...they're getting money from people watching that Castlevania Netflix thing, aren't they?
No. They'll have been paid by Netflix already, but watching it or not does not directly make them money. It could create a second season which WOULD make them more money.
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KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
Look, I hate Konami... but I'm watching that Castlevania show.
They don't have to give a good reference, but they can't actually stop employees from listing time there on a resume, can they?
I don't know how the Japanese legal system works, but if it's anything like the US's, the threat of "let's take it to court and find out who runs out of money first" is a very possible strategy more than the actual legality of it.
And Konami is a company that's petty enough to spend that kind of court money just to do that.
I'm pretty sure even in the US that suit would get thrown out with prejudice so fast, the company trying it would still be spinning 30 years later.
They don't have to give a good reference, but they can't actually stop employees from listing time there on a resume, can they?
I don't know how the Japanese legal system works, but if it's anything like the US's, the threat of "let's take it to court and find out who runs out of money first" is a very possible strategy more than the actual legality of it.
And Konami is a company that's petty enough to spend that kind of court money just to do that.
I'm pretty sure even in the US that suit would get thrown out with prejudice so fast, the company trying it would still be spinning 30 years later.
I WOULD have thought that too. These days? Not anymore.
Anyone able to explain why Sony can't just step in and take care of their guys?
Probably because they're under contract by Sony, but not directly employed by Sony. Sony hands the company money, but they have to take care of the nuts and bolts of operations.
While attending the Tokyo Game Show in 2015 to talk about his new venture, fans asked Kojima if he had any role in the development of Konami’s new zombie-themed Metal Gear, which was poorly received. He responded: “That has nothing to do with me.” His remarks received a crowd of laughter from the audience, further inflaming tensions between him and Konami.
Unless Kojima dismissed Metal Gear Survive elsewhere, this commentary is kind of disingenuous. He said:
“It has nothing to do [with me],” Kojima replied. “I know absolutely nothing about it. That’s because it’s totally unrelated to me, right? Um, how should I put this? Well, for me, Metal [Gear] is espionage with political fiction. Right? So, because of that, there’s no reason that zombies would show up. This is how I see it, you know?”
Saying he had nothing to do with it was fine, but the latter comments would be disparaging, given he will never not be a figure of influence on the series. Had he just said "Nothing to do with me," then they probably wouldn't be able to do what they're allegedly doing with his payments/breach of that contract.
What they're probably doing with the resume thing is at the time of hiring (or during their exit process) chaining them to some kind of NDA. Doesn't make it right so much as within their legal right to threaten them like that.
There has to be something to the insurance thing, in that they are able to do that via this screening process too. More interested in how they are doing these things mechanically than I am at pointing out that they're the bad guys or whatever.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
Hm. Wonder if the lack of coverage was due to it being not terribly great, due to Konami's PR being lackluster or due to manpower issues as digital media continues to struggle. Maybe all three!
Eh, I'm pretty sure that even if it was a great game, few would be bold enough to praise it given the current perception of Konami at this point in time. The release of that expose probably curbed any other press they would have wanted to get out there.
Sucks twiceover for the people that are working on that project.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
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Sirialisof the Halite Throne.Registered Userregular
Metal Gear Survive looks really, really bad though.
I guess thats the kind of game you get from soulless hacks.
I really don't have a problem with the premise of the game at all, because the MGS games themselves contain worse. Wormhole alternate dimension with zombies isn't even on the richter scale.
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
I really don't have a problem with the premise of the game at all, because the MGS games themselves contain worse. Wormhole alternate dimension with zombies isn't even on the richter scale.
Having dispensed with a couple of guards in not especially stealthy fashion (I had selected shotgun and machete at the start, plus a bow I soon forgot I owned), we gathered around the genny. “Don’t start it up yet,” advised our the Konami rep. The guy next to me promptly responded by starting it up.
Best part of that.
edit: Oh, missed this gem before that:
The co-op multiplayer mode, which was, has been designed for four players and starts in a white box VR-style area where you equip your customisable characters by grabbing gadgets and guns from various repositories. Or you goof about shooting each other until the polite but presumably increasingly weary Konami handler orders you all to stand in a yellow ring together and get the goddamn demo started.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
Having dispensed with a couple of guards in not especially stealthy fashion (I had selected shotgun and machete at the start, plus a bow I soon forgot I owned), we gathered around the genny. “Don’t start it up yet,” advised our the Konami rep. The guy next to me promptly responded by starting it up.
