Author Topic: What the hell happened to Konami  (Read 2521 times)

What the hell happened to Konami
« on: July 17, 2018, 12:40:14 pm »
Hey so what the hell happened to Konami?
They went from a powerhouse in the industry with some of the most iconic franchises to some crappy no name company that just makes pachinko games.

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2018, 12:45:18 pm »
Allegedly they have decided to get back into console development, but only time will tell.

What I gathered was there was a change internally that lead to a lot of employees being treated poorly and even being blacklisted after leaving the company.  Essentially pushed out Igarashi and Kojima to go elsewhere.


burningdoom

PRO Supporter

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2018, 12:58:25 pm »
They never stopped churning out Metal Gear Solid games. But yeah, still a shadow of their former selves. But honestly, that can be said about a whole lot of once great studios in 2018.

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2018, 05:44:01 pm »
They followed the money.  Now that isn't to say a company shouldn't do that, they got people to pay and they are a business, but from the sound of it, they were treating devs and former employees really bad, they definitely pushed deep into the pachinko market which made them good money I guess, and in general seemed to be handling franchises really poorly while focusing on other ones that guaranteed them money like PES.

Can probably be put down to a management issue primarily.  Nintendo is what you look at to see people that care about the business and games, but Konami is what happened when people in charge don't care about that.  Still bummed that Metal Gear Solid V didn't get 100% finished, but there's a chance that Kojima shares some blame in that lol

kypherion

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2018, 05:59:04 pm »
Dude, I don't know. They suck. They won't even allow Contra: Hard Corps on Sega Mega Drive classics, hoard castlevania (and ruin it) and then all around suck. I mean come on! Just sell off the rights to good games and either go bankrupt or end up wasting that money!

I'm just salty about Castlevania, and I hope one day IGA can obtain the rights.

Contra too.
"Well, As The Philosopher Jagger Once Said, 'You Can't Always Get What You Want.'"





Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2018, 06:41:31 pm »
Dude, I don't know. They suck. They won't even allow Contra: Hard Corps on Sega Mega Drive classics, hoard castlevania (and ruin it) and then all around suck. I mean come on! Just sell off the rights to good games and either go bankrupt or end up wasting that money!

I'm just salty about Castlevania, and I hope one day IGA can obtain the rights.

Contra too.

At least Bloodstained is shaping up nicely and we do have the Castlevania series on Netflix lol

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2018, 07:06:44 pm »
And that Castlevania show was shockingly good, even if way too short.


kashell

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2018, 09:07:32 am »
I miss Castlevania, but Curse of the Moon was quite lovely.

pizzasafari

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #8 on: July 18, 2018, 09:45:19 am »
Supposedly, from what I've heard, Konami's management has always been like this, and it's only because they got cockier as time went on that it started to stifle the games they were making and the public started to see it. What we're seeing is pure, unfiltered Konami as it's always been. But it's all good, we've got Kojima Productions and Iga still doing their thing independent of Konami, that's really all we needed from Konami to begin with. Aside from Silent Hill I guess, but that's been dead in the water for over a decade.

I'm just salty about Castlevania, and I hope one day IGA can obtain the rights.

I miss Castlevania, but Curse of the Moon was quite lovely.

Don't despair just yet, Bloodstained is looking awesome. I've played the demo and it really did feel just like the Castlevania we love minus the 2D graphics. The very start is a bit slow and boggy but once you get to the castle it's pure joy.



Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2018, 10:29:36 am »
It's getting two more seasons!
And that Castlevania show was shockingly good, even if way too short.

ferraroso

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2018, 06:23:30 pm »
Well, I think Konami, as a company, just doesn't need things like Castlevania, Contra and Silent Hill anymore.
Here in Japan, these series have never been among the most popular IPs, however they own the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! and the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB) which are two HUGE franchises around here. Apart from that, most people in the West may not realize how big the Pachinko business is. You can find them anywhere and, even if you go to a town or village so small that it doesn't even have bus lines, you will certainly see one or two Pachinko parlors around. And finally, Konami owns the (by far) largest chain of fitness clubs in Japan, to the point that, "Konami" became synonymous to the term "gym".
I'm serious when I say that, around here, people don't even remember that Konami is a software development company and, asking someone if they know about Konami's video games is always as obscure as asking them if they know what was Nintendo's business before the Famicom or what was Sega's console before the Mega Drive (unless you are talking about Yu-Gi-Oh! or baseball games).

pizzasafari

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #11 on: July 21, 2018, 11:11:02 am »
Well, I think Konami, as a company, just doesn't need things like Castlevania, Contra and Silent Hill anymore.
Here in Japan, these series have never been among the most popular IPs, however they own the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! and the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB) which are two HUGE franchises around here. Apart from that, most people in the West may not realize how big the Pachinko business is. You can find them anywhere and, even if you go to a town or village so small that it doesn't even have bus lines, you will certainly see one or two Pachinko parlors around. And finally, Konami owns the (by far) largest chain of fitness clubs in Japan, to the point that, "Konami" became synonymous to the term "gym".
I'm serious when I say that, around here, people don't even remember that Konami is a software development company and, asking someone if they know about Konami's video games is always as obscure as asking them if they know what was Nintendo's business before the Famicom or what was Sega's console before the Mega Drive (unless you are talking about Yu-Gi-Oh! or baseball games).

That's actually really interesting. There seem to be a lot of multi-purpose companies over there that happen to make games on the side and we in the west just assume they're purely a game developer, and knowing this all their dumb business moves on the gaming side of things make a lot more sense. I just wish Konami would stop treating their games and the people making them like dirt though.



sworddude

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #12 on: July 27, 2018, 08:22:22 pm »
I think konami decided to try out a brand new business strategy, I have to admit they seem to be doing great  ::)

« Last Edit: July 27, 2018, 08:27:24 pm by sworddude »
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Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2018, 01:17:36 am »
I think at this point they've lost most of their major creators to their own greed so they don't really know how to make actual games anymore. Make three more asset flips of Metal Gear five and they'll at least keep the lights on, right?

mastodon

Re: What the hell happened to Konami
« Reply #14 on: August 06, 2018, 10:58:01 pm »
At one point in time, if the box had Konami on it, it was a must buy.