• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

I know they couldn't care less, but can Konami ever recover with the core gamer?

Z

ZombiePlatypus

Member
Their path and intentions have been very clear for a while now. Getting messy and cutting ties with a renowned visionary in the industry, releasing an extremely half baked, busted entry in their seemingly crown jewel franchise, cancelling Silent Hills, dismantling Suikoden teams and neglecting the majority of their long time franchises, pursuing Pachinko and mobile full on...

I can't think of any other company in the industry that eroded the goodwill they had built with their demographic, so quickly and so drastically.

Suppose we were in some alternate universe and in the near future, Konami found themselves in a spot where they wanna appeal to the core gamer again. How would they even go about it?
 
S

spectator

Member
ZombiePlatypus said:
Suppose we were in some alternate universe and in the near future, Konami found themselves in a spot where they wanna appeal to the core gamer again. How would they even go about it?
Click to expand...

1. Make a good game and I'm sure many would be all-too-happy to purchase it.

2. Rinse.

3. Repeat.
 
A

Anth0ny

Member
of course they could. we forgive and forget real quick when we get good games. look at what square has been doing recently. they lost a ton of good will last gen and have been slowly but surely getting it back with some of their latest announcements/games.

revive silent hills, release an awesome, high budget MGS6, release a new 2D castlevania, contra...

but they never, ever will do any of that. they're fucking done with real games.
 
K

Kanann

Member
if Konami going back to console game business
I wanna see Nintendo doing Love Hotel business again too
 
G

Garlador

Member
Release a complete Metal Gear Solid 5.
Release Silent Hills.
Release a brand new console Suikoden.
Release new 2D Castlevania in spirit of Symphony of the Night.
Resurrect Hudson Soft and all its IPs.
Release Zone of the Enders 3.

All of that and I'd STILL say they were a game or two away from being off my naughty list.

Make them really suffer and work for it. Hybrid Heaven 2 or bust.
 
N

NinjaCoachZ

Member
I remember people being pissed off at Square Enix late last gen (nothing they did was anything near as bad as Konami though).

Then earlier this year they got a new CEO, announced a metric fuckton of amazing games, and now they're on top of the world again. There was the Deus Ex controversy but they backed down on that, which was a good move on their part.

Capcom was despised a couple years ago. Their reputation isn't quite back on track yet since their overall output has been pretty slow, but at the very least I think Street Fighter V, DMC4 SE, and Revelations 2 have been giving them some positive buzz.

It'll be rough at first considering what Konami did, but time has shown all you need to do is please the fans and they'll start coming. I doubt that'll happen anytime soon though. They've burned too many bridges in and outside of the company.
 
F

FriedConsole

Banned
No because they want to make money. Goodwill doesn't make you money. If the other publishers had other businesses they would focus on those. The games industry right now is terrible to make money.
 
P

PdotMichael

Banned
Honey, they could throw a bunch of oreos on the ground and you will eat it up if it means another Metal Gear Solid or Castlevania.
 
O

OrbitalBeard

Member
Yes. Only a very, very small subset of the enthusiast gamer crowd would continue to hold a grudge. Most of us just want good games. If Konami provided some, the vast majority of gamers would embrace them as a great company again.
 
R

redcrayon

Member
ZombiePlatypus said:
Their path and intentions have been very clear for a while now. Getting messy and cutting ties with a renowned visionary in the industry, releasing an extremely half baked, busted entry in their seemingly crown jewel franchise, cancelling Silent Hills, dismantling Suikoden teams and neglecting the majority of their long time franchises, pursuing Pachinko and mobile full on...

I can't think of any other company in the industry that eroded the goodwill they had built with their demographic, so quickly and so drastically.

Suppose we were in some alternate universe and in the near future, Konami found themselves in a spot where they wanna appeal to the core gamer again. How would they even go about it?
Click to expand...
They'd need to look at either making their classic IP like Contra, Suikoden and Castlevania work for a modern audience with realistic sales expectations and a budget to match, or come up with new IP with huge potential for expansion and appeal on today's market.

They don't have the staff, the enthusiasm or the talent left to do either, so they'd have to hire them first.
 
S

samn

Member
Of course they can. Publishers do awful things all the time and nobody really cares, and ultimately nothing changes. Look at everyone buying Halo 5 or AC Syndicate. And that's OK, there are other things in life that it's more important to be angry about. Occasionally people get far too serious about it and you get monstrosities like gamergate.
 
