What the heck happened to Konami ?

[WCP]

I remember back to the Super Nintendo days. Konami was basically the Naughty Dog of that Era. They were absolutely killing it with every release. Super Castlevania IV came out a couple of months after launch. Then you had Contra 3: The Alien Wars not long after that. You also had Axelay as one of the best shooters on the SNES. Turtles in Time on the SNES was an absolute classic. Batman Returns was one of the best beat-em ups. Konami even had great games on the Genesis with Castlevania Bloodlines, Contra Hard Corps and Rocket Knight Adventures. There are so many other amazing Konami games that came out during the 16 bit era.

Where the heck is Konami now ? I mean, all they really have is Metal Gear. They also do portable versions of Castlevania, but what the heck happened to their glory days ?


Do you think they could ever resurrect Contra properly ?

[The Adventurer]

Was Contra 4 not 'proper' enough?


Also, I did a quick check on Wikipedia, and wow. It really is just Metal Gear and Castlevania these days (and Pro Evolution Soccer. Apparently). That's not great.

[kupomogli]

Konami is pretty much a shell of their former selves. I do want to mention Lords of Shadow though. There are a lot of Castlevania fans who just disregard the series as trash simply because being a reboot of the series they don't follow the original timeline. As a Castlevania fan myself, I actually didn't get the original game until it hit $30 because of that same reason, but after playing the first Lords of Shadow, I bought the other two day one, and honestly, the Lords of Shadow series is the best thing to happen to the series in quite some time. Neither of the three are my favorites in the series, but all three are great titles, where the entire Castlevania series is pretty hit and miss overall.

Another reason fans disregard the Lords of Shadow games is because it's a western developer instead of IGA doing the games. Curse of Darkness, Order of Ecclesia, Order of Shadows, Judgment, and Harmony of Despair were all garbage games. I for one am glad there's a developer creating quality releases for the series, rather than IGA running the series into the ground like Square Enix has done with Final Fantasy. Atleast Mercury Steam also has the courtesy to label all their games as Lords of Shadow as well, making it's clear that it's not tied to the original series.

And maybe some here don't remember, but Lords of Shadow was actually going to be a new IP. It had two trailers showing it off, one that actually had gameplay, both "coming soon" so more than likely very near completion, but there was no title other than "Lords of Shadow." It was cancelled by Konami which they pitched the idea of labeling it as Castlevania since people thought the character looked similar to Simon Belmont from Castlevania 2 on the NES and he used a whip like weapon. With the game being very near to completion, I think they named him a Belmont, rewriting all the text to give it a Castlevania background, enemies, locations, characters, etc, from the Castlevania series, but the overall story stayed the same. Mirror of Fate may or may not have originally been planned, but Lords of Shadow 2 was.

[Rickstilwell1]

Even the Playstation / Saturn era was great. I miss Suikoden and Vandal-Hearts.

[Jorpho]

Was Contra 4 not 'proper' enough?Well, that was a Wayforward game. I think the question is if they could do it in-house.

But then, no one seems to do anything in-house anymore.

[eskobar]

I remember back to the Super Nintendo days. Konami was basically the Naughty Dog of that Era. They were absolutely killing it with every release. Super Castlevania IV came out a couple of months after launch. Then you had Contra 3: The Alien Wars not long after that. You also had Axelay as one of the best shooters on the SNES. Turtles in Time on the SNES was an absolute classic. Batman Returns was one of the best beat-em ups. Konami even had great games on the Genesis with Castlevania Bloodlines, Contra Hard Corps and Rocket Knight Adventures. There are so many other amazing Konami games that came out during the 16 bit era.

Where the heck is Konami now ? I mean, all they really have is Metal Gear. They also do portable versions of Castlevania, but what the heck happened to their glory days ?


Do you think they could ever resurrect Contra properly ?

LOL, I could not compare that KONAMI with Naughty Dog ... the volume of releases of Konami was much bigger than ND and the quality was similar, but the products were more diverse and, in my opinion, much more creative.

What happened was the same that happened to other legendary companies of that era: Production costs have grown exponentially. The actual costs of development require that every product released sells millions ... that's why they now charge you 29.99 usd for the MGS V "demo". Kojima is practically in charge of the financial success or failure of the company, PES is not enough to cover the operative costs of the company.

I hope that one day the industry can abandon the hollywood-esque giant productions and adopt a much healthier small productions model that allowed companies to make profit selling 150,000 or less units.

[Leo_A]

Even the Playstation / Saturn era was great. I miss Suikoden and Vandal-Hearts.

