Rest In Peace: Konami Edition.

[Martiallais]

*Pours out liquor*

 

RIP Silent Hill. I was really hoping for that redeeming title.

 

Going to chime in here as someone who JUST played Turtles in Time again a few weeks ago. That game is still amazingly fun after all these years and there really IMO hasn't been a turtles game on par with it since. That said I was also big on Contra, Castlevania, and Gradius, never really got into MGS (sadly).

 

Have to echo Prova though. Pour one out for an old friend.

 

EDIT: Totally forgot they did the Biker Mice from Mars game back on the SNES too. My little brother and I played the hell out of that game.

[Elaris]

That's what they fucking get for neglecting Suikoden.

 

Good riddance.

 

As much as I was looking forward to Silent Hills I'm hopeful that this will actually give those properties a chance to be put under new ownership. Suikoden in particular needs a revival.

 

Heck yes it does!

I've been waiting for a new Suikoden for such a long time it seems.

It's the only series I care about from them at this time because amazingly enough

I have never touched a Silent Hills, Castlevania or MGS game. I'm probably missing out on it but thats too bad, I was actually considering trying out Silent Hills because that PT was scary, it made me cry. I did play the Ninja Turtles game from them though and I too really enjoyed that one back when I had the SNES.

[Xavieraux Reinardes]

That's what they fucking get for neglecting Suikoden.

 

Good riddance.

 

As much as I was looking forward to Silent Hills I'm hopeful that this will actually give those properties a chance to be put under new ownership. Suikoden in particular needs a revival.

 

Heck yes it does!

I've been waiting for a new Suikoden for such a long time it seems.

It's the only series I care about from them at this time because amazingly enough

I have never touched a Silent Hills, Castlevania or MGS game. I'm probably missing out on it but thats too bad, I was actually considering trying out Silent Hills because that PT was scary, it made me cry. I did play the Ninja Turtles game from them though and I too really enjoyed that one back when I had the SNES.

 

 

So, main issue is that Konami has been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, which already looks bad. On top of that from unofficial rumors it sounds like a lot of Kojima's studio is being let go.

 

A large majority portion of Konami's profit is made off of pachinko in japan and gambling-type machines, so if you ask me this is all very bad. There's be a recent revival of groups trying to legalize gambling in Japan, and in addition there have been some rumblings about a new large mobile division in Konami.

 

In my opinion all this signals is Metal Gear Homebase: a Metal Gear themed Clash of Clans, and maybe a Silent Hill Slot Machine, or other ridiculous and kind of sad things.

 

Try to think of what Konami has put out internationally in the last half decade, it's gone down quite a bit.

[MikoBehnen]

Who knows, maybe Kojima and his buddies will just do what the original Squaresoft team did and rebuild!

 

After leaving Square Enix, Hironobu Sahaguki and the others of the good old Squaresoft team (FFI-FFX) rejoined together as Mistwalker, and have restarted over. It's sad that they had to leave Final Fantasy behind in the hands of their former rival (Enix, Dragon Quest team, of which Yoshida was a part of I reckon), but hey! It seems they have started a new series called Last Story.

 

Last = Final

Story = Fantasy

 

I expect great things from it, even though they're starting with very limited budget and hardware <_< dang Nintendo....

 

But yes, I would expect no less from Kojima.

 

Last Story is very fun and VERY pretty. It's basically every Final Fantasy trope wrapped into ball with an interesting fight mech added. It's still on my "need to finish" list but I'm close enough to the end to say it has a great story (and the towns are very cool and feel lived in).

[Blue]

Who knows, maybe Kojima and his buddies will just do what the original Squaresoft team did and rebuild!

 

After leaving Square Enix, Hironobu Sahaguki and the others of the good old Squaresoft team (FFI-FFX) rejoined together as Mistwalker, and have restarted over. It's sad that they had to leave Final Fantasy behind in the hands of their former rival (Enix, Dragon Quest team, of which Yoshida was a part of I reckon), but hey! It seems they have started a new series called Last Story.

 

Last = Final

Story = Fantasy

 

I expect great things from it, even though they're starting with very limited budget and hardware <_< dang Nintendo....

 

But yes, I would expect no less from Kojima.

 

Last Story is very fun and VERY pretty. It's basically every Final Fantasy trope wrapped into ball with an interesting fight mech added. It's still on my "need to finish" list but I'm close enough to the end to say it has a great story (and the towns are very cool and feel lived in).

 

Yep, I am very hopeful that Last Story will bring back the good Final Fantasy! I am sad to see FF decline in quality, but sadly it has been this way to me since Squaresoft and Enix joined together. Hopefully Last Story will bring back its former glory, if only with a different name!

[Desu Nee]

Kinda late for the bandwagon, but Konami meant a lot to me. Admittedly, not as much as one would hope, I'm a PS2 Era Kid, but from the games of that wonderful box of fun I'm very found, Metal Gear 2 and 3 and Silent Hill 2 were pretty amazing and an experience by itself, albeit I'm not too sad those two franchises are coming to an end. I haven't played P.T but it's a damn shame Konami is cancelling it and kicking Kojima out, but one have to understand that for starters, Kojima wanted Metal Gear 1 to be the last. Then 2. Then 4.

