]:

Share your thoughts below, and stay tuned for more!

Update: The latest edition of Japanese Weekly, Famitsu, has confirmed the existence of the Square Enix trademark "Heroes of Mana" as an upcoming title for DS!

Yesterday it was noted that the company had trademarked the title, and today, according to GameFront, the title has been confirmed in Famitsu.

The report confirms that Heroes of Mana provides RTS and RPG elements, with character designs by Ryoma Ito (of FF: Tactics Advance) and Akira Oguo (FFX).

The main scenario/plot will be devised byMastato Kato (Chrono Trigger, Seiken Denetsu 4), music composed by Yoko Shimumura (Mana, Parasite Eve).

The title is to be produced by Koichi Ishii.

Stick with C3 for future updates.

Original Story
Recently registered on the USPTO site, where all the latest trademarks can be uncovered, it has been spotted Square Enix has added 'Heroes of Mana' to the trademark list as of 1st September, 2006. Below is the full extent of the listing:

Word Mark HEROES OF MANA

Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer game software; video game software; sound recordings in the form of optical discs, magnetic discs and/or semiconductor ROMs featuring music and/or fictional stories; audio visual recordings in the form of optical discs, magnetic discs and semiconductor ROMs featuring music and/or animated fictional stories; prerecorded compact discs featuring music; prerecorded video discs featuring music and/or animated fictional stories; prerecorded video cassettes featuring music and/or animated fictional stories; decorative magnets; mouse pads; straps for cellular phones; sunglasses; blank memory cards; memory card cases; CD cases; video game controllers; downloadable computer graphic software containing wallpapers for computers and/or mobile phones; downloadable screensavers for computers and/or mobile phones; downloadable video recordings featuring cartoon characters and/or video game characters; downloadable musical sound recordings; downloadable sound recordings using human voices featuring morning calls and/or wake-up messages; downloadable ring tones for mobile phones; downloadable electronic publications in the nature of magazines, journals and/or newsletters in the field of computer games, video games, cartoons and general entertainment

IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: Computer game strategy guidebooks; video game strategy guidebooks; a series of books featuring fictional and/or fantasy stories; graphic art books; song books; musical score books; comic books; magazines featuring computer games, video games, cartoons and/or general entertainment; posters; stickers; paper banners; calendars; postcards; pens; pencils; pencil caps; pen cases; drawing rulers; rubber stamps; notebooks; collectors' cards; trading cards; photographs; photograph stands

Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Design Search Code
Serial Number 78965893
Filing Date September 1, 2006
Current Filing Basis 1B;44E
Original Filing Basis 1B;44E
Owner (APPLICANT) Kabushiki Kaisha Square Enix (also trading as Square Enix Co., Ltd.) CORPORATION JAPAN 3-22-7 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku Tokyo JAPAN
Attorney of Record Mark I. Peroff
Prior Registrations 2079884;2635794;3006408
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

So is this merely a replacement for Friends of Mana, or a supplementary project? And could the EGM rumour from a couple of months ago be true, with this being an MMORPG Mana for the Nintendo Wii?

Keep it locked to Cubed3 to find out...

[ Thanks to UbiSoftologist for the tip ]

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Comments

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jamain 12.09.2006#1

dunno about mmorpg but the ds version wasn't wildly successful, shortage or otherwise, I hope and reckon this one is coming to wii.

Mason 12.09.2006#2

You don't call half a million in less than a week a wild success? Isn't the only reason sales are so comparatively low this week is because Square-Enix couldn't keep up with demand? It's sold out nearly all stock.

It'd be absolutely brilliant if this was a Mana MMORPG for Wii, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Wouldn't surprise me if it ended up being for PS3...

dojo 12.09.2006#3

Yeah, I agree. The PS3 is being loved by SE atm. Smilie

jesusraz 12.09.2006#4

Mason said:
You dont call half a million in less than a week a wild success? Isnt the only reason sales are so comparatively low this week is because Square-Enix couldnt keep up with demand? Its sold out nearly all stock.Itd be absolutely brilliant if this was a Mana MMORPG for Wii, but Im not getting my hopes up. Wouldnt surprise me if it ended up being for PS3...

Mike, he meant Children of Mana, which suffered in its first week due to the Ice and Navy Blue DS Lites being delayed and the Crystal White being in short supply...the game never really recovered and has to date struggled to surpass the 300,000 unit mark in Japan - not bad at all, but poor considering it was meant to be the relaunch of the Mana brand.

FFIII has done wonders, selling over 500,000 units in just one week and in its second week passing through ~99% of all stock in Japan right now, and with games like Egg Monster Hero cracking 100,000 and Rocket Slime doing 300,000, Square Enix will be behind Nintendo a lot more from now on.

With Dragon Quest Monster: Joker due for 28th December, the height of the Japanese holiday period, where last year the original DS managed a ridiculous 600,000+ in ONE WEEK, it's thought to easily crack a million, especially considering the million-selling first two games and 600,000+ selling GBA third DQM.

And don't forget there's Chocobo and FF: Crystal Chronicles that will both no doubt be 300,000+ sellers and even Mario Basket, a sport the Japanese are renowned for not really taking to, is well on its way to sailing past 300,000, with it perhaps even reaching 500,000 in its lifetime.