Konami was still pretty entertaining during the first half of the 2000's. It wasn't until about 2005/2006 or so where they suddenly started to change for the worse as far as I'm concerned.

Now they're like Sega and Capcom are for me. If there's some interesting release that they're publishing, chances are it's just a rerelease from earlier years.

[Greg2600]

Konami and Capcom should go back to making 2D style games for download.

[Tanooki]

Konami if you look at handhelds kind of like Capcom is doing a better job, more so Konami. I think the old titans of the 2D era weren't all that competent, willing, or even capable of forming the proper process and thoughts to jump from the flat days to the 3D. Look at all those hot turds they shoveled in the PS1/N64/Saturn era if they strayed off of doing 2D games (Capcom played safe with a heap of arcade ports.) Then in the GC/PS2 era they did a little bit more, some decent games where the camera/controls in some titles sucked less, Konami caught on more, while Capcom was f'n awful with their broken cameras and tank like controls in 3D on foot spaces that wreck their titles. After that HD rolled in, and with the horrid price increases in development they all wussed out and played it safe focusing on a couple of franchies instead of a lot on consoles because that's all they could afford, yet on handhelds they still had more balls to play around a bit as it's much cheaper. Konami, Capcom, and others of that era much live off their old reputation and the old game awareness thing going on now which show people what they once were capable of.

[Leo_A]

Konami and Capcom should go back to making 2D style games for download.

I'm surprised that the Mega Man 8 bit style releases haven't continued. I'm assuming that Mega Man 10 underperformed although you wouldn't know it by the praise it has received, putting an end to that concept.

But from the outside looking in, I thought what Capcom did with Mega Man 9 and 10 was a gold mine. But I guess that perception must not be entirely accurate judging by 5 years or so of nothing.

[Jorpho]

Konami if you look at handhelds kind of like Capcom is doing a better job, more so Konami. I think the old titans of the 2D era weren't all that competent, willing, or even capable of forming the proper process and thoughts to jump from the flat days to the 3D. Look at all those hot turds they shoveled in the PS1/N64/Saturn era if they strayed off of doing 2D games (Capcom played safe with a heap of arcade ports.)The PSX Contra games, at least, were also farmed out to outside studios.



I'm assuming that Mega Man 10 underperformed although you wouldn't know it by the praise it has received, putting an end to that concept. I understood that Mega Man 10 was not nearly as well received as Mega Man 9. (I wish they'd turn up on the 3DS. If there's one thing Capcom is good at, it's milking stuff for all it is worth.)

[The Adventurer]

I understood that Mega Man 10 was not nearly as well received as Mega Man 9. (I wish they'd turn up on the 3DS. If there's one thing Capcom is good at, it's milking stuff for all it is worth.)

Yeah. Mega Man 10 was pretty much panned by critics primarily because of an almost backslide of creativity after 9. Its a good Mega Man game, no doubt. But its not much better then 4 or 5. Unlike 9. Which was probably as good as 2 and 3.

I think a bigger factor with the lack of more Mega Man is Inafune walking, and Capcom's general disinterest in the blue bomber as a major franchise. Also keep in mind, both Mega Man 9 and 10 were technically outsourced to Inti Creates, which is the team Inafune is a main member of.


Its okay though. We've got Mighty No. 9 and Azure Striker Gunvolt to look forward too. Maybe someday we'll get some kind of 'Not Mega Man Legends 3, but totally Mega Man Legends 3' game)

[The Adventurer]

To make this more relevant to the topic at hand, I'm rather disapoint that we never got an HD retro-style Castlevania at any point over the last few years. Either an 8-bit throwback, or Rondo of Blood on steroids (ala Strider). I'd take either reallly.

[Tanooki]

The 3DS Castlevania is kind of an 8bit throwback you might want to peek at. They tied it directly to Castlevania III and gave it a similar feel meshed with the SOTN style, but to modernize it a bit you get these button combos for whip attacks that are the short dial-a-combo style taps you get from God of War. The game is not terribly long but it actually is pretty fun. While initially a 3DS game, it was re-released as part of a Legacy and Darkness package deal in HD on the disc for PS3.

[The Adventurer]

Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate? I played the demo and found it to be a bit crap. Its was very combat heavy, and not in a way that I found entertaining. More irritating. Like 2D God of War.

