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The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: Flame on January 06, 2011, 12:41:48 AM

Title: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Flame on January 06, 2011, 12:41:48 AM
Whatever happened to this?


Some speculate that it was IGA's team's pitch to Konami which eventually lost out to Cox's, while others think it might be in development, possibly stalled due to LoS, (AKA wait till LoS talk dies down) while others think it just got canned early on.

any speculations? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3u3oFjjiFo#)
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Koutei on January 06, 2011, 01:01:00 AM
I think that this was canceled.

In the schedule table of the Japanese magazine Famitsu,
"Akumajo Dracula (working title) / PS3, Xbox360" was overwrited by "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow  / PS3, Xbox360".
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: le052383 on January 06, 2011, 01:20:02 AM
I think that this was canceled.

In the schedule table of the Japanese magazine Famitsu,
"Akumajo Dracula (working title) / PS3, Xbox360" was overwrited by "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow  / PS3, Xbox360".

I am not sure if we can really base that information as fact since Akumajo Dracula is the general title of virtually any CV in Japan.  It is like as if the working title of something like Mario Shunshine was Mario 128, which was the working title.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Flame on January 06, 2011, 05:39:59 AM
Not every. Mind you, IGA has taken over the "Castlevania" name to japan before too, from Harmony of Dissonance, all the way to Dawn of Sorrow, and Lament of Innocence. Lords of Shadow was also always Castlevania in Japan. Not to mention it was produced outside of Japan, where it is known as Castlevania. So actually, if there was an "Akumajo Dracula" Game that disappeared, then it was either this game, or something else entirely.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: le052383 on January 06, 2011, 08:20:02 AM
Not every. Mind you, IGA has taken over the "Castlevania" name to japan before too, from Harmony of Dissonance, all the way to Dawn of Sorrow, and Lament of Innocence. Lords of Shadow was also always Castlevania in Japan. Not to mention it was produced outside of Japan, where it is known as Castlevania. So actually, if there was an "Akumajo Dracula" Game that disappeared, then it was either this game, or something else entirely.

I know about IGA briefly changing the Akumajo Dracula titles to Castlevania in Japan since he claimed that the games won't really have Dracula in it.  I read somewhere that it was met with critism, which is why he changed it in the next two IGA games.  

My point is that Koutei's quote where Famitsu replacing Akumajo Dracula to Lords of Shadow isn't concrete evidence that the Alucard game is cancelled.  I don't know what the history behind the Akumajo Dracula listing on Famitsu is or when the changed from Akumajo Dracula to LOS occured in the magazine, but my theory is that Famitsu was using the Akumajo Dracula name as a generic place holder title for LOS until Konami officially announces the japanese title for it, which is the same as the US version.

I don't think that because Cv LOS was made outside of Japan, it kept the Castlevania name.  It probably has more to do of the game being a reboot or having less to do with Dracula much like Lamence of Innocence. Probably not a good example, but Contra 4 was also made outside of Japan.  It was renamed as Contra Dual spirits

Besides, unless noted as cancelled, I am hesitant using listing changes in a magazine as proof of cancellation of a game.  It reminds me of the whole Ace Attorney Investigation issue where a lot of gamming magazines were calling the game "Perfect Prosecutor" (a title made up by some site) before Capcom officially gave the game an official USA title.

I think gamming magazines are just in the dark as the rest of us when it comes to the Alucard game being cancelled.


Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Ahasverus on January 06, 2011, 10:21:58 AM
I bet it was the Konami Japan's video that entered in the infamous "Next Gen Contest". Obviously with its amateurish everything lost to LoS.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: jimmay17 on January 06, 2011, 10:26:32 AM
Still a more reasonable take on the whole Famitsu title-change is that they know just as much, or, more appropriately in this case, as little as we do. They saw the trailer same time we did, put a listing out there based on what little information was available, and as Lords of Shadow was officially announced to be the next Castlevania game while the Alucard project was summarily written out of existence by Konami with a campaign of silence, they just updated the title.

This tells us nothing more than we already did, or, again, didn't know.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: shelverton. on January 06, 2011, 12:23:43 PM

I'm still surprised this "game" was ever intended for PS3/360... it looks like really, really bad. Like a decent Dreamcast cutscene.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Kingshango on January 06, 2011, 12:26:25 PM
What happened: Konami took it to the back and pulled the trigger.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: crisis on January 06, 2011, 12:32:49 PM
Even though the graphics might be bland, I'll bet anybody it would've been more CV-ish than LoS.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: whitedragon_nall on January 06, 2011, 12:53:18 PM
Even though the graphics might be bland, I'll bet anybody it would've been more CV-ish than LoS.