Best part of that.
Hm, I think I know who that might have been...
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As much as I'd love to see more Castlevania (especially on Switch) I hate how they've been treating those loyal to Kojima, it's wrong on every level.
Should be noted that Konami—much like many large corporations—has a history of poor treatment of employees long before they "turned on" Kojima and those "loyal" to him. It should also be noted that Kojima was the director of a studio there, and was VP for the company at one point (~2011). The Konami is the yakuza thing didn't just spring up because of what happened to Kojima, it's just that people started caring more. Ultimately, Kojima's immunity to those things ran out. See (Kotaku has the easiest trail atm and I don't feel like digging further) But here's two examples:
In 2009, then 36-year-old Konami Digital Entertainment employee Yoko Sekiguchi sued her company after being demoted following maternity leave.
...
In Oct. 2008, Sekiguchi took maternity leave, returning the following spring. Upon returning, she was not only demoted due to a "burden" caused by childrearing, but her monthly salary was cut ¥200,00 (US$2,560).
...
In an interview with the Asahi News, one of Japan's largest newspapers, a forty-something year-old man recalled his time at Konami and an alleged unfortunate experience which led to bouts of severe depression.
Asahi reports that the man worked at Konami in game development. However, in late 2010, apparently the man's boss abruptly told him to go to the company's "Career Development Center." After that, he was shocked by what the human resources director supposedly told him: Search for a new job. But there was a catch.
"If you're searching for a job within the company," the HR director allegedly said, "Then, I'll have you go help out at the pachi-slot machine factory until you find something. If you search for a job outside the company, then you'll get a three-month contract employee agreement. It will not be renewed."
It's unclear why the man was initially reassigned—whether it was due to poor performance or whatnot.
According to Asahi, the man wanted to stay at Konami so much that he ultimately took the job at Konami's pachinko slot machine factory. His job was dismantling old pachinko slot machines, spending his time working with a screwdriver instead of making video games. The man, it seems, couldn't find another job within the company and ultimately ceased working at Konami.
Depressed, the man apparently didn't leave his home for a year and eight months. His health declined, and it wasn't until late last year when he recovered. This past January, the man began to look for work again, but mentioned how job interviews can be awkward when they ask about the nearly two-year blank spot in his work history and concerns about a relapse. The Asahi article featured a photo of the man and what looks like his medication for depression.
You know, I'm suddenly a lot more okay with Nintendo not using Konami characters in Smash Bros.
I do wish Konami would sell off their video games division, though. I know there are arguments for why they wouldn't, but it doesn't seem to be doing them any favors right now, and a really good offer might offset having the stuff collect dust when it's not being a drain on company resources in their eyes.
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All the hating on Konami is cool, but Kojima was a VP there and helped make it what it is. He isn't a blameless hero who stands against the forces of evil, he's part of the same group and just spun off in a way to run his own company.
Why would they sell off their video games division and franchises when they can use them elsewhere? They use them in mobile gaming, in addition to pachinko.
After MGS 4 Konami's sales torpedoed hard and they had nothing to fill in the gap until the next one and they shifted their focus to mobile. During this time Kojima was still a big shot at Konami. And therein is where the schism began: Konami wanted to go mobile for cheaper development and reaping micros. Kojima was Kojima, and building the Fox engine.
Come 2012, Kojima started getting the cogs really moving for the next MGS. And then the PT and the return of Silent Hill and not. All of these projects consuming money but not yet returning it. This of course progressed, until we got to the "is Konami leaving the console video game business" thread point in our timeline, which they pretty much said they were fully embracing going mobile, because it was cheaper to develop and microtransactions. Then there were the rumours that Kojima was leaving after his contract ended, etc. But the direction of the company and the direction of Kojima were at odds for some time.
I imagine the "prequel" Ground Zeroes was released because they had to start making some money off what was cooking with Phantom Pain's development. Of course at that point we know all that happened.
But nah, they're not going to sell their IPs when they still use them, even if some of the formats (mobile, portables, pachinko, etc) aren't to our liking.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
You know, I'm suddenly a lot more okay with Nintendo not using Konami characters in Smash Bros.
I do wish Konami would sell off their video games division, though. I know there are arguments for why they wouldn't, but it doesn't seem to be doing them any favors right now, and a really good offer might offset having the stuff collect dust when it's not being a drain on company resources in their eyes.