[T2KFreeker]

Hmm, what's really sad is that Konami has done nothing with the Hudson Soft properties after buying the company too. BONK Brink of Extinction was finished and ready to go and they canned it. I still don't know why they did that as it's another point of wouldn't it be better to release it and make some money rather than none at all thing. Besides that, there is still Bomberman and Dungeon Explorer they acquired with that sale as well. Just don't know why they would buy the company out to not use any of the franchises.

[kupomogli]

To make this more relevant to the topic at hand, I'm rather disapoint that we never got an HD retro-style Castlevania at any point over the last few years. Either an 8-bit throwback, or Rondo of Blood on steroids (ala Strider). I'd take either reallly.

While not HD, we did get a remake of Rondo of Blood which is better than the original imo. Dracula X Chronicles also includes the original Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night. SotN on DXC has Maria mode as well, and not that crappy NitM Maria mode, but one where Maria actually plays like Maria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey84svvU6_0&list=PLB905DD74DCE5746E


Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate? I played the demo and found it to be a bit crap. Its was very combat heavy, and not in a way that I found entertaining. More irritating. Like 2D God of War.

Well, it's combat is like a 2D Lords of Shadow rather than a 2D God of War. The game is a mixture of classic Castlevania combined with exploration. Level ups allow one of the characters to learn additional skills, while health, magic, and item upgrades are acquired while exploring the map. If you've played any classic or exploration Castlevania, there are a lot of times that you're constantly attacking an enemy mashing one button until they die, while Mirror of Fate gives a fast paced combo oriented gameplay to it that makes it really enjoyable. Mirror of Fate brings back deathtraps where if you fall from too high of a height, you'll either receive damage or you'll automatically die. Unfortunately Mirror of Fate's checkpoints are too forgiving, so if you get 100% on the game, and then replay it in the hardcore difficulty, there are less checkpoints and the difficulty is perfect imo. The reason why there are less checkpoints is because at 100%, the game doesn't auto save when you collect a scroll or upgrade, and only saves at the beginning of each screen, after getting a certain distance through the screen, or if at a boss, one of the boss checkpoints.

For those that like the 3D effect. LoS MoF's 3D is easily the best on the 3DS. I've played through the game three times and the second and third times I played with the 3D on a good portion of the time. It's really bad underwater though, strains your eyes, so turn it off there.

[Kitsune Sniper]

To make this more relevant to the topic at hand, I'm rather disapoint that we never got an HD retro-style Castlevania at any point over the last few years. Either an 8-bit throwback, or Rondo of Blood on steroids (ala Strider). I'd take either reallly.

There's that Castlevania Rebirth on the WiiWare shop. And that's about it.

Konami's like a chicken without a head.

[Tanooki]

Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate? I played the demo and found it to be a bit crap. Its was very combat heavy, and not in a way that I found entertaining. More irritating. Like 2D God of War.

Yeah that and it's hardly crap. The combat is no more heavy than SOTN, just not as light as CV3 in comparison. It's a solid game. Kupo spelled it out perfectly and if you don't have a 3DS but do have a PS3 it's on there in this little collection package which has the original Lords of Shadow and some other fluff all thrown together.

[BlastProcessing402]

There's that Castlevania Rebirth on the WiiWare shop. And that's about it.

Konami's like a chicken without a head.

Yeah, of all the games to remake, they choose CV:The Adventure? Was anyone really clamoring for that one?

[thegamezmaster]

The 3DS Castlevania is kind of an 8bit throwback you might want to peek at. They tied it directly to Castlevania III and gave it a similar feel meshed with the SOTN style, but to modernize it a bit you get these button combos for whip attacks that are the short dial-a-combo style taps you get from God of War. The game is not terribly long but it actually is pretty fun. While initially a 3DS game, it was re-released as part of a Legacy and Darkness package deal in HD on the disc for PS3.

What's the name of the package deal for the PS3? Thanks!

[kupomogli]

^Lords of Shadow Collection.

http://www.amazon.com/Castlevania-Lords-Shadow-Collection-Playstation-3/dp/B00ENWZAHO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401318506&sr=8-1&keywords=lords+of+shadow+collection

It includes Lords of Shadow on disc. It includes the two DLC packs, demo of Lords of Shadow 2(already on PSN/XBL,) and Mirror of Fate HD as DLC vouchers. If they reprinted the PS3 version to include Mirror of Fate HD on disc, I would have purchased it.

[Manhattan Sports Club]

It'd be nice if Konami brought back Parodius, Goemon and Twinbee, but seeing the failed Rocket Knight reboot, we can't be too hopeful. I was never a fan of Silent Hill, Castlevania or MGS. They'll probably get absorbed by some other company soon enough. I believe Capcom will end up that way eventually, too. Live and let die I say, look toward the future.

