Konami to focus on mobile games as it's main platform

[Xeogred]

Kinda feel im done with Mobile gaming, i dont play ANY games on my Android Smartphone, and id rather play a full screen over my 3DS XL.

Yeah, it was cool when I first (finally) got a smart phone a few years back. Now I can't remember the last time I bothered with any game on it.

To play the devil's advocate, it makes some sense in their position being in Japan. It still sounds like handhelds and mobile dominate consoles over there by a large margin. Them leaving the New York stock exchange or whatever it was, sounds like they'll just focus on internal revenue.

Konami were formed way before the NES, unlike Capcom and Square who formed in the 80's (looks like Sega is 1960). But I can't see those three flat out ditching and not giving two fucks to the industry like Konami just did here. It can't get more point blank that they simply do not care at all to have any creative talent within, have no passion to design something artistically, and just want to shit out soulless ping pong junk for phones. The signs have been evident for years, with their lack of releasing anything good in ages, so it's not too shocking after all... that they simply don't care as the Jimquisition put it.

So on one hand some of the stuff they're doing seems logical, on the other hand, they can still suck it.

[GSZX1337]

Eh, I stopped giving a shit about Konami a while ago. The last game I remember actually caring about was Hard Corps, and look at how that turned out.

[Haoie]

This is all because game budgets have just gotten bigger and bigger - at least with mobile it's small and managable.

Still hate mobile games though.

[Tanooki]

Well they don't have to be bigger. Look what people are doing on small budgets and just knocking it out of the park on console/handheld/computer these days. It's a choice and it's burying these old developers and new alive following that stupid foolish model of overspend, go hollywood, pray you sell a few million or go out of business type behavior.

Konami never adapted well once things went 3D. Look at their releases from the mid90s forward, a lot of disappointing games of old franchises with MGS mostly being the one exclusion to that. They bungled Castlevania so many times they gave up and handed it over to another company for those Lords of Shadow games. Outside of that LoS game on 3DS I can't think of a game I've enjoyed of theirs in a good stretch outside of Nintendo handhelds. Capcom is about the same thing too, though they did some nice things like Maximo on PS2.

Truth of it is they're Japanese companies and they still make games in their own xenophobic interest ways which means catering to the local economy first. Locals there aren't home much, so they don't console game. It's handheld dedicated devices, smart phones/tablets, and then their arcades still get play too. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the old guard of the 2D era died or converted because they have no clue how to properly manage a game making budget that won't murder them if they don't sell like hot cakes. It's really kind of sad indie developers can make something on 10K or a few 100K dollars and do great with a $15 game ($30 if physical) because it feels fun, maybe a little fresh or different. Then you have a notable franchise like a Mega Man or a Castlevania and they can't sell crap for it and then have a profit loss year. All the frothing online seems to indicate the interest in a legendary namesake is there, but then you see reviews or whatever and it drives people off.



That said too mobile gaming (not the 3DS/Vita) on the whole is mostly pretty shallow, and the free, freemium, or cheap pricing indicates that much and people are fine with that, lots of people are. I for one am not. I too have a selection of stuff on my tablet and phone, and I use little of it really. I'll bang away at theq uality Pinball Arcade and also the Zaccharia pinball game too, and the Vega Conflict(look it up, fun) but not much else as it's shallow and boring after the first hour not worth the effort at all.

[o.pwuaioc]

I've been sitting this console generation out

Are you referring to Xbox One / PS4 / Wii U?

Yeah. I don't own any of them, and I haven't seen a real reason to get one when the games that I want are on Steam or GOG.

This is how I feel. In fact, I took it a step further and gave up on last gen, too, with the exception of the Wii and the handhelds. Because the modern style of gaming is so prevalent on Xbox/PS, there's just no point in even bothering with physical media. I'm much more interested in retro-styled games that are coming out a dime a dozen on Steam, so what's it to me that there's no physical disc if a couple of big-name $59.99 games get slashed 91.68% on Steam in a few years? Out went the 360 (though sad that Raiden IV went with it), out went the PS3 (though sad that 3D Dot Game Heroes went with that). I'd rather buy another Turbo or Saturn game with that money. Actually, part of that money went to getting into the ColecoVision and Super Cassette Vision. I'm happier for that.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Super Cassette Vision

whoa.

[marurun]

Truth of it is they're Japanese companies and they still make games in their own xenophobic interest ways which means catering to the local economy first.

This statement is a bit inflammatory, but there is a nugget of truth to it. Xenophobic is NOT the right word (it implies an irrational fear). However, much like Japanese culture and society at large, Japanese companies, even on the world stage, can be a bit closed. Part of Toyota and Honda's successes come from being able to operate well internationally. Nintendo is pretty fluid in this regard as well, and Sega was for a time. Many other Japanese game companies have had trouble adapting to foreign markets. Konami, however, is actually doing just fine in the slot machine market. Vegas loves Konami machines.

I do hate this move to mobile, though I understand it. Mobile gaming has been around a lot longer in Japan and is a large market there, and with smart phones taking off everywhere else now it should be easier for them to transition some of their properties. Also, look at the freemium companies like King and the no-longer-so-successful Zynga. They bring in lots of players in the hopes of finding the "whales" among them who are willing to spend thousands. Who doesn't want that? Capcom has already proven to have some success at that model via their Smurfs games. They also had to refund a bunch of money because purchases weren't well locked down and kids were blowing through their parents money without really being aware of what they were doing.

[Xeogred]

marurun elaborates well on what I was trying to get at earlier.

But yeah, it still royally sucks. Lots of great IP's will go to rot, but it's probably for the best. As for Silent Hills, the series has been dead since after SH4 anyways.

[Blu]

Hearthstone is hella fun on my iPhone...that's all I play on my phone though. And you know, make phone calls.

[Tanooki]

Inflammatory or not, it's not far off the mark when you consider trying to import an American console over there and trying to get people to buy it. Microsoft sales have been so bad most often being beat out by generation or older hardware sales in those weekly charts. They try to stick to their own interests and then let things fly outward bound when it's convenient and an easy sale, like Konami and Vegas as you pointed out. Cars are a little different than video games, and clearly those 2 car makers knew what would work best when they helped crush Detroit back in the 80s.