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Rumor: Castlevania GameCube
A Belmont warrior may rise to battle Dracula on Nintendo's system.

March 29, 2004 - On March 24 Nintendo announced that it had signed a deal with UK-based development house Kuju Entertainment to publish an original action title for GameCube. No further details were revealed about the product. But a telling message board post and some past Kuju partnerships indicate that the company could be underway with an original Castlevania title for Nintendo's home system.

Two days after the announcement, an Internet user who claimed to be Asad Habib, quality assurance manager for Kuju Entertainment, posted a query on a European GameCube website's message board. The post asked readers if they would be interested in becoming a tester for Kuju, based out of London. The message read: "We are an independent game developer situated in the south of the country (Surrey & London) and are in the process of making a cool game which I'm sure you will all like when it is released."

Forum readers replied with interest, at which point Habib explained that 12 tester positions had been open, but all of them except for two had been filled in a single day. He thanked everyone for their interest and then dropped the cryptic hint: "Thanks again guys. Happy Gaming! PS: Castlevania for Cube!!!!!"

IGNcube was unable to determine if the board poster was in fact the real Asad Habib, who legitimately does handle quality assurance for Kuju Entertainment. However, the post, which linked to Kuju's homepage for driving directions and spoke of non-disclosure agreements for anybody accepted, seemed authentic.

It didn't take IGNcube long to discover that Kuju had very conveniently signed a development deal with another company very similar to the one it recently announced with Nintendo. In May 2003 the studio announced that it had partnered with Konami Entertainment to create an original product.

The clues certainly add up, but they could just as easily disintegrate if the original Asad Habib message post turns out to be a fake. If, on the other hand, it's real, it's possible that Nintendo and Konami turned to Kuju as a means to deliver another major Konami franchise to GameCube after the success of Metal Gaer Solid: The Twin Snakes.

Konami's Castlevania series, whose history can be traced back to 1987's NES title Castlevania, stars a hero from the Belmont family on a quest to rid the land of bloodsucking vampires. The franchise encapsulates more than 15 games presented in both 2D and 3D across a wide variety of formats. The last Castlevania title to appear on a Nintendo home console was 1999's Castlevania 64: Legacy of Darkness for the Big N's cartridge-based system.

Kuju Entertainment did not yet reply to IGNcube's e-mail queries on the subject. When contacted, a Konami Entertainment spokesperson said that the company does not comment on rumors. Nintendo of America, meanwhile, did not immediately reply to our phone calls.

Quelle: cube.ign.com
Link: http://cube.ign.com/articles/502/502812p1.html