As of right now Konami's upcoming Silent Hill game being made with the combined efforts of Hideo Kojima & Guilermo Del Toro is cancelled, this news shows a very clear sign that Konami no longer has any business in the games industry and needs to pack up it's things and leave.
This isn't a rant made by an upset fanboy raging at the company for cancelling a game he wasn't looking forward to, this is a simple piece about why poor management threatens to hurt the gamer community.
Ever since March the future of Konami has been under the magnifying glass over rumors that famed Metal Gear creator, Hideo Kojima, had left the company. Since then the future of TPP & Silent Hills had been under question and now we have an answer to the question which is Silent Hills is cancelled which answers the other question of does Kojima still work for Konami.
The answer being a big fat no, this isn't to say he is not working on MGS V as we speak but that he will still be working with Konami after the game launches is more than likely a big whopping no. Yet you may still be inclined to ask why does it mean that Konami has to leave? Games get cancelled all the time, last year several games got cancelled yet no one is raising banners against those companies so why now?
It is simple, Silent Hills was in a perfect position to be not only the series revival it needed but to be one of the biggest title of it's year. Konami had famed game director Hideo Kojima, a man who love him or hate him had a major impact in how we see & play games today. Guilermo Del Toro, an award winning director with a great & twisted vision of fantasy & horror and finally the Silent Hill name.
While recent entries into the veteran series failed to meet fan expectations or the same critical success as older entries, it was still a well known name in the industry and not a new IP. There was no risk of it failing to meet the market because there was a market for it, the fans, yet with all these opportunities at their finger tips and instead of continuing on with the project they up and cancelled it.
This isn't to say Konami had denied the industry a masterpiece in the making yet with all the names they had thrown in this one project the odds of it at the very least being a commercial success was high. Yet they chose to shelve the project and end production for whatever reason they may have had.
This wasn't a Prey 2 where it was a sequel of a game that really didn't make a big splash, it wasn't Santa Monica's untitled game where it was a brand new untested game, nor is it a game made by total unknowns that the company had to risk backing. This was a game that on paper could have been a large commercial success yet Konami, a games company decided that this game was not worth making.
Again I wish to state, I am not saying this game was going to be a GOTY contender nor that it was going to be a money making machine upon release. It could have been the worst game in the series both critically & commercially but the thing is we never got to that point because even with all the star power behind it Konami made the choice that this game was not worth being made. A Silent Hill game co-developed by a pioneer of cinematic games that also values interesting gameplay & a man who has made visually striking movies that are out of your worst nightmares, featuring the star of hugely popular television series was just not on Konami's list of games to be made.
That right there is a disservice to the industry regardless of how the final product turned out, and it shows that Konami has no business in making video games as they have no idea how to use the IPs which is a bigger gaming sin than simply being incompetent. At least incompetency implies an effort was made, that the product was worth making, this is why Konami needs to leave the industry and sell of all of it's franchises to people who might have better uses for them.
The industry doesn't need this from it's publishers, it doesn't need a company canning a gaming with all these opportunities. Konami stated that they would still keep making Silent Hill games but know this, whatever other Silent Hill project they might have in the pipeline will not be a big deal like Silent Hills.
It could very well not be a big console release like Silent Hills was intended to be, it could be a Vita & 3DS title, or it might just be small budget title that will be on the PS store & Xbox marketplace. Even if let's say it is a big console game know that it will not be as ambitious of a title nor one with the same production value going into like Silent Hills.
Remember, Silent Hills had the FOX engine which produced MGS V, Del Toro, who would have brought a very new, unique and disturbing vision, and Kojima who understands meanings behind what the game's story is trying to convey. Silent Hills was going to be big but whatever game they make now will not have that same backing behind because it just can't, there is nothing they can do to top what they had with this title.
I don't wish Konami to go bankrupt, I just wish them to make their money else where.
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"This isn't a rant made by an upset fanboy raging at the company for cancelling a game he wasn't looking forward to"
Oh yes it probably is. Comes off as one to say the least.
Konami's not had the best output in recent years; save the occasional pointless MGS re-release, or rubbish psp milking.
They still published Lords of Shadow & MGR. The game that platinum saved. The game that your brilliant lord & savior actually fucked up & made his team apologise for.
People cry about Konami's output, yet ignore the fact that his holiness Hideo Kojima was a Konami executive, & part of said management. It so happens to be that his contract is up, and the company isn't too pleased with him for unknown reasons. But boooo hooo! Injustice towards Almighty Kojima!
Silent Hills? Seriously? A tech demo that did little more than remind me of SH4, and had no real insight into a final product? It didn't really feel like a SH game to me.
The tech demo that was hyped to high heavens because of the names behind it? Del Toro isn't the first filmmaker involved with VGs. I like his work, being in the film industry myself, but that doesn't make him a seasoned VG producer or co-dev. We've had tons of hollywood bigwigs from Eko to Barker...Look how most of those games turned out.
Unless you have a crystal ball, there is no proof that Silent Hills would have ushered in a new age of profit for Konami. It was hyped, and hype can fizzle as fast as it grows. There will be future devs giving a crack at Silent hill in the future. Konami has no place in the industry? Are you taking the mick? Now you're the marketing expert innit?
Oh what would KONAMI do without the flawless demi-god Hideo Kojima? Guess what, Konami will still survive.
If shite companies like Capcom, WBgames & EA are around, Konami has every right to be around.
i think this is good kojima leaving. he complained all the time he was being pushed back to keep making metal gear games. now it's time for him to put up or shut up. he has the freedom to start up his own company if he chooses (that is if everyone else doesn't mind working for him as he's likely a control freak and wants to take all the credit) and create all new games.
konami on the other hand seem to be going in a different direction, mobile gaming. this once again shows the pressure and investments it takes to make these big games now. what i hope they do is release the ip's to someone else to take over.
I am more interested in knowing what will Kojima do next and/or which company he will join, than the fate of Konami.
A total rant, not that there is anything wrong with that.