Castlevania: Koji Igarashi & Michiru Yamane interview

[AentikDranikan]

this persons composers and producers from Castlevania need to be Immortals

[samantha34ize]

psp maybe psp go is but not psp vita is for next gene title i want knami make those 3 ds castle van in to psp i just beat sotn now im no addicted to cas series

[samantha34ize]

plz convert those 3 ds castlvania to psp plz

[AlucardsQuest]

@samantha34ize Interesting, but that wouldn't be such a great idea since the Sony Vita is making PSP obsolete.

[000apina000]

Why the fuck do people feel the need to dub everything!? Just use subtitles!

[AlucardsQuest]

@000apina000 I just posted the video, it was already dubbed before I got to it. i just thought it was a cool interview. Little did I know that Iga's games would become secondary to Lords of Shadow and the big reboot.

[000apina000]

@AlucardsQuest I know you just uploaded the video and I'm not blaming you. I was actually thinking about writing that to my previous comment but I didn't.

[kitsune2222]

Michiru Yamane is a Goddess of a composer, and a MILF :)

She has my deepest respect.

[AlucardsQuest]

@kitsune2222 Well she's not a M.other to my knowledge, I don't even think that she's married... but then again I respect her too much to look into that sort of information.

[kitsune2222]

@AlucardsQuest Sexuality and respect are both natural for a human being, I'm not ashamed to feel that way.

And the "M" in MILF can also stand for "Mature" :)

[TheKrustaceox]

Bastard. Ripped off Castlevania Legends from the timeline......Love this bastard though. __-__

.,.,.,.,.,;;.,.; O

[AlucardsQuest]

@TheKrustaceox He had no choice, they screwed up Alucard's age as well as the marker that was set by Castlevania III Dracula's Curse that stated that Trevor was the first Belmont to face and defeat Dracula. Also there was some innuendo that Alucard fathered the Belmonts too, ridiculous.

[wowpockopa]

Koji Igarashi is a stupid arsefucker!!!! he turned castlevania into shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AlucardsQuest]

@wowpockopa If by shit you mean he made an ailing series fun interesting and enjoyable again after several bad games then, yes... that's indeed what he did.

[shuyin131]

Yamane looking beautiful there :D It's too bad she didn't get to compose the next-gen Castlevania. She singlehandedly composed so many wonderful tracks, the games wouldn't be right without them.

As for Iga, they pulled the project right from under him and rightfully so.  That guy did not know what to do for next-gen and even if he did, they didn't have the talent available to do it.

[AlucardsQuest]

@shuyin131 Actually I think he might have made a similar game, but I bet it would have played much less like god of War than LoS. I do think he had the talent for making a great Castlevania, I just think Konami was unwilling to give him the time, resources and budget needed to do so. Besides I wouldn't feel right about Michiru Yamane doing the music if IGA and Ayami Kojima weren't involved. She's a free agent now anyway so if they wanted her back, they'd have to pay.

[spider394]

Has anyone asked him what kind of whip IGA uses?

[AlucardsQuest]

@spider394 I'm not sure lol, but I'm pretty sure that it was the same model that the Konami store sold a few years back. A Leather whip with a Castlevania logo on it. I wish I had bought that when it was available.

[AlucardsQuest]

@spider394 I'm not sure lol, but I'm pretty sure that it was the same model that the Konami store sold a few years back. A Leather whip with a Castlevania logo on it. I wish I had bought that when it was available.

[AnimaxRules]

Awww ...I felt pity for that poor skeleton by 1:10 trying to block Alucard's path. Looks so helpless with that tiny sword and shield >_<

[agetro82]

She is the composer for SOTN? Even the song for the Prologue in SOTN? Amazing.

[AlucardsQuest]

@agetro82 She is the composer for Bloodlines, Symphony, Aria, Lament, Curse and half of Dawn, Portrait and Order. Plus she's contributed various tracks from other games over the years.

[Gonnatam84]

Love michiru

[AlucardsQuest]

I'm sure Iga will do his best to use her for the next game, but Yamane has since retired from Konami and become freelance. That doesn't mean that she won't work on the next Iga Castlevania, but it'll be slightly more difficult to procure her services.

[Mirrorbeholding]

This old fogey is a genius for creating Castlevania. And Michiru is a master too.

[AlucardsQuest]

Ah, well he didn't create Castlevania. It's kind of a secret to the person who actually created the first game on the NES and Famicom. Although a man named Akihiro Nagata created the MSX2 game the very same year, it's quite possible that he could be the one.