[thegamezmaster]

^Lords of Shadow Collection.

http://www.amazon.com/Castlevania-Lords-Shadow-Collection-Playstation-3/dp/B00ENWZAHO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401318506&sr=8-1&keywords=lords+of+shadow+collection

It includes Lords of Shadow on disc. It includes the two DLC packs, demo of Lords of Shadow 2(already on PSN/XBL,) and Mirror of Fate HD as DLC vouchers. If they reprinted the PS3 version to include Mirror of Fate HD on disc, I would have purchased it.

Thanks for the help. Will haveto check it out!

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Hate to say it, but every game company eventually loses its way. Maybe there will be a Konami Renaissance in the future though.

I think that Konami was still putting out a lot of awesome stuff well into the 2000s decade though.

[otaku]

To me many of the greats, capcom, sega, konami etc. aren;'t what they used to be and it seems american companies are producing most of the games I want to play. Don't get me wrong they still make some good games I still play sega stuff and konami I'm sure makes great MGS and castlevania games (I've not played those series in a while)

[Ze_ro]

I like how Konami bought out Hudson, closed down their operations, and did absolutely nothing with their IP. Thanks, dicks. They couldn't even be bothered to put Bonk or Bomberman on Virtual Console.

--Zero

[Tanooki]

Konami took a page, if not a chapter out of the US side of the ocean EA playbook of rape and pillage. Gobble studio? Check. Grab IPs and neglect them? Check. More or less shut down the studio, keeping the name floating and gobbling up minority of human talent they wanted? Check.

Hudson was a great company.

[Richter Belmount]

My guess is become only dependent on metal gear solid? Would I be in the wrong say is selling as well as a call of duty title in America that it justifies them to put all their resources only into that?

[josekortez]

One word - Yu-Gi-Oh.

[The Adventurer]

There seems to be a trend for long term companies like Capcom, Konami, and Square-Enix that the longer they exist the harder it becomes to make smaller projects profitable. Forcing them to rely on projects that must sell millions of copies.

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me, when companies like Nintendo can continue to finance smaller projects successfully. Is it just these major developer/publishers just has much smaller margins over time? If so, then a single falure is sure to cripple your company.

[Tanooki]

I think it's a bean counter decision. They've decided some time ago and especially so going into HD that everything with a name for it needs a hollywood like budget behind it. When yo throw millions at it, and you're selling a game at $60, you need to sell millions or you end up losing cash. Nintendo while they still throw a lot into it, they don't anywhere near the level many of those do so they can be fine selling 500k, 1M units and make a tidy sum because they set realistic budgets on software development. It's the only thing I've been able to figure when you look at SE bitching Tomb Raider lost money selling 4M units being under expectation. No one in gaming should ever develop a game expecting to move like 5M copies at or near original MSRP to be a success, well nearly no one, seeing that people throw money away freely when it comes to a Call of Duty or GTA release.

[Gameguy]

Konami took a page, if not a chapter out of the US side of the ocean EA playbook of rape and pillage. Gobble studio? Check. Grab IPs and neglect them? Check. More or less shut down the studio, keeping the name floating and gobbling up minority of human talent they wanted? Check.

Hudson was a great company.
They're probably wanting another company to license the properties from them instead of making a game themselves, they get paid for the license and don't have to spend anything for development. I guess nobody wanted to pay them for the properties they have, or they expect to much money for what they have.

[Tanooki]

I could see that, as lazy as it is it would fit. You'd think they'd want to keep a few things around like Bomberman at least as it would make a nice stupid easy touch/phone type game that would click up some serious sales with minimal effort.

[sfchakan]

Bomberman online ios and android games. They should exist! Why, Konami, why?

[Ackman]

Castlevania Chronicles X on PSP is pretty decent. I wonder if you can buy it in the PSN store?

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

For me, having Keiffer Sutherland play Solid Snake is what happened to Konami. What a disaster that was!

[kai123]

For me, having Keiffer Sutherland play Solid Snake is what happened to Konami. What a disaster that was!

I know. I still haven't finished it on my PS4. I know it is stupid but his voice just annoys me. He is just acting like he is in a 24 game. Damn shame.

[Tanooki]

Wow him? Does Snake get ragingly drunk and start yelling at the enemy too with fits of other violent outburst behavior while kicking back a flask along with Snake's old pack of smokes? :D