So what do we have that is also coming? Rumours of an FFXII side story (DS), an FFXIII Tactics RPG (DS), a huge DS announcement at TGS later this month (maybe one of the FF games just mentioned) and Friends/Heroes of Mana (Wii or DS?).

Considering Square Enix has so far released/announced something like nine games to date for the DS, with five due out this year, you can expect maybe six or seven new DS games in 2007...

Exciting times indeed! Smilie

Edit this post:

[quote][b]Mason said:[/b]<br/>You dont call half a million in less than a week a wild success? Isnt the only reason sales are so comparatively low this week is because Square-Enix couldnt keep up with demand? Its sold out nearly all stock.Itd be absolutely brilliant if this was a Mana MMORPG for Wii, but Im not getting my hopes up.  Wouldnt surprise me if it ended up being for PS3...[/quote]

So what do we have that is also coming?  Rumours of an FFXII side story (DS), an FFXIII Tactics RPG (DS), a huge DS announcement at TGS later this month (maybe one of the FF games just mentioned) and Friends/Heroes of Mana (Wii or DS?).

Considering Square Enix has so far released/announced something like nine games to date for the DS, with five due out this year, you can expect maybe six or seven new DS games in 2007...

Exciting times indeed! :-D

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Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

dojo 12.09.2006#5

@Jesusraz

I didn't realise all of that SE stuff! Considering also that the US and Europe have yet to get their hands on many of these games, maybe SE will be a-Nintendo-humping "next" gen.

The Croft 12.09.2006#6

If anything SE are shwoing Nintendo more love Children of Mana did okay but could of done better but due to the low DS development costs SE made a sexy profit and what Raz said Egg Monsters and DQSlim mori exceeded expectations and Mario Hoops has done brilliant 500k easily before the year's end and SE made and didn't publish aka they make the dough and that game should go well down in the states.

Mike Gee of iZINE said, "...The Verve, as he [Richard Ashcroft] promised, had become the greatest band in the world. Most of the critics agreed with him. Most paid due homage. The Verve were no longer the question mark or the clich�. They were the statement and the definition."

jamain 13.09.2006#7

Well that proves me wrong-sounds like it is in the vein of ff tactics

Tman!! 13.09.2006#8

cant wait, been trying to get hold of children of mana but i couldt Smilie but yer it would be nice if it came to wii, i think it would probably be another one of the link up games between wii and DS like FF:CC was but hopefully more fun to play and less expensive Smilie

Grampasso 13.09.2006#9

Mr.Ashcroft don't take me wrong but you could use punctuation once in a while O_o
Anyway, this news actually confirms how SE has jumped on the DS train (maybe Nintendo train?) and I'm expecting more third party support later this year and in early 2007.
Wii will play a major role in this, so I'll keep my fingers crossed until March x^.^x

Kangaroo_Kid 13.09.2006#10

What? Another handheld Mana game? We don't even get Children of Mana until November in Australia.

Loving the support from Squenix though, makes me feel like a Mana Wii could be on the way. Fingers crossed.

J4K 13.09.2006#11

RTS elements? This could be good! Smilie

Elrinth 13.09.2006#12

children of mana isn't appealing at all to me Smilie
I liked Secret of mana and Seiken Densetsu 3... Sword of mana was decent but had slow controls imo and felt like the game was lagging Smilie

Children of Mana looks exactly like Shining Soul games... maybe because the developers are the same Smilie

and now, heroes of mana is going to be strategy? it's getting worse and worse.... but atleast it's getting good music, <3 Yoko Shimomura

cheers

Laurelin 13.09.2006#13

RTS elements? This could be bad...

Wow, look at all these big names! Must become a smash hit...

I find your lack of faith disturbing!

jesusraz 13.09.2006#14

RTS elements are bad? Laurelin, do you not like Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics?

This is amazing news! Thanks to whomever updated it for me Smilie Hope it's out Q1 2007 (in Japan).

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

Guest 13.09.2006#15

Ugh, I just couldn't get into FF:TA. I loved the quality work they put into that game; beautiful graphics and music, but I wanted to go into towns and cities, exploring every house and talking to all the inhabitants like a real RPG!

Yoshidude 13.09.2006#16

Awesome stuff, I've heard the series being preached about so much and I'd love to give it a go myself. It's good to see SE further supporting Nintendo and hopefully the good relationship bodes well for the future

1337ness

jesusraz 13.09.2006#17

Anyone care to bet on Seiken Densetsu 4 being ported over from the PS2 to Wii? Smilie Long shot, but worth a little bit of speculation Smilie

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

dojo 13.09.2006#18

Final Fantasy Tactics

One of the most addictive games for me ever. Especially considering it wasn't mine, so I had like two weeks to play it. It wasn't perfect, but it sure ate at my time. Lets hope this uses the WFC too. Smilie Smilie Smilie

patjuan32 13.09.2006#19

Things are getting better for the DS.

IGN has reported two new Square-Enix games coming to the DS.

one is a spin off of Final Fantasy XII and the other is a called It's a Wonderful World.

The Croft 13.09.2006#20

SE like announce a new game every week on the DS, which clarifies that the PSP is even more doomed Smilie

jesusraz 14.09.2006#21

These shots are superb - it shows there are 3D backgrounds included! This is looking as good as, if not better, than Seiken Densetsu 3 from the SNES Smilie Smilie