Igarashi on Castlevania Judgment and budget concerns

Poor Koji Igarashi seems to be getting the same question a lot: Why is Castlevania Judgment a 3D fighting game? He had his stock answer about short-session Wiimote whipping at the ready when Wired's Chris Kohler asked him.
He also had other, shockingly new things to say in relation to Judgment, which sadly reveal the kinds of budgets Konami offers Castlevania games these days. In response to a question about the environment for third-party games on the Wii, Igarashi said the following, which lays bare the approach taken by Konami:
"I think there are two roads you can take: Create a game for the core fans with as low a development cost as possible; the other is to just find a different market for these consoles outside the core gamer."
There is hope for more real Castlevania games on a smaller budget, and that hope is called Mega Man 9. "I'm watching that very closely to see how it does," IGA told Wired. "Myself, I'm a big retro gaming fan, so if it is successful that definitely opens up doors for what I can do." It's no wonder that Igarashi would be interested in a console game that reuses 8-bit sprites.









Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Comtar @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:00PM
Mega Man 9 seems to have really started something, or is about to... Seems all everyone is talking about is Mega Man 9 when it comes to low-budget, fun, games that will make a shitload of money. If Capcom pulls this off with Mega Man 9, I wonder what other "old school" sequels we will see.
Sisyphus @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:12PM
Damn, comments like his make me want to buy Mega Man 9 just to encourage other developers to make 2D-2.5D side scroller sequels, even though I have no interest in MegaMan.
Shaq-Fu @ Jul 24th 2008 2:09AM
Nope, still not a 3D fighter
Abscissa @ Jul 24th 2008 3:22PM
All he has to do is port the DS Castlevanias to Wii. That's it. It's can't be more expensive than making an all-new 3D fighting game.
Avoli @ Jul 24th 2008 8:31PM
Mega Man 9 success....
could equal....
the real return of 2D Sonic.....
seriously, who doesn't love cash?