R.I.P. Konami

On 05/06/2015 at 12:48 PM by VisuaLIES

In my last blog post, I talked about how game publisher Konami and it's superstar producer, Hideo Kojima, were in the midst of some sort of breakup, resulting in corporate restructuring and Kojima's probable departure from the company once development on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is complete. This also resulted in the cancellation of their highly anticipated game Silent Hills and the removal of its teaser, P.T., from the PSN store (Konami also took the extra step to ensure that it cannot be redownloaded once it is deleted from the PS4 hard drive even if it's still in a user's library, so don't delete it if you ever want to play it again!). While we don't know much about Konami's future plans in regards to game development, at this point it seems that they will focus more on their mobile and/or pachinko businesses, which apparently have much more room for growth and profitability, but less room for growth in the business of being loved and admired.

As a longtime gamer, I grew up playing Konami games, and the thought that they may be getting out of the business saddens me. Castlevania (NES) was the first game I ever bought for myself (I actually purchased it a few months BEFORE I got the NES lol), and that series will always be my favorite. Since then, I have enjoyed countless games from them, from arcade shooters like Gradius, Contra, and a personal favorite, Axelay, to their more recent output like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Konami is responsible for some of the greatest games ever made, like Castlevania:Symphony of the Night, Suikoden II, and Metal Gear Solid. To say that they will be missed is an understatement. While I am a bit bitter about recent developments (and mainly the lack of communication with their consumers), I choose to remember the good times I had playing their games, the former members of their development teams like Treasure, Team Silent, Koji Igarashi, and Hideo Kojima and Yoji Shinkawa, and company that they once were.

Without further ado, visual evidence of my insanity devotion...

photo castlevania games_zpsow59sms9.jpg

The series that started it all (my love of video games that is). Notably absent are all the NES/SNES games I stupidly sold ages ago. Sigh, at least there's virtual console...

photo metal gear games_zpslpxiotsv.jpg

You can't talk about Konami without mentioning Metal Gear. Though I'm sure Konami itself will try to do just that in about a year or so.

photo konami games_zpsqfcz4zy9.jpg

And the rest...

is history?

Matt Snee Staff Writer

05/06/2015 at 02:59 PM

oh Konami! Such a big part of my youth! What the hell happened, man?!?

VisuaLIES

05/06/2015 at 03:22 PM

It seems like I'm saying that about a lot of my favorite publishers. I think I'm just getting old. Back in MY day... Get off my lawn!

05/06/2015 at 03:52 PM

stupid punks!

Alex-C25

05/06/2015 at 07:01 PM

Shame to see such a classic company throw the towell, but atleast we know the lasting legacy they had.

Although now i'm worried about their catalogue falling victim of being hard to find and get if they are going all out and stop their gaming distribution. Fingers crossed so others can buy the properties.

05/06/2015 at 10:58 PM

Good point. I was holding out hope for a Snatcher/Policenauts combo pack, but I guess I can stop now. I can't see Konami selling its IPs yet. I think they're still profitable, but who knows what they have planned since they're being so secretive.

Cary Woodham

05/06/2015 at 10:44 PM

I'm not a big fan of Castlevania or Metal Gear, but I played a lot of other Konami games like the Gradius series. I'm sitll mad they bought up Hudson Soft and squelched all their properties. Hudson had a new Bonk game ready to go, and Konami could have made millions on Bomberman alone. At least Nintendo hired a lot of ex-Hudson staff before that happened. I'll miss Gradius and Parodius and we'll never see another Kid Dracula game. It's sad to see such an influential company go like this, as they did a lot of important stuff, from Frogger to DDR, and everything in between.

05/06/2015 at 11:44 PM

How are you not a fan of Castlevania??? Castlevania III, IV, Rondo of Blood, and Symphony of the Night are four of five best games ever made (slight exaggeration, but only slight). Anyway, I never had a TurboGraphx, so I never played Bonk, and I only played Bomberman once when I was a kid, so I can't say Hudson was a big loss to me. Wait, they made Bloody Roar? Well fuck... Anyway, I always wanted to play Parodius, but it never came out in the states. I considered importing the collection for PSP, but regrettably I never did.

