By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
jarrod on 24 December 2010
Edit Thread
mrstickball said:
jarrod said:
mrstickball said:

Given how well Symphony of the Night sold on XBLA, I don't think the problem is the console its on. The real problem is Konami can't market the games very well, and does some crazy things like totally ruin Harmony of Dispair.

If Konami created a true SOTN-like clone (or near clone) for XBLA/PSN and didn't screw it up like Harmony of Dispair, it would be the best selling Castlevania game, period.

Oh, and somehow, I just don't see the Wii as being the console of choice for a core Castlevania title. Truth be told, I think it'd be the worst of any given option to launch it on that system.

I think 2.5D home console Castlevania would sell comparably on any of them.  The difference is on 360/PS3 they'd probably have to be downloadable, while on Wii it'd probably have to be retail.

I don't know if a home console Castlevania would do very well.

A mature-rated, $50 to $60 2.5D platformer would not be the easiest thing to pitch to consumers unless it was arguably the best title ever created in the genre (admittedly, anything Metroidvania would be awesome). That is why meeting the price demand at $10 or $15 would be a much better option. At that price, you would get a lot more people willing to try the title out, and make up the costs in a higher margin and more sales.

If VGC numbers are to be believe in full, a disc-based game would fail, as sales for disc-based Castlevania games has always been poor.

Comparatively, the downloadable eqivilents have done very well. If numbers are correct, SOTN on X360 alone is the 2nd best-selling title in the series ever. Adding PSN would make it the best selling multi-plat Castlevania ever.

Now, put a bit more quality into it as a new release, and it'd likely hit Shadow Complex numbers, if not better. I think it'd be a safer proposition to try to aim for 1 million sales on a new true Metroidvania title at $10 or $15 than try to hawk it at three times the price on consoles that have never proven that they can sell mature 2.5D platformers at retail.

Well, 2.5D doesn't mean strict 2D... it could "open up" in sections like Metroid: Other M or Sonic Colors.  If it were a Wii retail game, I'd expect a scope (and budget) that probably went beyond what we'd get as an XBLA/PSN release (which probably would be strict 2D, which is cool also).  It's not like Konami would be making the same sort of game on either and just charging differently... they're not EA. ;)

And why would Iga bother doing a full 2D Metroidvania on XBLA/PSN for $15 when he could do it on 3DS for the same cost (or less) for $30, and probably sell comparably?  He'd be devaluing the product, it'd encourage consumers to expect cheaper prices for these sorts of games, which is already becoming something of a problem with XBLA (it's similar to iOS devaluing traditional game products in the handheld space).   Sonic 4 is already a bit of a mistake in this direction imo, it really should've been a full retail release rather than a chopped up downloadable.  As a retail Wii/PS2/360/PS3 game it'd probably have sold dramatically more than all the Episodes will as WiiWare/XBLA/PSN/iOS downloads.

edit: also, where are you getting XBLA/PSN figures for SotN?  It's over a million on just those two combined?  How did HoD XBLA do?