Or hell, pay some dork to emulate their various properties and dump them onto steam, Xbox live and PS store. Lord knows they could make a shit ton of cash by just doing digital releases of the suikoden series (you could easily get a few hundred thousand sales in a month at a $15 unit price for suikoden 2 because of how hard it was to find the bloody thing back in the day) and old hudsonsoft games (the adventure island series would be easy enertainment for the 8-12 year old market).
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Johnny ChopsockyScootaloo! We have to cook!Grillin' HaysenburgersRegistered Userregular
All the hating on Konami is cool, but Kojima was a VP there and helped make it what it is. He isn't a blameless hero who stands against the forces of evil, he's part of the same group and just spun off in a way to run his own company.
You may be overrating just how high up the company ladder a VP is in a massive corporation.
"Oh hey, the VP of marketing has an issue with a company policy."
"Fuck em."
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
edited June 2017
The idea of the Fox Engine was to make something readily scalable to multiplatform and reusable in a wide variety of genres, which is why PES still uses the Fox Engine to this day - iirc it was an answer to the exorbitant costs of developing MGS4 exclusively for the PS3's format. Kojima was basically trying an aikido approach to the problem of AAA development for Konami by promoting the use of a specific in-house engine (much like EA's insistence that all their games use Frostbite)
It'd be pretty reasonable to assume that Ground Zeroes was released separately for a variety of reasons, in particular as a litmus of the market for more Metal Gear, and probably as an assurance to take the edge off the costs of development for MGSV
Why would they sell off their video games division and franchises when they can use them elsewhere? They use them in mobile gaming, in addition to pachinko.
Hey, if a good enough offer comes along... I've seen enough acquisitions over my lifetime that the idea comes as little surprise.
Also, didn't know they were doing much with mobile. Last thing I saw was a pretty decent remake of Contra that quit working after a few months.
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The idea of the Fox Engine was to make something readily scalable to multiplatform and reusable in a wide variety of genres, which is why PES still uses the Fox Engine to this day - iirc it was an answer to the exorbitant costs of developing MGS4 exclusively for the PS3's format. Kojima was basically trying an aikido approach to the problem of AAA development for Konami by promoting the use of a specific in-house engine (much like EA's insistence that all their games use Frostbite)
It'd be pretty reasonable to assume that Ground Zeroes was released separately for a variety of reasons, in particular as a litmus of the market for more Metal Gear, and probably as an assurance to take the edge off the costs of development for MGSV
Yeah if I remember correctly a good portion of the development of the MGSV was also spent creating the Fox Engine, which if let to continue as was, was going to be used in their PES games, Silent Hills, and MGSV, which all probably would have paid off much more than the initial cost, if public interest at the time was any indication.
The idea of the Fox Engine was to make something readily scalable to multiplatform and reusable in a wide variety of genres, which is why PES still uses the Fox Engine to this day - iirc it was an answer to the exorbitant costs of developing MGS4 exclusively for the PS3's format. Kojima was basically trying an aikido approach to the problem of AAA development for Konami by promoting the use of a specific in-house engine (much like EA's insistence that all their games use Frostbite)
It'd be pretty reasonable to assume that Ground Zeroes was released separately for a variety of reasons, in particular as a litmus of the market for more Metal Gear, and probably as an assurance to take the edge off the costs of development for MGSV
Yeah if I remember correctly a good portion of the development of the MGSV was also spent creating the Fox Engine, which if let to continue as was, was going to be used in their PES games, Silent Hills, and MGSV, which all probably would have paid off much more than the initial cost, if public interest at the time was any indication.
The PES games don't have the same licensing as EA's FIFA series too, iirc so while they sell well (or did?) they're still not gangbusters?
Public interest in a thing that is free (PT) and public interest in a thing that you buy are two entirely different things though. It would be very generous to assume that people would have bought the finished Silent Hills game at launch at full retail vs waiting, etc. Silent Hill is still fairly niche.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
The idea of the Fox Engine was to make something readily scalable to multiplatform and reusable in a wide variety of genres, which is why PES still uses the Fox Engine to this day - iirc it was an answer to the exorbitant costs of developing MGS4 exclusively for the PS3's format. Kojima was basically trying an aikido approach to the problem of AAA development for Konami by promoting the use of a specific in-house engine (much like EA's insistence that all their games use Frostbite)
It'd be pretty reasonable to assume that Ground Zeroes was released separately for a variety of reasons, in particular as a litmus of the market for more Metal Gear, and probably as an assurance to take the edge off the costs of development for MGSV
Yeah if I remember correctly a good portion of the development of the MGSV was also spent creating the Fox Engine, which if let to continue as was, was going to be used in their PES games, Silent Hills, and MGSV, which all probably would have paid off much more than the initial cost, if public interest at the time was any indication.
