Topic: According to IGA, the true Castlevania fanbase is on the PSP

[Luigi Dude]

This is from an interview in the recent Play magazine.

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Play: I know you have great affection for the original PC Engine Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, and you've talked about letting Western fans have the chance to play it for a long time. Why now, and why PSP?

IGA: I had often been told people wanted a Castlevania on PSP, long before this project began. The traditional Castlevania user base is somewhat older and more mature, so within the company it had often been suggested PSP might be a better idea than DS. When work began on the PSP version, we realized drawing pixel art at that resolution would be very difficult, and I knew the desire for a 3-D Castlevania with 2-D gameplay was there. Since that approach would be technically possible on PSP, I thought the timing was finally right for Rondo of Blood.

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Oh and your all going to love what he says about Ayami Kojima returning for the artwork.

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Play: Something a lot of fans are happy about is the return of character designer Ayami Kojima to the series. Why the return to her more mature designs after two installments of the series that favored an anime look?

IGA: Well, the character designs for the original Rondo of Blood got a very mixed reception. You could say most of the opinions were not favorable. Since this game also contains Symphony of the Night, which Kojima designed and was very well received, I wanted to unify the aesthetic of the two games. I truly believe that even if the look changes, as long as we stay true to the Castlevania gameplay itself our core fans won't abandon us. I think that was the case with the DS games. However, the PSP owner tends to be a little older and thus probably more appreciative of Kojima's designs.

Play: So it's mainly a question of target age groups?

IGA: To be honest I've been told by some younger people that they think Kojima's designs are a little scary [laughs]. I think adults can appreciate them, of course, but for younger DS users it can be a little off-putting.

So what exactly is IGA going to say when this game bombs horribly like every other 2d PSP game.  Will he finally realize that the people that have been buying the Castlevania games for the GBA and DS ARE the traditional older fanbase because we're the only ones that still care about the series these days.  It it that hard for him and others to acknowledge the fact that a lot of DS owners are *gasp* Adults as well?

Here's the all the scans I found on a topic at Gamefaqs for anyone that wants to read the full interview.

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[IceCold]

He never fails to amaze me.

[Ceric]

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Originally posted by: Luigi Dude

...Stuff...

It it that hard for him and others to acknowledge the fact that a lot of DS owners are *gasp* Adults as well?

...more Stuff...

Its hard for most because we're having to much fun for adults.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Konami, go under.  Thanks.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Oh, I should add I just receive the CV GBA Double-Pack today (thanks to EB's 50% off sale, whoohoo).  So Konami's all clear to dry up and die now.

They've provided some good memories over the years, but they're only good as a memory now.

[UltimatePartyBear]

That poor man.  I hope there's a cure for rectal-cranial inversion someday.

[WuTangTurtle]

come to think of it the last Konami game I've played was Dawn of Sorrow, before that it was........Turtles in Time.

Bye Konami!

[that Baby guy]

For the record, I saw a video of their castleblanca game, and I think it looks ugly.

[Kairon]

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Originally posted by: Professional 666
Konami, go under.  Thanks.

They hate money, give it time.

[Ian Sane]

IGA does not consider Circle of the Moon an official Castlevania game.  Circle of the Moon rocks.  IGA is officially a George Lucas-ish bonehead whose opinion on an IP he controls should be disregarded.

The real Castlevanias are the good ones so Circle of the Moon counts and all of IGA's PS2 games don't.  And the real Castlevania audience is those that buy the good games - ie: the Nintendo portable userbase.

[that Baby guy]

He treats Castlevaniac like it's a comic book.  That's my issue with him.  Pretty soon, we'll have a Pre-Crisis Dracula and a Post-Crisis Dracula to have to figure out too.  When's Zero Hour going to be?

[denjet78]

Um... how can the Castlevania market be on the PSP when most of the games have been released on the GBA/DS? How can you have a market for a franchise on a system when the games haven't even been on it?

That's the logic train developers used in order to bash the GC for years so why isn't it applicable to the PSP?

Oh... it's a Sony system and this moron's still got his head up their ass for some reason.

[Adrock]

Two thinks jumped out at me:

1. He said, "within the company it had often been suggested PSP might be a better idea than DS." That sounds like pressure from his bosses.

2. He felt the anime character designs "half-succeeded and half-failed." In another interview before Dawn of Sorrow was released, he mentioned that Ayami Kojima's art takes a lot of time and money. To me, that explains the anime look. Notice how the in game graphics aren't really affected by the character designs, Portrait of Ruin still looked like a Castlevania game. I think IGA's bosses know Castlevania fans will buy the games with or without Kojima's art, even begrudgingly so. However, I can see how they would think generic anime designs could appeal to people beyond the Castlevania crowd.

IGA is a HUGE 2D gaming fan and I almost feel like Konami execs won't let him make a console Castlevania unless its 3D. He's not Hideo Kojima so I don't think they feel as bad about saying no to him.

And honestly, I think some of you guys are just bitter because you're Nintendo fans.

[that Baby guy]

Of course I'm a bitter Nintendo fan, but it doesn't mean I'm not right.

[ShreddersDojo]

Have you played their final TMNT games?  Pure garbage for 1 and 2 on the GBA.  Pure Garbage for 1, 2, and 3 for the Gamecube.

whatever magic they had, it's long gone if the TMNT games are any indications...

[that Baby guy]

Nevermind.  I was wrong.

