Topic: Operation: Akumajo commencing Viral Campaign

[C Belmont]

Would it be silly to scale the operation down to being just about convincing konami to put a decent effort into a 2d Castlevania game for home consoles and that alone? even just a downloadable title.

No LOS bashing, no wet dream titles like the Demon Castle Wars, or a LOS game in 2D, (these things could be pushed for further down the track) just Castlevania in 2D & back on a home console. Surely that would be something that the majority of fans could get behind.

[Deko21]

Would it be silly to scale the operation down to being just about convincing konami to put a decent effort into a 2d Castlevania game for home consoles and that alone? even just a downloadable title.

No LOS bashing, no wet dream titles like the Demon Castle Wars, or a LOS game in 2D, (these things could be pushed for further down the track) just Castlevania in 2D & back on a home console. Surely that would be something that the majority of fans could get behind.

That'd be great. Its best to see a new idea rather than a rehashed one or one that's been talked about for 100 times.
Though it makes me think, what will it have that'll set it aside from the other CVs? Cause you know, every CV has a neat little feature that sets it apart from the other games (SCV IV with its 8 directional whip, CotM and its DSS system, etc)

[X]

Would it be silly to scale the operation down to being just about convincing konami to put a decent effort into a 2d Castlevania game for home consoles and that alone? even just a downloadable title.

No LOS bashing, no wet dream titles like the Demon Castle Wars, or a LOS game in 2D, (these things could be pushed for further down the track) just Castlevania in 2D & back on a home console. Surely that would be something that the majority of fans could get behind.

I would like very much to see this too.

[Flame]

What OP: Akumajo should be doing is encouraging all of the types of CV that we have thus far. You know, Classicvanias, Metroidvanias, 3DVanias, MSVanias, etc. We shouldn't diss one and favor another, because it's ridiculously unprofessional and makes us look like total douchebags, not that I'm saying anyone here actually is.

Listen to him-

He knows what he's saying.

[C Belmont]

I agree that Operation Akumajo could be far less hostile toward particular entries in the series
However it does still need objectives, and I don't know about anybody else but I find it rather difficult to imagine what a satisfactory response from Konami would be for a Operation aimed at simply encouraging everything Castlevania, except maybe them going about business as usual.

[KaZudra]

Simple Objectives:
Anniversary Fan Appreciation Project of any kind.
Any New Game Featuring Canon Timeline.
Just a slightest of focus on Castlevania as opposed to 95% up Kojima's ass, 5% in bad remakes that spew with potential to be better.

[Deko21]

That's a good way to start. Though i think it'd be best to have the person in charge of Operation Akumajou see that and convince him to make those their objectives rather than a new game with "state-of-the-arts graphics". Sounds rather too demanding and childish.

[JR]

I think that some stuff could be done to change the mission statement. Though I am an admin for OP: Akumajo, I don't think I'mma go changing things up without talking to Cecil about it first, though. What OP: Akumajo should be doing is encouraging all of the types of CV that we have thus far. You know, Classicvanias, Metroidvanias, 3DVanias, MSVanias, etc. We shouldn't diss one and favor another, because it's ridiculously unprofessional and makes us look like total douchebags, not that I'm saying anyone here actually is.

Would it be silly to scale the operation down to being just about convincing konami to put a decent effort into a 2d Castlevania game for home consoles and that alone? even just a downloadable title.

No LOS bashing, no wet dream titles like the Demon Castle Wars, or a LOS game in 2D, (these things could be pushed for further down the track) just Castlevania in 2D & back on a home console. Surely that would be something that the majority of fans could get behind.

I enthusiastically agree with both of these posts.

[whitedragon_nall]

I enthusiastically agree with both of these posts.

As do I.

[Deko21]

As do I.

same over here.

[Flame]

I suppose I can get behind the second post too.

[cecil-kain]

WOW! lots to catch up on here...

Rather than address each and every post let's cover some of the consistent points that have been made here...

First thing I notice reading over the past few pages is that some of you are uncomfortable supporting Operation Akumajo due to philosophical disagreements over this or that.  LoS, 3-D games, specific demands, the tone...  etc...  I'm feeling Cox's pain just a little bit when he says you can't please everybody, but I have an advantage that he doesn't --several years communing with the fanbase and polling its opinions on this very forum.  We have alot of disagreement within our ranks, so when it comes to building a coalition --my challenge is to find those key areas of agreement that can actually unite what appears to be a broken fanbase.

If you look at the big picture, Operation Akumajo is..
1. Pro Mythology
2. Pro 2D Gameplay
3. Pro Quality
4. Pro Fanservice

Everything in the mission statement revolves around those key points.

I notice LoS keeps coming up, so I'd like to put that topic to rest.  Konami is happy with the sales from Lords of Shadow --there will be a sequel, and there's nothing any of us can do about it.  Most of us would be perfectly happy to live and let live --unfortunately, Konami has positioned LoS to replace our traditional Castlevania experience.  Therefore, Operation Akumajo needs to acknowledge the threat, and respond strongly in support of the traditional mythology and 2D gameplay.  The alternative is to be quietly complacent while Mercury Steam hijacks the Castlevania brand and takes it God knows where...  Some of you have suggested (and I agree) that Konami should take a multiversal approach, where LoS can coexist side by side with more traditional games.  Multiverses have been successfully used in comic book media for quite awhile now..  Although it's not seen too often in gaming, Capcom made it work for Megaman -why can't Konami do the same for Castlevania?

