Gamertell

Now this is what TGS is all about - game teasers! According to 1Up Konami is showing a very tasty looking teaser for a new Castlevania game at its TGS booth. The game looks hot - and stylish (as any good Castlevania should) but there are no details available at this point.

The only firm fact that the trailer points to is the choice of platforms - Xbox 360 and PS3 -  there’s no Wii pandering here. Writer Sam Kennedy speculated on whether the game will be 2D (as so many fans prefer) or 3D, but either way, this is one to watch for.

I’m one of those crazies who actually liked the 3D Castlevania game on the N64, so I have no problem with bringing the game into the third dimension. Blasphemy? Maybe, but if the game looks half as good as the trailer, you can count me in.

Read [1Up] Watch [Game Trailers]

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Konami is gearing up for the 2008 holiday season by releasing its list of upcoming games for every major platform.

To Konami’s credit, it has a wide variety of genres to choose from this winter. Most of them are music based titles such as Dance Dance Revolution titles, Karaoke Revolution, and its newest entry into the plastic instrument playing universe, Rock Revolution. Just try to find something in this list that doesn’t interest you. My guess is that would be a difficult task.

Click through for Konami’s complete Fall/Winter 2008 lineup…

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One of the great long-standing game franchises is =Castlevania. Early on, the game was a side-scrolling adventure or an RPG (usually side-scrolling). Now it is getting its first fighting game and a next-gen face lift with Castlevania Judgment.

The game will feature the best known heroes and most vile allies of Dracula, amounting to 14 usable characters in an all out brawl. If you ever wanted to cause infighting for who the best vampire slayer is, now you will be able to. You will also be able to find out general in Dracula’s legions of the damned is the most effective. Unfortunately, there are no details on whether or not Dracula will be…

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If I could use a phrase to describe Konami’s press conference (2:30 p.m. PT, Wednesday, July 16, 2008) it would be, “ It started with a bang and ended with a thud.“ 

Konami already had a solid lineup to unveil to the masses with two new Castlevania games and Silent Hill: Homecoming and were well on their way to being the bright spot when it came to third party pressers for the event.  The conference began with news about Metal Gear Online and the new Elebits for the DS. 

From that point on we got some great information, gameplay and demos from the Castlevania and Silent Hill franchises and then not so much.  Rock Revolution premiered last as Senior Product Manager, Lauren Facadomo, brought her all-girl cover band to play The Ramones, Blitzkrieg Pop.  Talk about bad Joey, Dee Dee, and Johnny Ramon are all spinning in their graves right now.  It only got worst from there.

Click for the bullet-point recap of the conference…

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On the heels of Disney revealing its lineup for E3 this year, Konami has unveiled its lineup for E3 2008.  Konami’s lineup has something for everybody including music, dance, and sports titles to go along with the storied franchises of Castlevania and Silent Hill. 

Highlighting Konami’s booth will be the hands on time people can spend playing Rock Revolution and the announcement that Castlevania will be making its next gen debut on the Wii. 

Not all the games below are family-friendly but are still widely anticipated gamers young and old.  Some of the more anticipated titles include, Castlevania: Judgement, Silent Hill: Homecoming and…

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As depicted in the screen shot from Nintendo Power above, Simon Belmont might just be stronger than Alucard. But who is the strongest Belmont? You’ll have to wait until Fall 2008, when Konami will release the first Castlevania fighting game, Castlevania Judgement on the Wii.

The game was announced in the August 2008 issue of Nintendo Power, which devoted four pages to the upcoming fighter. In the article, Simon Belmont, Shanoa, Maria Renard, Alucard and Dracula were revealed as playable characters and it was announced that subweapons (like the classic holy water, daggers and crosses) would be returning and hearts would still determine how many could be used. The game will also feature wiimote and nunchuk controls, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection multiplayer, conversations between characters and classic Castlevania music.

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The most recent issue of ThinkGeek catalog has been delivered and, as usual, it features several gamer goodies. Here’s a list of the more (and less) notable game-related goodies in the June 2008 ThinkGeek catalog.

On the more notable side there’s a programmable keyboard with mini OLEDs, Mario Kart slot cars, Halo 3 replicas and Zelda plush…

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Apparently Konami patented Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia at the US Patent Office, according to The Magic Box.  Couple this with current Castlevania chief Koji Igarashi’s words several months ago, that the next DS entry of the series would be announced a few months after the release of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP, and it sounds like the first info is cropping up about the next game of the series.

But that isn’t all.  This discovery may indeed tie it to screenshots…

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A lot of lesser known, smaller games got their moments in the sun at the Game Developers Conference, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any love for more established, smaller sized games. Xbox Live’s Arcade has been one of the providers of tiny games that get you and all your friends buzzing for a week and a half. At GDC 2008, the results of a community vote for 2007’s batch of Live Arcade games was unveiled. Any chance Space Giraffe took top honors?

It was Hudson’s Bomberman Live as Best Overall with just a bit of an upset over Namco Bandai’s Pac-Man: Championship Edition, which won for Best Original Game. And looks like Bungie’s magic couldn’t rub off on its 1994 shooter Marathon, as Konami’s Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was named…

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One of the first films to fall victim to the writer’s guild strike last fall was director Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard)’s big screen adaptation of Castlevania. The movie was set to be a big budget action/fantasy flick full of vampires, Belmont whipping and castle-exploring antics until production was halted last December.

Kotaku recently posted a leaked early version of the film’s screenplay, presenting a rare opportunity to get a sneak peak at the game-to-movie adaptation process, right at the beginning stages. Of course, if you’re looking to avoid spoilers for the film (should it ever escape development limbo and actually get made), you should turn away now. Everyone else should click through for impressions on Castlevania’s potential close-up.

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