Koji Igarashi Kickstarts Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (2.5D, backdash, 2018)

I don't think publishers are out of touch, they just have big expectations, and exist on a business model that requires big hits.

I'd say they're out of touch, actually.

I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but most Westen bizdev people are glorified marketing people. They don't actually know anything about games except Top 10 sales figures from last quarter.

So their business model doesn't really require big hits, it's that they don't know anything else.

I think it would be a lot smarter if they'd release more small games with a higher chance of profitability, rather than always chasing those big blockbusters.
 
Kind of but not in the same way. Everything was still sprited, but sprites were placed on flat polygons :P. And some backgrounds were 3D 3D. This will use 3D models and 3D environments on a 2D plane. But they're gonna work on some shader magic to get a 2D effect like Guilty Gear Xrd

Technically yes, it's rendered on 3D polygons that are flat because the PS1 could render more polygons than sprites and to surpass that limitations they rendered every sprite into polygons instead.
Ooh thanks.

Anyway I actually just realised this is coming out in 2017 and my Vita would have been cremated and has its ashes scattered across the ocean by then. After crying and caressing my Vita I guess I'm all in for usd100.
 
Seriously, this is one of the most professional kickstarters I have seen. It's clearly made by people who have examined the model closely, and are working hard to manage it. The fact that they have not responded instantly to every change is to be expected,and they have updated the stretch goals twice so far.

They have the brains behind the originals, an experienced, passionate crew, an excellent PR team, and great ideas for advertising and connecting with the fans. Most importantly, they also have funding in addition to the kickstarter. The two year development cycle seems reasonable, but if it gets delayed, like most projects, that also won't be cause for panic. As far as I can tell, it seems like everything is realistic and, barring unforeseen disaster, I fully expect the game to be made and satisfy the majority of the backers, even if it won't be exactly what most of them have been imagining in their heads for the last 20 years. Everyone, take a deep breath an relax.
 
I dunno know if they can hit Xrd, given the rather intricate designs here, but i'll be satisfied if they can make it look even half as flat as that in motion.
 
Day fucking 0 if this game looks as good as GGXrd does. It's a high bar to achieve but I'm a believer.

Not to be a kill joy; but the only have concept art though I'm sure the end product will look great though. The have Yamane and Igarashi. If they could lure Ayami Kojima back into the gaming industry it'd be even better.
 
Not to be a kill joy; but the only have concept art though I'm sure the end product will look great though. The have Yamane and Igarashi. If they could lure Ayami Kojima back into the gaming industry it'd be even better.

They've been out there saying that they want to try and utilize shaders to get a look similar to GG Xrd, thats probably why the poster was mentioning it.
 
I'm excited for this. Allot of not positive posts, but I'm staying optimistic about this. Order of Ecclesia would have been a fine note to go out on, but I welcome more.

Someone a while back mentioned that they don't seem prepared for how positive and how quickly a reception this kickstarter got though. The new stretch goals definitely don't seem prepared. "What else can we give them?"
 
Not to be a kill joy; but the only have concept art though I'm sure the end product will look great though. The have Yamane and Igarashi. If they could lure Ayami Kojima back into the gaming industry it'd be even better.

It would be great to have her back, but I want to know more about who is the new lead artist. According to the devplay of SotN with IGA, he chose Ayami Kojima from just perusing some Shoujo (or maybe it was Josei) manga. I'd like to know whether the lead artist here has a similar background or is more of a gaming focused artist. I just hope that there is a very central lead on the art side, since I can't find any specific information on this subject, it is a small bit worrying on the consistency side. I hope they let us know that there is someone directly in charge of visual direction soon, though I'm not too worried.

If this game looks like Xrd, even if it looks somewhat worse, I just realized it should have a photo/diorama posing mode. Sort of like the pause screen in a Smash Bros game, though obviously not the default pause screen, it would be best to be turned on and off with a toggle in the menu, and opened with some unused button or combination. But being able to take pictures from many angles would be really cool, and a great way to use the 2.5D UE4 cel shaded visual style. They probably wouldn't go so far as to let the camera turn completely around, or else there would be black void where the camera's perspective usually is, but it would be a really excellent feature, especially paired with a diorama mode to actually "set up shots" by posing enemies or characters in any room in the castle, and choosing animations to create great battle shots.

I think it would be an outstanding stretch goal.
 