05/07/2015 at 07:44 AM

I dunno, just never really got into Castlevania. A lot of people think that's weird, but I also never got into Punch Out and people think that's weird, too. Only Castlevania game I really liked was Kid Dracula.

I imported the Parodius collection on PSP and I'm glad I did! I miss region free handhelds.

KnightDriver

05/08/2015 at 02:44 AM

I guess they couldn't adapt to this new world of mobile gaming that has taken over. With their huge list of well known brands though, I don't understand why they can't make money with them on all systems. Sounds like mismanagement to me.

05/09/2015 at 02:52 AM

I guess it's just easier to make money in other sectors, with less risk involved. AAA development costs a lot of money, and you have to be able to complete against the Activions, EAs, and Ubisofts of the world, whose primary focus is to make the most accessible, watered down experience possible to appeal to the most people.

Jamie Alston Staff Writer

05/08/2015 at 09:05 AM

No matter what happens...there will always be Contra.

05/09/2015 at 03:01 AM

Or any number of classics in their back catalog. I wish these companies would make more of their retro games available.

I was never any good at Contra lol. Castlevania all the way.

SanAndreas

05/08/2015 at 10:41 PM

A part of me isn't surprised. Video games have been an ever-shrinking part of Konami, which owns a chain of successful health clubs, slot machines, and a hugely popular CCG, and I imagine those businesses give Konami a better return on their investment to boot.

Still sad. Konami was right up there with Nintendo and Capcom on the NES, and they were the only third party company worth a damn on N64, when every other Japanese publisher was a no-show. It sucks that the game industry is seemingly being divided between the console makers and a triopoly consisting of three of the blandest, dullest third party companies out there.

05/09/2015 at 02:57 AM

Funny, I said pretty much the exact same thing in another reply. Konami, Capcom, and later Namco and Square were my favorites. I can count up the number of EA, Activision, and Ubisoft games I own on one hand (and most of them are SSX titles for PS2 lol).

What's most disappointing is HOW Konami is going out. It's like they're actively trying to be hated.

05/09/2015 at 06:05 PM

I don't think they're trying to actively be hated, I think they simply don't care anymore about a product line that is no longer profitable for them when they have so many other products that are more profitable with less cost.

As far as other companies go, Square Enix has been improving of late, while I'd argue that Namco is stronger and more diverse than ever. Surprisingly, Koei Tecmo has become another favorite publisher of mine in recent years.

Machocruz

05/09/2015 at 07:45 PM

I remember when EA put out good, challenging games back in the Genesis days. And Konami was arguably THE Japanese studio for hardcore games on consoles during the 8 and 16 bit eras.

To quote JC Dention "What a shame"

05/10/2015 at 02:06 AM

I don't ever remember a time when I liked EA. They were always a Genesis first publisher, and I was a SNES fanboy all the way. SSX was the only game I ever really liked from them.

05/10/2015 at 11:23 AM

I liked some of EA's games during its earliest years, like Archon (the people who made Archon went on to found Toys For Bob, the company behind the Skylanders games/toys), M.U.L.E., and Starflight. But in the late 80s they started to stink.

GeminiMan78

05/09/2015 at 09:25 PM

I named one of my cats Konami in part because I too grew up a huge fan of their games. But I figured it was just a matter of time as each major series has slowly dried up. First Contra, then the handful of bungled Castlevania games (PS2 era). And we have not seen a Suikoden game in years. Its a damn shame.

05/10/2015 at 02:00 AM

Yeah, Konami liked to outsource development to studios that were just not very good. I remember the Contra on PSone pretty much killed the series. It seemed like they turned it around though with Shattered Soldier and Contra IV, but I guess the sales weren't enough to commit to further development. Castlevania was the same. They wanted epic 3D because that's what sells, but due to flawed game design and lower budgets, they were never as good as the 2D games. I guess it's the consumers' fault as much as it is Konami's, but whenever I see a successful indie shooter or metroidvania-inspired game, I wonder what could have been and why Konami couldn't simply have made one too.

PixlBit