Sindra

I'd get a table, but the competition is too fierce at Otakon, and the table itself is expensive. Hence, I'll be putting some pieces on display in the art show/exhibit, which will be able to be bid on for a chance to win it. I hope to have a few of my current digital pieces enlarged and framed, and I also plan on doing a oil painting on poster board to frame....whose subject material I have yet to decide. So if you see my Sonic Reflection picture, chances are you'll see the rest.

We love you too, RD. In your naughty places.

Unless you're in OffTop. Ok, my lineart is done. Tomorrow begins the tedious task of laying down flat colors. BUMP.

Hmm...ok, my interests are piqued. What kind of gaming-music do you plan on playing? Direct covers, or remixes? Just curious, as it may determine whether or not I attend. I'm going to be with a large group staying at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel. I expect to be hanging around the Artist Alley and Dealer's Room mainly, with some panel hopping and a visit or two to the Game Room. I'll also hopefully have some art pieces for sale in the art show, so keep an eye out.

Uhh....I thought this was a competition about video games. Ya know, video games that are out. With weapons that have already been devised. I don't see why, if you're a weapons designer, you can't take a crack at recreating a weapon from a video game.

I do it similarly. I find the most tedious part though, beyond the inking of outlines, is the putting down of base colors. Seems to take longer than it should. Shading is more fun though, in my opinion. You get to see things begin to flesh out.

I hope your first time is better than mine was last year. Granted, it was fun and all...but my biggest gripe was the layout of the whole place. I can understand wanting to avoid congestion between limited doorway space, but the way they had things set up I swear was to maximize the amount of time you spent on your feet walking during your day. They spread stuff out so randomly. The AMV contest showing were all the way at the second building about as far away from the main drag as possible. The Artist's Alley and the Dealer's Room - the two most sought-after places in the entire con - were right next to each other layout-wise, but they refused to open the doors between them, and instead you had to go out *ONE EXIT* (since they wouldn't let you go in and come out from the same doors)...walk out, up, around, down, and around some more...and THEN you got to the other room. (no shit...it was almost a 10 minute walk) You could have the most comfortable shoes ever, and you'd still have sore feet after just a few hours of trying to get around. I honestly hope they changed that this year. Otherwise I'm going to be making fewer trips to the Alley and Dealer's Room. Oh, they didn't have the escalators on either. What the hell?

Well, I got one done being sketched, and I work the next 12 days, so we'll see what gets done.

If it does indeed rock....I'll be the first to admit I was wrong.

If it doesn't bomb...well...I guess I'll be glad the series isn't completely in the gutter. It'll be a fluke if it doesn't, though.

Ugg...I can't even go over to the Castlevania Dungeon anymore, for free of being overloaded with mass amounts of stupid whining. I honestly can't wait until Judgement bombs, because when it does...you can bet your sweet arse I will be doing a review of it with a style ala Yahtzee.

Shit, now I have two great ideas...and dunno which to use. (if I can get either to come out looking good)

no charge for the rifle, ammo, or spy-gear? You'd need armor-penetrating bullets too. Iga's ego creates a protective shell around him that blocks out anything incoming....including constructive criticism. I kid. I kid.

Pffft...I could get it done myself for half that.

Hehe...whip. I'll have one. =D

I didn't say Dracula X was a port. It was more like a half-port, since things were altered from Rondo.

Pretty much. Iga was good for a few games, but could have (and should have) stopped at Aria. (I do like Dawn, but that's it) It's time for some new blood to be introduced - a visionary who loves the series as much, but has new ideas that could revitalize the franchise. I'd say as much as Iga revitalized the franchise, but lets face it - the franchise wasn't doing as poorly as it is now when Iga came along with the team working on Symphony. The only hiccup they'd had was the making of and release of Dracula X in America rather than a ported Rondo. That was it. Everything else was fine.

I'll be there in costume.

