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Konami's fall from grace
- Thread starter IrishNinja
- Start date
GitarooMan
Member
I love Lords of Shadow so I still give Konami props as a publisher for that strategic decision (to stop the reign of IGA and the descent of Castlevania franchise). I know there are a legion of IGA-lovers on GAF, but man Lords of Shadow was a huge step in the right direction in my mind.
I can see where you're coming from but Castlevania: SotN, Gradius Gaiden, Policenauts, Metal Gear Solid, Bemani/DDR, Goemon Uchuu Kaizoku Akogingu, Suikoden, Silent Hill, Sexy Parodius... all of these games are from this generation...
I was pretty apathetic towards Konami this generation. Then they bought Hudson and I suddenly cared about how they were doing.
Then they cancelled everything and killed the studio and my indifference became loathing. My dream scenario right now is for them to run out of money and sell Hudson's IPs to Nintendo so they can just hand them off to NDCube.
Then they cancelled everything and killed the studio and my indifference became loathing. My dream scenario right now is for them to run out of money and sell Hudson's IPs to Nintendo so they can just hand them off to NDCube.
entremet
Member
Yeah, I don't know why he decided to make a premier MGS game for such an irrelevant platform. I love the PSP, but don't go mainline MGS game for it.
Jawmuncher
Member
Thank Goodness Konami still has MGS.
They would have been. Dead to me a long time ago without it.
They would have been. Dead to me a long time ago without it.
bishopcruz
Member
I think the problem was that outside of KojiPro Konami has bled a ton of talent. the Suikoden teams are gone, the Cvania IGA teams are gone. Team Silent died years ago, and that's just a few. Why did all these studios disband anyway? I mean how would someone have let Team Silent break up like Konami did?
SniperHunter
Banned
Probably had something to do with Kojima. I guess he was the most respected game designer at Konami, since each one his games sold millions of copies, while the others were making smaller niche games. When the development budgets rocketed with the introduction of PS360, they were probably let go.
MightyHedgehog
Member
Sad. Outside of a few flashes of brilliance here and there, Konami hasn't meant anything special to me since the original Silent Hill.
Viola of the Abyss
Member
I was about to open this same thread last week, then I gave up because sadness... 
Seriously I refuse to accept a world without Suikoden, original Silent Hill (not that Shattered Memories was bad, just different) or Igavania.
Suikoden is still the one that hurts the most, I want to know what happens after III and we didn't even get that last PSP one
And don't get me started on what they did to Hudson
Seriously I refuse to accept a world without Suikoden, original Silent Hill (not that Shattered Memories was bad, just different) or Igavania.
Suikoden is still the one that hurts the most, I want to know what happens after III and we didn't even get that last PSP one
And don't get me started on what they did to Hudson
This.
Bad enough that they stomped all over their own company's legacy. They went and sprayed insecticide all over the poor Hudson bee.
We were supposed to get a Bomberman 3DS when that console launched...but then...
leatherhat
Member
I just can't see a company that has MGS5 coming out soon as fallen from grace- because that looks amazing. I just hope they right the ship on castlevania and make ones like the GBA/DS had.
Jim Sterling
Member
I have so much to say about Konami. Their total lack of grip cuts me deeply, as a huge fan of a number of their games.
Always been pleased with this video I did on the company, even if it did lead to an awkward altercation the following E3: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/5524-Konami
Always been pleased with this video I did on the company, even if it did lead to an awkward altercation the following E3: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/5524-Konami
I can, because that's pretty much the only worthwhile thing they have left.
To add to that, Falcom, Gust, Idea Factory/Compile Heart.
But yeah, I agree that Konami's collapse was one of the great tragedies of this gen. Back in the NES era, I'd buy stuff from Konami/Ultra sight unseen, and rarely did it disappoint (well, aside from Turtles 1, Snake's Revenge and Bayou Billy).
This gen, the best thing Konami did was publish ASW's Hard Corps: Uprising. It's one of the best Contra games in recent memory with a lovely art style. Getting teams to rekindle some of their old IPs in a classy manner (i.e. not like the atrocities that were the new Rocket Knight or Rush N Attack) would've been great. Imagine a 2-player online co-op JACKAL (similar somewhat to Renegade Ops or Assault Heroes)? Or a Suikoden developed by Falcom?
? you mean Gradius 6?
Never forget.
Outstanding game. Still try it from time to time.
Has this ever been shown to be true? Apart from SEGA in the Kalinske era, of course.
Considering the financial chaos many western publishers are in nowadays, I don't really know whether or not this would be a better choice.
Nope, Gradius 5 or preferably 3/4/5 in a collection of some sort.
After Otomedius, I no longer trust Konami to build a "new" SHMUP.
They got Hudson...and used them to release a couple of Virtual Console games. What's the point?
For those who do not know GT4 was a great game in many ways, but had very poor physics. Enthusia on the other hand went all out to replicate how a real car behaved in a video game on the same hard ware.
I can't comment of Enthusia's physics, but knowing how weird GT4s physics were I understand why it's so loved. In GT4 the car won't slide like it should and when it does start to slide it behaves very slowly to input until suddenly snapping making it very hard not to overcompensate. It sort of drives like the cars in NFS Porsche with a lot of lift off oversteer, but very little (if any) power oversteer. FWD cars also have a strange tendency to oversteer when given throttle which is the opposite of what you'd expect.
The downside isn't just in realism. The predictable oversteering (drifting) with RWD cars is much of what makes them so much fun to toss around.
Indeed, but considering that they Konami cancelled a number of complete and near-complete Hudson projects, what are the chances that they'd offer their Gradius IP to anyone else to develop a new game. I'd love to be proven wrong though.