Came here to post this, but I've already been beaten. Well done.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Dremn on January 06, 2011, 01:40:30 PM
A thought occurs.

Maybe this project will be resurrected on the 3DS.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: SIRHardle on January 06, 2011, 02:12:16 PM
I still would like to see this game, a lot. In a perfect world IGA team and Platinum Games (Kamiya) would team up to realize this project on consoles.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Sindra on January 06, 2011, 02:26:30 PM
Even though the graphics might be bland, I'll bet anybody it would've been more CV-ish than LoS.

Hit the nail on the head a bit there. Nice.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: darkwzrd4 on January 06, 2011, 03:01:52 PM
Well, I've recently heard that IGA has been working on a new game.  Perhaps this is it.  Konami probably just wanted to see how LoS did first.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Kingshango on January 06, 2011, 03:21:15 PM
He's rumored to be working on a 3DS game, but in that trailer it says 360/PS3, so either they nerfed it so much that it could fit on a 3DS cart or

Konami took it to the back and pulled the trigger.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: corneliab on January 06, 2011, 03:34:32 PM
Even though the graphics might be bland, I'll bet anybody it would've been more CV-ish than LoS.

Yep, complete with zero platforming, swords, and rpg crap out the wazoo.

Soooo castlevania
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: corneliab on January 06, 2011, 03:35:06 PM
snip hit quote instead of modify
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: X on January 06, 2011, 05:55:38 PM
Yep, complete with zero platforming, swords, and rpg crap out the wazoo.

That's kinda my feeling about this cancelled IGA game. It would be interesting to see and try out, but if it's like CoD then third time's not a charm for IGA.

-X
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: crisis on January 06, 2011, 05:56:04 PM
As opposed to tedious shimmying, brightly-lit jungle areas, generic enemy designs (most of 'em), clumsy Titan battles, boring/unfitting music, sleep-inducing narration...

b-but I'm not here to bash LoS. I still believe if the Alucard game would've been released alongside LoS, the latter would've obviously been the more polished game, but at the same time Akumajo Dracula PS3/360 would've retained that familiar CV essence that most of us wish Lords had.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: thernz on January 06, 2011, 05:58:40 PM
The engines for CoD and LoI were too awful in detection and the like for decent platforming setpieces anyway. Platforming probably would've made them even worse, lol.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Sindra on January 06, 2011, 06:13:48 PM
Lets all just agree Castlevania needs to stay 2D (or at least 2.5D) and call it a day. I'll buy drinks.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: crisis on January 06, 2011, 06:23:51 PM
Quote from: thernz
The engines for CoD and LoI were too awful in detection and the like for decent platforming setpieces anyway. Platforming probably would've made them even worse, lol.

oh boy. I'm currently sludging thru Curse of Darkness right now, and there is literally zero platforming! If I recall LoI atleast had some platforms; Hector just runs and runs and runs for the entire game (but I'm doing his quick-dodge technique to get thru the levels faster teehee). Had the game been developed by MercurySteam (and told Mr. Araujo to kick rocks), it prolly woulda been the best CV ever. EDIT: granted they leave out all that ridiculous shimmying & whatnot.

Quote from: Sindra
Lets all just agree Castlevania needs to stay 2D (or at least 2.5D) and call it a day. I'll buy drinks.

I'll take a White Russian ;]
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Jorge D. Fuentes on January 06, 2011, 06:44:25 PM
Lets all just agree Castlevania needs to stay 2D (or at least 2.5D) and call it a day. I'll buy drinks.

I would agree... except I love Legacy of Darkness and think if they just made a sharp version of that engine it'd be alwwwwwrright.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: darkwzrd4 on January 06, 2011, 07:37:11 PM
Well, I agree that IGA's team doesn't know how to make a decent 3D game, but story wise his team is decent.  I say IGA's team develops the story for the games and them outsources the programing and execution of the game to Mercurystream.  I mean, in terms of graphics and execution, LoS is the best 3D CV thus far.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: whitedragon_nall on January 06, 2011, 07:56:11 PM
I enjoyed both LoI and CoD, but they were FAR from being the definitive 3d Castlevania experience I want. Both games needed about another year of development time to hammer out all of the dents.

I wonder if this mysterious Alucard was supposed to be 3D or 2D....
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Kingshango on January 06, 2011, 08:56:09 PM
We may never know, the body has not been recovered and Konami wont tell us where the body is, so we have no clue on if it was 2D or 3D.