Hey, I'm totally agreeing with you Coop. I too believe he was simply acting like a spoiled child who was handed the keys to the Castlevania kingdom, and got rid of whatever he didn't like that he didn't work on. As sad as it is, I'm hoping Judgement bombs so badly, Konami starts thinking about either having him work with something else in tandem, or brings in someone new to take the reigns for a game...and then see how it goes. The series needs new blood with new vision. Can I tell you, Iga *almost* got rid of Bloodlines too, but more than likely refrained because Yamane would have probably gone batshit on him for striking out a game that was her first in the CV series. I can tell you, if he had gone through with it though...I would have probably sworn off the series right then out of spite for his blatant stupidity. Rad, I kinda agree the 1999 game should be an RPG of sorts, where you not only play as Julius, but play as some other characters in certain parts of the game for a time. (Alucard, a Belnades perhaps, etc.) More interaction with NPC's too. The game needs to be epic.

For fear of inciting another bout with the "Iga's the heart and soul of Castlevania!" fanboys, I......no wait, I honestly don't care if I throw down with them. Iga means well, he does. I think he's honestly trying to do what he thinks is right by the series. However, he's not anymore. Early-on he did alright, but by taking things out of canon simply because HE deems them as not being able to fit in the timeline (despite the fact they did before he came along, and even with his games like SotN and Harmony)....he's doing more harm than good. Castlevania Judgement is a clear-cut sign of him losing his way. He says he's trying to do right by the series and keep things canon, but then throws us a game that can't possibly be canon and a game that honestly is putting too much risk onto a "make or break" scenario. Sonia was a good character. You honestly can't go through the entire Belmont history, and expect me to believe there wasn't at least ONE female Belmont that was the only one around at the time of Dracula throwing down. What happened if no male Belmont's were born in a generation of Dracula being resurrected? An older more feeble Belmont male would take up the fight? When there's a perfectly good young female right there? Please. Sonia got shafted not only by Iga, but in the fact that her game was lacking mechanically. (but was otherwise pretty decent) Schwaltz...we'll have to find out whenever Iga decides to *finally* unveil the Battle of 1999, but my guess is the battle was more than likely isolated to Europe, and the Vatican and other supernatural orders (Ecclesia maybe still around?) Did everything to keep it out of the mainstream for fear of panic. I'm currently work on my own Castlevania webcomic idea that I'm hoping to go into my interpretation of how things might have happened.

Photoshop's pen tool has a function that can mimic pressure as if you were using a tablet, though I don't ever use it. I just use the straight pen tool with modified brush settings. I gotta being sketching my idea.

When you get right down to it, the reason Iga hates Legends so much (beyond the fact he didn't have any part in it's creation, like most of the games he's retconned) is because he never believed there should be a female Belmont as a lead character. He blamed it on his belief that "Well, because of the timeframe...women wouldn't be in a position of authority and shouldn't be...blah blah." I loved it when people denounced calls of Iga being a chauvinist, despite him making a hard case for people not to think as such.

Very doubtful. Iga made clear his hate of Legends, and while his finally including a female as a lead in Order of Ecclesia might be a big step for him...I doubt he's going to ever give up his old grudges. The only characters I ever see him possibly including from games he's previous retconned would be the N64 games. He's expressed the least amount of animosity towards those those two.

The only thing for certain Schwaltz is that both games will be released in the fall. This could mean September, but probably closer to Christmas if the past is any indication.

I skipped the stuff I saw as you blowing it out your ass. You're right, I don't know 100% what's going on, or the reasons behind it all. All I know is what I have seen, read, heard, and researched for the past few years of Iga's career with the Castlevania team. I loved Aria of Sorrow, but Lament of Innocence suffered because of his multitasking. Dawn of Sorrow was great, but Curse of Darkness suffered as well. Given the previous evidence and pattern that's been all but proven, releasing two games in the same year will bode moderately for the first game, but lousy for the second. Being a fan and keeping up to date with things keeps me privy to information other more casual fans might not notice, such as yourself. If you wanna argue something, that's fine by me. A battle of opinions is great. However, don't come in here and start telling me that I'm uninformed and don't know what I'm talking about, please.