Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

These past few weeks Konami has been doing everything and anything to self-implode it's image as a game company.

Most recently there was the great critical closeup video Superbunnyhop made that got pulled by Konami

Konami Gets YouTube To Take Down Critical Video-




Two weeks ago, George “Super Bunnyhop” Weidman published a YouTube video alleging he had information about the ongoing tension between Konami and Hideo Kojima. Now, it’s offline.

(In case you missed the drama of the last few months, Kojima and Konami appear to be in the midst of a breakup, even as Kojima finishes work on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.)

The video is no longer available, however, and heading to the URL displays this image:



The video was always a little bit suspect, since Weidman admitted he could not verify the source who claimed to have this information, and, as pointed out below, Weidman didn’t necessarily believe all of the source’s claims. Nevertheless, he published the video and it spurred a huge amount of discussion, especially since Konami and Kojima have been relatively silent lately.

Here’s a screen shot from the video, courtesy of the NeoGAF thread it spawned:




There’s a backup of the video available below, but I suspect that’ll get taken down shortly, too:



If this was all true, it would make the situation sound really nasty.

“Frequent black-out, security doors not working, people being forced to move desks every few days.”

“People have said that Kojima can sue Konami...but he won’t because he wants to finish the game and Konami knew that.”

“Kojima being fired is just the tip of the iceberg.”
There are two ways for a video to disappear from YouTube that doesn’t involve the creator deleting the video.

One, there’s YouTube’s Content ID system, which scans videos for copyrighted material. Content ID, however, typically kicks in as soon as the video is uploaded, and wouldn’t normally bring a video down from the service two weeks later. It’s possible but unlikely, as all my interactions with Content ID have occurred very early in the process.

Two, a company purposely (and manually) issues a takedown notice, knowing YouTube will err on the side of rights holders, at least until the issue is resolved. During that time, the video is offline. Companies have used this tactic in the past to suppress videos they didn’t care for.

Konami has not yet responded to my request for comment, though, and neither has Weidman.

The only thing we know right now is the video is offline, and just a day ago, it wasn’t.

The way Konami handled this could potentially backfire. When you want to fuel conspiracy theories, you have videos taken down. People are going to have field day with this.

http://kotaku.com/konami-gets-youtub...deo-1703615047

Konami pulls P.T. from PlayStation Store, no longer available for re-download (update)

Kojima Productions' playable teaser for Silent Hills, the horror game experience known as P.T., appears to have been pulled completely from the PlayStation Store and is no longer available for re-download, even if you've downloaded the game previously.

Last week, Konami delisted the game from the PlayStation Store after warning PlayStation 4 owners that P.T. would no longer be distributed after April 29. While the game was still available to re-download after deleting it from a hard drive as of April 30, it appears that's no longer the case.

Former Polygon executive editor Russ Frushtick noticed the change earlier today.


We tested it out for ourselves and despite having downloaded the game to a PlayStation 4 on April 28 (and re-downloading it shortly after), found that the game was no longer available for download after deleting it from a hard drive today.

The warning message when deleting P.T. still says that it can be downloaded again from the Library section of the PS4.


And after deleting P.T., the game still appears in the PS4's library.


However, attempts to re-download P.T. result in an error.


P.T.'s removal as a download for those who have previously installed the game but deleted the data locally is unusual. Typically, games, demos and downloadable content can be downloaded if the content is deleted from local storage, even if licenses related to that content have expired.

It appears that the inability to re-download P.T. is currently affecting players in the U.S.; PS4 owners in Europe have reported that they're still able to re-download the title in their region.

We've reached out to Konami for details on P.T.'s removal.

P.T. was announced at Gamescom 2014 as "the world's first interactive teaser." The free PS4 title was released shortly after its announcement, and players quickly discovered it was actually a teaser for a new Silent Hill game in development at Kojima Productions. The teaser also revealed that director Guillermo del Toro and The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus were attached to the project.

Konami delisted P.T. from the PlayStation Store just a few days after the publisher confirmed it had canceled Silent Hills.

