What happens to the preservation of Konami's legacy titles? MGS, SH, CV, etc.?

They will continue to milk their most commercially succesful IPs like Metal Gear and PES.

I don't have much hope for the rest of their catalogue though.

Konami isn't completely out of the game. They're putting effort into that Bomberman game and they're doing the ZOE remaster. I think that when game streaming services come a calling for content, Konami will be more than happy to do the work and get those games going if the money is right.

I'm still amazed at the total lack of a Castlevania collection of some kind. I would love to have those games in a tidy package.

I'm not sure if there is much to say. I imagine they just don't care and this just translates into a bleak outlook for the future.

I don't know if there is much that can be done about this or if anything will change.

Lightning Lord said:

I'm still amazed at the total lack of a Castlevania collection of some kind. I would love to have those games in a tidy package.

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October 26. Believe!

Between Bomberman, MGS Survive and PES, it is patently false to claim they have excited the HD gaming space

I don't see them doing anything about it, really. I'd love for a remaster or remake of the Castlevanias from DS.

It's sad to see.

I really want just a complete MGS COllection on PS4, or atleast castlevania 1&3 on switch.

Atleast they are still making games, so theres still some hope left for ports/HD collections like the zone of the enders 2 game.

Com_Raven said:

Between Bomberman, MGS Survive and PES, it is patently false to claim they have excited the HD gaming space

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Yeah none of those are exciting to me.

I need MGS 1-4 on modern consoles or PC. I can't believe I have to hook up my 360 to play MGS 2-3 at 720p. Not even XBONE BC. The 4K remaster of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner gives me hope for a similar MGS treatament but... it's such an important franchise, can't believe it's still limited to 720p on old gen or Nvidia Shield.

They will be preserved as pachinko games...

I'd like to think MGS will eventually get ported to PC as they try to keep the IP "alive" with the future Survives and stuff. Silent Hill is probably fucking proper dead, though.

Considering Konami just spent a solid chunk of last year re-releasing random Turbografx-16 games on Wii U (No, really.) You probably don't have much to worry about.

Especially considering it's been heavily rumored we're getting a Castlevania collection to tie in with the Netflix series.

MGS can only exist where it's allowed to.

But MSG HD Collection will be able to exist forever.

When the Earth, the Moon and the Sun are all gone, MSG HD Collection will exist, so long as one copy remains.

It'll be lonely, but as long as one copy still remains, it will be eternal proof that Konami ever existed.

They will live as pachinko machines for eternity.

No really all i want from them is to release a proper remastered SH collection on steam, after that they can rot for all i care.

Noisepurge said:

They will be preserved as pachinko games...

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Beat me to it!

BoukObelisk said:

So I wonder what the future holds for any future preservation of all the Konami games that are deserted on old console hardware. Already the excellent Bluepoint remasters of MGS2, 3, and PW are left on the PS3/360 in 720P, while Silent Hill 1-4 are nowhere to be found except for PS1 and PS2 copies. Same with plenty of the Castlevania games that are also absent on most digital storefronts.

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This thread is bizarre. If your definition of preservation is "constantly re-released on new hardware" then this is not a Konami issue. Most games are not available on modern platforms. Why is Silent Hill only existing as PS1 and PS2 games different from every other PS1 / PS2 title that hasn't been re-relased since?

They'll be "preserved" via rom/ISO dumps for all eternity don't worry.

Everyone is biding their time in Super Bomber Man R at the moment. They're all safe and sound killing each other while master Konami decides who to release.

Unless something changes, piracy is probably Silent Hill's only hope. I guess it's possible if unlikely 2 & 4, or god forbid, the HD collection are made backwards compatible on Xbox One.

It's so strange 2, 3, and 4 aren't available on PC digital storefronts. The same could be said for MGS1 & 2.

I personally don't care about preservation but it's dumb that they're leaving so much money on the table with Metal Gear. It seems like a series you could rerelease to the end of time and people would still buy it.

And while I love Castlevania I've never known if they made a lot of money off those games or not. They changed the formula so many times that I assume Igavanias didn't make them enough money. That's why we got Lords of Shadows and that weird ass multiplayer game.

Same with Silent Hill. I have no idea if that made them decent money.

Would they have to credit Kojima or give him royalties or something if they re-released all the past MGS games?

