IGN Gamescoop.

[Yvlla]

Yeah, mobile gaming is like 90% of what Japan is into. I did a term paper on this subject. Anyone who doesn't just play games on the train to work or something is considered a nerd who does nothing but play games.

[T1000416]

It's the same in South Korea. Mobile is a juggernaut. Console and handheld games are practically nonexistent over there.

[Hikari Tsukishiro]

http://kotaku.com/konamis-new-initia...nko-1721123227

Once upon a time, there was a company called Konami that would release all sorts of delightful video games in all kinds of genres under big, beloved franchises with names like Suikoden, Contra, Gradius, Silent Hill, Castlevania, Metal Gear, and Zone of the Enders.

Today, there is a company called Konami that makes pachinko machines—Japanese gambling devices that are sort of like a cross between pinball and slots—and just announced a new one based on Castlevania. It promises “erotic violence.” Welcome to 2015.

ugh

[Don Chipotle]

R.I.P. Konami


You never scored.

[Raist Classic]

Pffthahaha. I dunno though, going from Kojima to erotic violence pachinko seems like a perfectly logical evolution to me.

[Hikari Tsukishiro]

http://kotaku.com/report-konami-is-t...ers-1721700073

to sum it up, konami treats their employees poorly. They are always watching their employees, they reassign game programmers and designers to security guard , or janitor like jobs if they feel they aren't working hard enough.
,

According to a report on Nikkei, the corporate culture at Konami—home of Metal Gear, Silent Hill and Pro Evolution Soccer—hasn’t only soured over the past few years, but has become almost terrifyingly Orwellian.

Nikkei’s report alleges that the culture at the corporation’s video game division, famous for its console games, worsened in around 2010 when a mobile title called Dragon Collection became a smash hit. As a social game for phones, development costs were low and profit returns were huge. Not long after, the report says, Konami’s corporate bosses shifted the company’s focus away from traditional, hardcore games and towards cheaper, and potentially more lucrative social titles.

(Somewhat related, the same Nikkei report says that Metal Gear Solid 5’s development costs have surpassed 10 billion yen/US$80 million).

In a country where mobile gaming has exploded in popularity, the fact Konami has pivoted to this type of offering isn’t in itself surprising. What is, however, are some of the office conditions Nikkei reports have arisen as a result of the shift, especially with regards to how Konami treats employees.

Kojima Productions, the studio behind the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V (and long famous as a brand of its own), is now simply known as “Number 8 Production Department.” The computers in this section, Nikkei says (and as we reported earlier this year), are allegedly not connected to the internet and are only able to send internal messages.
Nikkei reports that employees leaving the company offices during their lunch break are having their absences monitored with time cards. Those who stay out too long are having their names announced throughout the company.

That there are cameras in the office corridors that aren’t there for security, but rather to monitor the movements of Konami’s own employees.

That most Konami employees do not have their own permanent company email addresses. Staff who must deal with people outside the company, such as sales and PR do; however, everyone else routinely has their address randomised and changed every few months. (Note: Konami employee emails are typically a few letters followed by a string of numbers, but this random email changing has been going on at Konami for years. A while back, one Konami employee told me this was done to prevent headhunting. Over the years, I have seen developers with company email addresses, but this might have changed recently.)

That Konami game developers who aren’t seen as useful are reassigned to jobs as security guards, cleaning staff at the company’s fitness clubs or roles at a pachi-slot machine factory. This includes not just junior staff, but producers who have worked on well-known game titles. In 2013, Asahi News, one of Japan’s largest newspapers, ran an interview with a former Konami staffer who allegedly went from game development to working in Konami’s pachi-slot factory, causing him to experience severe depression.

That one former employee, upon announcing on Facebook that they were leaving Konami and had got a new job elsewhere, had their post monitored. Nikkei says remaining Konami staff who “liked” the post were all reshuffled within the company.

also anime news net:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...uctions/.91229

Staff members have complained of strict information regulation. All employees, including Kojima himself, were restricted from internet usage. Only staff members who need to contact the outside are allowed to have permanent company e-mail addresses. Everyone else is assigned a five-digit number that changes every few months.

In addition, employees' lunch breaks are monitored with time cards, and employees who return late have their names announced throughout the company.

Production on new games in series such as LovePlus, Tokimeki Memorial, and Suikoden has reportedly halted. LovePlus and Tokimeki Memorial producer Akari Uchida resigned in March.

Konami had addressed rumors of the dissolution of Kojima Productions in March, after a removal of the Kojima Productions logo from its website, stating that the Kojima Productions and other internal companies have had their names changed as part of Konami's restructuring.

The company has also not yet confirmed or denied rumors that Hideo Kojima is leaving Konami after completing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

[Raist Classic]

And all because one of their mobile games did well.

Confirmed: Konami killed by Filthy, Stinking Casuals?

[Don Chipotle]

Kojima tried to warn us. He knew this would happen. It's all there in the subtext.

[Hikari Tsukishiro]

https://twitter.com/sinsyacibet/stat...84575862583296

Konami’s next silent hill will be a slot machine game