Chapter 151: Record Sales

Castlevania brought together everything GAMENOVA had spent years perfecting.

Its map design and ability-lock mechanics came from The Legend of Zelda, its fast-paced combat drew from multiple fighting and action games, and its mature RPG systems evolved from Fire Emblem.

Aside from its extremely challenging combat, which admittedly wasn't suited to every player, it was, in every other respect, a landmark masterpiece with virtually no flaws.

Yet Castlevania's success extended far beyond the game itself, with related merchandise and sales far exceeding everyone's expectations.

"Ethan, the Castlevania OST has already sold over 100,000 copies in Japan!"

Sam looked at the latest report that had just arrived, unable to hide the smile on his face.

Who would've thought that making a video game could also sell records?

Unlike the way they'd composed game music in the past, this was the first time they had adopted a workflow in which the music was fully composed first and only afterward adapted into the game's audio programming.

Previously, whenever GAMENOVA developed a new title, they would first determine the game's theme and style before passing the requirements on to Game Freak, where Masuda or Kodai would write the music.

Creating music for an 8-bit console and composing actual musical pieces were practically two completely different disciplines.

Ethan smiled, picked up a development board, and examined it for a moment. An MCC audio enhancement chip was mounted on the board.

Although the NovaBox was unquestionably the most powerful 8-bit console of its era in terms of gaming performance, its audio capabilities actually weren't that far ahead of its competitors.

It only contained a Yamaha-produced 8-bit PSG sound chip, capable of generating sound using only a handful of waveform combinations.

So, to achieve the clear voice samples used in Street Fighter, Ethan had originally chosen to add an additional Oki MSM audio chip. That same technology had been carried over into Castlevania, giving its composers much greater creative freedom.

"This can also be considered the first proper original soundtrack released under NovaMusic."

The NovaBox's limited hardware still compromised the quality of Michiru Yamane's compositions to some extent.

A vinyl record, however, suffered from no such limitation. A single 12-inch LP was more than enough to fit every track from Castlevania.

"This is unbelievable. One hundred thousand copies! That's more than a lot of games ever manage to sell."

Sam looked over the sales figures with a grin. Up to that point, Castlevania itself had sold only around 300,000 copies in Japan. The fact that one-third of those buyers had also picked up the related release was astonishing.

Unfortunately, the available sales data wasn't detailed enough for Sam to accurately determine where those soundtrack sales had come from.

But one thing was certain, not everyone among those 100,000 buyers had purchased the soundtrack because they'd played Castlevania.

If anything, part of Castlevania's own game sales had probably been driven by the popularity of the soundtrack.

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"Michiru is unquestionably a genius. Of course, Kojima deserves enormous credit as well."

Sam looked through the office window toward Kojima, who sat quietly at his desk, carefully writing something down.

Sam had witnessed firsthand the countless days and nights Kojima spent discussing the project with both NovaMusic and Game Freak.

"The way he obsessively pursued the audio reminds me of how determined you were to include voice processing for Street Fighter..."

"But I have to admit... you're always right."

Sam had already played through Castlevania himself, so he knew just how incredible its music was.

For the first time, he felt like he was experiencing a game's world through its soundtrack. That kind of experience belonged in films.

Combined with the game's carefully crafted story and cinematic cutscenes, Castlevania became not only a perfect gaming experience, but also the ultimate audiovisual spectacle, a movie in video game form.

Ethan chuckled but didn't dwell on the topic. Instead, he changed the subject.

"How are things going over at Ubisoft?"

As GAMENOVA's foothold in Europe, Ubisoft had its hands full.

Bill, in particular, had been working around the clock after suddenly being sent over from headquarters. His biggest task was taking over and reorganizing Ubisoft's long-established distribution network across western Europe.

Using financial support from GAMENOVA, he was rapidly expanding into eastern Europe while establishing the necessary legal and business infrastructure throughout the region.

It was the kind of work only Bill could handle. The Guillemot brothers were talented and capable, but Bill had something they didn't: experience working directly with the main office, and fortunately, thanks to his previous experience, Bill had lived up to expectations.

Hearing Ethan's question, Sam flipped through the documents in his hand until he reached the European market report.

"Ah, the numbers over there aren't bad either. According to yesterday's figures, we've already sold more than 500,000 units. And more than seventy percent of those sales came from Ireland, the UK, and France."

For GAMENOVA, which had only recently begun making a serious push into the European market, those numbers were impressive.

Especially considering that Castlevania was hardly a mainstream title, and that the NovaBox's market penetration in Europe lagged far behind the United States and was even lower than in Japan.

Clearly, the game's vampire theme and its distinctive blend of Gothic and Baroque aesthetics had helped drive sales.

"Let's take it slow. Bill still needs some time to get settled in first."

"Damn, I honestly thought Romania would end up being our biggest market."

As the two were talking, they both seemed to sense something at the same time and simultaneously turned toward the staircase.

A young figure shot upstairs like a whirlwind, backpack in hand, charging straight toward their office. The commotion was so sudden that even Will and the others looked up in surprise.

"Ethan! I'm back!!!"

Carmack rushed to the office entrance, overwhelmed with emotion.

.....

Over at Nintendo of America, things were anything but cheerful.

The night had grown late, yet Minoru Arakawa still hadn't left the office. The television in front of him remained on, displaying the unlocked Reverse Castlevania mode he had gained after completing the game.

It was a mirrored version of the world, featuring an entirely different enemy layout.

"Phew..."

A haze of smoke hung over the desk as Arakawa leaned back in his chair. He took one last drag, then ground the cigarette out in the ashtray.

The ashtray was already filled with half-burned cigarettes, evidence of how long he had been sitting there.

"Of course… I should've known."

Arakawa's expression hardened as he slowly reached for the telephone. He lifted the receiver and dialed the number from memory.

A voice answered from across the Pacific. Arakawa listened in silence for several seconds, gathering his thoughts before finally speaking.

"President… the situation is even worse than we expected."

"Go ahead."

"Castlevania's worldwide sales are about to surpass one million copies."

"I've already played it."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"It's…" Arakawa paused, searching for the right words, "…an incredible game."

On the other end of the line, Hiroshi Yamauchi remained silent. In his hand lay the latest issue of GameFreak magazine.

[Castlevania Launch Review]

[GameFreak Weekly Score: 10 / 9 / 9 / 10 — 38 Points, Platinum Hall of Fame!]

[Editor's Verdict: A Landmark Semi Open World Side Scrolling Action RPG!]

Yamauchi read the review once more, his expression still unreadable.

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