I could see them not doing things out of spite instead of incompetence/ambivalence.

The fact that MGS4 may legitimately remain stuck on the PS3 forever with no ability to ever be ported or preserved on another platform is so weird to me.

Strangelove77 said:

Same with Silent Hill. I have no idea if that made them decent money.

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For as long as they've maintained these IPs, they had to be profitable to some extent. Profitable enough to make the existing PC versions widely available, surely? I'd take them even if they are broken on modern systems, in this instance. I trust fans would fix them. These are some of the most revered games of all time, and more people need to know why.

signal said:

This thread is bizarre. If your definition of preservation is "constantly re-released on new hardware" then this is not a Konami issue. Most games are not available on modern platforms. Why is Silent Hill only existing as PS1 and PS2 games different from every other PS1 / PS2 title that hasn't been re-relased since?

They'll be "preserved" via rom/ISO dumps for all eternity don't worry.

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That isn't really my definition, and I don't think that's a fantastic solution to the problem. In these old Konami games' cases, fortunately they're available physically on old platforms and we can make an effort to protect them. So there are actually much worse preservation cases than Konami's, but the issue here is that Konami doesn't seem to be making any kind of effort themselves. Long-term archival would be much more viable with larger scale support from the industry itself.

Might mention MGS Peace Walker, Rising, Downpour, and Symphony on the Night are all on Xbox One - not even including the smaller arcade titles either, so they're fine with preservation that way. And it's not like a 360 or PS3 is insurmountable to hook up today, you need a modern TV. No upscalers or special cables, so I don't really understand what this post is supposed to imply. Not everyone dumps their old systems once a new one is a thing, that's just silly.

BDS said:

The fact that MGS4 may legitimately remain stuck on the PS3 forever with no ability to ever be ported or preserved on another platform is so weird to me.

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Hopefully, as time goes on, emulators will preserve the game.

It's weird how it went from people convinced it would be ported to other systems around the time it released to it unlikely to ever make it off PS3.

Yeah it's a shame. I had a hankering to play through MGS1-4 recently but since my PS3 kicked the bucket there's really no option for 4.

No remaster, no PS3 BC, no PC version, it doesn't seem to be on PS Now, I don't think it's even playable with an emulator.

It's just...gone.

Pachinko Happened

In my restless dreams I see that proper hd collection. Silent Hill.

Doctor_Thomas said:

Hopefully, as time goes on, emulators will preserve the game.

It's weird how it went from people convinced it would be ported to other systems around the time it released to it unlikely to ever make it off PS3.

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Imagine if you went back 10ish years in time and told people in the year 2018 that Red Faction Guerilla would be widely available on all modern platforms but MGS4 would not have made it off of the PS3.

Thats like asking what happened to Capcom in regards to their buried legacies like Darkstalker and Dino Crisis. They moved on to newer franchises with investment like ZOE remake, PES, Bomberman , MGS Survive

danm999 said:

Imagine if you went back 10ish years in time and told people in the year 2018 that Red Faction Guerilla would be widely available on all modern platforms but MGS4 would not have made it off of the PS3.

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Very strange. Esepcially since I didn't think Red Faction Guerilla was all that good in the first place.

Odder still is that Baja: Edge of Contol got an HD remaster 9 years after release.

Yet, MGS4 remains PS3 only.

Business wise they are concentrating on their most profitable ventures, which is good for the company and its future.

Console development wise they could do either of the below:
- License their most known franchises to other publishers (MGS, SH, CASTLEVANIA...)
- Go the route of Remasters, collections, remakes.... (the safest route)

I want my PERFECT SILENT HILL collection so bad (1,2,3,4)

Arthands said:

Thats like asking what happened to Capcom in regards to their buried legacies like Darkstalker and Dino Crisis. They moved on to newer franchises with investment like ZOE remake, PES, Bomberman , MGS Survive

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Right, but while Darkstalker and Dino Crisis are great games, they aren't in the consensus' top 10 or 5 most important games ever. Silent Hill 2 is without exaggerating one of the most important games of all time. It's transcended the medium; you can see the influence everywhere ever since. And you'd think Konami would give a damn! Instead...
I can buy the most influential films on blu-ray, but I can't load SH2 on modern systems, and that's messed up.

