[/INDENT]Attention all Shining Force fans!
[INDENT] Remember how great the original Shining Force games were? I'm not talking about the hack'n'slashes released in more recent years (EXA, NEO) - I mean Shining Force 1, 2 & 3. Quality games which are still incredibly playable to this day (see how popular it is on the iPhone, Wii VC etc!). The only game to really come close was Shining Force: Feather, but that was only released in Japan. Shining Tears was enjoyable, but not the classic turn based tacitcal RPG.
The series certainly took a downward turn when the original development team (Camelot) and Sega fell out in the late 90's, but recent signs indicate there may be the chance of this relationship being re-established. Wouldn't it be great to get a new SF game in the original style? The glory days of the Shining series could yet be restored.
We, the fans at Shining Force Central, have begun a new campaign. It's not an online petition, which we know have little impact as they can generally be faked and therefore mean nothing. We've campaigned before with co-ordinated letter writing and more, and in fact received some very positive feedback from Sega and Camelot. But that was years ago. It's time to try again.
This time we're trying to show Camelot just how much we loved their work on the original games. This isn't about whining or making demands. The Shining series turns 20 years old in March next year and we all think this is the ideal time to send Camelot a "bundle of love" - letters, fanwork in various forms and a huge Shining birthday card designed by fans, and signed by as many fans as possible. We know how much Camelot love their fans and want to please them (for example, the various Shining freebies they've given out to fans over the years, the way they always reply to their fan mail etc). It's time we showed them how much we love them.
Making demands and whining achieves nothing. Let's try a positive approach for a change!
In addition to the postal campaign, we're also organising a YouTube campaign - a different take on an online petition. Fans are submitting brief video clips of themselves reading out a standard campaign message. We'll also be writing to Sega (and possibly Nintendo & Sony, since their consoles have hosted the recent Shining titles) to explain the campaign & its aims to them and include photos of the package sent to Camelot.
If you're a fan of the Shining series and would like to help the campaign, please visit the site at:
http://sos.shiningforcecentral.com
We all know that the odds are stacked against us, as with any fan campaign, but that doesn't mean it's not worth tryingIt won't take long for you to lend a hand, but think what it might achieve.
As an incentive to aid the campaign, this week I will be announcing a prize draw which all who send a video and/or postal letter for the campaign will be entered into. The prize is really quite special. I almost can't believe I'm giving it away!
Please do your part!
http://sos.shiningforcecentral.com/