My guess, it was 3D.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Flame on January 06, 2011, 10:56:55 PM
I had fun with LoI. havent played CoD, but Cod actually matched the models to the artwork, which LoI failed to do. (with Leon and Sara especially)

and LoS had an interesting and fun combat system which actually reminded me a bit of LoI's whipping. Only upped on steroids. if they could find a nice middle ground between the two for the IGA verse, that would be GREAT.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Gecko on January 07, 2011, 08:53:28 AM
Even though the graphics might be bland, I'll bet anybody it would've been more CV-ish than LoS.

Doubt it.

Lords of Shadow is based more on the classic stage-based Castlevania's, complete with platforming, whip-swinging, and a classic-style Belmont to play as(minus end potential spoilers of course). The "New unidentified Castlevania game" would likely have little to no platforming, feature swords, axes, etc. but no whipwielding character, and basically been like Curse of Darkness 2. A dungeon crawler.

EDIT: Oh, I see corneliab and X got to that first. Still, I agree. IGA's 3D games haven't lived up to what I expected from a 3D Castlevania(Though I really like LoI, so that's not to totally bash them). LoS did however. It took the best of LoI's gameplay and made it better.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: thernz on January 07, 2011, 12:09:16 PM
Personally, I thought LoS's combat didn't even take in any of the high points of LoI's combat, or at least what I liked most about it. LoS's combat was dependent on a distinct set of goals. LoI was all about this precision and flexibility while LoS was far more strict in move use and about spectacle. Generally LoS's high points were all different from what high points LoI had imo. Don't particularly find LoS to be more based on the classic ones either, at least beyond face value. LoS really just does it own thing.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: A-Yty on January 07, 2011, 02:19:43 PM
Lets all just agree Castlevania needs to stay 2D (or at least 2.5D) and call it a day. I'll buy drinks.

It ain't essential.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Vrakanox on January 07, 2011, 05:27:11 PM
I hope it's still in the works. It looks like the dungeon is pretty torn on it. To me it looks like a dream come true even if the graphics are a bit subpar. Maybe this really is what they are doing for the 3DS. To be honest I'd much rather experience Alucards return on the big screen.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Thomas Belmont on January 07, 2011, 05:45:17 PM
Do we really need another Alucard game? He was already in Castlevania 3, SoTN, AoS, DoS, Legends, etc. I think Alucard is awesome but come on.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: DarkPrinceAlucard on January 07, 2011, 07:13:07 PM
Do we really need another Alucard game? He was already in Castlevania 3, SoTN, AoS, DoS, Legends, etc. I think Alucard is awesome but come on.
Simon and Richter also have a huge slew of games but i don't see anyone complaining lol.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: A-Yty on January 07, 2011, 07:24:17 PM
Storywise, his persistence makes sense - being near immortal and all. But I wouldn't like to play as him again.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Jorge D. Fuentes on January 07, 2011, 08:44:15 PM
Simon and Richter also have a huge slew of games but i don't see anyone complaining lol.

Actually, I begrudgingly complain to myself every time I see Richter in a game (why he was in PoR with Maria instead of John Morris with Eric Lecarde?).  Also, C'mon, we need more Christopher action!

I also begrudgingly complain to myself every time I hear "One Winged Angel" instead of the vastly superior "Dancing Mad" in game concerts.  But nobody listens... nobody listens...
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Flame on January 08, 2011, 01:56:55 AM
If he is playable again, they should make us play in his Arikado guise. At least he would LOOK different.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: DragonSlayr81 on January 08, 2011, 09:20:35 PM
I also begrudgingly complain to myself every time I hear "One Winged Angel" instead of the vastly superior "Dancing Mad" in game concerts.  But nobody listens... nobody listens...
Yes yes yes YES!!! Glad I'm not the only one who feels Dancing Mad's superior to One-Winged Angel!! I remember when I finally fought the final boss in FFVI, the long epic battle, beautiful scenery(almost like a painting by Michelangelo) and hearing Dancing Mad, it was a damn near religious experience. Top that, after I beat the game(it was raining during the time I was fighting the final battle), I went for a walk and the clouds parted, letting the sun's rays slip through EXACTLY like the final background in the final boss fight.  ;D
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: Dremn on January 08, 2011, 09:31:04 PM
I'm not much of a Final Fantasy fan but Dancing Mad is easily one of the best songs in the series.

Back on topic, another Alucard game really isn't necessary. I wouldn't be against one happening but I also don't see why it should. The Belmonts/Vampire Hunters with whips need more screen time.
Title: Re: Hey guys... Whatever happened to this..?
Post by: thernz on January 08, 2011, 11:57:06 PM
my guess that this game was to be the why the belmonts cant touch the whip thing seeing as it was the sotn sequel and richter belmont would probably have a part. so i guess i'd be okay with alucard even though i would have appreciated a role by richter more. i mean, it's not like he's just a random extra character.