A while back, we all assumed that Konami was on the brink of announcing a brand new Castlevania adventure for the DS. It was a fairly solid assumption based on the evidence at hand, but information since then has been scarce or, worse yet, completely fake. That's why we're a little dubious about an article on Orange Lounge Radio (who?) that claims the game in question will be called Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and will be released in November.As great a title as that is (certainly three steps up from Waltz of Discontentedness), the article raises a few suspicions and references no sources. It states that Konami has "quietly announced a few titles" that are meant to be released this year. What an excellent strategy to employ--by quietly announcing new entries in popular franchises to a select number of obscure websites, Konami will minimize the danger of people actually finding out about these games, becoming interested and possibly purchasing them. Yeah.
I also happen to be on Konami's press release mailing list, and the spot reserved for them in my inbox is currently as empty as a cinema showing Bloodrayne. The article also mentions a DS Death Jr. game, one which has been previously rumored but never confirmed. Am I right in being cautious, or am I being overly paranoid? And how stupid will I look if this turns out to be true? (You don't have to answer that one.)
[Via 4cr]
[Update: 1up is reporting that the same list of titles and release dates were leaked (and not quietly released) to retailers. Portrait of Ruin on 15 November it is, then! Thanks Mike!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-13-2006 @ 8:12PM
RupeeClock said...
A title like that suggests the touchscreen will be used a lot more this time. :)
Reply
4-13-2006 @ 8:52PM
Mike said...
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3149572
I'd say 1UP is trustworthy.
Reply
4-13-2006 @ 8:55PM
XanderC said...
It's real. I've been listening to Orange Lounge Radio for a while, and on of the hosts (LOKI) works for some videogame advertisment place...or something like that, on of the other hosts also works for Konami. Which...obviously, sounds like crap, and I would believe them, except that LOKI has announced things way before the big sites (like months) and has ended up being right. I'll call in about this on Sunday though and find out what exactly is going on.
Reply
4-13-2006 @ 9:52PM
boots said...
Oh man... this sucks. I want my "Whine of Irritability"!!! :P
Reply
4-15-2006 @ 1:49PM
LOKIOLR said...
Well as you'll see the 1UP story was actually the same one we posted. They "borrowed" it thankfully adding us as the source later on. The list is legit. I work for a game distributer and get some information that alot of press usually doesn't see. Usually though most of the major gaming sites don't pick up on our stories because they don't see us a source of gaming news (which will hopefully change soon). The Konami list was a partial list. There's more that we'll be announcing on Sunday's show. The news is straight from Konami's sales staff who I've learned probably shouldn't have sent that info out until after E3. But it's out there and retailers have the info.
Reply
4-15-2006 @ 2:13PM
Jason said...
Xander: He *previously* worked for Konami, and he's not a full time host. Guest host whenever on the show, but neither DS nor skie nor LOKI work for Konami.
Though, he's a good guy and we love him and all his contributions :D.
Not to say he's on bad terms with Konami. Oh no, quite the opposite.
Other than that, thanks for the plug, Joystiq, but link us next time g'durnit, I'd like to see our page rank a wee bit higher in the midst of e3 :)
Reply
4-21-2006 @ 8:02PM
llorenth said...
Check out the screenshot on wikipedia!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_Castlevania
Reply