I know all about his involvement in Symphony of the Night. If it weren't for him picking up the slack of directing, the game wouldn't have existed in its current form. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's not a one-man team. There are probably a lot of unsung heroes on his team that made it the game that we got in the end. The role of producer is important, I'm not denying that, but the staff is arguably equally important. I'm not familiar enough with Inti Creates to comment though.

Are you familiar with the concept of "Being a leader/manager"?

If your project/product fails, you'll be the face of the failure.

Same if your project is a major success.

Even though we all know it was a team behind you, you are the public face. Some people will praise the team, but most people will praise the producer or the company that made the product.

BTW, this is a rhetorical question.
 
I know all about his involvement in Symphony of the Night. If it weren't for him picking up the slack of directing, the game wouldn't have existed in its current form. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's not a one-man team. There are probably a lot of unsung heroes on his team that made it the game that we got in the end. The role of producer is important, I'm not denying that, but the staff is arguably equally important. I'm not familiar enough with Inti Creates to comment though.
IGA actually talks about one "late" hiree and basically said they never would have been able to finish the game without him.

Watch this Let's Play with IGA. He gives many interesting tidbits on the development of SotN and gives credit where credit is due :)
 
Wasn't there a thread a couple months ago that showed all of Steam's million+ sellers? If I recall, Fallout 3 was just over a million (new vegas had like 3 million).

Fallout 3 is at around 2 million on Steam.

Eh, if anything, this is on the other end of the spectrum. YG miscalculated what their stuff would cost, but Fangamer(I assume) is not putting much thought into their stretch goals either. Apparently it's gonna just be 250k increments no matter what is promised, regardless of what it may cost to implement. None of this is going to cost an added million.

It's a good thing when stretch goals don't cost as much to implement as the distance from the last dollar figure to the current one. I'm starting to get the impression it's you who doesn't know much about Kickstarters.

Seriously, this is one of the most professional kickstarters I have seen. It's clearly made by people who have examined the model closely, and are working hard to manage it. The fact that they have not responded instantly to every change is to be expected,and they have updated the stretch goals twice so far.

Yep. I would definitely not have guessed six months ago that IGAvania would go on to become one of the highest-funded game Kickstarters ever, but now it's going to make the top 5 (and is technically on pace for the #1 slot) and the quality of the campaign is a not-insignificant part of that.
 
I dunno know if they can hit Xrd, given the rather intricate designs here, but i'll be satisfied if they can make it look even half as flat as that in motion.

XRD is the Moon they're shooting for. Even if they don't quite reach that, as long as they "land among the stars" near that Moon, I think we'll be fine.

Also, that reminder that SOTN had sprites rendered on flat polygons gives me all the more confidence that IGA and Inti will utilize a similar technique to make sure the game maintains a "2D feel".
 
XRD is the Moon they're shooting for. Even if they don't quite reach that, as long as they "land among the stars" near that Moon, I think we'll be fine.

I hope you're right. But they also mentioned Strider.
I really don't want it to look anything like Strider.
 
I hope you're right. But they also mentioned Strider.
I really don't want it to look anything like Strider.
It won't look like Strider. Strider has sci-fi futuristic grey buildings because it's the setting and chosen art style (I don't care for it, but it does fit). Even if it uses similar tech it obviously won't look like that.
 
I'd say they're out of touch, actually.

I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but most Westen bizdev people are glorified marketing people. They don't actually know anything about games except Top 10 sales figures from last quarter.

So their business model doesn't really require big hits, it's that they don't know anything else.

I think it would be a lot smarter if they'd release more small games with a higher chance of profitability, rather than always chasing those big blockbusters.

That may have been true 10 years ago (or 20), but if you look at the big publishers, they make their money with 3-4 huge games a year. For an Activision to replace a Destiny or CoD, or for Ubisoft to replace an Assassins Creed or Far Cry, they'd have to release 20 small games, and they'd all have to be successful. To replace their full AAA lineup, each publisher would be releasing 100s of small games. The market couldn't absorb it. Unfortunately, the game industry looks like Hollywood, where the 100mil+ blockbusters drive the business and that leads to safe, dumbed down content.

Thankfully, Kickstarter has been a great way to size up an indie game to the size of a classic mid-tier game.
 
The worst 3D we could get here is probably from Dracula X Chronicles, considering this kind of game.

That's the worst this can go to, and that's not even bad, nor trying to emulate a 2D aesthetic.
 
