While Hideo Kojima may have had parted ways with the studio and the series he helped make famous, that hasn’t stopped Konami from making new Metal Gear titles. Metal Gear Survive is a multiplayer co-op shooter with survival horror elements. Taking place after the ending to Ground Zeroes, MGS puts players in the role of a former Motherbase soldier who was sent into another dimension after the attack on the oil rig. In this new dimension, players will be besieged by zombie-like creatures as they fight for survival. In short, Konami is basically making Metal Gear Solid: Umbrella Corps. Hey, it might be insane enough to work. At any rate, Survive is an appropriate subtitle for this game, as it’s success and reception will determine if the franchise can survive without Hideo Kojima’s involvement. The game will be arriving in 2017 for PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4.
Next Tuesday, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions’ swan song, hits both current and last gen systems. As of right now, you’ve got 4 more days to experience, or revisit, this prologue. And experience it you should too, because it will introduce players to the new direction that the series is going in, or at least would have gone in had not Konami axed Hideo Kojima. [Read the rest of this entry…]
As you heard, Metal Gear Solid producer Hideo Kojima is leaving his longtime employer after the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. One of the many causalities of this split was a planned Silent Hill game starring Norman Reedus and co-produced by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Blade II, Pacific Rim). There had been rumors of issues brewing between Konami and Kojima, and youtuber Super Bunny Hop made the above video based on contact he had with an anonymous source following an inquiry he made into the issue. While I personally believe that this person has no reason to lie, he is an anonymous employee as noted in the video, so you can take what it says with a grain of salt. The video contains interesting stuff, such as a possible feud between Kojima and Konami CEO Kagamasa Kozuki, tales of employee mistreatment, gambling, and politics. However, there is more. Check out after the jump:
Ever since 2010’s Lords of Shadow, the Castlevania franchise just hasn’t been the same. Seeing as how Konami is currently making some questionable moves, Koji Igarashi is hard at work creating a spiritual successor to the franchise. This game will adopt the ‘Metroidvania’, or as he calls it ‘Igavania’ style of gameplay that was made famous by titles such as Symphony of the Night, Portrait of Ruin, and Dawn of Sorrow. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a 2.5D action platformer in the vein of SOTN. Playing as a young girl named Miriam, you investigate the appearance of a mysterious castle in a world controlled by an organization known as the Alchemist Guild. The gameplay will feature a crafting system, upgradable weapons, and special abilities. The art style (right down to the logo as seen above) evokes memories of Konami’s classic franchise. Iga even recruited longtime Castlevania composer Michiru Yamane to do the soundtrack. Seeing as how Koji has gone indie, he’s turned to Kickstarter to secure funding for the title. While he was only asking for $500,000, He managed to raise over 3 times as much (as of the time of this article). With the funding, Iga has secured several stretch goals such as new characters, and voicework from David Hayter (that’s the former Solid Snake) to those who don’t know. The game will be developed by Inti Creates, who are currently working on Mighty No. 9, a spiritual successor to Mega Man. It’s clear that this title will be to Castlevania what Mighty No. 9 is to Mega Man. Perhaps next we should get someone to create a spiritual successor to Contra? Igarashi is hoping to release the game on Mac, PC, Linux, Xbox One, and PS4 in March of 2017.
by William Talley, filed in Games, News on Apr.27, 2015
It would have been a dream collaboration, not to mention a desperately needed shot in the arm for the survival horror franchise: A Silent Hill title co-produced by Kojima Productions and Director/Writer/Producer Guillermo del Toro (Blade II, Pacific Rim, Hellboy). Sadly, it will remain to be just that, a dream. Hideo Kojima confirmed that he would be leaving Konami after the release of September’s Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, leaving the status of the project in the air. Sadly, it was confirmed via the twitter accounts of both actor Norman Reedus and Del Toro this past weekend that Silent Hills is indeed canceled. To add further insult to injury, PS4 owners will have until this Wednesday to download the playable teaser from the PSN store. Never before has a cancellation been so heartbreaking since Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe a few years ago. Sadly, this isn’t the first time Del Toro was involved with a video game project that fell through; the title Insane was canceled in 2012 when would-be publisher THQ went bankrupt. Of course no doubt Konami will continue the Silent Hill series at some point. However, it will remain to be seen if anything Konami comes up would be as grand as what Kojima and Del Toro had planned for the series. If there is a bright spot in this whole fiasco, then there is a possibility that Del Toro and Kojima can take their talents to another company.
Violent Storm, a spiritual successor to Konami’s Crime Fighters and Vendetta, was one of the many beat-em-ups that littered the arcades during the mid-90s. Along with Metamorphic Force, it was one of the last beat-em-ups that was produced by Konami. Playing as one of three heroes, you set out to rescue a girl named Sheena from a group of enemies known as the Geld Gang in a post apocalyptic (of course you wouldn’t know it from the parks, trains, and stores that are fully functional and pristine looking) world. Nothing about it stood out among other titles of its day, but there was nothing terrible about it either. It was pretty much a beat em up that had everything that made the genre great: large character sprites, colorful enemies, 2-player action, and cool moves. It’s a shame it never received a console release either. If you come across the cabinet, you’d do well to pop in a quarter or two.
Magazines have themselves become a retro medium, but what if someone could use that to their advantage in a dying industry? Double-win if you can tie it to retro video games. That’s exactly what we have with our guests this week! Vinnk and Sean welcome co-founders Mike Kennedy and Mark Kaminski of Retro Magazine to talk about their Year 2 Kickstarter, and their favorite retro games. They also stick around for Future Retro and Pile of Shame to share some really interesting games we (or at least some of us) haven’t played before!
Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV: http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/110
Is it wonderful or worrying that two grown men need a place to store all of their stuff from a childhood that in some ways never ended? Or is doing a podcast and video series about classic video games excuse enough? Vinnk and Sean have both moved into new houses, and new places to keep all of their cool stuff. Sean rediscovers Punch Out for Wii in Future Retro, and Vinnk tells the harrowing tale of his missing Retron 5 in Pile of Shame.
Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV: http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/104
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