 

 

Yes, Konami will milk it for all it's worth, and I honestly find dubious they can really replicate his talent, but I'm hopeful for the possibly new IPs Kojima can bring, or his well deserved retirement. And regarding Silent Hills, damn shame, but it's the reality, and Konami maybe wants to cut the gaming sector and focus on what's safer profits for them. They aren't exactly Activision, or Capcom.

[Dravus]

Unfortunate but not surprising. So many great game franchises have bit the dust in the last decade or so whilst ridiculous amounts of money are thrown at the generic and largely soulless juggernauts instead.

 

It really sucks that passionate developers are screwed over so badly despite making some pretty impressive titles that are genuinely above and beyond the typical game. Didn't something similar happen to the guy in charge of FFXII?

[Desu Nee]

Unfortunate but not surprising. So many great game franchises have bit the dust in the last decade or so whilst ridiculous amounts of money are thrown at the generic and largely soulless juggernauts instead.

 

It really sucks that passionate developers are screwed over so badly despite making some pretty impressive titles that are genuinely above and beyond the typical game. Didn't something similar happen to the guy in charge of FFXII?

The fact that FFXII was screwed up, but still pretty great on it's own right and massive makes me daydream about what it could have been. Albeit the timeline it's set leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth, specially if you played Tactics.

[Cliodhna Eoghan]

aw....that's depressing. aside from bouncing around on ddr (which i still do from time to time, thank gods my ps2 and dance pad is still in good condition >u< ) i looooved mystical ninja starring goemon and goemon's great adventure.(both on the 64) those games, i can't say how many hours i wasted on them. so amazing and so fun x3 though i really wasn't able to play more in the ganbare goemon series (save getting translated roms of course.... >.>; ) shame they won't be able to make more of them for the series :c

[Dravus]

Unfortunate but not surprising. So many great game franchises have bit the dust in the last decade or so whilst ridiculous amounts of money are thrown at the generic and largely soulless juggernauts instead.

 

It really sucks that passionate developers are screwed over so badly despite making some pretty impressive titles that are genuinely above and beyond the typical game. Didn't something similar happen to the guy in charge of FFXII?

The fact that FFXII was screwed up, but still pretty great on it's own right and massive makes me daydream about what it could have been. Albeit the timeline it's set leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth, specially if you played Tactics.

 

Yeah. FF Tactics, Vagrant Story and FFXII are among my favourite RPG's. Ivalice is such a fascinating place so it's a shame it hasn't been given justice since. FFXIV has a similar vibe to those games, I think - which is largely why I've stuck around since the relaunch.

[Desu Nee]

Then I remember they pretty much left Bomberman to die quietly and forgotten. Seriously, fuck Konami.

 

 

[OttoVann]

It's going to be a little humorous to see metal gear themed pachinko machines.

[Harmonixer]

Some people might find this pretty interesting.

 

 

I find this particular uploader to be much better than a lot of general click-bait news. Take it as you will, but it should help with anyone still having doubts on the subject.

 

 

I was very unhappy to hear Silent Hills isn't coming out. It was only a few hours later that I heard some more details and then realized it was going to be a fair amount worse than just that.

 

It's really unfortunate, I've had some great memories from their games and hope they find a way to survive the fallout.

 

I've largely distanced myself from the MGS series recently. I'm not as bad a fan as I was, I think Peace Walker was where I felt satisfied with it last. MGS3 was simply a fantastic game and I highly doubt anything will ever reach it's level of perfection for me.

 

I feel pretty strongly about Castlevania too, but it's latest entries have really left me hollow. Especially that horror show that was Lords of Shadow 2. It was a painful game for me to play, riddled with QTEs and whole segments of useless filler gameplay, it was just a shame.

 

So yeah, rip Konami.

[Darien Cadell]

I'm not much of a Konami kid, so I'm mostly on the sidelines, but I was a pretty huge DDR fan back in the day, even did a few competitions, too. Not being allowed to play was the worst thing about getting mono.

[Mercer]

Another update today as Konami removes itself from the NYSE and SEC

 

Source

[Enla]

Part of me is worried this might just be the prelude to another video game crash, with more and more titles over the years homogenizing and chasing more impossible profits than in years past. Such as when Tomb Raider was deemed a commercial failure in spite of selling more than most companies could ever dream for their products - the reasoning being that in spite of that the cost of making the game demanded a higher profit from it's sales. Konami, a company with such beloved games falling to the wayside like this doesn't bode well in my eyes - though by all accounts this is most likely a case of mismanagement and the company heads being far too conservative and wishing to focus on their home market... Still, I can't help but shake the niggling feeling that this is going to be a trend over the next few years.