The PES games don't have the same licensing as EA's FIFA series too, iirc so while they sell well (or did?) they're still not gangbusters?
Public interest in a thing that is free (PT) and public interest in a thing that you buy are two entirely different things though. It would be very generous to assume that people would have bought the finished Silent Hills game at launch at full retail vs waiting, etc. Silent Hill is still fairly niche.
True, but PT was a big hit in media and streaming circles, which was already getting a lot of buzz for it.
The idea of the Fox Engine was to make something readily scalable to multiplatform and reusable in a wide variety of genres, which is why PES still uses the Fox Engine to this day - iirc it was an answer to the exorbitant costs of developing MGS4 exclusively for the PS3's format. Kojima was basically trying an aikido approach to the problem of AAA development for Konami by promoting the use of a specific in-house engine (much like EA's insistence that all their games use Frostbite)
It'd be pretty reasonable to assume that Ground Zeroes was released separately for a variety of reasons, in particular as a litmus of the market for more Metal Gear, and probably as an assurance to take the edge off the costs of development for MGSV
Yeah if I remember correctly a good portion of the development of the MGSV was also spent creating the Fox Engine, which if let to continue as was, was going to be used in their PES games, Silent Hills, and MGSV, which all probably would have paid off much more than the initial cost, if public interest at the time was any indication.
The PES games don't have the same licensing as EA's FIFA series too, iirc so while they sell well (or did?) they're still not gangbusters?
Public interest in a thing that is free (PT) and public interest in a thing that you buy are two entirely different things though. It would be very generous to assume that people would have bought the finished Silent Hills game at launch at full retail vs waiting, etc. Silent Hill is still fairly niche.
And there's no denying that some of the steam behind P.T. was because 1) it was pulled and 2) Silent Hills was canceled and 3) the extremely ugly breakup between Kojima and Konami that followed. This isn't exactly an industry that shies away from controversy.
Had the game gone forward as normal, it could've still been the most successful title in the franchise--a Monster Hunter World situation. But it wouldn't have built up the same kind of legend, that seems certain.
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No. They'll have been paid by Netflix already, but watching it or not does not directly make them money. It could create a second season which WOULD make them more money.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
I'm pretty sure even in the US that suit would get thrown out with prejudice so fast, the company trying it would still be spinning 30 years later.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
I WOULD have thought that too. These days? Not anymore.
Probably because they're under contract by Sony, but not directly employed by Sony. Sony hands the company money, but they have to take care of the nuts and bolts of operations.
Unless Kojima dismissed Metal Gear Survive elsewhere, this commentary is kind of disingenuous. He said:
Saying he had nothing to do with it was fine, but the latter comments would be disparaging, given he will never not be a figure of influence on the series. Had he just said "Nothing to do with me," then they probably wouldn't be able to do what they're allegedly doing with his payments/breach of that contract.
What they're probably doing with the resume thing is at the time of hiring (or during their exit process) chaining them to some kind of NDA. Doesn't make it right so much as within their legal right to threaten them like that.
There has to be something to the insurance thing, in that they are able to do that via this screening process too. More interested in how they are doing these things mechanically than I am at pointing out that they're the bad guys or whatever.
And apparently Metal Gear Survive was delayed to 2018.
(Source)
Sucks twiceover for the people that are working on that project.
I guess thats the kind of game you get from soulless hacks.
It's a great engine and combat gameplay. It'll probably be alright just on the remnants of Kojima's work.
Engine looks cool enough, too bad Konami will be sitting on that forever.
But enough about The Sorrow.
Hah, wow. I'm actually surprised at that one.
Best part of that.
edit: Oh, missed this gem before that:
Hm, I think I know who that might have been...
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Konami, of course, already knew this and has been harnessing it for decades.
