Topic: How popular IS Castlevania?

[Vatican29]

From what I can tell, not very popular at all. I hope Lords of Shadow changes that because, quite frankly, I'm tired of Konami being Metal Gear Solid: the company.

This game/series is one that does not cater to everyone.  CV was never meant to be on WII and all that other jazz.  It should remain popular with those that enjoy this type of game rather than those that entertain Mario Brothers and all the spin offs as the best games on Earth.  The minute CV goes intriguing the "come one come all" players, the minute the complaints about suckier titles go through the roof.  I'd rather not see a series that has, overall, been pretty good turn into a diluted, super-crap version of itself.

[chainsawmidget]

This game/series is one that does not cater to everyone.  CV was never meant to be on WII and all that other jazz.  It should remain popular with those that enjoy this type of game rather than those that entertain Mario Brothers and all the spin offs as the best games on Earth.  The minute CV goes intriguing the "come one come all" players, the minute the complaints about suckier titles go through the roof.  I'd rather not see a series that has, overall, been pretty good turn into a diluted, super-crap version of itself.

You do relize that at the height of it's popularity, Castlevania was on a Nintendo consol and lumped rigtht up there with things like Mario and Megaman, right? 

[thernz]

i think he just means he doesn't want to see castlevania milked.

[Vatican29]

You do relize that at the height of it's popularity, Castlevania was on a Nintendo consol and lumped rigtht up there with things like Mario and Megaman, right? 

LOL, yes.  I began playing Castlevania during the year of 1988 when it was released in the US.........and every title on the home platforms since. 

Also, it was hardly "lumped" into things like Mega Man, and Mario Brothers.  (sheesh)  As Doc Holiday said in Tombstone, ...."what an ugly thing to say...."

I also realize that Castlevania was never a mainstay title for MOST gamers, but the people that have called the series "home" for various reasons are a whole different story....

 Thernz---Your intuitive interpretation of my statement was spot on.  Thanks.

[DragonSlayr81]

i think he just means he doesn't want to see castlevania milked.

Yeah, because the CV series has never been milked before:

[thernz]

but the cd box was great considering the rarity of the original soundtracks, and so is kid dracula ; - ;

pachinko is just busy being pachinko, it's... not really enough to nag about, considering it isn't draining any budget from the main series budget, being developed by a separate branch focused on those types of games anyway.

it's reeeally not being milked to a dangerous amount, i would at least say.

[DragonSlayr81]

Oh ho, but nobody said milking could be a bad thing. In some cases, milking IS bad, but yeah, with CV, it's not as bad.

[Munchy]

This game/series is one that does not cater to everyone.  CV was never meant to be on WII and all that other jazz.  It should remain popular with those that enjoy this type of game rather than those that entertain Mario Brothers and all the spin offs as the best games on Earth.  The minute CV goes intriguing the "come one come all" players, the minute the complaints about suckier titles go through the roof.  I'd rather not see a series that has, overall, been pretty good turn into a diluted, super-crap version of itself.

I don't think being popular and catering to a smaller fanbase are mutually exclusive. It takes work, though. Seems like Sega is doing this pretty well with Sonic Colors, which is not only a 3D Sonic game but - gasp! - has ENJOYABLE new gimmicks and non-shitty writing! At least so far.

[Vatican29]

Yeah, because the CV series has never been milked before:

I know that many of the handheld titles were pretty good.  Some things should have never been done.

I guess I measure a series more often by looking at what has been done on Home Consoles.  Given they have more power to deliver an experience (usually), it's just what I look at.

I know I am trying to cross-compare games to show the difference between, well, I'd say the casual crowd versus hard(er) core gamers, but in some ways it's been nice to know that your average guitar hero would not pick up a vampire killler, generally speaking. 

Other series that are going through this sort of reboot or whatever would be Armored Core, a mech game.  It has always had its following, but the instant they took away some of the elements that made a veteran a veteran, and made it so anyone could play, everything got watered down.

This is not to say the games are not enjoyable, but they are not exactly what is expected.

Sonic, in a way, like Mario Bros. and others, sort of don't count.  These are titles that, back in the day, came with the system when purchased to show off what it could do, and present owners of that system with a game an entire family could love and be challenged by.  I never felt that CV fell into that classification.  If new things have to happen, that is an awesome thing. However, when games start straying so far from their essence, that's where the bad milking comes, I suppose.

@ Munchy, you are right about fanbase and popularity not being mutually exclusive.  Say this title takes the series back into huge limelight, well, we may all be very happy with what comes next.

[ShinAkumaXX]

From what I can tell, not very popular at all. I hope Lords of Shadow changes that because, quite frankly, I'm tired of Konami being Metal Gear Solid: the company.

I quite agree with you. While everybody I know has played at least a couple Metal Gear games. Shoot I don't even know of any games from Konami except for Metal Gear the last few years. Where is Contra for 360? Basically only one of my friends knows what CV is, and really only because I clamor about it so much. I thank the gods that somehow Dracula X made it onto virtual console. Even though I paid the bucks for it for my Turbo Duo in 2004. Maybe if this one makes Konami enough loot we can finally get a Castlevania Collection. One of my dream video games.

[Munchy]

Where is Contra for 360?

Arc System Works is making an HD sequel to Contra Hard Corps for the 360 and PS3. It's a digital title, though.

At least they're making a 3DS Contra. Should be cool as long as Konami doesn't catch whatever Capcom got and farm it out to Titus the Fox or something.

[ShinAkumaXX]

Well thank you for the info, that sounds awesome! Wow, I just checked a video out of it on IGN. Looks suepr cool. Bring on the HD 2D games. I didn't play a ton of contra, but the music on this game sounds like it might be more like Guilty Gear than Contra. Maybe it's just the metal'ness of it. Game look cool for sure though.