Would Konami ever allow me to buy Policenauts/Snatcher Dev?

[ClassicGameTrader]

I am dead serious here.

I have recently rediscovered my love for videogames. I have always admired companies like WD/Atlus that translated liittle known titles to the US and gave us some of the best titles of all time. What do you think that the chances are I could secure the rights to these titles? I am a guy that is looking for something to do something I really enjoy, and this would be it! Now I figure that this would take several different steps that would include:

1. Starting a video game company (Easy)

2. Securing a licence to distribute on a system (Lets say it was PS2, how much?)

3. Purchasing a Development kit (How much?)

4. Buying the rights to these titles (Konami might let them go cheap)

5. Translating and localization

6. Publishing the titles for myslef and fellow games!

If anybody can offer me insight or help, I would appreciate it. This is something I have though about for many years and I would love to hear your comments. 8-)

[dj898]

short of buying Konami yourself don't think that will gonna happen...
maybe with enough money you could tempt them though...

[Cauterize]

short of buying Konami yourself don't think that will gonna happen...
maybe with enough money you could tempt them though...

Dont be so sure!

This guy, in disguise, is the owner of EA.... hes gonna buy Konami!

[Ed Oscuro]

Not gonna happen. Policenauts/Snatcher are intimately tied to the Metal Gear Franchise; you can't buy the rights to it. Now you could always ask if you could develop a game...something many folks have said time and time again they can do, but it's very rare that anything better than a slick looking pong variant is released, let alone a modern commercial-quality videogame. Take Alien Hominid - it's amazing that's out on all three major platforms, and even so it has its share of bugs and then some. It's also no Snatcher as far as quality of the artwork goes.

[VACRMH]

Or you could translate the games and release a patch for them?

*begs*

[ClassicGameTrader]

Well, I don't know the specifics of the whole process but I wondering if any developer has ever requested to develop these titles. I know konami is not the easiest company to work with and all. But it doesn't appear there will ever be a translation of either one of these games (except for sega cd). I would imagine somebody like vic ireland has tried to talk with konami regarding this.

[Promophile]

For all that stuff, including the policenauts licence, you would be in the millions. Dev units it depends on the system. I know that the PS1 Debug unit with dev software was 5,000 dollars each from sony. depending on the system expect to pay more, if they'll even sell you one.

[Jorpho]

There is in fact a translation for the MSX games (Snatcher and SD Snatcher).

I suppose it is theoretically possible to make translations for the other CD versions. It would just be extremely difficult.

[Sothy]

Snatcher 2600 homebrew man. Sweet it would be.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm thinking that translating the Sega CD version would come down to looking for certain strings in memory...not sure if they prepackaged everything for quick access on the unit itself or what. Just looking for those strings might take longer, but you can still use memory addresses and I'd hope it would be easier to change what you find (if that makes sense) to some degree...actually sounds substantially the same as regular translating, except you've probably got way more memory addresses to remap.

[maxlords]

Policenauts is translated. It was just canned at the last minute. A translated beta supposedly exists and may be hitting eBay in the near future. I know a guy who claims to have it but won't sell it to me, no matter what I offer him.

However, even assuming you could get ahold of the beta, you couldn't publish it. Konami won't let you, guaranteed. You'd get sued to hell and back. And being as Snatcher was printed domestically...you'd have even less chance there.

[dj898]

you mean dev unit, not debug?
nowadays there are so many debug units floating around it's not funny any more...

you could get PS1 debug unit for around $80 and PS2 Test for around $300 if you know where to look... sure they weren't be mint nor complete but...

[Ed Oscuro]

Policenauts is translated. It was just canned at the last minute. A translated beta supposedly exists and may be hitting eBay in the near future. I know a guy who claims to have it but won't sell it to me, no matter what I offer him.
Ooo. Of course that means it will be coming out in its own way :)

[maxlords]

Unless whoever manages to get it hides it away for their own personal collection...happens with a lot of great protos/betas. Sad really. I myself am looking EVERYWHERE for a beta of Star Odyssey for the Genesis. I know one exists translated, but I can't find it :(

[soniko_karuto]

I'd love to see the red eye opinion on this.

Still, you have a nice idea, but you need a lot of money to do it.

[ClassicGameTrader]

I am glad to see all of the support on this topic, please keep it coming. I am aware that there *May* be a nearly finished prototype. I have heard it was between 60-80% done when it was canned. I also know that Gamefan reviewed it but I believe it was the japanese version. Anyhow, I will keep you updated on my findings as I plan to do some research this week. Hopefully KOA has some answers and I won't have to deal directly with the Japanese branch of Konami.

[dj898]

umm...
isn't Konami Japanese company with its US branch/subsidiary? :p

[Iron Draggon]

Why don't you just help this guy? He's already doing it, and making progress!

http://junkerhq.net/

[ClassicGameTrader]

umm...
isn't Konami Japanese company with its US branch/subsidiary? :p

Yes but hopefully they have a mediator in the US branch that speaks with japan.

