Konami News Articles
Tuesday25th May 2021
News Konami Might Have Plans To Outsource More Classic IP Following The GetsuFumaDen Revival
"please wait for future projects"
Konami is reportedly open to outsourcing more of the company's gaming brands in the future, following on from GuruGuru's announcement of GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon. The original game, Getsu Fūma Den, was released in 1987 as a Famicom exclusive. According to Konami's Shin Murato, who is also the producer of Undying...
Friday7th May 2021
Random Behold The Miya 2000, A Rare NES Accessory That Only Works With One Game
FORE!
Like any popular games console, the NES was host to some truly weird and wonderful accessories. Devices like the iconic Power Glove and the Brøderbund's U-Force tried to leverage the huge install base of Nintendo's system, but it's fair to say this was easier said than done and many of these products flopped at retail. We assumed we'd seen...
Saturday1st May 2021
News Konami Won't Be Attending E3 2021 But Still Has A Number Of Projects To Reveal
"stay tuned for some updates in the coming months"
Japanese games company Konami - known for titles such as Metal Gear Solid - has announced it won't be attending E3 2021. In a statement on social media, the company said it still had "great respect" for the ESA and would continue to support it in the future. It's also taken this opportunity to...
Friday30th Apr 2021
News Limited Run Reveals Four Castlevania Anniversary Collection Physical Editions
Standard, Classic, Bloodlines and Ultimate
Last July, Limited Run Games announced it would be releasing a physical version of Konami's Castlevania Anniversary Collection for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. There'll be a total of four different versions up for grabs. This includes the standard edition ($34.99 USD), classic edition ($59.99),...
Monday26th Apr 2021
News Konami's Classic Coin-Op Shooter Thunder Cross II Hits Switch This Week
Bring the thunder
It has been revealed that this week's Arcade Archives release is Konami's 1991 shmup Thunder Cross II, the sequel to the popular 1988 original (which is also available on Switch). While the Gradius series tends to get all of the attention, both Thunder Cross outings are worth a loo
Rumour The Voice Of Metal Gear Solid's Snake Hints That A Second Remake Is On The Way
"Now it’s an industry rumour, so that tends to be a little more accurate"
David Hayter – the man who voiced super soldier Snake in multiple Metal Gear Solid entries before vacating the role for Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland – has suggested that Konami is planning to remake the original Metal Gear Solid for a second time. Hayter dropped the...
Friday23rd Apr 2021
News The Konami Code Turns 35 With A Special Album Of Lo-Fi Gradius Tracks
⬆ ⬆ ⬇ ⬇ ⬅ ➡ ⬅ ➡ 🅱 🅰
We've had a lot of 35th Anniversaries this year, including the Mario celebrations and the Zelda... non-celebrations, and this weekend — specifically, the 25th April, 2021 — is the birthday of the Konami Code, perhaps the most famous sequence of buttons in hi
Wednesday21st Apr 2021
News Konami España Hints At More Switch News To Come
Don't call it a comeback
In the not-too-distant past Konami was a powerhouse in the video game industry, with regular games in massive franchises through the days of pixels and bits to polygons and discs. It's fair to say that in recent times - outside of eFootball PES titles, legacy game collections and the occasional cringe-inducing release like...
Tuesday20th Apr 2021
News Konami Has Trademarked 'Castlevania' And 'Metal Gear Rising' In Japan
(Well, it's Akumajou Dracula, technically)
It's fair to say that Konami isn't the force it once was in the world of video games. Not so long ago it was competing with the likes of Capcom, Sega and Nintendo at the top of the market, but these days it is more content pushing out moderately successful titles like Super Bomberman R and less profitable...
Wednesday14th Apr 2021
News Konami Is Bringing GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon To Switch In 2022
A remake developed by indie studio GuruGuru
And you thought Konami didn't make games any more! GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon is being developed primarily by indie studio GuruGuru 'alongside' Konami Digital Entertainment, and it turns out it's a remake of a 1987 Famicom game. Who knew? Well, a particular stalwart staff member reminded us all, actually,...
Wednesday31st Mar 2021
News The Absolute Worst Castlevania Is Coming To Arcade Archives On Switch
"We would have liked to make it a better game if we had the time"
Konami's Castlevania series is one of video gaming's all-time greats, with some amazing entries under its blood-soaked belt – Castlevania III, Super Castlevania IV, Dracula X and Symphony of the Night being notable
News Super Coder Speeds Up Yet Another SNES Classic
Konami's Axelay benefits from the FastROM treatment
Remember Brazilan coder Vitor Vilela? He's been making it his quest to fix SNES games that are plagued with slowdown, and he's already worked his magic on titles such as Contra III, Super R-Type and Super Mario World. The issue is that th
Monday22nd Mar 2021
News Here's A Look At The Bomberman Board Game We'll Never Get To Play
Originally planned for a 2020 release
With Super Bomberman R reaching two million sales worldwide and Konami's announcement that Super Bomberman R Online is coming to Switch later this year, we're pleased to see this iconic character back in the news. Sadly, it's not all for good reasons.
