June 27^th, 2008 (3:44pm) - Subscribers to Nintendo’s official publication in the US are in for a potentially bittersweet treat when they open up their newest issue. The long awaited rumor of a Castlevania connection between the Wii and the upcoming DS title, Order of Ecclesia, has been let out of the bag.

Castlevania: Judgement is coming exclusively to the Nintendo Wii as the series’ first foray into the realm of the fighter genre. As surprising as that is and with little info, we don’t have much to go on at this point, but select little details are made aware.

"I guess some fans may worry about the game quality, but I am confident that we can achieve a very high-quality game," said Castlevania: Judgment producer Koji Igarashi. I think that fans...will see that it stays true to the Castlevania series. Even though this is a fighting game I can guarantee that it will be fun."

The Nintendo Power article reveals:

- Several characters, such as Dracula, Simon Belmont, Alucard, Maria Renard, and Shanoa (of Order of Ecclesia; unlocked through DS to Wii connectivity)

- Several classic subweapons like the dagger, boomerang, holy water, magic spells will be present and still require hearts

- There is a special gauge that builds up to a super attack

- The inclusion of classic Castlevania tunes

- The character designs are by series’ newcomer Takeshi Obata (of Death Note fame)

- The environments will be destructible, enemy monsters can interfere with battle and players can set traps

- The nunchuck controls the character, the Wii remote is used for motion attacks

While this news has likely left the fan community reeling, this could prove an interesting experiment for the series at large. We’ll be sure to have more info as soon as it becomes available.