[Kairon]

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Originally posted by: Adrock
IGA is a HUGE 2D gaming fan and I almost feel like Konami execs won't let him make a console Castlevania unless its 3D. He's not Hideo Kojima so I don't think they feel as bad about saying no to him.

Then maybe Nintendo should put in a good word. The Wii is certainly not adverse to 2D graphics goodness, just see Guilty Gear, or Metal Slug Anthology, or Super Fruitfall!

[Adrock]

I honestly think that nothing short of Nintendo asking for the game specifically would convince Konami otherwise.

Nintendo fans give IGA and Konami sh*t for their lack commitment on Nintendo consoles, but really, can you blame them? Think about it not as Nintendo fans. The Playstation brand has been very good for them. Only now, with Wii, is there really a reason to reconsider Nintendo hardware.

[that Baby guy]

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Originally posted by: Adrock
I honestly think that nothing short of Nintendo asking for the game specifically would convince Konami otherwise.

Nintendo fans give IGA and Konami sh*t for their lack commitment on Nintendo consoles, but really, can you blame them? Think about it not as Nintendo fans. The Playstation brand has been very good for them. Only now, with Wii, is there really a reason to reconsider Nintendo hardware.

Then explain why they took Symphony of the Night to the 360 for it's first port?  Nintendo has done just as much, if not more for Konami as Sony has.  I think the truth is that Konami is still mad at Nintendo from the NES games, and they're taking it all out on them now.  And yes, I think that's a poor decision as far as Konami goes.  After all, Konami was actually one of the better treated NES developers, being allowed to publish extra NES games under the label of Ultra and all.  Even Namco didn't get that treatment, and had to opt to release some titles on unlicensed cartridges.  So no, Nintendo didn't treat them well then, but they didn't treat them as bad as possible.

Then, the GBA comes along, and Konami isn't forced to jump through the same hoops Square-Enix has to to publish content on the device.  They don't have to commit to anything, whereas SE is forced to create an FF game on the Cube.  Konami is allowed to do whatever they want.  Now the DS comes along, and what happens?  They develop for it, and it becomes a top selling and top rated franchise for the system.  You'd think they'd recognize that kind of demand pretty easily, instead opting to move on to an untested market that offers them at best half the success that the DS could.  Why?  And why don't they choose to offer a Castlevania collection for the Wii, either?  There would be a pretty good demand for any game featuring SotN, too.  Do they really not like large profit?

[Adrock]

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Then explain why they took Symphony of the Night to the 360 for it's first port?

Symphony of the Night is almost 100 MB on Xbox Live. Do you really want one game taking up almost 1/5 of your internal flash memory? Also, who's going to create the emulator for that game to work on the Virtual Console? IGA's team has nothing to do with the XBL port. And I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft dipped into their deep pockets again.

I didn't really understand your explanation, but here's my own theory: Nintendo, under Hiroshi Yamauchi, was really sh*tty to 3rd party developers. Sony came in, as an alternative to Nintendo (and, to a lesser degree, Sega), and does the opposite of everything Nintendo did that 3rd parties hated. I don't think it's about old grudges or anything. Nintendo f-ed up. That's it. Now, Sony's f-ing up and you can see some 3rd parties becoming weary. With Wii, Nintendo has to earn 3rd party support after having lost it with their own arrogance and selfishness. I think they've done a pretty good job of that so far.

[that Baby guy]

I'm saying that Konami wasn't one of the shoddily treated developers back then, and they haven't been treated too badly compared to other devs even now, yet they still refuse to give Nintendo anything if possible.

I think they could have made a Castlevania Collection disk and done well, or released a port of the game on a handheld and done well, too, however, they won't, and that's really a pretty poor financial decision.

[S-U-P-E-R]

Is this the same guy that's against having female main characters for some awful, sexist reason?

[Arbok]

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Originally posted by: Adrock
Now, Sony's f-ing up and you can see some 3rd parties becoming weary. With Wii, Nintendo has to earn 3rd party support after having lost it with their own arrogance and selfishness. I think they've done a pretty good job of that so far.

Okay, which is a good point about the Wii's current situation... but this is in the handheld arena. GBA was untested its generation, while the DS is way ahead of the PSP. The excuse in this regard by Konami is pretty thin.

[Strell]

Iga loves 2D?

I've seen multiple discussions where he tried to convince everyone that 3D was the way to go, which is why he put out the PS2 games.

Then they sucked and didn't sell well so he backed off that commentary.

[Spak-Spang]

What is annoying about this comments isn't that he has an opinion about what audience he thinks will like his games more.

It is that he ignores all evidence contradicting his comments and makes a fool of himself.

The current DS user base is more than twice as large as the PSP user base.  It would be arrogant and statistically flawed to assume that all the PSP audience is older gamers than the DS audience.  The DS market by default is going to have a larger user base of older gamers, younger gamers, non-gamers.  Practically every demographic imaginable larger.  

Next, you have just released 2 critically acclaimed Castlevania games on a platform that YOU believe doesn't have the core audience for your games.  How did they sell?  Were they reviewed well?  Received well?  I believe the answer to that is YES.  And it is going to be sad when your PSP game is released and doesn't get the same numbers as the DS games...because its userbase is smaller.  

When will developers stop being prejudice and downright STUPID towards Nintendo.  It is like developers, media, and gamers don't want to give Nintendo a break and are pushing this younger demographic upon them like a plague...when in reality that is only one part of Nintendo's audience and market strategy...and the truth is you are beginning to see both Microsoft and Sony wishing they can get an opening into that market share as well.