Topic: Another IGA interview (w/ talks of the movie)

[Oralox]

Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi has a lot to talk about. There's a live-action movie. A new game for PSP. Another new game in the works for DS. And he finally figured out why Simon Belmont whips candles to get items:

WN: Last question. Why does Dracula keep putting meat inside the walls of his castle?

KI: You should ask, why do they eat it! I've thought about this stuff. I've actually thought about the candles. The candles are people's souls that were taken by Death or by the vampires. In Japan there are candles that represent life. So, when you release the souls from the candles by whipping them, they give you a "thank you" present. Thank-you hearts, or thank-you holy water.

    The meat, I have no idea.

Wired News: So, what's new and exciting in the life of Igarashi and Castlevania right now?

Koji Igarashi: It hasn't been officially announced by Konami yet, but I went to meet with this director the other day, who's doing the Castlevania movie.

WN: I'd heard that this was going to be an animated movie? Is this still the case?

KI: Was there a rumor that it was going to be animated?

WN: Yes! There was a whole blog by the guy who was directing the animated movie, there was concept art... it was supposed to be based on Castlevania III.

KI: Oh, that's a totally separate thing.

WN: And now you're doing a live action movie.

KI: Yes. The director is Sylvan White, who directed Stomp The Yard. I think the director's name has been announced by the production company but not by Konami. We'll have more discussions with him to realize the movie, and when the time comes, Konami will make an official announcement.

WN: What do you think are the challenges of translating Castlevania into a movie?

KI: The movie should be handled by the movie makers. But the director and I, we discussed the world of Castlevania, and the conflicts, and the story. But the director plays the game a lot. He was actually showing the producer how to play it. He knows about it. So I feel really confident.

WN: What did he say was his favorite thing about the series? What attracts him to it?

KI: We had just a brief discussion yesterday, we didn't have much time. So I just briefly explained the game. Hopefully we can talk more.

WN: What's coming up next for Castlevania, the games?

KI: First, we're doing another Nintendo DS version. There hasn't been an official announcement, but we're doing it. First, we want people to enjoy the PSP version, and afterwards we're announcing it. So, please wait a little bit.

WN: Has the PSP version been released in any territory yet?

KI: Not yet. It'll come out first in the US.

WN: Are there any pre-order promotions for it in America? Last time there was that CD package, is there anything this time?

KI: This time... there'll be a special gift at GameStop. Do you know Neca, an American action figure maker? They made a special NES-version Simon figure for Comic-Con. Like a pixel picture. They're doing a Simon's Quest version, in black/white/red, for the pre-order gift. It'll be at GameStop, but the numbers will be very limited.

WN: Some of the reactions that I've read to the new version of Rondo of Blood for PSP is that taking the game straight from the PC Engine and making a PSP version, maybe wasn't the best fit -- that the new graphics and the old gameplay didn't work together. Do you still think this was a good idea?

KI: I think it's a great fit, but there are challenges that nobody will notice. In 3D, when you jump upwards, you expect to hit the ceiling of the second floor with your head. But in 2D, you know you can jump straight through it. So in 3D in this game, you can jump through the floor.

WN: Do you want to do more of these kinds of remakes, or new ones?

KI: My ambition is to be the number-one action game. We still aren't. We've been doing this for 21 years, and we have a lot of core fans, but I want to appeal to new users as well. This coming title is a little bit hard, but the Castlevania series isn't too hard, and has replay value. It's not wasting money at all to have this game. So my ambition is to be the number one action game.

WN: It used to take a long time for a Castlevania game to come out. You'd wait three or four years. But now they come out regularly. Have you found that you're hitting a saturation point where people have had too much Castlevania, and they wait for price drops instead of buying the games when they come out?

KI: As for the quality, if you compare it with other DS titles, these games' quality are really high. So I think we can maintain the price for these games. To make a high-quality game, you need to invest. It costs to create a high-quality game, so the price level has to be maintained.

WN: Do you think that the sales of the slim and lite PSP in Japan will help sales of this new game?

KI: The PSP market has been revitalized a lot. Retailers are saying they don't have enough software to sell. So I'd like to watch and see how this game performs.

WN: When does the game come out in Japan?

KI: November 8th.

WN: I've wanted to ask this for a while: what do you think, in the whole history of Castlevania, was the worst decision anybody ever made about the series?

KI: Probably when we put out the timeline. Because since Dracula only appears every 100 years, we made the whole timeline and ran out of places to put in another game. I made the timeline, but I shouldn't have actually released it, because now it's all official. That was a bad decision.

WN: Last question. Why does Dracula keep putting meat inside the walls of his castle?

KI: You should ask, why do they eat it! I've thought about this stuff. I've actually thought about the candles. The candles are people's souls that were taken by Death or by the vampires. In Japan there are candles that represent life. So, when you release the souls from the candles by whipping them, they give you a "thank you" present. Thank-you hearts, or thank-you holy water.