A

Arttemis

Member
All Konami would have to do is make good games. They're sitting on a ton of IPs; if they just took advantage of that and made more than just mobile cash-ins, people would be happy.

What I want: MGS3 remade in Fox Engine. They could recycle every line of dialog, so long as I had that MGSV gameplay actually taking place in a forest.

I'm really bitter MGSV had shit for a forest.
 
B

BadWolf

Member
Sure but it will be tough since a lot of the devs that worked on IPs a lot of the fans love have already left the company iirc.
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
Core gamers are FAR too forgiving. Especially when it comes to their wallets.
Lucky for them Konami could care less.
 
A

akidnamededdy

Banned
I'm just now getting over Capcom canceling Megaman Legends 3, Konami would literally have to suck my dick to get me to play any hypothetical future release of theirs, let alone buy it with my own money.
 
Z

ZombiePlatypus

Member
PdotMichael said:
Honey, they could throw a bunch of oreos on the ground and you will eat it up if it means another Metal Gear Solid or Castlevania.
Click to expand...

After all they've done and what they've pulled with V, no way I'd be hyped to buy another MGS game day 1. Maybe 2nd hand or as bomba bargain bin, or if it had really good handson buzz after substantially enough time has passed for solid player impressions. Their output is solidly off my auto-day-1-buy list though.
 
A

Auto-Reply

Member
Can they still get them to buy new games from them? Easily! Depends on the game of course. The core gamer crowd will shout at them for canceling games and treating their favorite devs bad while forking over the bucks!
 
K

Kriken

Member
They can literally throw "Silent Hills" and "is coming to consoles again" out in a press release and I am certain people would forgive* them

*To a certain degree, people would obviously have the right to be skeptical and upset at how Silent Hills was handled
 
C

Cleve

Member
Of course they could. Do they want to? Not a chance. There's way higher profits to chase in other areas.
 
K

KTO

Member
I think gamers at large are a lot more fickle than you realize.

It's such a short list of publishers that try to do right by gamers anyway just because Konami rise to the top of the shit list was so meteoric it doesn't really differentiate them from the rest of the pack as much as some people will tell you it does. The real distinguishing factor is Konami's disinterest in making AAA games and their retreat from the console space which is the real reason they are falling out of favor with core gamers.

If they announced an MGS6 with no Kojima involvement at E3 in 2016 and the trailer looked cool, the hype train would just keep on rolling and the sales would be similar if not exceeding V. Just look at Ubisoft and EA two big publishers that people love to hate and bitch about and none of it ever seems to affect their bottom line.
 
T

Toli08

Member
We as gamers have no shame. If the game looks good people will come and buy it. Its been proven time and time again that we are just all talk.

Ex. Suikoden 6 is announced you better believe I am buying that even though konami has done some pretty shitty things.

So yeah at the end if they ever feel there is money for them to make they will come back and we will gladly purchase their products.
 
SmokedMeat

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Of course. All it takes is some commitment to traditional gaming. Get some competent studios to whip up a new Axelay, Sunset Riders, Castlevania, etc and all will be forgiven.
 
N

NewDust

Member
Sure, if Konami really wants to.

Gamers tend to forget previous issues rather quick, or down play it to "this time it will be better"

For everyone who votes with his wallet, there is a whole contingent of people who are like "fuck it, I just want the new game X"
 
A

A Link to the Past

Banned
No. They burnt their bridges. They're now very famous for having been a shitty company - both to its staff and to its fans - and if they ever return to the console scene, they need to rebuild. If mobile doesn't work out, Konami is well-fucked.
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The core will become excited all over again whenever a new MGS is announced in the future no matter who the creative head is. Whether that excitement remains after the game's release is a different story altogether.
 
S

Servbot24

Banned
Of course. Gamers may love drama, but they also love spending money on branding, and Konami still owns great brands.
 
B

Blues1990

Member
I wouldn't be interested in the slightest. The way they have gone about with their business with handling their I.P.'s, as well as how they have handled their employees & overall business practices, have made me feel abrasive to whatever they'll do for the foreseeable future. One of my pen pals had gone through living hell when he worked at Konami (as a 3D model artist for both P.T. & MGSV), and he was glad that he was able to get out of there before it had gotten worse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom