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Post by megamixer on Aug 12, 2022 17:10:04 GMT
I mean, it is a demise of sorts...or has been.
One of the greatest videogame companies in the retro era is now one of the most disappointing or even downright despised in some gamers' eyes. How did it all go so wrong? Let's get the obvious out of the way first: yes, they ARE a business, and they currently still succeeding in that money-making venture so even if what they are doing rubs us up the wrong way, we cannot argue with it in a fashion.
But we are gamers and, as a gamer and retro lover, seeing the state of Konami these days is genuinely disappointing. I often find myself wondering, "what do they even make anymore?".
- Metal Gear has gone quiet and there was the whole debacle with Hideo Kojima and Konami's treatment of him
- Silent Hill got progressively worse as a series before just stopping altogether.
- Their re-releases of retro leave a lot to be desired with so many IPs and games locked in the vault
- They absorbed Hudson and did precious little with the IPs
- The once mighty Pro-Evo faded into obscurity before being re-born as the F2P eFootball with a disastrous launch
So...is there any chance Konami will rise like a phoenix from the ashes and hit us with new (good!) Castlevanias, Contras, Silent Hills, Metal Gears etc.? Will they blow us away with mighty retro compilations of their own works and Hudson's PC-Engine stuff? Or is it just pachinko machines forever more?
And what are your favourite games from Konami's back catalogue? Two of mine would be Violent Storm (awesome, little talked-about beat 'em up) and Shadow of Memories (early PS2 adventure game with an amazing, very clever time-travel plot that NOBODY talks about).
I'd also kill for a Snatcher & Policenauts doublepack!
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Post by AlexH on Aug 12, 2022 19:20:38 GMT
I hold out some hope. I don't remember many who thought Sega would go on to thrive, which they might not have done if it wasn't for Super Monkey Ball. It's funny how what was seen as a failed console (the Gamecube) helped Sega thrive.
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Post by elginmcqueen on Aug 12, 2022 21:25:26 GMT
Loved Shadow of Memories. Picked it up from my local WH Smith well after the point they'd realised they weren't going to bother with games anymore. Cover art completely sucked me in.
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Post by Antiriad2097 on Aug 14, 2022 9:01:54 GMT
I can see them dipping their toes in again, the IPs they have are too big not to be revisited at some point.
My personal favourite is Salamander. Stumbled onto it in one of the main entertainment areas at Butlins in my teens, have bought it several times since, starting with the C64 port (twice, as someone nicked the original).
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Post by kerr9000 on Aug 14, 2022 10:24:12 GMT
I think Konami don't have the drive anymore to do proper stuff with these IP's they just want cash... they use them for pachinko machines and the odd retro re-release and that's it.... I would like if they had a look at all the IP they have and any that dont make big bucks in the Pachinko market they just sold off to other developers who would kill to have them, and then maybe license out some of the bigger ones to other people while retaining the rights to use in the way there using them.
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Post by learnedrobb on Aug 14, 2022 10:28:18 GMT
Konami make enough profit from pachinko machines they don't need to make "proper" games at this time.
Maybe when the IP that they use on the pachinkos starts to fade from relevence we might see a ramping up of games production, but I'm not holding my breath.
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Post by jetsetwilly on Aug 14, 2022 17:10:46 GMT
To be honest, it's the same with EA. All of the IPs they have created or published:
Syndicate
Road Rash
The Immortal
Polterguy
The Strike trilogy
Some of the best games made and they're languishing in EAs vault because they would rather fleece money from people with loot boxes and dlc
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Post by mattb on Aug 14, 2022 22:55:58 GMT
I just think they fell victim to the problem of being only a moderately sized publisher in an industry where the cost of making AAA games was shooting upwards and the rewards were uncertain except for the most successful.
The remainder of their businesses seem to be doing well though, and they've had record profits for the past couple of years so - from a purely financial standpoint - it's been a good move for them.</abbr> Ah well, at least they're not IP trolling their former employees who've taken their thinly rebranded franchises elsewhere. |
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Post by TromaDogg on Aug 15, 2022 1:14:45 GMT
They have actually put a fair bit of their old stuff out in recent years. We've had compilations like the Contra, Castlevania and Arcade Classics collections, digital re-releases of a few other arcade games like Sunset Riders, Crime Fighters and Vendetta and the Symphony Of The Night/Rondo Of Blood double pack (a few of those have had physical releases via Limited Run too), and they were also responsible for putting the PC Engine Mini out as well which had a decent selection of Konami and Hudson Soft (who they now also own) games on it as well so it's not all been doom and gloom. I don't think they'll ever be the gaming giant they once were in the 1990s again though.
Personally, I'd love another Rocket Knight game, either a re-release of the originals in a compilation or a proper remake or sequel. That horrible reboot they put out a few years ago on Xbox Live Arcade/PSN has probably killed their confidence in it as a viable franchise though.
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Post by kerr9000 on Aug 15, 2022 18:28:17 GMT
They have actually put a fair bit of their old stuff out in recent years. We've had compilations like the Contra, Castlevania and Arcade Classics collections, digital re-releases of a few other arcade games like Sunset Riders, Crime Fighters and Vendetta and the Symphony Of The Night/Rondo Of Blood double pack (a few of those have had physical releases via Limited Run too), and they were also responsible for putting the PC Engine Mini out as well which had a decent selection of Konami and Hudson Soft (who they now also own) games on it as well so it's not all been doom and gloom. I don't think they'll ever be the gaming giant they once were in the 1990s again though. Personally, I'd love another Rocket Knight game, either a re-release of the originals in a compilation or a proper remake or sequel. That horrible reboot they put out a few years ago on Xbox Live Arcade/PSN has probably killed their confidence in it as a viable franchise though. Yeah I think unfortunately your right that remake was the death blow for that franchise. |
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Post by megamixer on Aug 15, 2022 20:42:05 GMT
It does make me laugh though when publishers lose confidence in a franchise, when the game that made them feel that way was a RUBBISH game. How else did they expect it to be received?
Now if a publisher puts out a high quality game and it tanks...well, I can understand that. It has actually happened a LOT with games having a lot of money spent on them and a lot of love put in only for it to sink at retail is it wasn't an on-trend genre, or was just marketed badly.
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Post by sega2006 on Aug 18, 2022 11:59:31 GMT
You might see a change at somepoint as Japan's reported a decline in its Gaming (arcade/gambling) sector mostly due to Covid and continued restrictions so the Pachinko machines won't be making them as much as before, theres technically a lot of remastered stuff lurking in those machines (MGS for example) that could be potientially released into the world so you never know we may see a finger removed from their backsides to save them.
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Post by kiwimike on Aug 18, 2022 20:19:53 GMT
Silent Hill games were some of my favourites, and it seems sad to me what has happened to this series, considering the Love Capcom have put into the Resident Evil series.
The Silent Hill 'collection' was particularly poor. Good to have them to play I guess, but two games shouldn't be called a 'collection' and it was pretty shabby.
There was an earlier SH1-4 set, that remastered, and remastered/updated properly....thats what I'd love to see!
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zahir
Atari 2600
Posts: 15
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Post by zahir on Aug 30, 2022 2:33:09 GMT
It's really sad. I enjoyed their arcade and early console games and to see them fall like this is a tough pill to swallow.
By the way, Konami did release the PC-Engine/TurboGraftx-16 mini. What are the reviews for it?
Also, Konami will soon release the TMNT game collection so I hope that it will work out for Konami.
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Post by kerr9000 on Aug 30, 2022 5:11:14 GMT
It's really sad. I enjoyed their arcade and early console games and to see them fall like this is a tough pill to swallow. By the way, Konami did release the PC-Engine/TurboGraftx-16 mini. What are the reviews for it? Also, Konami will soon release the TMNT game collection so I hope that it will work out for Konami. I like the pc engine mini but then I am a bit of a sucker for mini consoles. |
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Its just some interesting potential opportunities for AI and automation to help and free humans in the future, rather than enslave us. We need General Zod to implement it.