Topic: IGA's new project finally teased at PAX?

[zangetsu468]

I mean, the Lords series was their attempt at making an AAA Castlevania, and outside of the first game, weren't the second and third titles significant financial failures?

Has anyone found anything legit on sales figures? I can't seem to, but I remember reading an article that LOS 1 was the most commercially successful CV title, which doesn't surprise me if that's true.

It's been a busy year, so I haven't gotten around to LOS 2. But if it's worse than MOF I can't imagine it being more commercially successful than LOS 1. One thing is for certain, largely because of the stealth portions which I've read reviews on, it doesn't seem to have been a well received title.

[theplottwist]

OK so, this might not have much to do with this thread, but IGA just posted this:

ニート辞めました( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

Google Translator scares me. If I'm drawing mad conclusions, please ignore.

[zangetsu468]

OK so, this might not have much to do with this thread, but IGA just posted this:

ニート辞めました( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

Google Translator scares me. If I'm drawing mad conclusions, please ignore.

I can't make sense of the phrase, but is it something about resigning?

[Foffy]

Has anyone found anything legit on sales figures? I can't seem to, but I remember reading an article that LOS 1 was the most commercially successful CV title, which doesn't surprise me if that's true.

It's been a busy year, so I haven't gotten around to LOS 2. But if it's worse than MOF I can't imagine it being more commercially successful than LOS 1. One thing is for certain, largely because of the stealth portions which I've read reviews on, it doesn't seem to have been a well received title.

From what I recall on NeoGAF sales threads, MoF sold maybe less than 40,000 its first month, and LoS2, dat big AAA release, sold under 100,000 units. Those are bad numbers.

Maybe sales increased since their launches, but in an industry where both handheld and console games need mondo sales at the launch of the game, seeing two games consecutively underdeliver might easily put the franchise on hiatus, which I'd argue we may see. Konami abandoned the old ideas of the series, it seems core staff on those games aren't at the company anymore, and the efforts they made with outsourcing collapsed with LoS2.

[Little Dracula]

So is going to happen this week?, TGS and all?.

[theplottwist]

I can't make sense of the phrase, but is it something about resigning?

Yes, but reading the comments on the post makes me believe that he was tired of a working day, and was just commenting on it. Not actually resigning.

[Koutei]

ニート辞めました( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

Translation: I resigned the NEET thing :)

[Nagumo]

I guess he jokes about getting a job? He basically says he is longer a bum, I think.

[zangetsu468]

From what I recall on NeoGAF sales threads, MoF sold maybe less than 40,000 its first month, and LoS2, dat big AAA release, sold under 100,000 units. Those are bad numbers.

Ouch.. They really took it on the chin!

Maybe sales increased since their launches, but in an industry where both handheld and console games need mondo sales at the launch of the game, seeing two games consecutively underdeliver might easily put the franchise on hiatus, which I'd argue we may see. Konami abandoned the old ideas of the series, it seems core staff on those games aren't at the company anymore, and the efforts they made with outsourcing collapsed with LoS2.

I honestly believe this came down to 2 things, because LOS could have been a new hook which caught on at the time:
1) MOF took 3 years to be released after LOS and it was utter garbage, compared to previous handhelds entries - argue as one may that they weren't good, not 1 of them was even as bad as MOF. I believe a lot of fans would have waited for the reviews and thought if it was shit, they'd skip LOS 2 also.
2) LOS 2 took 4 years to be released after LOS and is apparently also garbage. So if people were on the fence, again why not wait for the reviews and if they were bad, there you have it. In all honesty a lot of people were probably on the fence after LOS 1 because it was such a large departure from the series, even though it was a solid game imo.

I agree, personally I think CV is done for after the 2 aforementioned flops. The casual fans have abandoned the franchise, the hardcore fans are getting pissed off, there's no target demographic hanging about waiting for the next game anymore. Fans need their fix, we're only human.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Since IGA already has a job, we might get a glimpse of the game soon.
TGS might be too early, methinks.

[DragonSlayr81]

I think Konami wants AAA money, and no disservice to the quality of this series; this doesn't fit in the AAA arena of games today. The only games of its ilk are the Souls series and Bloodborne, but that is because they were outliers to that type of model.

I mean, the Lords series was their attempt at making an AAA Castlevania, and outside of the first game, weren't the second and third titles significant financial failures?

I think the problem is that when companies chase the AAA train, when that goes bust, they have less and less to fall back on. To me, at least, it would seem more wise to persue the AAA crowd, but still nurture the lesser "classed" titles so when the trend goes bust(and trends DO go bust), you have other franchises keeping you afloat. Trying to make EVERYTHING appealing to the AAA audience, IMO, is like shooting planks out from beneath you. You are got so much time until you are tip-toeing on a few planks, trying to keep balance and not fall to your death.

That's just me, though. I think a well wiser endeavor would be to secure a stable audience(like many long running franchises have) with titles that aren't specifically AAA, and dabble in attracting AAA audiences with various projects, but don't fuck up either relationship. The focus should be creating a stable fanbase and your company's longevity, putting all your money down on ONE big project(which will either be a big fuckin score or sink you). Isn't that the whole purpose of "business", keeping the money flow constantly coming in rather than going for that one big score(that everything's riding on)?

[theANdROId]

I always felt like that might have been part of Nintendo's goal with the Wii and their shift to focus on people and families playing together.  I guess I can't say how well that did them overall (doesn't look too good, but time may still say otherwise) but I appreciate it, particularly because it brought MY family quite a bit more together.  (My mother, who hated all-things-video-games, and my grandparents who lived in the basement and almost never wanted to do anything "family time"...they would, without hesitation, agree to a game of Wii Sports, Mario Kart, and a few others!)

But back on topic (well, the "topic" of the comment before mine), the intent initially seemed to be to get more "gamers".  I don't think they 100% succeeded in gaining a new crowd while maintaining the ones they had...but all I'm saying is that seemed like it was the original intent.  If done well, I think such an idea would be smart, and potentially increase income.

[shelverton.]

IGA posted a pic from Tokyo Game Show on his fb page, so he's there alright! The plot thickens... I hope he's not just there as a casual visitor.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Does the pic have a caption? Please post it here cause I can't access his FB.

[Dremn]

Since IGA already has a job, we might get a glimpse of the game soon.
TGS might be too early, methinks.

I still think we'll see something on Halloween.