"Konami is committed to new Silent Hill titles, however the embryonic Silent Hills project developed with Guillermo del Toro and featuring the likeness of Norman Reedus will not be continued," the company said in a statement.

Update: Sony is now warning PlayStation 4 owners that P.T. cannot be re-downloaded after it's been deleted. The notification appears to be going out to customers who downloaded the demo. Here's the message we received today:

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Tl;dr -screwy-

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

I heard Konami was basically trying to get out of the video game market anyway.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

I keep hearing that they plan to focus on Casinos since japan is legalizing it.

They also Fired Hiedo Kojima and started removing his name from all Konami games he made.

Apparently they've always been crazy

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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rZpg2OViI7Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

So is there anyway Kojima can keep the Metal Gear IP.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Not if the want to open Metal Gear casinos.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

I'm so annoyed about the P.T. downloads. When I heard they were taking it offline, I added it to my download queue on my PS4, but I guess I didn't do it in time.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

As a Pro Evolution Soccer fan that would suck. I'm sure EA would be happy to have zero competition though as with their other sports games.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Maybe they'll sell their franchises to other companies like THQ did. PES 2K16?

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Konami sounds like a typical company that's shifting priorities away from creative. It happens.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Most takedown notices on YouTube are done by robots.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

If they folded up traditional gaming and sold off IPs, I'd be fully OK with that, because they've been a shit show for as long as I can remember.

I think the only Konami IP I care about at this point is Castlevania, and they stopped making the kinds of Castlevania games I like years ago. I guess the last one was on DS.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

If they do they better sell off their IP's. It would suck if Castlevania, Contra, Metal Gear and Silent Hill are just sitting there wasting away since they are some of the all time classic game franchises.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Or they'll use their IPs for their slot machines and various, other gaming machines.

Or they'll sit on their IPs if nobody offers the right amount.

Very few companies in the industry, outside of say Activision and Microsoft, really have the cash on hand to make large purchases of this sort. These are not some shit franchises that'll be up for grabs, these are some of the most iconic franchises over the past thirty years that'll be put on the auction block. Odds are Konami will ask for top dollar as they know this, especially since they don't need the money.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Would could even be done with Contra at this point? At best it would be a B-tier Call of Duty knock-off.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Activision purchases the rights and we get a crossover called Call of Duty: Contra that takes place in the '80s during the Iran war.

Pre-order now and get the exclusive Rambo DLC to use in multiplayer.

Look at me, I should have a license to print money.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

I could see something like the Just Cause series, where the aliens have strongholds everywhere for you to systematically take out.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Yeah, if Evolve sold for $11 million during the THQ auction, I couldn't imagine what some of those Konami franchises could go for.

Speaking of which, I bet Take 2 is kicking themselves in the ass for that mistake ;)

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

At this point, do the franchises have that much value without the creators? Iga's already doing a metroidvania on his own. I can't see a Metal Gear without Kojima. If Konami couldn't really be successful near the end with these franchises, short of someone like Nintendo or another first party buying them up for exclusivity what is anyone else going to do to make them successful?

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

I wonder if Konami can keep the rights but just license them out for others to make, and then sit back and make money :p

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

I fully expect to see new Castlevania, Metal Gear and Contra games at the end of the year.

Pachinko games, but games no less.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

I can't see Nintendo purchasing these IPs as they're mostly adult oriented despite the fact most of these franchises having been on a Nintendo console previously.

In the case of a first party, the IPs would be a tug of war between Microsoft and Sony. Microsoft has the cash to put up a fight whereas Sony doesn't and having Konami IP might have the Xbox One, or future consoles, be "successful" in other parts of the world.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

Something's not on the up and up. Taking videos down, taking playable teasers down... There won't be any content left when they're done, and that's not right. I'd hate for this once great company to be left behind because someone wasn't making the right decisions. If you work for Konami this might be a good time to start looking for a new job.

Re: Konami Has Gone Crazy
 

They already know this, Konami isn't keen on console gaming at the moment, their Pachinko business is where it's at.