Not to be a kill joy; but the only have concept art though I'm sure the end product will look great though. The have Yamane and Igarashi. If they could lure Ayami Kojima back into the gaming industry it'd be even better.

Kojima is an illustrator. I doubt her involvement would've changed that this game is not gonna be made with pixel art in mind.

2.5D can look absolutely fantastic.
142782032323348-assassins-creed-chronicles-china-6.jpg
ACC actually does look mostly like that! What's the point in using 40x20 sprites when you can make games like THESE? And this isn't even all that outstanding, as far as quick cash-ins go, this is one!
Quite a long shot from DXC, no?
 
Xrd is a heavenly choice for aesthetic inspiration, but it's nothing without Xrd's animation technique. That is the key.

Are they "handcrafting" the animation, I hope? Is it clear that is what Iga means by saying Xrd is the inspiration?
Xrd is awesome shader work, but that animation is what makes it the best animation leap in gaming in years - though it's more technique than technology. Good ol' fashioned frame by frame elbow grease, but made easier for devs thanks to 3D trickery. No interpolation or motion capture.

A metvania with Xrd animation is what I've wished for since seeing Xrd the first time. I've posted this dream before. Hoping it really is happening.

Starting to ramble. Wish they actually had something to present. Time to forget about it for a few years. Shall be a long wait.
 
Kojima is an illustrator. I doubt her involvement would've changed that this game is not gonna be made with pixel art in mind.

2.5D can look absolutely fantastic.

142782032323348-assassins-creed-chronicles-china-6.jpg


ACC actually does look mostly like that! What's the point in using 40x20 sprites when you can make games like THESE? And this isn't even all that outstanding, as far as quick cash-ins go, this is one!
Quite a long shot from DXC, no?

Eh, the texture work is pretty messy. It's too clear that it's just relatively low-res watercolor-like textures plastered haphazardly over simple 3D models.

There's something nice about how orderly and deliberate spritework is or can be. It feels like artists have much more control over the composition of any given scene or environment.
 
Really? People were saying that Yooka Laylee reached a mill faster.

Oh, you could be right, I didn't remember to do the math on that one since it's still going (and is in funky Britdollars.) It might be aimed for #2 then. It's definitely above pace vs. Eternity and Torment so far, though.
 
Oh, you could be right, I didn't remember to do the math on that one since it's still going (and is in funky Britdollars.) It might be aimed for #2 then. It's definitely above pace vs. Eternity and Torment so far, though.

Honestly I wasn't sure because of the britdollars as well. Yooka has slowed down a bunch, but it still has like the full time of a normal kickstarter left, what with it's longer then average length.

Is there a site that keeps track of how much each kickstarter made every day it's active? I've seen bar graphs before, but think they were just done for that individual kickstarter.
 
Eh, the texture work is pretty messy. It's too clear that it's just relatively low-res watercolor-like textures plastered haphazardly over simple 3D models.

There's something nice about how orderly and deliberate spritework is or can be. It feels like artists have much more control over the composition of any given scene or environment.

They do, it's just at the downside of a massive increase in man hours, as they have to solo hand draw every last frame of animation.

With 3d, you can model, texture, and animate all separately. Not to mention all the lighting. effects, and so on you can do.

I suppose you could pull a DKC, and make sprites off the models, but that seems rather wasteful these days.
 
That may have been true 10 years ago (or 20), but if you look at the big publishers, they make their money with 3-4 huge games a year. For an Activision to replace a Destiny or CoD, or for Ubisoft to replace an Assassins Creed or Far Cry, they'd have to release 20 small games, and they'd all have to be successful. To replace their full AAA lineup, each publisher would be releasing 100s of small games. The market couldn't absorb it. Unfortunately, the game industry looks like Hollywood, where the 100mil+ blockbusters drive the business and that leads to safe, dumbed down content.

Thankfully, Kickstarter has been a great way to size up an indie game to the size of a classic mid-tier game.

But it isn't Activision, EA, or Ubisoft who are deluded... It's everyone else trying to be like them. But neither Capcom nor Konami nor most other companies can be like them because these three publishers, Activision, EA, and Ubisoft, release the same set of games year after year. Every year will have a Call of Duty, an Assassin's Creed, a FIFA, and a Madden and those four games are guaranteed to be in the ten top sellers of a particular year. It's more like a top six with four IPs as undefeatable constants.

