Why did we never get Elite Beat Agents 2 and is the series lost forever?

[AceBandage]

In the year 2005 Nintendo funded the creation of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. A rythm game for the Nintendo DS in Japan based on popular Japanese music.
A year later, the game was remade for western audiences as Elite Beat Agents. It offered engaging gameplay, controls and great music as well as telling a complete story through the missions.
It was crazy and wild and one of the best Rhythm games to Grace a console.
The original Osu game got a sequel in Japan but it was never reworked for Western audiences.
The game recieved strong critical acclaim at the time, sadly the sales were left for want.

But we are in a new golden age for rythm games. Many are seeing strong appeal on mobile and console and I believe it is time for Nintendo to revive Elite Beat Agents to once again save the world through the power of song and dance.

 

[Coco]

Didn't Keiichi Yano pretty much retire from the industry after Lips for the 360?

 

[Waluijob]

Agreed 100%. In the thread of dormant Nintendo franchises we would like to see return, this was one of my top mentions. It was a refreshing and challenging change of pace for the genre and I would like to see it adapted for either motion controls(docked mode) or touch-screen for tablet mode.

The music, the aesthetics, and even the story were fantastic, even if I would have preferred the male cheerleader plotline over the special agent plotline. To this day, I can't listen to Canned Heat without thinking of it.

 

[Leo]

The two Ouendan are my favorite rythm games of all time. EBA didn't quite capture the same magic for me, but it's still really good.

I think the series is dead, but more because I don't see how its gameplay could be reworked to function without a touch screen.

 

[AceBandage]

The two Ouendan are my favorite rythm games of all time. EBA didn't quite capture the same magic for me, but it's still really good.

I think the series is dead, but more because I don't see how its gameplay could be reworked to function without a touch screen.

Have I got good news for you about the Nintendo Switch!

 

[Leo]

Have I got good news for you about the Nintendo Switch!

Don't see it happening without a docked mode, honestly. And it probably wouldn't work very well without a stylus either.

 

[Pineapple]

I never understand why they didn't just make another smaller game but using only Nintendo songs to save cost on music cost. I know it wouldn't be as much fun, but still better than forever losing this franchise.

EBA was one of my favorite DS games and I played the hell out of it to get to the highest rank.

 

[9-Volt]

They probably would have made another, if Microsoft didn't snatch iNis up to make those Lips karaoke series (they were really good but the song selection was terrible compared to Singstar).

 

[tohlew]

I'm a little surprised that EBA itself wasn't reworked into a Japanese release as well. Maybe I'm just poorly informed on the extent of Western music's popularity in Japan, and EBA as is just wouldn't sell to justify further licensing. iNiS seemed to struggle after this period, especially with their awkward (but promising!) Project Rap Rabbit Kickstarter. I know they did some interesting toys-to-life stuff for mobile. I missed them.

 

[AceBandage]

I'm a little surprised that EBA itself wasn't reworked into a Japanese release as well. Maybe I'm just poorly informed on the extent of Western music's popularity in Japan, and EBA as is just wouldn't sell to justify further licensing. iNiS seemed to struggle after this period, especially with their awkward (but promising!) Project Rap Rabbit Kickstarter. I know they did some interesting toys-to-life stuff for mobile. I missed them.

The DS was still in that weird phase of gaming where companies didn't think people would buy "foreign games" that weren't big franchises. That's why Osu and EBA were two different games despite basically being the same.
Personally I would have loved a translated Osu and Osu 2.
As it was, though, EBA didn't sell enough to justify any further funding into it. I think that could change if such a game released now, especially on mobile or switch, however.