I would be over the moon if Konami just made a shmup collection with all their odds and ends not included in the four (awesome) PSP shmup collections they made. Konami has a stellar shmup library that no one seems to remember -- least of all Konami themselves.

Is the Pachinko game really that much profitable to Konami? I think they'll have to leave it eventually.

I have still hope for a MGS Remaster of some kind. And maybe we'll get Silent Hill 2 via Xbox BC.

Other than that, yeah i don't expect much.

signal said:

This thread is bizarre. If your definition of preservation is "constantly re-released on new hardware" then this is not a Konami issue. Most games are not available on modern platforms. Why is Silent Hill only existing as PS1 and PS2 games different from every other PS1 / PS2 title that hasn't been re-relased since?

They'll be "preserved" via rom/ISO dumps for all eternity don't worry.

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Gotta say I kind of agree.

At this point i hope mgs1-4 and revengeance just get a competent hd port each generation, every new friend i make who i want to exchange games to play with is unable to play them and that really bums me out

I figure we will get twin snaked to hell with all MGS games. Great to look remasters but with balancing issues and missing that special something.
As to Castlevania, well, anything would be good now....

Preservation beyond emulation or PC ports is a pipe dream after a long enough time passes.

danm999 said:

Yeah it's a shame. I had a hankering to play through MGS1-4 recently but since my PS3 kicked the bucket there's really no option for 4.

No remaster, no PS3 BC, no PC version, it doesn't seem to be on PS Now, I don't think it's even playable with an emulator.

It's just...gone.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/metalgearsolid/comments/2g126m/mgs4_psnow/?st=jjg3utpg&sh=3eebbe86

https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/commen..._now_again_was_there/?st=jjg3vj3s&sh=d7e521af

It and the HD collection actually WERE on PSnow but were removed for no reason years ago.

Personally before remakes of the games I'd rather get ports. MGS1 and 2 actually both have PC ports but they have MAJOR issues on modern hardware (MGS reddit actually has a fixed up version of the MGS1 port. It has some music problems, and the stock footage cutscenes don't play, Mantis's mind readining is absent, and I had to run in compat mode to get past the PAL key room because the door wouldnt unlock)

MGS2 port is a complete trainwreck. Crashes, projector doesn't display correctly in the holds, and you had to bind "Slow" and "Weak" keys to simulate pressure sensitivity. (like it was worse than the XBOX 360 version which had you click the sticks in to lower the gun, here you had to hold a key down while releasing fire to not fire) And the mouse controlled the sword by moving it. There WAS a fan patch which I think fixed SOME of the issues (Mainly ability to rebind controls and I think resolution) but even with the fix it was still a bad port.

IMHO it can be fixed but the ways the controls function have to be changed. Something like MGSV where fire punches, holding an aim key aims, and firing while aiming actually shoots, etc. That or Sony/Microsoft making a controller with pressure sensitive face buttons again.

Either way 1 and 2 (If we go back that far) need serious work for modern ports and PC. 3 has never been on PC. (Although it is on 360 which also had controls changed a bit to accommodate lack of pressure sensitive buttons, but it was a bit clunky as you had no way to keep your gun up when letting go of fire like you could on PS3)

Peace Walker would be a cinch as it didn't use pressure sensitivity aside from the analogue stick for movement (Can easily be done by shift to run/walk) and it had great COOP. Perfect for something like Steam.

Castlevania: Konami has absolute no freaking excuse. If they want to get super lazy like Capcom did they could just say "screw it" and bundle an emulator with some castlevania roms like the megaman collection did (Either 1 or 2, I think 1 was emulation while 2 was sort of in a way ports?) and toss it up on Steam. Hell they could even give it to Capcom and have them do it considering all the extra features they added (concept art, borders, filters, etc.) and capcom's ports seem decent. (Okami, Megaman, DMC, etc)

Incomplete emulation will be their destiny I imagine.

BoukObelisk said:

Right? I am completely baffled at the lack of Castlevania games anywhere. Luckily SOTN is still on PSN, but that's basically it.

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It's on XBLA/Xbox One too. I'm surprised they never did a PC/Steam version, it would do big business.

They are working with Nintendo to release a Castlevania Maker next spring which will include all the GBA and DS game assets. My uncle works there.

Sony really need to pull their finger out and sort out the PS1 Classics situation.

They don't give a damn