Compare this to GTA or Smash Bros. which are huge IPs, but never have annual releases... or something like the Halo franchise, which is also a huge annual IP, but one that could not even break the top ten. FIFA, Madden, Call of Duty, and Assassin's Creed are constant annual top tenners.
 
But it isn't Activision, EA, or Ubisoft who are deluded... It's everyone else trying to be like them. But neither Capcom nor Konami nor most other companies can be like them because these three publishers, Activision, EA, and Ubisoft, release the same set of games year after year. Every year will have a Call of Duty, an Assassin's Creed, a FIFA, and a Madden and those four games are guaranteed to be in the ten top sellers of a particular year. It's more like a top six with four IPs as undefeatable constants.

This is actually why I have a huge amount of respect for companies like Atlus. They will never be a huge publisher, so instead, they make cheaper, but still very enjoyable games targeted at a few hundred thousand sales each.

Granted, that used to be From Software as well, pre-souls. From just proves that all it takes it that one IP that resonates with a huge audience to suddenly shift you into the big leagues sales wise.
 
Its not even pixel, its in Unity, so its not a passion project obviously.
This is the most ridiculous bullshit I've read in this thread. Ignoring the fact that it's factually wrong (the game uses UE4, thankfully), the amount of hubris and egocentricism evident in the idea that something can only be a "passion project" if it uses pixel art is staggering.

Seriously, this is one of the most professional kickstarters I have seen. It's clearly made by people who have examined the model closely, and are working hard to manage it. The fact that they have not responded instantly to every change is to be expected,and they have updated the stretch goals twice so far.
I don't really agree, the lack of information about the stretch goals is just too severe compared to projects I'd consider top-end in terms of management (e.g. Shadowrun: Hong Kong).
 
Are they "handcrafting" the animation, I hope? Is it clear that is what Iga means by saying Xrd is the inspiration?

IGA didn't mention Xrd, the people who wrote his KS FAQ did, and they mentioned Strider in the same breath so they clearly don't know what they're talking about.

Either way, they weren't saying "our game will look like Xrd and Strider", they were citing those games as evidence that 2.5D can look and feel suitably 2D. I'm not convinced they can pull it off, frankly, but I hope they can surprise me.
 
I really can't understand some people.

Iga needed 500k for starting his project.

If he receives much more than that... what's the problem?

I hope he does! That way, he can work with less problems in mind, with a bigger team and even can save money for future projects.

I don't ever really care about tiers except for those involving releases on some platforms. More bosses, levels, etc, are just something extra...

If IGA (or another dev) says "I need X money but I hope you can support me and my team with more", for me it's cool if they receive three or four times that "x" money.

Let's face it: almost anyone back a project on KS because is "preordering" the product on display, period. So, if that product is succesful... great for the dev!

Stop bitching for nothing...
 
Some people are crazy. If you don't want to contribute, don't contribute. End of story. But no, gotta whinge and whine on the internet first!
 
Is Igarashi broke or is this a passion project cuz why make this sure to me piece of garbage?

Its not even pixel, its in Unity, so its not a passion project obviously.

This also feels about 4 years late to the party. Indies have outpaced him long ago.

That game Slain, coming out next month, is pixel based, and it looks amazing. This game will come out in god knows when, and will be far worse than the best metroidvanias on steam.

Terrible, terrible 2.5d. Slain looks awesome. Someone plz embed a trailer.

I uh. What. I'll leave young Gary Coleman with my thoughts:
tumblr_inline_n9g8l3j5WF1s6lb06.gif
 
The thing that blows my mind is that the Kicktraq says it's trending towards $18 Million

That doesn't seem realistic

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/iga/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night/

Now comparing with Mighty No. 9

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/mightyno9/mighty-no-9/#chart-daily

Based on the daily data graph which is base goal was 900k

Day 1 - 163k
Day 2 - 550k
Day 3 - 418k

It took almost 3 days to reach the 900k needed for Mn9, the numbers added above is around 1.13 million

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/iga/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night/#chart-daily

For Bloodstained with a base goal of 500k

It managed to gain 990k on the first day alone, and 461k on day two, that's 1.4 Million.

So it's basically outpacing Mn9 by good margin.

And Mn9 managed to raise 4 Milllion total.

I don't see the 18 million trend, but I do realistically see the possibility of 5 to 6 million. If this is over and above the 4.5 Million the publisher allocates? (If the Publisher even gives them that much?)

