Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies and the Final Fantasy Game Boy Advance ports are exceptions. Square Enix rarely licenses their titles to other publishers, but Natsume picked up Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals also known as Estoplis: The Lands Cursed by the Gods.
When I met with Hiro Maekawa, CEO and President of Natsume, I asked him how the deal for Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals came about. “I didn’t ask them [Square Enix] to give us Lufia. That came from their side,” Maekawa replied. “We received an offer from their side whether we were interested in publishing Lufia in America.”
Almost fourteen years ago, Natsume licensed the Super Nintendo game Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals from Taito, which was absorbed by Square Enix in 2005. Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals is a reimagining of Lufia II. What about the original game? Will Natsume re-release it on Virtual Console?
“Would it be possible? I’m sure everyone is open for discussion when it comes to ideas, but nothing at this time,” Graham Markay, Vice President of Operations at Natsume, answered.
“We just did Wild Guns. Shadow of the Ninja, which made a lot of people happy. We’re trying to get a couple of those other classic Natsume titles out as well.”
