Konami has faced much criticism in the past couple years after the fallout with Kojima, the cancellation of what was potentially going to be an genre-defining survival horror game in Silent Hills and the release of the sub-standard Metal Gear Survive, that veterans of the series pretty much agree amounted to little more than a cash grab and probably would have made more sense as a 20-dollar expansion to Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. At some level Konami must be aware of what they have with their Intellectual properties though, as they do continue to use the Metal Gear and Silent Hill names for things like pachinko machines.
These machines do earn scoffs from their western fans, but the existence of them does speak volumes about Konami and their ability to recognize which names make money and which ones don’t. The popularity of these franchises are second to very few, and anybody who knows anything about gaming must see the potential in them. With Konami’s legacy as one of the greatest publishers of all time up until recently, and recent post-kojiima releases being met with such vitriol, I’m sure there are plenty of folks within the company, as well as long-time Konami fans, looking for a path to redemption for the company.
"But the point here is to not just make money at this point for Konami; they need a real big comeback. They need redemption, and all of the red tape and conflicts of interest that would be present in a full-on Metal Gear Solid anthology collection could perhaps be more trouble than it would be worth."
One of the obvious places to start does seem to be a possible remake or remaster of the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake games. But would that be enough to get the ball rolling back in Konami’s favor? Could Konami redeem themselves by releasing metal gear and metal gear 2 remakes? It’s possible. But they would need to do it right. They couldn’t get away with cutting corners of any type, and they would need to back up these releases with lots of great content, communication with fans, and lots of consumer friendly extras, which at the moment doesn’t seem to be things in Konami’s DNA. So it would certainly require a shift in the mindset of the company first.
Its true that the Metal Gear Solid games have been remastered and re-released to death at this point. With excellent versions of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 on the PlayStation 2, 3, Vita, and Xbox 360, it makes sense that we’ll probably see those games on the PS4 and Xbox One at some point, and with lots of fan support behind a full-fledged remake of Metal Gear Solid 1, that could happen as well. Perhaps even a remaster of Metal Gear Solid 4, as it isn’t that old of a game and could probably be remastered fairly easily. Considering all of these possibilities, it probably makes more sense to combine them, and Peace Walker all into one Metal Gear Solid Collection for both modern consoles, or perhaps even next gen.
But it wouldn’t make sense to do that unless it could be all of them. Konami could release a remaster of any of these games and it would sell well. But the point here is to not just make money at this point for Konami; they need a real big comeback. They need redemption, and all of the red tape and conflicts of interest that would be present in a full-on Metal Gear Solid anthology collection could perhaps be more trouble than it would be worth. Even if they were able to pull all of that off, these are games that most of us have already played on multiple consoles already.
"Lots of gamers who grew up with the Solid games may not even know these oldies even exist at this point, let alone have access to them."
They’re not bad, and Konami would stand to benefit from this, but ultimately it wouldn’t really set the world on fire the way Konami would need it to due to the prevalence of these games already. A more feasible path to redemption for Konami, and something that would really blow peoples’ hair back, would be a real remake, from the ground up, of the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
The case for remakes of these games is a solid one and has been made by many throughout the Metal Gear fan base. These games weren’t re-released nearly as often as the Solid series, and outside of some digital purchases on various platforms, unlocking them in a special edition of Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater, or just getting the original NES or MSX copies on original hardware, there aren’t a lot of ways to even play them. This is surely a weak spot in the franchise and could definitely stand to be remedied, and a new version of these games would surely be appreciated and generate lots of buzz among fans.
Lots of gamers who grew up with the Solid games may not even know these oldies even exist at this point, let alone have access to them. So if Konami could get the resources and talent together that would be necessary to pull off a full on remake of those two games, it could very well put them back on the right track. They would bring in potentially all sectors of their fan base; old and new, and they would show all of us that they are truly interested in taking care of that franchise and treating their fans with respect. And obviously, if done right, sales would be through the roof, which is always a good thing in this day and age for a company like Konami.
"Knowing what we know about Konami lately, I wouldn’t bet on it, but given the sheer amount of praise and reputation restoration that Konami could stand to gain from it, if done well, certainly somebody must be looking at it as a possibility."
The main burden of course would be a big one, and perhaps one that Konami isn’t interested in taking on. Making the games themselves. This would surely be an undertaking like few others that Konami has had to deal with in the recent past. To remake Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 is to make two entirely new games. Sure they could base the games off of these old 8-bit adventures, but this would be far bigger than a simple remaster, and would require much more of Konami than just handing off an already solid game to bluepoint for a fresh coat of paint and a frame rate increase.
Since Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 are from an 8-bit world, obviously there is nothing really to build on other than a loose bullet point for the story, which thankfully would be more than enough to work with on that front. The problem is the graphics and presentation. The assets would all need to be new, and essentially Konami would need to green-light two brand new games to be made for their biggest and potentially most sensitive franchise.
Granted, I’m sure there are plenty of developers foaming at the mouth for an opportunity to take that challenge on, but the question is, does Konami really want to devote the amount of time and money that would be required to pull it off? Knowing what we know about Konami lately, I wouldn’t bet on it, but given the sheer amount of praise and reputation restoration that Konami could stand to gain from it, if done well, certainly somebody must be looking at it as a possibility. Lots of factors are up in the air on this one, but one thing that is certain is that it is one of the few options Konami has left to repair the damage.
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