[demonninjaspider]

things that make a castlevania game awesome

1.KICK ASS SOUNDTRACK (yes it needed to be capitalised)

2.Flambouyant characters (Simon, juste, Alucard..seriously they are awesome)

plz feel free to add XD

[nic0203]

Castlevania's CASTLES!

[0godangel]

GODS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sinistral1989]

Does anybody know how to get autographes of

Ayami Kojima and/or Michiru Yamane? I'm desperately looking for them as a birhday present for a friend. I know, they may be hard to achieve, but...they would be *so* good presents. XD

I am grateful for any help.

[AlucardsQuest]

I don't even know if that's possible. Other than ebay or flying to Japan and meeting with them, I'd say you might be out of luck.

[Sinistral1989]

oh yeah, I think that this is the case, sadly. But it would be a kickass present, so I'll give it a try. Thank you. ^^

oh, and the vid is really worth watching. ^^

[AlucardsQuest]

The biggest problem is that in Japan people are busy as it is, but those who work in the video game or entertainment industry are always busy.

[RainMan34]

Personally, if I had to choose between a piece of music getting completed or a few thousand autographs be signed, I'd opt for the music everytime.

[AlucardsQuest]

Btw, you might find it easier to get an autograph for Michiru Yamane as she is now a free agent (not unlike Yuzo Koshiro). For everyone's sake though, I hope she at least composes for Iga's next game.

[Sinistral1989]

Thank you, you are right ^^ maybeeeeeeeeeeeeee I am going to fly to Sweden next year for a short trip as Michiru Yamane ist going to be there @ the Castlevania Concert. In Comparison, it is not that far away from Sweden to Germany |D

Oh, and I am also hoping that Yamane will compose some more tracks for Castlevania...The theme of Lords of Shadow is okay for me, but it is nowhere as magnificent as Yamane's work =(

[heyjeySigma]

why isnt koji wearing a cool cape? that'd suit him well as the Castlevania producer hehe

And that's Michiru amane? she's awesome. the games wouldnt be the same wihtout her.

[AlucardsQuest]

He has a trenchcoat, but many of the women he works with told him not to wear so much black all the time... strange women.

[heyjeySigma]

lol I guess they dont realise the true meaning of awesomeness.

[AlucardsQuest]

But it's funny, his response to them telling him to wear more color was to wear w white shirt instead of a black one lol.

[CleverDjembe]

Surprised he speax such fluent English!

[AlucardsQuest]

That's a translator.

[druha10304]

castlevania is starting to turn into madden theres on every year!

[AlucardsQuest]

Well we didn't get any Castlevania games in 2004, in 2007 we only got remakes, and in 2009 I doubt that the PS3/360 game will be finished. But they do seem to make a lot of them.

[Jherichi08]

hey!why? koji igarashi not finish the castlevania

chronicles dracula's curse?

[AlucardsQuest]

Well I imagine that he doesn't want to do remakes one right after the other, so he'll do a few more original games first. And although Dracula X Chronicles sold much better than the first Chronicles game, it wasn't really a "great" seller (although that may be because it was on PSP). Personally I know he wants to do Dracula's Curse next, (if at all) but I think most fans would agree that other Castlevania games are more deserving of remakes, many might say Simon's Quest needs to be remade first.

[jcapsel85]

i wonder why ppl hate psp. Its a great handheld if you ask me.  I love it more than my ds. Castlevania is awesome on psp.

[AlucardsQuest]

Probably because until recently there weren't very many really good games for it, the UMD movie thing was just ridiculous, (charging more for them than DVDs yet having less features) and that insulting viral campaign didn't help matters out either. It has a nice screen, but the only reason I buy portables is for Castlevania... otherwise I would be glued to my home gaming all the time.

[jcapsel85]

is castlevania the only series you play?

[AlucardsQuest]

AVGN calls himself a retro-gamer, I think I fit that mold as most of the games that I play are a series that started in the mid to late 80s on the NES... the golden age as I call it. Others I still play are Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest (Warrior), Phantasy Star, Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man, Contra, Super Mario, Zelda, Metroid... but I play a lot of games. Castlevania just happens to be my favorite universe.

[jcapsel85]

dude, i too am a retro gamer, though there are other games i could get into, i am mainly into Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy and Castlevania. These are the games i play the most.