The meat, I have no idea.

(Source: http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/10/interview-iga-t.html )

[Marto]

~Quote Iga~
As for the quality, if you compare it with other DS titles, these games' quality are really high.
~End Quoting Iga~

 : Yeees, very high quality maybe compared to others, but when compared to other Castlevania games instead of other DS titles, these games were just...

And not to mention the degenerating level of detail from one game to the next. It's like they're taking many steps back instead of having any progressions. I just hope Iga finally lives up to his higher levels of delivery for the new titles.

[Dark Nemesis]

I agree! We need something new and not recycle sprites, controls and scenarios.

[Marto]

In Reply To #3

I think in that aspect Lament of Innocence was good (even if it had many faults and I do recognize them). I loved the new bosses, the new enemies, and other things that were completely fresh. Hell, when was the last time a CV game DIDN'T have a clocktower. They wear thin after a while.

I also liked Castlevania Aria of Sorrow due to its fresh coat of paint.

But aside from those two, even one of my favourites, HoD, suffered from the avatar reuse, and crappy sprites.

[crisis]

It seems as if the animators are getting lazy/bored with the enemy designs. Maybe IGA could hire some new members, or give the old members a break to think of some new ideas?

[Marto]

In Reply To #5

That's where it all comes from: Those people are worked like dogs each year to produce something brand spanking new (despite the fact that they fail), and don't nearly have the necessary time to do so.  Stupid Konami with unrealistic deadlines...

[SymboliC]

I wonder why they couldn't "borrow" and share their own Konami programmers from each of their games.

Like hire Team Silent for a certain area..lol..

[DragonSlayr81]

From what I recall, some of the guys from Silent Hill DID work on LoI and CoD. It didn't do any good, actually.

As for monsters, you NEED some of the classic monsters to return. That's a must. There HAS to be some familiar looking things(be their designs EXACTLY the same) to make players know this is a CV game. Believe me, there ARE players who'd freak out if, for some reason, classic monsters's appearances were changed drastically from their classic look to something different. What I think needs to be done is:

- More non-classic monsters need to be used in the 2D CVs. Maybe even some of the "new" monsters from the 3D CVs(LoI, CoD, or even some of the new ones introduced in CV64/LoD).

- More classic monsters need to be used in the 3D CVs. None of this pallette swapping of the same models. That's a damn cheap way to get out of it. I hated the melty wolves, skeleton wolves, hellhounds and what ever they were, all basically looking the same just with different "coatings". Also, WHY didn't they just use the Panthers, which ARE basically the same thing(melt into shadows) and are CLASSIC monsters? Why weren't there any werewolves in LoI or CoD? It would even be cool to see a Warg(those giant wolves from SotN) in a 3D CV game. Classic Spear Guards(purple armor, which is their classic RoB look), or even giant Final Guards(not normal knight-sized Final Guards, like in CoD). MEDUSA HEADS!!! It sucked that they were not present in LoI and CoD.

[Marto]

In Reply To #8

Actually, I can see that Silent Hill people worked on LoI because the environment seemed like something from their level of work. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where they were put to use, because silent's strong point has always been the surrounding environment, and that's where Lament of Innocence shined its brightest.

[crisis]

..has always been the surrounding environment, and that's where Lament of Innocence shined its brightest.

Hahaha!

[Think Tank]

...the director plays the game a lot. He was actually showing the producer how to play it. He knows about it. So I feel really confident.

Um, which game does the director play? An old-school CV or one of the 3D ones? This is so vague.

...They made a special NES-version Simon figure for Comic-Con. Like a pixel picture. They're doing a Simon's Quest version, in black/white/red, for the pre-order gift.

Oh cool, it is different that the brown-tone version I have. Now I wish I would've pre-ordered the game.

[Marto]

In Reply To #10

I guess I missed the joke, but guessing from the lack of explanation, I'm guessing its nothing worth sharing anyway.

Man, sometimes I truly do wonder if everyone's got a stick up their ass around here. 

[crisis]

The surrounding environment(s) in LoI WAS the joke, but to each his own I guess 

[Azmodan]

The level design itself was crap, but it was the details in the look and layout was so gorgeous. The environments had great detail.

Man, sometimes I truly do wonder if everyone's got a stick up their ass around here.

For every average poster, you have about five dumbasses.
That's true in any forum.


Anyways, back on topic. The possibility that Sylvian White has actually played the games lends some hope that he just may know what he's doing with that movie. Still think it's a bad idea, though.

[TheCruelAngel]

That was actually a pretty good interview, gave me a little more insight into the mind of IGA.  I do appreciate that he regrets ever making the timeline official, it really did mess with a lot of stuff, and probably something he still gets the most guff about.

I hope he really does up the ante for the next DS title, I really do believe he has so much more potential and just keeps limiting himself(or is being limited).

Hopefully the movie will be good as well. x_X  I have renewed hope for it after reading that the director had infact played Castlevania previous to being part of the project.