So, I'm willing to settle for a Iuchi-guided PS2 Classics/XBLA port of Gradius V (as done with Ikaruga) under the Konami banner because that's as much as I think is possible at this point.
Tiu Neo
Member
Was one of my favorite companies until last gen. Sure, they made a lot of crap, but they made some of my favorite games, too. Castlevania, MGS and Suikoden are very high on my top 10 favorite series. Now, only one is really alive, Castlevania became something else, and Suikoden only exists as a name for spin-off RPGs that will probably never come west, that if it's still alive.
Nowdays? The only thing I want from them is that they finally release Suikoden II-V and Tactics on PSN, so more people can play it.
Nowdays? The only thing I want from them is that they finally release Suikoden II-V and Tactics on PSN, so more people can play it.
IrishNinja
Member
...wasn't expecting this comparison outta nowhere
literally the first positive thing ive heard about it...were you a Suikoden fan? because if i renamed Nier to Megaman Legends 3 it'd still be a game i love, but the fanbase might be a bit peeved
ah, didn't know that! they can do no wrong
again i really don't wanna hijack my own thread here, but it's a perfect picture of the decline: they had to put the whole of their staff on board getting it out, and it was bad cinematics > gameplay and shat over a great portion of the series' story.
glad it holds up for you; as an MGS fan, it was a huge disappointment, looking back.
ditto to this; it doesn't feel like Castlevania but its the only thing we're getting so i'm glad you like it. i'll give it another go before 2 comes out, and try to forget about the series' better titles i guess.
wow, really? i was just arguing whether their peak was 16 or 32 bit, that's a first for me
*sigh* yeah does that to me too, guess i kinda wanted to share the misery there
^i am with this person (only this time don't make it on a blue disc)
you mean you will pay maximum 15 dollar for it, right?
Because high-res 2D is not exactly cheap to make.
As others have mentioned, Konami is fine. They haven't "died," and they aren't losing money, unlike "healthy" companies like EA and Take 2.
Instead, they have transitioned away from a "hardcore" console focus like Disney, LucasArts (lol) and Sega have. They make a lot of stuff for mobile devices, they make Pachinko machines, and also have a robust fitness chain.
For some people who particularly focused on consoles, this makes them basically invisible, the way Zynga or Gameloft do not exist to many GAF members, or for those who believe Bethesda only sprung in to existence when they released Oblivion on consoles. But in practical terms, (i.e. are they making a profit), Konami are doing just fine, and are much healthier than many other companies that stayed put and continued focus on consoles.
Instead, they have transitioned away from a "hardcore" console focus like Disney, LucasArts (lol) and Sega have. They make a lot of stuff for mobile devices, they make Pachinko machines, and also have a robust fitness chain.
For some people who particularly focused on consoles, this makes them basically invisible, the way Zynga or Gameloft do not exist to many GAF members, or for those who believe Bethesda only sprung in to existence when they released Oblivion on consoles. But in practical terms, (i.e. are they making a profit), Konami are doing just fine, and are much healthier than many other companies that stayed put and continued focus on consoles.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
As sad and pathetic as Konami's descent into EXTREME game design sorryness this generation is, the truly dangerous part is their successful returns from non-traditional games sources. The cellphone and (a)social bits. Pray more publishers don't notice this...
In the "dude who designed Silent Hill monsters is directing a teenage girls (a)social smartphone game" sorta way, probably.
People want them to pick the other poison of damnation. What can I say? It's the devil they know.
Ritualized Mediocrity
In the "dude who designed Silent Hill monsters is directing a teenage girls (a)social smartphone game" sorta way, probably.
People want them to pick the other poison of damnation. What can I say? It's the devil they know.
Ritualized Mediocrity
Yeah, but I believe he's working on phone games now.
I doubt Konami is displeased with Peace Walker. While it sold a fraction of what the mainline console releases do it still did pretty well (mostly in Japan). They were able to crank that out faster than a console release anyways.
Psycho Echidna
Member
Letting go their main music composer was another huge mistake from K.
Their music is just pathetic now.
Their music is just pathetic now.
I wonder what MGS would be like if Kojima asked the music games department to compose music for them.
Night_Trekker
Member
Good to know they're still there, even if they're being wasted :/
Horseticuffs
Full werewolf off the buckle
I really liked Suikoden 1 when I was a teen, but don't remember much about the plot.
I almost shed manly tears when Gremio was killed
bigboss370
Member
as long as we have Metal Gear, Konami is still a king.
it's so sad to see what konami are today.
MGS is the only property them seem to put their full effort behind these days.
It sucks because i was a bigger fan of konami's output before MGS became a hit for them on psx.
rocket knight, TMNT, cybernator, axelay, gradius, castlevania, vandal hearts.
Thank goodness the tema that make up 'treasure' left before konami could do any damage to them.
well, the hudson team that worked on the mario party franchise are alive and well -at least; just under a different company now.
i want to see master higgins in a retail game. someone please make this.
ugh.
no offense, but ugh.
i think MGS is everything that's wrong with konami today.
MGS is the only property them seem to put their full effort behind these days.
It sucks because i was a bigger fan of konami's output before MGS became a hit for them on psx.
rocket knight, TMNT, cybernator, axelay, gradius, castlevania, vandal hearts.
Thank goodness the tema that make up 'treasure' left before konami could do any damage to them.
well, the hudson team that worked on the mario party franchise are alive and well -at least; just under a different company now.
i want to see master higgins in a retail game. someone please make this.
ugh.
no offense, but ugh.
i think MGS is everything that's wrong with konami today.
It's the kind of game that made me REALLY excited about WiiWare. It was so wacky and weird. Shame, what that service actually was Vs. its potential.