[AlucardsQuest]

I do like newer games as well, but the market is kind of turning it's back on retro gaming. It's becoming more of a niche thing, like Mega Man 9 being downsized to an 8-bit download. It looks cool, but I'd rather have a new Legends game to be honest lol.

[MonkeylandXD]

He is awesomehe made a great game which ive been playing for almost all of my life all ways willl be my favorite

[XDrizztFan87X]

oh screw it, i'll just have to make the next CV game.

[AlucardsQuest]

There's a rumor, (that I have pushed myself) that the next game will be outsourced. Iga, Michiru & Ayami would still be in control of the game's direction, music & art respectfully, but much of the grunt work could be left to another team. And Konami has recently invested a lot of money for one of it's franchises to be developed in Europe. Speculation runs rampant, and somehow I think that they might leave E3 without mentioning anything about the next non-portable game... I hope not.

[XDrizztFan87X]

i think it would b kool if the next console cv title was on wii and the controls were similar to twilight princess. that would b really kool, im still waiting for a very good full 3d cv game, i didnt like the ones on 64 or curse of darkness or lament of innocense *shanked by Leon fans*

[AlucardsQuest]

The series has never given complete go anywhere do almost anything freedom like Zelda or God of War allows, at least it never feels like that. I think most people agree that whether or not they liked Simon's Quest, (and even Zelda II) that the idea of wandering the whole Transylvanian countryside is an idea that should be looked at again. I only wish that they would be much more daring with level designs, like bringing a lot of platforming and dangerous pitfalls back.

[davidabrilx]

wii or ps3 i don't know which would be better.the most beautiful looking game ever or possibly one of the best 3D castlevania games ever. i wonder... either way there is a ds title and we all know that will be awesome.

[AlucardsQuest]

I just hope I don't have to buy a new console. I don't mind it so much, but I don't have much money to do that.

[garc4475]

i say go for wii fuck graphics gameplay gameplay!!!!

i actually played original rondo rather than 3d rondo

so there you go and most ppl will agree too

[AlucardsQuest]

Still there's no excuse for Konami not to give IGA a nice budget for presentation. Curse of Darkness didn't even have any light sourcing and that made it look like an N64 game or something. And the constant loading and poor level design were quite irritating.

[schtolteheim]

Did you see that? at 2:37 you can see the Vampire Killer hanging on the door handle and some woman is aproaching it, probably Sonya Belmont.

[AlucardsQuest]

It's probably just a Konami employee wanting use the bathroom, but she doesn't want the whip to hold the door open.

[Kaibaman21]

A PSP Version of Symphony of the Night ok this is my third to get title for the PSP when I get one Symphony is my favorate Castlevania ever

[AlucardsQuest]

This is probably the best Castlevania package ever. I'll be honest though, you have to unlock the original games. But you can go to GameFAQs website to figure that out if need be. Plus in this version, there is new English voice acting, you can choose to hear to hear the Japanese voices, there are 2 familiars that were cut out of the PS1 games, and once you beat it you can play as Maria Renard!

[Rictrunks]

Thanks!

[AlucardsQuest]

You're welcome?!

[goemon047]

Wicked, I'm glad he's looking back to the original formula because those games were EPIC!! That's not at all to say I don't love his newer titles, but you know I'm old-school like that. In any case, I'll always buy anything that says "Castlevania"! Awesome interview! More GORE!! lol

[AlucardsQuest]

I think he was on the right track with Lament of Innocence, (even though I love Symphony, Aria, Dawn, Curse & Portrait) but some of the ideas weren't fully implemented & exploited. Most important to me is an improvement in level design, otherwise I trust his judgment.

[BELMOND65]

Que alguien le agrege subtitulos. =)

[AlucardsQuest]

Subtitles? In Spanish?

[BELMOND65]

Yes in spanish, me gustaria mucho, y lo agradeceria mucho. saludos.

[AlucardsQuest]

I'll see what I can do, but even this English voice over is broken lol.

[BELMOND65]

Ok, tanks, gracias AlucardQuest, saludos. Espero que se pueda hacer algo. +

[AlucardsQuest]

I was going to try and add subtitles to a new version, but my PC is being ass lol. Maybe I can send you the text?

[BELMOND65]

:S - Jejejeje, yo no se ingles, te tradusco con las herramientas de idioma de google.

Esperemos que alguien ayude a traducir a español, al igual que las demas entrevistas sobre castlevania, esque no e tiendo nada jajaja. saludos =)