Lately I've been thinking a lot (not much else I can do since I'm still unemployed) about why people create things, and how time and time again things driven only by money end up being a waste of talent and time. And since I'm making a Castlevania inspired game, I was obviously going to do my research about the original creator of the franchise, Hitoshi Akamatsu.

And now that I've done my homework, I'm sad as hell.

Who is Hitoshi Akamatsu?

Source: Hitoshi Akamatsu, Castlevania Wiki

Akamatsu seems to have been the creative mind behind the original Castlevania trilogy, putting a lot of effort into making every input, every mechanic and every single detail feel important to the player. His love and passion for western cinematography lead him to approach the original game as well as its following entries like a movie, adding the iconic Hollywood monsters and having the brilliant idea of making the whip the Belmont family signature weapon (because we all know that whips are objectively cool). But ah, you might have noticed I said "seems to" as if I wasn't really sure about what I'm saying, so allow me to explain it.

The part that made me sad

Up until very recently (around 2019 or so), nobody knew about the person behind the original Castlevania. This is mostly because back in the day developers were not allowed to add their real names to the games they worked on (something common among companies like Konami and SEGA), so they had to work with nicknames or puns like what you can see in the original NES Castlevania:

Source: Rings and Coins

It wasn't until an interview released by Shmuplations that we knew the true identity of one of the thinking folks behind one of the most iconic series of all time. But why so much mystery behind one person? Well...

You see, Konami wasn't really that fond about Castlevania. If something doesn't sells and you want revenue, why would you care about something that doesn't offer instant sales? As the interview states:

"According to Akamatsu, Konami placed profits above all else, and developers who weren’t creating games that made lots of money were all eventually axed one-by-one."

Akamatsu left the industry cold turkey after being demoted to one of Konami's game centers, and he disappeared from the video game scene. Pictures of him are rare aside from these few, as he wasn't much of a public figure. And considering the fact he never came out to the light, chances are he quit for good. But hey, things have changed, developers are no longer cogs in a machine that wants to grab money over everything else, now their talents can shine and allow people to know the great things they are doing for the industry, right?

Right?

Akamatsu is only one example out of many developers forgotten by time by corporations getting so greedy to the point of erasing the names of those that put them on the spot to begin with. Think about all those games you love, the big ones, the small ones, the bad ones. Each and every one of those games had someone putting effort behind it. Each and every one of those games deserves to at least have the name of the people behind them attached to it.

Be creative. Make things. Be proud of what you made. Think for a second about all the people and creations lost and forgotten just because "it didn't make money at that moment" and fight against it by preaching to everyone about how happy you are of creating something that gives you joy. Don't let money be a barrier to your voice.

-Ray