Castlevania: Rondo of Blood on the U.S. VC now!!!

[Ganelon]

OK, fair enough. Anyone have the answer to that? Werewolf pants were already introduced to the PSP port (bizarre they'd add that and not the translation though). Graphics are probably look slightly blurrier from being upscaled and filtered? Control lag?

[Drum]

Graphics are probably look slightly blurrier from being upscaled and filtered?

Pretty sure they stopped doing that for the PC Engine games after the first few.

[sfried]

Graphics are probably look slightly blurrier from being upscaled and filtered? Control lag?

The PSP version, maybe, but not the Virtual Console. Pretty sure aside from from the DXC German narration audio, everything else is left unchanged.

[Mortificator]

To me, personally, it doesn't make sense to pay to download a disc image that's less accurate than the ones freely available online, and play it in an emulator with less features than the ones freely available online, when none of the money goes to the people who worked to make a great game like Rondo.

I don't have a problem with anyone who gets the game via the VC, though. It's more convenient than manually looking for a download and setting up an emulator yourself, and the stuff I mentioned above might not matter to a lot of people. I hope you play Rondo in any event because, like I said, great game.

[Drum]

To me, personally, it doesn't make sense to pay to download a disc image that's less accurate than the ones freely available online, and play it in an emulator with less features than the ones freely available online, when none of the money goes to the people who worked to make a great game like Rondo.

You really can't say that for sure. The staff probably won't be getting royalties but Hagihara (director, code), at least, is still at Konami. IGA, of course, is still there too (though he was only credited on Rondo under 'Thanks'). Unless you have special knowledge, it just looks like you're rationalising. My feelings are that it's better to err on the side of caution and flip them a few bucks - if nothing else, it's clear that the success of retro downloadable titles have laid the groundwork for new games in the same style. Sin and Punishment 2 is the big example, but there are more.

[Ganelon]

Exactly, took the words from my mouth (but not the spite ). Plus, think about it this way: if Rondo of Blood suddenly got 2 million downloads, what do you think Konami would feel about that? Just ignore it? Or see a lot of interest in classic CV sidescrolling mechanics and maybe release a few more games (same with the WiiWare game). If you don't legally own the game yet, this is a good way to show Konami there's interest in the series.

[Mortificator]

I don't want more games like Rondo (re-releases of old titles done with less competency than fan groups) and do want more games like Adventure ReBirth (new classicvanias... well, mostly new). That's why I supported the latter and not the former.

The staff probably won't be getting royalties

They probably won't be getting royalties in the same way they probably won't be on FHM's sexiest women list. No special knowledge is required.

[Drum]

I don't want more games like Rondo (re-releases of old titles done with less competency than fan groups) and do want more games like Adventure ReBirth (new classicvanias... well, mostly new). That's why I supported the latter and not the former.

The staff probably won't be getting royalties

They probably won't be getting royalties in the same way they probably won't be on FHM's sexiest women list. No special knowledge is required.

I wasn't talking about special knowledge about royalties in particular - I'm just saying that we don't know the inner machinations of Konami, or where that money's going to go *indirectly*. If Rondo, say, sells better than Rebirth, maybe they'll make another Rebirth title closer to Rondo. Maybe they'll put more effort into future releases, or maybe they'll figure they don't have to because people will buy it regardless. Maybe they'll release a Maria Renard love pillow. Who knows? Heck, the people who worked on Rondo probably didn't even get royalties/bonuses at the time of the original release, so that aspect is sorta moot - if you're saying that it's ok to pirate the rom now because the developers won't get a cut of those particular sales, by that logic it may have been ok at the time.
Obviously I'm not trying to exhort anybody to re-buy a game and play it in an inferior way - I don't care if people buy it or not, really. But you were arguing that anybody who hadn't bought the game could just download the rom without guilt - I don't think it's clear-cut enough for that to be very convincing. It didn't convince me. You were careful not to dismiss buying the game on VC, so I respect that position. Mine is that I think it would be prudent to buy it, given what I know and don't know - so that's what I'll do, but I can't expect everybody to reach the same conclusion. I don't really think we disagree much here.

[Gungriffon Geona]

I don't want more games like Rondo (re-releases of old titles done with less competency than fan groups)

to be fair the ReBirth games are midpoint at best compared to what Konami has done in the past, especially Contra Rebirth (it wants to be Hard Corps SO BAD but it's not even a 1/4 as interesting or fun.(Browny and Plisken are fuckin' cool though.)) I can't begin to understand what would set the Castlevania one so high that you'd want more like it.

[Mortificator]

Yeah, Contra was the least interesting of the ReBirth titles. I liked Gradius quite a bit more, and Castlevania more than that. Still, it's not really another Castlevania ReBirth that I want, but a new classic-style Castlevania, and Adventure ReBirth was the closest thing to that in a long time. Konami hasn't published a totally new classicvania since Legends, and hasn't published a good totally new classicvania since Bloodlines.

Heck, the people who worked on Rondo probably didn't even get royalties/bonuses at the time of the original release, so that aspect is sorta moot - if you're saying that it's ok to pirate the rom now because the developers won't get a cut of those particular sales, by that logic it may have been ok at the time.

They wouldn't have gotten royalties when the game was released, true. Bonuses aren't too unusual in the industry, and the dev team may or may not have received one. But the immediate post-release sales of a game absolutely do affect the futures of the people who worked on it.

guilt

I wouldn't feel any more guilty about downloading a 17-year old game than I would about borrowing a 17-year old book from the library.

[sfried]

Just downloaded it tonight. The audio sounds pretty clear to me. What are you guys talking about?

And just to address Ganelon's concern, this version is damn sharp. No filters whatsoever.

[handsome_rakshas]

Kay I'm going into Rondo withdrawl since I sold my Duo a few months ago. I could just play it on PSP but that is no fun.