Fate of the Gradius and other brands post Konami

[BazookaBen]

So it's starting to look like Konami is starting to pull out of non-mobile video games. What do you guys think are some realistic things that maybe happen to Gradius, Castlevania, Contra, etc?

Of course I wish Treasure would buy the rights to Gradius, but I don't feel that's in the realm of possibility. Maybe Nintendo or Sony? Will Konami sit on them and let them rot?

[trap15]

They'll stay with Konami and never be used again.

[broken harbour]

They'll stay with Konami and never be used again.

This.

Though in my personal dream world their IP's would be purchased by Retro Studio's and have them all rebooted. (especially Castlevania)

[Kollision]

who cares man
these games are things from the past
let them rest

in 10 years from now we might have something new
when people get tired of the virtual reality games and shit

[cave hermit]

Konami would retain their ips for the sole purpose of making themed slot/pachinko machines.

[Strikers1945guy]

Konami would retain their ips for the sole purpose of making themed slot/pachinko machines.

Is there a gradius pachinko machine in existence? ? Capcom have Rockman ones and stuff right?

[pegboy]

They'll stay with Konami and never be used again.

Unfortunately I think this is exactly what will happen. Makes me very sad, but at least they went out on a high note (Gradius V).

[Shepardus]

They'll stay with Konami and never be used again.

aka nothing changes

[MathU]

Enough of this doom and gloom whining, just get someone like M2 to make another game already!

Makes me very sad, but at least they went out on a high note (Gradius Rebirth).

[iconoclast]

In a perfect world, they'd outsource the *dius games to Treasure and the Contra games to Arc System Works. Dunno who could make a good Castlevania game in this day & age. Maybe the guys who did Volgarr the Viking? That would probably be awesome, actually.

In reality, Konami will probably outsource them to Z-tier western developers or leave them dead and buried. Why bother with old video game franchises when you're raking in cash via pachinko and fitness clubs (and Metal Gear).

[MathU]

M2 understands what a proper Gradius and Contra and even Castlevania game is far better than Treasure or ASW or even that loser Koji Igarashi. Give them more work, please!

Also Contra 4 by Wayforward was excellent. Much better than Hard Corps Uprising at least.

[KAI]

Dunno who could make a good Castlevania game in this day & age

what about Inti Creates?

The only fate for Gradius and the rest of the IPs is this.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

TOYS!

[Pretas]

You're all ignoring the obvious inevitability that Konami's IPs will be relentlessly whored out for freemium shovelware on mobile platforms, once they don't have to worry at all about guarding their reputation with the console/PC crowds.

I'm expecting a Metal Gear Acid 3 where you have to pay real money for booster packs.

[Doctor Butler]

They'll stay with Konami and never be used again.

[Ed Oscuro]

i play shmups for the lore

They'll stay with Konami and never be used again.

that's better than what will happen

[Skykid]

Also Contra 4 by Wayforward was excellent. Much better than Hard Corps Uprising at least.

100 times this. Please don't give anything to Arcsys anymore unless it's a fighting game.

[Squire Grooktook]

Also Contra 4 by Wayforward was excellent. Much better than Hard Corps Uprising at least.

100 times this. Please don't give anything to Arcsys anymore unless it's a fighting game.

I love Contra 4, and I know we've disagreed about Uprising's quality in the past, but I actually would like to see Arcsys take another crack at it.

We can both admit it's a flawed game (myself to a lesser degree), but it would certainly be interesting to see all that air dashing and such pulled off in a much more refined and polished run and gun shooter that benefits from experienced gained working on the previous title.

I would definitely be more interested in another Arcsys Contra than Wayforward, especially considering one of the main designers who made Contra 4 what it was left Wayforward to work on Shovel Knight at Yacht Club. You can definitely see the level design quality he brought to Contra 4 in that game.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

M2 understands what a proper Gradius and Contra and even Castlevania game is far better than Treasure or ASW or even that loser Koji Igarashi. Give them more work, please!

Also Contra 4 by Wayforward was excellent. Much better than Hard Corps Uprising at least.

