Castlevania going next-gen

Castlevania has been one of Konami's longest-running series, with a total of 20 games released since its debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). So it should come as little surprise that the company is already working to bring the franchise to the next generation of consoles.

In a short interview with Nintendo Dream magazine, series producer Koji Igarashi revealed that a Castlevania game is already in development for a unidentified next-generation console. Since Igarashi became the series' producer in 1997, Castlevania home versions have been exclusive to Sony's PlayStation consoles, except for a pair of excursions onto the Nintendo 64 and an aborted Dreamcast game. However, that will change later this year, when Castlevania: Curse of Darkness ships simultaneously for the Xbox and PS2. On handheld platforms, the series has been released on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance and the DS, as well as mobile phones.

Igarashi commented that he plans on continuing the Castlevania series' dual storyline model, which sets console releases in the series before the death of Dracula and handheld releases after the vampire lord's demise.

"I've been told by an overseas anime developer that products themed on vampires never die out. That's encouraging. Although as a developer, I need to watch out about dwelling on stereotypes," Igarashi told Nintendo Dream. "I plan on continuing with the two [handheld and console] series as long as I can keep up."

Igarashi also revealed that he is planning a special event next year, as the Castlevania series will celebrate its 20th anniversary.