Should be noted that Konami—much like many large corporations—has a history of poor treatment of employees long before they "turned on" Kojima and those "loyal" to him. It should also be noted that Kojima was the director of a studio there, and was VP for the company at one point (~2011). The Konami is the yakuza thing didn't just spring up because of what happened to Kojima, it's just that people started caring more. Ultimately, Kojima's immunity to those things ran out. See (Kotaku has the easiest trail atm and I don't feel like digging further) But here's two examples:
She won, btw.
(Kotaku - 2011)
(Kotaku - 2013)
edit: Just clarifying that Konami has been awful to its employees free of "loyalty to Kojima" and such.
edit2: removed excess "should be noted"
I do wish Konami would sell off their video games division, though. I know there are arguments for why they wouldn't, but it doesn't seem to be doing them any favors right now, and a really good offer might offset having the stuff collect dust when it's not being a drain on company resources in their eyes.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I've heard their machines are pretty shoddy; any word on if the game-branded ones do very well?
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After MGS 4 Konami's sales torpedoed hard and they had nothing to fill in the gap until the next one and they shifted their focus to mobile. During this time Kojima was still a big shot at Konami. And therein is where the schism began: Konami wanted to go mobile for cheaper development and reaping micros. Kojima was Kojima, and building the Fox engine.
Come 2012, Kojima started getting the cogs really moving for the next MGS. And then the PT and the return of Silent Hill and not. All of these projects consuming money but not yet returning it. This of course progressed, until we got to the "is Konami leaving the console video game business" thread point in our timeline, which they pretty much said they were fully embracing going mobile, because it was cheaper to develop and microtransactions. Then there were the rumours that Kojima was leaving after his contract ended, etc. But the direction of the company and the direction of Kojima were at odds for some time.
I imagine the "prequel" Ground Zeroes was released because they had to start making some money off what was cooking with Phantom Pain's development. Of course at that point we know all that happened.
But nah, they're not going to sell their IPs when they still use them, even if some of the formats (mobile, portables, pachinko, etc) aren't to our liking.
Or hell, pay some dork to emulate their various properties and dump them onto steam, Xbox live and PS store. Lord knows they could make a shit ton of cash by just doing digital releases of the suikoden series (you could easily get a few hundred thousand sales in a month at a $15 unit price for suikoden 2 because of how hard it was to find the bloody thing back in the day) and old hudsonsoft games (the adventure island series would be easy enertainment for the 8-12 year old market).
You may be overrating just how high up the company ladder a VP is in a massive corporation.
"Oh hey, the VP of marketing has an issue with a company policy."
"Fuck em."
Steam ID XBL: JohnnyChopsocky PSN:Stud_Beefpile WiiU:JohnnyChopsocky
It'd be pretty reasonable to assume that Ground Zeroes was released separately for a variety of reasons, in particular as a litmus of the market for more Metal Gear, and probably as an assurance to take the edge off the costs of development for MGSV
Hey, if a good enough offer comes along... I've seen enough acquisitions over my lifetime that the idea comes as little surprise.
Also, didn't know they were doing much with mobile. Last thing I saw was a pretty decent remake of Contra that quit working after a few months.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
Yeah if I remember correctly a good portion of the development of the MGSV was also spent creating the Fox Engine, which if let to continue as was, was going to be used in their PES games, Silent Hills, and MGSV, which all probably would have paid off much more than the initial cost, if public interest at the time was any indication.
The PES games don't have the same licensing as EA's FIFA series too, iirc so while they sell well (or did?) they're still not gangbusters?
Public interest in a thing that is free (PT) and public interest in a thing that you buy are two entirely different things though. It would be very generous to assume that people would have bought the finished Silent Hills game at launch at full retail vs waiting, etc. Silent Hill is still fairly niche.
True, but PT was a big hit in media and streaming circles, which was already getting a lot of buzz for it.
But what's really surprising is that Konami is apparently getting out of soccer. There's the usual PR "we love each other!" but a Konami official is quoted as saying "we will shift our focus into other areas," so yeah. Pro Evolution Soccer as we know it is done.
Maybe they really are pulling entirely out of console development?
And there's no denying that some of the steam behind P.T. was because 1) it was pulled and 2) Silent Hills was canceled and 3) the extremely ugly breakup between Kojima and Konami that followed. This isn't exactly an industry that shies away from controversy.
Had the game gone forward as normal, it could've still been the most successful title in the franchise--a Monster Hunter World situation. But it wouldn't have built up the same kind of legend, that seems certain.