While EA and Activision certainly deserve to be part of the conversation, it’s hard to think of many gaming companies that have done more to undo all their goodwill than Konami. The company’s family tree of classics stretches from the time of the arcades to the PlayStation 2 generation.
However, with the HD era came a terribly cold streak for the company that seemed to curse all of their classic franchises such as Silent Hill, Castlevaniaeven metal gear. One thing’s for sure, the Konami gamers once loved has been gone for decades, and it will take more than the contrary code to bring it back.
Mention of sexual assault for an incredibly problematic ad. Proceed carefully.
10 They didn’t do a good job of keeping their classic titles
During the 80s and 90s, Konami had a strategy of developing titles based on popular pre-existing brands such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Meneven The Simpsons. Many of these titles received rave reviews and generated tons of revenue. Unfortunately, licensing agreements don’t last forever, which is why digital downloads of these classic titles were eventually taken off the list.
Even the X-Men The XBLA version had to re-record its voices because they didn’t keep track of who was executing the original lines. They are even the source codes for the Silent Hill titles, which led to the HD Collection‘s buggy and unfinished condition.
9 Their 2010 E3 press conference
Konami’s 2010 E3 press conference has become one of the biggest laughs in the industry, sparking several memes and comedic YouTube edits. Many of the demonstrations were denounced for having Japanese representatives who barely spoke English, embarrassing comic sketches for titles like never deadand the overall bland and cheap presentation of the conference.
The only bright spot in this whole affair is Tak Fujii and his presentation of Ninety nine nights 2. While the game wasn’t much to write home about, Fujii’s self-effacement and sheer enthusiasm overcame many of the cultural and language barriers during the event.
8 The month of madness was an embarrassing failure
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=750&dpr=1.5)
In a dumb move that undoubtedly sabotaged the quality of the games it was supposed to promote, Konami’s Month of Madness randomly picked March to select three high-profile entries in the Silent Hill franchisee. As a result, the HD Collection and downpour were chased out the door on the 6th and 13th respectively in a clearly unfinished state.
The diablo-like dungeon crawler, Book of Memoriesdidn’t make it to the March release date and was instead delayed until the pretty creepy month of October to coincide with the equally awful movie Silent Hill Revelation. Why all three games couldn’t get that extra time is a mystery.
7 They hit their classic franchises on countless slot machines
Slot machine trailers, based on the company’s most beloved works, have been bombarded with countless dislikes and negative comments. In the wake of silent hills‘ cancellation, revealing a slot machine based on the second entry came across as completely tone-deaf. Fans were also more than a little upset to see high-quality character models from one of the most acclaimed metal gear entries wasted on an ad for just a pachinko machine.
The most tasteless example is the Castlevania machine showing a succubus being hit with the Belmont whip and stating “Erotic Violenceas a selling point.
6 Pro-Evolution Soccer’s PC port was blatant false advertising
Horrible PC ports were an unfortunate trend during the eighth generation of video game consoles, but Konami’s blunder takes the cake. Despite the Steam store page showing screenshots of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports of Pro-Evolution Football 2016the PC port is a strange amalgamation that is graphically more in line with the worse-looking previous-gen versions.
While it includes certain gameplay features from the PlayStation 4 port, the number of polygons, lighting, and textures don’t provide the same amount of detail. Unsurprisingly, the store page was bombarded with overwhelmingly negative user reviews disapproving of the use of fake ads.
5 They have tried in vain to censor criticism
Even members of the press have managed to earn Konami’s wrath. Jim Stephanie Sterling expressed frustration with getting review copies of Konami’s titles and getting approvals for interviews with their developers in a YouTube video. They interviewed developer Wayforward to talk about: Silent Hill Book of Memorieswhich, according to Sterling, was the only coverage the game would get before it was released.
Unfortunately, shortly after their video, Sterling was informed by a representative that they were blacklisted. Super Bunnyhop also received a DMCA copyright warning for its video detailing the internal drama between Konami and Kojima.
4 They Ruined Their Most Beloved Franchises
Each of their beloved franchises suffered gradual declines. The Silent Hill series was outsourced to several Western developers who failed to capture the psychological horror and dread of the first four titles before Kojima’s take on the franchise was unceremoniously scrapped.
Castlevania made several failed attempts in the third dimension before MercuryStream de god of war-Like it lords of the shadow. Unfortunately, development issues plagued the sequel, leading to a disappointing follow-up. After Hideo Kojima’s departure, metal gear the franchise’s next title was an uninspired zombie spin-off called Metal Gear Survives.
3 They fired the figureheads behind their most beloved franchises
The company has become infamous for the way it treats the creators who made their games possible. While the Castlevania franchise has spawned countless titles, and even a hugely successful Netflix series, creator Hitoshi Akamatsu, is largely shrouded in mystery. After years of critically acclaimed titles, the company canceled Hideo Kojima’s planned silent hills, disbanded his division and fired him.
In an incredible act of pettiness, Konami would not even allow Kojima to take an award for his work on Metal Gear Solid V Phantom Pain at the 2015 Game Awards. Several talented employees, such as Koji Igarashi, Akira Yamaoka and Masahiro Ito, switched a long time ago.
2 The cancellation of Silent Hills marked a turning point for the company
After years of subpar releases that have reduced the brand, anticipate: silent hills was very high. With Kojima heading development and the involvement of horror legend Guillermo Del Toro, fans speculated whether this would be the title to bring the series back to life.
Unfortunately, speculation would be all they would ever get, as Konami canceled the game in 2015. The reception of this news among fans and the press has been overwhelmingly cold, prompting the creation of several indie horror titles, such as Layers of fear. Even eight years later, Del Toro took to Twitter to express his frustration at the game’s cancellation.
1 Reports on working conditions do not paint a good picture
In 2015, allegations of poor working conditions at Konami were leveled by those who claimed to have seen them firsthand. Reports accuse the company of running a random two-week approval system before developers are given the resources to perform their tasks. Divisions within the company are also reportedly not allowed to communicate with each other and are constantly at risk of their contributions being downplayed or even unrecognized.
Silent Hill developer Masahiro Ito was solely responsible for the first title’s CG cutscenes, but was almost uncredited due to his lack of seniority. Only by threatening to withhold his technical expertise did Konami agree.
0 Comments