I just could not get into Uprising no matter how hard I tried.

[Cata]

They'll have random tie-ins with Bemani games. You'll see a gradius remix pop up every now and then

[spadgy]

Konami have lots of the Hudson stuff locked away in their IP oubliette too, don't they?

I really want to play the optimist, but I guess they have to make commercial decisions, and even Gradius V on PS2 wasn't dazzlingly successful sales wise, if I remember correctly. So maybe the F2P mobile releases thing will be a reality.

Or maybe Gradius VI will be an easter egg on a loading screen of Pro Evo.

[DoomsDave]

I heard Silent Hills is dead and Kojima is gone but are they pulling out of console/PC completely?

[Pretas]

I heard Silent Hills is dead and Kojima is gone but are they pulling out of console/PC completely?

Not known yet, but all evidence points to this being their direction after Phantom Pain releases, at least outside Japan.

For what it's worth, Konami did recently decide that it was worth bothering to put up Gradius V on PS2 Classics for PS3.

[Strikers1945guy]

I heard Silent Hills is dead and Kojima is gone but are they pulling out of console/PC completely?

Not known yet, but all evidence points to this being their direction after Phantom Pain releases, at least outside Japan.

For what it's worth, Konami did recently decide that it was worth bothering to put up Gradius V on PS2 Classics for PS3.

What the hell are they going to do for profit then, strictly arcade / slot machine and pachinko games?

[CloudyMusic]

What the hell are they going to do for profit then, strictly arcade / slot machine and pachinko games?

They're somewhat diversified beyond just video games. They also operate health clubs and manufacture fitness machinery, and produce a lot of gambling machines as well.

[Ed Oscuro]

They're somewhat diversified beyond just video games.

That's kind of like saying Bally was somewhat diversified. Long after the Astrocade, lots of other members of the Bally empire were going - the hotels, the "Total Fitness" chains, and there's still a slot machine and gaming tech company, Bally Technologies, which nearly cracked 1BN in sales in 2013 (Wikipedia). Konami is able to do the same thing.

Like I said, it's often interesting to compare Konami to the seemingly more efficient Capcom (in 2014, Konami still had roughly double the number of employees). Capcom apparently has a lot more strength in merchandising, but otherwise they totally reliant on gaming sales.

Here's a good breakdown of what makes Konami money:
http://www.statista.com/statistics/2597 ... y-segment/

The most interesting note is that pachinko / slot sales have fallen dramatically since 2010, and also that FY 2012 saw a pretty huge drop in "digital entertainment" sales. Earlier this year, the story was that growth is "flat" in this area, but they're still profitable. However I think it reasonable to assume that behind the scenes people are shaking all the branches of the money tree, trying to push out the dead leaves and also trying not to get stuck with huge bills without an assurance that they will return profits.

[CloudyMusic]

That's kind of like saying Bally was somewhat diversified.

Ha, that's entirely possible, thanks for the additional info. I was just going off of the fact that games still seemed to take top billing on their corporate site, but that may not have been updated in a while.

[Aleksei]

TOYS!

More toys of Gradius from Dengeki Hobby Magazine in 2009 + Reco (she is better than Morgan)

[uzernaem]

I am happy with classic Gradius, Contra and Castlevania games. Not sure if I want new ones, milking old IPs when there are no original developers left in a company is not always good. Gradius V was good but it's Treasure baby.

Several years ago I thought Contra reboot done in the Gears of War style would be dope

[Ed Oscuro]

That's kind of like saying Bally was somewhat diversified.

Ha, that's entirely possible, thanks for the additional info. I was just going off of the fact that games still seemed to take top billing on their corporate site, but that may not have been updated in a while.

Games still should get top billing, but it does look like they can reduce their investment significantly - even while games get top billing.

Plus, games are still exciting and draw enthusiasm, so of course they will want to give them top billing even in the case they fillet that part of the company.

Several years ago I thought Contra reboot done in the Gears of War style would be dope

Surely you've discarded that idea - when Gears of War was released, I thought GunGage would be a better model for the series. (Still haven't played the PlayStation / Sega titles.)