There have also been concerns raised about the group's position on the 3D games.  Put simply --we believe 2D gameplay is the superior artform for Castlevania.  Although the 3DVanias have dedicated cults, these games have consistently divided the fans.  After 3 major attempts and 6 individual games, Konami consistently failed to unite us behind a 3D game befitting Castlevania's legacy.  LoS is also the only real sales success to speak of, but even casual fans are asking themselves "is this even Castlevania?"  If you believe CV64, LoD, LoI, CoD, CVJ, or LoS are superior to games like CV3, SCV4, SotN, AoS --then I'd agree you don't want to join...

I really don't understand the complaints about the demands --a movement needs a cause.  Demon Castle War has been discussed, speculated, and requested ad nauseum on this forum for all the years that I've been around.  Moreover Dracula's Curse is just about the only game everyone agrees needs some kind of Chronicles treatment.  I also polled demand for both games as a 25th Anniversary tribute --and both came back quite favorably.  Moreover, Dracula's Curse has the potential to solve one of Konami's biggest problems --drawing people into the Castlevania story to grow the brand and improve sales.  It's rather daunting for the average joe gamer (particularly one in their teens) to get caught up on the past 25 years of Castlevania backstory.

The tone of our propaganda has been criticized since the beginning, and some changes have been made for consistency with the mission statement.  But one thing to remember is that this isn't a lazy online petition --this is activism.  The propaganda is pointed and aggressive to reflect the passion of a fanbase that loves Castlevania and expects more from Konami.  Let's suppose for example, that the recent rumors are true and Konami has some kind of Chronicles game in the works --how many of you think we're really going to see another quality product like the DXC?  Harmony of Despair may well have been a trial balloon to see how much should be invested --but who knows... Considering there's been so much anonymous complaining about the quality of the games on this forum the past few years --why not take the extra step and make sure Konami hears you?

I was wondering just recently...  All of you that are passionate about Castlevania, but have complaints, and don't 100% agree with our mission...  How would you bridge all of the disagreements to try and unite your fellow fans?  And what would you be willing to do for Castlevania?  Online petitions, email campaigns, facebook campaigns --all of these things have been tried before for similar causes, and I think we will too but Operation Akumajo needs a little something extra...

This is the 25th Anniversary.  Suppose each of us were to take a few minutes to post our own Castlevania testimonials on Youtube.  These personal monologues would be your big chance to tell Konami what you think they need to hear.  We could talk about a variety of different things.  What we enjoy about Castlevania and why -our favorite games -our praises and criticisms -what we want to see in the future etc...  Operation Akumajo would be happy to post and circulate these videos as part of a larger viral campaign --but none of this has been decided for certain yet...  Just some new ideas to consider...

Well I hope that helps --what do you think?

[Sonic_Reaper]

As I said I have neither Facebook or Twitter, but I agree with your points.  It's good to know the movement has someone so eloquent behind it.  My only criticism was that your numbers are embarrassingly low in comparison to your aspirations.  There was some odd hundred members on the Facebook list last I checked.  That's just too small of a number, no matter how well written your argument, to make Konami give a damn.  I guess the question becomes, how do we get at least 100,000 behind this movement?  I think that's a reasonable goal, given what it is you're asking for.  In my mind, it seems a difficult number to amass, given this franchise.  And now especially since those who enjoyed LoS, and it being their first Castlevania, wouldn't support such a movement. 

[cecil-kain]

As I said I have neither Facebook or Twitter, but I agree with your points.  It's good to know the movement has someone so eloquent behind it.  My only criticism was that your numbers are embarrassingly low in comparison to your aspirations.  There was some odd hundred members on the Facebook list last I checked.  That's just too small of a number, no matter how well written your argument, to make Konami give a damn.  I guess the question becomes, how do we get at least 100,000 behind this movement?  I think that's a reasonable goal, given what it is you're asking for.  In my mind, it seems a difficult number to amass, given this franchise.  And now especially since those who enjoyed LoS, and it being their first Castlevania, wouldn't support such a movement.

Just to put the numbers in perspective, Konami has almost 135,000 fans on their Castlevania page --and we currently have 145.  And yes that is embarassing..  :-S  I imagine quite a few would be open to joining Operation Akumajo, but it's difficult to make that connection since fan posts are not on the hit screen, and many Facebook users filter out non-friend pages from their news feeds. So how does something like this really take off?  The correct answer is media coverage --that's what really got Operation Rainfall off the ground...  This is why the viral campaign is so important.

[C Belmont]

If you look at the big picture, Operation Akumajo is..
1. Pro Mythology
2. Pro 2D Gameplay
3. Pro Quality
4. Pro Fanservice

Well then I think your statement should be more about the big picture & less about the small stuff because it could be costing you valueable followers.
Have you thought about simply asking what it is that people want from Operation Akumajo? not specifically what dream game they'd like made but the general response they'd like to see from Konami.

Also how about trying to give Operation Akumajo a presence on frequented Castlevania websites? like a banner or something? that way there is a greater possibility that people interested in Castlevania will see it.