6 million for a Igavania (if we count the publisher money possibly 10 Million), It sounds like decent amount of funds for development.

HOWEVER, the Kickstarter is not over, so everything I say is speculation, outside of the graphs and money earned thus far.
 
The thing that blows my mind is that the Kicktraq says it's trending towards $18 Million
Are you new to this whole Kickstarter thing? Kicktraq "trends" are simply linear extrapolation. They are always completely off throughout the entire campaign (they only sort of come close around the halfway point).

Also, I very much doubt this is going to get anywhere close to 6 million. Unless their social media shenanigans are way more effective than I expect I think it will flatten out soon.
 
The thing that blows my mind is that the Kicktraq says it's trending towards $18 Million

That doesn't seem realistic

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/iga/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night/

Now comparing with Mighty No. 9

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/mightyno9/mighty-no-9/#chart-daily

Based on the daily data graph which is base goal was 900k

Day 1 - 163k
Day 2 - 550k
Day 3 - 418k

It took almost 3 days to reach the 900k needed for Mn9, the numbers added above is around 1.13 million

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/iga/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night/#chart-daily

For Bloodstained with a base goal of 500k

It managed to gain 990k on the first day alone, and 461k on day two, that's 1.4 Million.

So it's basically outpacing Mn9 by good margin.

And Mn9 managed to raise 4 Milllion total.

I don't see the 18 million trend, but I do realistically see the possibility of 5 to 6 million. If this is over and above the 4.5 Million the publisher allocates? (If the Publisher even gives them that much?)

6 million for a Igavania (if we count the publisher money possibly 10 Million), It sounds like decent amount of funds for development.

HOWEVER, the Kickstarter is not over, so everything I say is speculation, outside of the graphs and money earned thus far.

I can see a decent influx of funds if/when they reveal stretch goals for Nintendo consoles/Vita.

I myself can't spare the cash until early June, but I'll still be backing it for sure.
 
Are you new to this whole Kickstarter thing? Kicktraq "trends" are simply linear extrapolation. They are always completely off throughout the entire campaign (they only sort of come close around the halfway point).

Also, I very much doubt this is going to get anywhere close to 6 million. Unless their social media shenanigans are way more effective than I expect I think it will flatten out soon.

No, I'm not new to Kickstarter, I've followed Mn9, Divinity:OS, and Project Eternity (Pillars of Eternity) Kickstarters.

I understand that Kickstarters generally are heavilly front loaded in terms of pledges then there will be a huge dip for quite a bit of time, and it may pick up again, maybe for those sitting on the fence until the very end who are undecided to get their last minute pledge in.

I'm just going by what the data tells me. Mn9 took 3 days to reach it's funding goal, at around 1 million earned, Bloodstained in the same time frame almost is 1.7 million, which is almost double. Mn9 made 4 million total.

IF, and IF the trend keeps up for Bloodstained, I don't see it impossible for exceed the amount Mn9 earned. Who knows, it could very well finish out at 2 million for today and remain as such till the very end of the campaign. There are variables I'm not accounting for naturally.

Kickstarters are unpredictable, so as I said, I'm speculating.
 
The thing that blows my mind is that the Kicktraq says it's trending towards $18 Million

That doesn't seem realistic

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/iga/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night/

Now comparing with Mighty No. 9

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/mightyno9/mighty-no-9/#chart-daily

Based on the daily data graph which is base goal was 900k

Day 1 - 163k
Day 2 - 550k
Day 3 - 418k

It took almost 3 days to reach the 900k needed for Mn9, the numbers added above is around 1.13 million

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/iga/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night/#chart-daily

For Bloodstained with a base goal of 500k

It managed to gain 990k on the first day alone, and 461k on day two, that's 1.4 Million.

So it's basically outpacing Mn9 by good margin.

And Mn9 managed to raise 4 Milllion total.

I don't see the 18 million trend, but I do realistically see the possibility of 5 to 6 million. If this is over and above the 4.5 Million the publisher allocates? (If the Publisher even gives them that much?)

6 million for a Igavania (if we count the publisher money possibly 10 Million), It sounds like decent amount of funds for development.

HOWEVER, the Kickstarter is not over, so everything I say is speculation, outside of the graphs and money earned thus far.

Kickstarters usually make a lot of money the first few days and last few days with the days in the middle being much lower, right now kicktraq only has the first few high days to use to estimate the total.
 