 

Most likely just me being a chicken-shit however and jumping at ghosts that aren't even there however. Wouldn't be the first time and won't be the last.

[Mercer]

The nature of video games has changes in the last ten years. Video games have been becoming more generic as companies are less willing to try new ideas when video games come at such a high price. DLC was created to further monetize their products over a long period, giving more value to each game.

 

Sadly the exploitation of gamers who want the same level of entertainment they previously got at the same price point has lead to the starts of a consumer exodus. Europe in particular is having none of these shenanigans anymore as Pre-order and Season Pass sales have fallen considerably since last year. Games that are being released, especially for next gen consoles, are not receiving the critical acclaim or financial success needed to continue to develop for them.

 

I doubt video games will disappear, they are a beloved part of current culture, but will stay the course. Big AAA games will continue to homogenize while independent games will attempt to try new and exciting ways to capture the market.

[Desu Nee]

There won't have another crash. 82 happened because there was no control at all at the production of games, and low quality product was pumped up way more than people willing to buy them. Alien game was the straw that broke the channel back, and ruined Western video game market for years to come, paving the way to the NES and SNES.

 

It won't happen again because it's an industry that pumps millions and receive millions. Yes, most AAA games are these days a grey mass of the maximum number of genres shoved together so it can have mass appeal, but considering that it's a millionary investment, and a game has roughly 2 weeks to pay at least the production costs, as well as the admittedly, sheepy behaviour of most gaming customers. The fact games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and the like are produced every year roughly, and still sell like hot pie pretty much shows there's won't really be a crash.

 

Sucessful games these days either go back to the roots of various concepts of games, or do a niche so good it becomes a house name.

[OttoVann]

What's wrong with battlefield or COD again? If someone replies to me with "nothing" then I fail to see the problem of them doing well. Tastes in gaming have changed, and what we enjoyed as young people are not what young people today enjoy. I'm not sure if I see the issue, the market can't adhere to people our age (25+) forever since young people are where most game revenue is to be had.

[Mercer]

What's wrong with battlefield or COD again?  If someone replies to me with "nothing" then I fail to see the problem of them doing well.  Tastes in gaming have changed, and what we enjoyed as young people are not what young people today enjoy.  I'm not sure if I see the issue, the market can't adhere to people our age (25+) forever since young people are where most game revenue is to be had.

Factually untrue. In the 2014 Usage Date and Demographics made by the ESA, the average age of gamers is 31, with women over 18 making up over twice the gaming population of boys under 18. Most game revenue comes from adults, the majority over thirty. Source

 

There is nothing inherently wrong with Battlefield and CoD, the recent trend has just shown a decrease in quality for their respective franchises. We're reaching a level of saturation for the 'modern shooter' that hasn't been seen since the saturation the same genre had in the 'WW2' theater.

[Wymsical]

I still haven't come to terms with Silent Hills cancellation. PT was incredible and the biggest hope I had for that franchise in years. 2, 3 and 4 have been such inspirations to me and it's hard to believe how hard they've run Silent Hill into the ground. I still haven't forgiven them for the ending of Shattered Memories. At this point, I'm finally starting to accept that franchise is dead even though there's so much more that could be done with it. What a shame.

[cuideag]

MGS I could care less about, but Silent Hills? Not too happy about that, no.

 

It's sad, really.

[Dat Oni]

I think the closest I got to Konami was the Konami code, but even that is legendary in its own right, representing a time when video games were fucking murderous and cheat codes existed, but were only for those who lacked the balls to get the highest score without them.

 

Now the fact that Edgar looks like Hideo Kojima as a catboy is kind of tragic.

[Caspar]

X_x why couldn't it have been capcom? Granted, I know the answer to that. I wish they had taken better care of their ip, like suikoden and castlevania, which heavily influenced me

[OttoVann]

What's wrong with battlefield or COD again?  If someone replies to me with "nothing" then I fail to see the problem of them doing well.  Tastes in gaming have changed, and what we enjoyed as young people are not what young people today enjoy.  I'm not sure if I see the issue, the market can't adhere to people our age (25+) forever since young people are where most game revenue is to be had.

Factually untrue. In the 2014 Usage Date and Demographics made by the ESA, the average age of gamers is 31, with women over 18 making up over twice the gaming population of boys under 18. Most game revenue comes from adults, the majority over thirty. Source

 

There is nothing inherently wrong with Battlefield and CoD, the recent trend has just shown a decrease in quality for their respective franchises. We're reaching a level of saturation for the 'modern shooter' that hasn't been seen since the saturation the same genre had in the 'WW2' theater.

 

Yes, those people are buying games for their kids. This isn't a surprise to anyone. Their kids tastes have changed compared to ours at their age.

 

I'm deeply skeptical of the claim that COD or Battlefield have gone down in quality when, at least when I played Battlefield4 (my most recent forray into modern FPS on a PC) I was blown away at all the quality: visuals, audio, destructible environments, and on and on.

 

What specifically is bad about BF5 compared to BF4?