E3 2009: Konami Announces Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

During their E3 press conference yesterday, Konami took a moment to announce the next entry in the long-running ARPG series Castlevania, titled Lords of Shadow, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Originally announced as an original IP last year at Leipzig, Konami has seemingly redressed the title as a member of the Castlevania franchise. European developer MercurySteam will remain in charge of game's creation, but Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear Solid fame) will apparently be lending his support and the support of his Kojima Productions Studio as well.

There is currently no confirmation of series vetrans Kouji Igarashi (IGA) or Ayami Kojima (who has traditionally handled the gothic-style artwork for the majority of the series) on the project.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is due for release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sometime in 2010.


I have to say that I'm a little bit uneasy about this. Castlevania without Igarashi? And no Ayami Kojima to at least add to the game's style? Worrisome. And while I respect Hideo Kojima for creating a franchise that is so well-loved, I never particularly enjoyed the MGS series, and I don't really understand why the internet is obsessed with Kojima as a Japanese Jesus of game development.

That said, the trailer (above) is completely badass, so I'm not ready to write the game off until I've seen a lot more of it. However, I can't help but feel that the game will abandon its RPG functionality. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

TGS 2008: New Castlevania is Real, on 360 and PS3

So yesterday I brought you word of this game via a Japanese news source. Well GameTrailers has brought us the teaser in question, and it truly does say both PS3 and Xbox 360. So, yeah. That would be a confirmation.

What interests/disappoints me the most, however, is the very last line of text that flashes on the screen (制作開始) which basically says "Production Begun." Doesn't quite instill a lot of confidence that we'll see the game anytime soon. I hate teasers like this. >:(

Watch it below and feel the frustration.


Let me know in the comments if you think this is enough of an announcement to count for Bingo.

TGS 2008: Konami Teases HD Castlevania

During a stage event at Konami's TGS booth, Castlevania producer Kouji Igarashi (commonly referred to as Iga-san) took some time to talk about the Castlevania series, including the upcoming DS iteration, Order of Ecclesia, as well as a Hollywood movie based on the series.

However, there was apparently a big surprise at the end of the event, where a very short clip was played. The clip in question portrayed a blonde man holding a red, glowing sword, and the words "漆黒の闇をまといし呪われた血族、同族を裏切り父親を滅ぼした、呪われた宿命," which I would translate to something along the lines of:

He of the cursed blood, veiled in thick darkness,
Betrayed that blood, and murdered his father,
His cursed destiny

And then, for only about 10 seconds, the words "A beautifully reborn Castlevania for next generation hardware" were visible on screen.

Afterwards, Iga-san said, "Now that we've gone and announced it, I guess there's no going back."

It is unclear at this time exactly what game this will be, what console(s) it will be on (though it is speculated to be both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3), or when it will be released, so I don't think we can really count this on the Bingo card (because that's what is really important here).

The full Japanese report on the event here. Thanks to XNEWS for the tip.

New Order of Ecclesia Trailer Brings the Sexiness

Nintendo unveiled this new trailer for Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia at their media summit today in San Francisco. It is hawt.



Yep, this definitely looks like the coolest Castlevania to date. Yum.

E3 2008: New Castlevania: Order of the Ecclesia Trailer

Last evening at Konami's press conference Castlevania creator Kouji Igarashi was on hand to give the scoop on the latest 2 additions to the Castlevania franchise. Castlevania: Judgement for Nintendo Wii, and Castlevania: Order of the Ecclesia.

Since Judgement is a "not" fighter game (according to Iga), we will not be covering it here. Order of the Ecclesia, on the other hand, is a traditional Castlevania side-scrolling action RPG. And we do that kind of thing. =)

During the conference, a new trailer was shown for Order of the Ecclesia (embedded below) and the main characters names were revealed. The main character is Shanoa, while her supporting characters are Albus and Barlowe. No word yet on how Shanoa is caught up in the game's storyline, but we'll keep you posted.

Castlevania: Order of the Ecclesia will be available for Nintendo DS in Japan and North America sometime this fall from Konami.

Dracula and DS. They Both Start with 'D.'

Castlevania is my favorite action RPG series that I didn't know was an action RPG for years.

Konami has recently announced the next game in the series for the DS: Order of the Ecclesia. I must say, it looks like all kinds of bad ass. I, for one, absolutely loved Portrait of Ruin, and Order of the Ecclesia looks like it brings all of the 2D side-scrolling RPGing you can handle plus a bucket of chicken. Or was it a gun? ...I don't remember. I haven't watched the trailer in a whole hour, so such details tend to escape me.

Well, regardless of whether it was chicken or gun, the trailer is a definite MUST SEE for anyone who enjoys side-scrolling vampire slaying. And really, who doesn't?

Castlevania: Order of the Ecclesia is due out sometime this fall in Japan. No word yet on North American or European releases, but we'll keep you posted. In the meantime, stay away from mirrors (you can't see vampires in them!)