No, I'm not new to Kickstarter, I've followed Mn9, Divinity:OS, and Project Eternity (Pillars of Eternity) Kickstarters.

I understand that Kickstarters generally are heavilly front loaded in terms of pledges then there will be a huge dip for quite a bit of time, and it may pick up again, maybe for those sitting on the fence until the very end who are undecided to get their last minute pledge in.

I'm just going by what the data tells me. Mn9 took 3 days to reach it's funding goal, at around 1 million earned, Bloodstained in the same time frame almost is 1.7 million, which is almost double. Mn9 made 4 million total. [...]

I just asked since you said you were surprised by the Kicktraq numbers.

About actual predictions, I think there are multiple reasons that this is a lot faster out of the gate than MN9:
- they had a lot more groundwork prepared for it, with the week-long social "game" and "mystery", as well as the initial 8 hour stream with some well-known personalities.
- since thisis the post-MN9 world, a lot more fans of 2D Japanese action games are more familiar and used to KS and might pledge sooner.

It could also be indicative of more overall interest in the project, but I don't think it necessarily has to be due to the factors above.
 
I just asked since you said you were surprised by the Kicktraq numbers.

About actual predictions, I think there are multiple reasons that this is a lot faster out of the gate than MN9:
- they had a lot more groundwork prepared for it, with the week-long social "game" and "mystery", as well as the initial 8 hour stream with some well-known personalities.
- since thisis the post-MN9 world, a lot more fans of 2D Japanese action games are more familiar and used to KS and might pledge sooner.

It could also be indicative of more overall interest in the project, but I don't think it necessarily has to be due to the factors above.

I know what I did wrong.

I didn't account for the fact the funding trend is only based on two days for Bloodstained. Rather then the full 30 days, which skews the numbers a bit.

Yeah this is going to be interesting to ride, I expect it to taper off and slow down quickly soon.
 
Xrd is a heavenly choice for aesthetic inspiration, but it's nothing without Xrd's animation technique. That is the key.

Are they "handcrafting" the animation, I hope? Is it clear that is what Iga means by saying Xrd is the inspiration?
Xrd is awesome shader work, but that animation is what makes it the best animation leap in gaming in years - though it's more technique than technology. Good ol' faishioned frame by frame elbow grease, but made easier for devs thanks to 3D trickery. No interpolation or motion capture.

A metvania with Xrd animation is what I've wished for since seeing Xrd the first time. I've posted this dream before. Hoping it really is happening.

Starting to ramble. Wish they actually had something to present. Time to forget about it for a few years. Shall be a long wait.

I too share this dream, have wanted something like this since I played GGX on the dreamcast.
 
Yep. I would definitely not have guessed six months ago that IGAvania would go on to become one of the highest-funded game Kickstarters ever, but now it's going to make the top 5 (and is technically on pace for the #1 slot) and the quality of the campaign is a not-insignificant part of that.
Are you kidding? Something like half (hyperbole) of all Videogames on Kickstarter are Metroidvanias! Hell, before Bloodstained my other 3 backed projects were Mighty No 9, Heart Forth Alicia and Timespinner being those last two Metroidvanias that look amazing.

Along comes to Kickstarter the creator of the whole genre and the game every indie Metroidvania is inspired from and you didn't think it would be a resounding success?
 
But it isn't Activision, EA, or Ubisoft who are deluded... It's everyone else trying to be like them. But neither Capcom nor Konami nor most other companies can be like them because these three publishers, Activision, EA, and Ubisoft, release the same set of games year after year. Every year will have a Call of Duty, an Assassin's Creed, a FIFA, and a Madden and those four games are guaranteed to be in the ten top sellers of a particular year. It's more like a top six with four IPs as undefeatable constants.

Compare this to GTA or Smash Bros. which are huge IPs, but never have annual releases... or something like the Halo franchise, which is also a huge annual IP, but one that could not even break the top ten. FIFA, Madden, Call of Duty, and Assassin's Creed are constant annual top tenners.

Take Two and Nintendo are as hit and franchise driven as EA and Activision and Ubisoft. I'd argue they are just smarter about it because they spread out the release years and minimize franchise fatigue. But the bulk of their software revenue still comes from a handful of huge games.

My point is that Konami funding a Castlevania wouldn't have saved their game business. The market is too niche to support a big company, even if they had 10 new Castlevania sized games. This stuff only works at the indie or very small company level. They aren't out of touch, they don't want to be in the market.
 
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