Over the last few years, Konami has been trying hard to repair its reputation for letting beloved franchises gather dust or just used to paint pachinko machines. Giving Hideo Kojima the boot didn’t help matters, either. But now, following recent Silent Hill games’ success, the company seems increasingly willing to embrace fresh, creative perspectives. And it’s not only happening on the console side of things, as a senior executive at Konami Arcade Games even suggested that breaking away from established traditions is also an important part of its company philosophy.
Speaking in Famitsu Issue 1969, Konami Amusement President and Representative Director Yoshitaka Nishimura, formerly known as DJ YOSHITAKA, reflected on his move from music composer to a department-wide lead. He doesn’t consider it a particularly ‘dramatic’ change; instead, he sees it as a natural progression of his career. What began as making individual music as his main output back in 2004 evolved into overseeing team and division results, and eventually having to consider the direction of the company as a whole by 2025.
“Games are really made from the cooperation of enormous numbers of people,” he explained. “That’s why these days, it’s not just about the products themselves, but also building an organization that can consistently deliver results, and determine what can ensure the company’s medium to long-term growth.” That gradually changing perspective shaped Nishimura’s view on younger developers, as he believes they should introduce fresh ideas to help shape the next ’10 to 20 years’ of the division’s history. Rather than having them simply follow their predecessors’ footsteps.
“BEMANI’s long history has always been shaped by the ‘challenges’ taken on by the new generations. […] That’s why I don’t particularly want our future staff to, ‘keep sticking to how we have done things so far,'” he continued. “Of course, I want them to carry that ‘BEMANI-like’ essence and what makes its games fun, but beyond that I want them to actively bring their ideas to the table.”
Nishimura emphasized that one way to do it is by listening closely to longtime fans’ gripes and comments. Overwhelming fan requests eventually convinced Konami to resume physical soundtrack CD releases for beatmania IIDX and jubeat after a long hiatus. The company also invited top jubeat players to test its upcoming arcade cabinet, while an unexpected following of VTuber audience helped attract new players to pop’n music through Hololive’s Shiranui Flare collaboration.
Interestingly, this seems to echo Konami’s broader approach to their gaming comeback. For example, Silent Hill producer Motoi Okamoto previously discussed a similar hands-off approach to the series’ new entries. Rather than keeping every project under one internal team, the publisher has entrusted third-party studios to reimagine the franchise. Okamoto explained that excessive involvement from Konami could ‘crush’ individual developers’ creative identities.
Meanwhile, an eagerness to embrace younger perspectives can also be seen in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Speaking to Japanese entertainment media Realsound last year, producer Noriaki Okamura and creative producer Yuji Korekado discussed balancing respect for the original game with modern elements. Korekado, in particular, credited younger team members with identifying mechanics that might confuse today’s players. “‘I don’t know how to do CQC,’ I was surprised to hear that opinion,” he revealed. “In the original work, The Boss taught you through [Codec], but today’s players won’t necessarily listen to all of them… (laughs). So we decided to include TIPS instead.”
These similarities across Konami’s divisions might just not be entirely coincidental. As Nishimura pointed out, the publisher has long operated under a set of guiding principles. “Truth be told, both in the past and today, what we’re aiming for hasn’t changed,” he explained. “At Konami, we operate according to a ‘4C’ way of thinking: ‘Customer-In,’ ‘Challenge,’ ‘Change,’ and ‘Compliance.'” Of those four principles, Nishimura considers understanding the audience the most important starting point. “I believe the first thing one must learn is working with the customers’ needs as top priority, or ‘Customer-In.’ Once you learn that, you will start to see what customers truly cherish,” he stressed. “When deciding which aspect of a game can be changed and which must remain untouched, this ‘Customer-In’ mindset is very crucial.”
Whether skeptical gamers want to believe all of this could lead to another golden age for Konami remains to be seen. But between the Silent Hill revival, Metal Gear remake, and its approach to the arcade scene, the company at least seems increasingly interested in finding out what its classic franchises can become, rather than simply reminding players what they used to be. For more gaming news and interviews, don’t forget to keep an eye on GameObserver.
ObserverCrew Picks
bserver
bserver