[-hellvin-]

If you tried it I think Hideo Kojima would kick you in the face.

[soniko_karuto]

If you tried it I think Hideo Kojima would kick you in the face.

why he? a lot of people would be happy to get kicked by him. He already has goons that do that for him.

[Promophile]

If you tried it I think Hideo Kojima would kick you in the face.

Or strap you to a table and torture you. Hideo seems to have a fetish for

A) Torturing naked men
B) Pee

[calthaer]

Dont be so sure!

This guy, in disguise, is the owner of EA.... hes gonna buy Konami!


I have recently rediscovered my love for videogames.

If such a thing ever happened at EA, I would flip my lid. Since when have they cared about anything but profit? LOL

[zmweasel]

Deleted.

[dj898]

umm...
isn't Konami Japanese company with its US branch/subsidiary? :p

Yes but hopefully they have a mediator in the US branch that speaks with japan.

think many of them have an attitude that any subsidiary making this sort of request - non money making - should get his/her head chopp'd... :(

[goatdan]

I saw this before and I meant to reply before... I think I can answer a few things pretty good because of my involvement in the Dreamcast producing realm, but it isn't all going to be perfectly accurate for current systems... but I'll try my best. Hope it helps!


1. Starting a video game company (Easy)

Well, it depends on how you look at it. Are you going to be the only one? If so, it is going to be a LOT of work. You have to develop every part of a game from the music to the gameplay to the case. It takes a lot of work.

You also have to go through becoming a legal entity and all this other stuff if you plan on going for the big time with a newer system. It is a major undertaking to get that done, and if you haven't done it before should include a trip to a lawyer and an accountant.


2. Securing a licence to distribute on a system (Lets say it was PS2, how much?)

Anyone could distribute for a system, but you have to have some sort of financial backing to get the games made and some sort of distribution network in place. You can't just make one game, call your local EB and ask them to buy 20 copies. It won't work. You have to talk with reps, get major contracts and so on. It is TOUGH work, and if you are serious you are going to want to look into a third party to do it for you. Almost no small companies distribute their own games -- they may produce them, but they don't distribute...


3. Purchasing a Development kit (How much?)

If you're talking about any of the current systems, not just do you have to pay the company money but you also have to show your value somehow. What else have you done? What demos have you created? Those are going to be the things that the company is asking. I wouldn't doubt that a development console for any of the big three costs over $10,000 right now, and they won't just sell them to anyone. It takes a lot of luck and a lot of skill.


4. Buying the rights to these titles (Konami might let them go cheap)

Good luck -- first, you have to start with convincing someone at Konami to talk with you about it, and then you have to prove that you are serious. Even older franchises like these are probably still worth more than a million dollars to a company like Konami, especially with their backgrounds. If you are serious about developing a game, I would suggest not starting with someone else's franchise first. Make up your own world, and if that goes well, you might have the funding and the reputation to talk to Konami.


5. Translating and localization

If you could secure the rights, it would be up to you to do this yourself.


6. Publishing the titles for myslef and fellow games!

Publishing also requires a lot of money. To make a decent game, pay the licensing fee per title to the company your working with and distribute it, you're going to be spending $5.00 at a MINIMUM. You're probably looking at much higher costs because this would be your first project.

If you decided to "only" make 10,000 copies of the game, you're talking about another cost of at least $50,000. It is a cutthroat industry, and one that is nearly impossible to just dive into unless you have tons of cash and a lot of luck. Even John Romero couldn't do it right when he left iD to form his own company, and he was one of the creative minds behind Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM.


If anybody can offer me insight or help, I would appreciate it. This is something I have though about for many years and I would love to hear your comments. 8-)

Here is my suggestion -- find a system to start coding on. I would strongly suggest the Dreamcast, as it has a sizable following, is the closest to modern you can get right now and has an excellent homebrew development kit that is free. All you need is a Dreamcast and some sort of link cable for it such as a broadband adaptor or a devvers cable.

If you can take a game or two on the Dreamcast and make it into an excellent release (I produce Dreamcast games with my store, the GOAT Store, which is conviently down tonight, unfortunatley), you can get it published through us. We handle distribution and so on, and you can then use the game as a portfolio piece to get other companies interested in what you're doing. If you can get enough solid portfolio peices, you can work on convincing the big three that you can make great games for one of them and see where it takes you.

There are no guarantees, but I would suggest starting small and working your way up! It can be done with a little bit of luck and a lot of determination!

[goatdan]

Any American branch of a Japanese publisher is, in essence, a localization outfit.

For the most part, I agree. The best thing you could do is convince a higher-up as an American branch to go to bat for you with their Japanese parent, and then you better have a darn good reason for them to do so. It is asking someone to stick their neck out for you, and if you don't have a good reason, no one would even consider it.

[Aussie2B]

Considering that Konami is a third party that publishes nearly all their games in the US themselves, I think it would be extremely unlikely that they'd license the franchises out to anybody.

[Promophile]

Another thing to add is don't even think about being able to get a licence from Konami unless you have at LEAST 1 big hit prior to it.