Reaction: Konami Heads to Mobile Gaming. Really?

That's the reality of it everyone. Konami is officially going toward mobile gaming. No more will they release games on console, PC, or handheld devices. Gamers can expect that Konami's new vision for the future is unquestionably reliant on the mobile gaming market. That being said I just have one question for my fellow gamers: Does anyone else here think that they are utterly insane?

Konami...you are honestly moving toward mobile gaming? Seriously? After the incredible history of games like Metal Gear Solid, Contra, Snatcher, Silent Hill, and Castlevania that were experienced on many platforms, you are now reducing that to mobile gaming. After the fantastic addition of the FOX engine that impressed with its visuals, you are now then going to cheapen that effort for mobile performance. Even though some recent releases were somewhat of a mixed bag, it cannot be argued that you had a great presence in this industry. Then your new CEO, Hideki Hayakawa, goes and declares the following (along with my reaction to every paragraph):

"We will pursue mobile games aggressively. Our main platform will be mobiles. Following the pay-as-you-play model of games like Power pro and Winning Eleven with additional content, our games must move from selling things like “items” to selling things like “features.”

Selling features, huh? If there's one thing mobile gaming has contributed to the video game space, it's making sure that people pay for things that they otherwise wouldn't. The pay-as-you-play model is a way of ensuring a constant money flow. You can be spending one dollar here and five dollars there, but it all eventually adds up well passed the price of a triple A game. This is considering that the mobile games in question that enforce the pay-as-you-play model are supposedly free to begin with. We know that they aren't free whatsoever.

“We saw with these games that even people who buy physical games are motivated to buy extra content. The success of Power pro especially has motivated us to actively push more of our popular series onto mobile than ever before.”

Oh, lovely. So now everyone can enjoy buying gameplay features and reduce the cooldown time on when they can make another move or use an ability. Gamers do like buying extra bits for their games, but if there is one thing we despise, it's having to pay to bypass timers and paywalls in a game. There are a lot of bad practices with DLC, but microtransactions easily take the cake in pissing consumers off.

“Gaming has spread to a number of platforms, but at the end of the day, the platform that is always closest to us, is mobile. Mobile is where the future of gaming lies.”

I hope by all that is sacred that mobile is not the future of gaming. This industry cannot afford the kind of money-grubbing tactics that would make even the most opportunistic lawyer say, "I wouldn't tread that low". Yes, mobile is closest to us because they are phones. Phones are what we use most often for messaging, internet, pictures, GPS, and calls. Everyone uses their phone at least once per day. You would be hard-pressed to find someone without a cell phone on their person at any given moment. Mobile gaming only serves to get money from us because our phones are consistently with us as they are easily accessible. Phones are seen as portable ATMs at this point.

“We hope that our overseas games such as MGSV and Winning Eleven continue to do well, but we are always thinking about how to push our franchises onto mobile there too.”

Even the legitimately good mobile games get overlooked because of the pay-as-you-play model that so many developers on mobile have adopted. I cannot fathom how ridiculous microtransactions can become for a mobile Metal Gear Solid or Contra game from a big publisher like Konami. I wouldn't put it passed them that they would make a cheap game and underhand everyone by adding restriction after restriction with paywalls.

“With multiplatform games, there’s really no point in dividing the market into categories anymore. Mobiles will take on the new role of linking the general public to the gaming world.”

Whether you are working full-time or part-time or are a student or parent, you are constantly exposed to electronic media. Mobile gaming isn't the only link from the general public to video games. We have television, the internet, gaming devices, billboard advertisements, and our shopping centers sharing direct links to the gaming world in one way or another. Hideki Hayakawa is making it seem like mobile is this undeniable force whose influence cannot be stopped. That is a fantasy.

In reality, gamers hate what mobile gaming has brought into the industry. Paywalls, microtransactions, and multiple forms of restrictions have leaked into other avenues of gaming and gamers despise it because we know where those practices are heavily prevalent. We know publishers on other platforms are getting used to these ideas because of the success of said ideas on mobile gaming. We can clearly see through the charade. By adopting the model that is "freemium" gaming or even selling mobile games at barely one to five dollars a piece, we know that you know you are going to profit off of intentional acquisitions of revenue. You will stock up these future mobile games with microtransactions and restrictions that compel gamers to spend more money than they should. The bottom line is that freemium isn't free.

Konami is now intending on suckering people in with their legacy by enticing their consumers to spend more on the mobile platform. Then they will sprinkle their games with bright colors and shower you with compliments at how great you're doing in the game. After all of that, the game will suggest enhancing your experience by paying for packs of useless digital ware that can range from something as little as fifty cents to as large as fifty dollars. Mobile gaming has grown into the electronic equivalent of gambling on the go. You will spend more money for less rewards. Next thing you know, your credit card will sky rocket with payments made to Konami.

Konami permanently staying in the realm of mobile gaming will only harbor resentment from many of us. We can lament about the Konami of fifteen years ago, but that part of the company is long gone. With the upcoming Phantom Pain and anticipation for Silent Hills (pre-cancellation of course), it really looked like Konami was back on track. Now it just seems like they want to put as little effort as possible into their work for higher profits. They know that going mobile will be undeniably profitable, but it will be at the consumer's expense. It's a damn shame.

This gambling mentality is what they are all about now. Damn the quality of the product because it's all about the consistent revenue. If mobile is the future of gaming, I want no part of it. The business model that is forced upon gamers on their phones is a disgusting one. It ensures little success for the user and more money for the game creator. To me, mobile gaming can be rewarding if done right, but it's rare to find mobile games that are of good quality. They get bogged down with the clones of popular games and shovelware that brings nothing creative or new to the table. That is the world that Konami wants to be involved with. That is the world that the once prosperous Konami we all knew went to fade away into obscurity.