Thursday18th Mar 2021
News Konami's Beat 'Em Up Crime Fighters Joins The Arcade Archives This Week
Save the day
If you enjoy retro side-scrolling beat 'em ups, this week's Arcade Archives release by Hamster might be of interest. Konami originally launched Crime Fighters in arcades in 1989 and it arrived in the same year as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game. Your job is to go undercover as a police officer and rescue hostages from a...
Wednesday17th Mar 2021
News Super Bomberman R Passes Two Million Sales Worldwide
Previously hit one million back in 2018
For those of us who bought a Switch day one, you may remember Super Bomberman R being a key name in that launch line-up. Once a Switch exclusive, R made for a strong launch title, and it received some lengthy post-launch support, adding new stages and crossovers with fellow Konami franchises, like
Friday26th Feb 2021
News Hamster Confirms Two More Coin-Op Classics For Its Arcade Archives Range On Switch
Both involve rescuing hapless females (hey, it was the '80s)
Hamster's Arcade Archives series has given us many coin-op classics to enjoy on Switch, and the Japanese company has just revealed that two more are heading to Nintendo's machine soon. First up is Jaleco's 1988 action platformer Legend of Makai (Makai Densetsu in Japan), which was never...
Monday22nd Feb 2021
News Momotaro Dentetsu's 11-Week Run Atop The Japanese Charts Sets A 20-Year Record
Money train
You might not be familiar with Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! outside of the Japanese game charts. Having never been localised for Western release, this board-game style series is comparable to Monopoly or Fortune Street, seeing players attempt to become successful entrepreneurs. Initially produced by Hudson Soft,...
Thursday11th Feb 2021
News Konami Shmup Thunder Cross Joins The Arcade Archives This Week
Take to the skies
This week's Arcade Archives release is the 1988 Konami side-scrolling shoot 'em up, Thunder Cross. As the player, you'll take control of the "Blue Thunder M-45" and fight against the Mechanikon hordes. Multiple versions of the game are in this release - including the "Old Japanese Version" and the "New Japanese Version" - both...
Monday8th Feb 2021
News Silent Hill, Gradius And Contra Composer Akira Yamaoka Teases New Project
Update: Konami states it did not ask for interview to be taken down
Update: A Konami spokesperson has issued a statement making it clear that the company was not behind the request made to Al Hub to remove the Akira Yamaoka interview. Given that he's not a Konami employee, you could say the statement makes it unlikely that Yamaoka's next project is...
Tuesday26th Jan 2021
News No, Konami Isn't Exiting The Video Game Business
"We have not 'shut down' our video gaming division"
While video games seem to be fairly resilient to the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, that hasn't stopped some companies from taking a good, hard look at how they operate – one of which is Japanese giant Konami, the firm behind titles like Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, Pro Evolution...
Monday25th Jan 2021
All aboard with the chart-topping hit
This digital board game's only been out a few months, and yet in that short period of time, Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! has utterly dominated the Japanese charts and sold over 2 million copies (digital and physical sales combined). It topped the Japanese multi-format charts when it...
Saturday23rd Jan 2021
News Konami's Puzzle Shooter Block Hole Is This Week's Arcade Archives Release
Better known as Quarth
This week's arcade archives release is the puzzle shoot 'em up Block Hole by Konami. It's available now on the Switch eShop. Block Hole was originally launched in Japanese arcades in 1989 and was sold in this region as Quarth. Home version releases, like the 1990 Game Boy title, went with the name Quarth globally. Here's...
Saturday16th Jan 2021
News Konami's Anniversary Collections On The Switch eShop Are Currently 75% Off (US)
Get 'em while you can
Right through until the 21st of January, Konami is offering its retro collections for a whopping 75% off in the US. Instead of paying the usual price of $19.99, each one will only cost you $4.99. That includes the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, the Contra Anniversary Collection, and Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection...
Thursday24th Dec 2020
News Konami's Gradius III Blasts Onto The Nintendo Switch eShop This Week
"Enjoy playing the best game in the series"
Just over a month after Hamster's release of Gradius II on the Switch eShop, we've now got Gradius III to top it off. The third entry in the scrolling shoot 'em up series was released by Konami in the arcade in 1989 and followed with a SNES port in 1990. Here's a bit about it: "The story of Planet...
Thursday26th Nov 2020
News Don Your Green Beret, Konami's Rush'n Attack Hits The Switch Today
Always in a rush
Hamster is releasing Konami's 1985 run-and-gun shooter Rush'n Attack ("Russian Attack" - get it?) on the Switch eShop today. The title – which was released under the alternative name Green Beret in Japan and Europe – is part of Hamster's superb Arcade Archives range. You're tasked with going behind enemy lines to rescue POWs...
Thursday12th Nov 2020
News Konami's Gradius II Blasts Its Way Onto The Switch eShop This Week
A classic returns
The year might be slowing down, but Hamster's weekly Arcade Archives releases are still going strong. Today sees the arrival of Konami's 1988 shooter, Gradius II. This includes three Japanese versions and two overseas versions (also known as Vulcan Venture). Here's a little bit of backstory, straight from the PR: "Players will...
Sunday18th Oct 2020
Poll Box Art Brawl #64 - International Superstar Soccer 98
Fresh blood is coming in... again
Welcome back to Box Art Brawl, the series where we throw two or more regional box art variants into a ring and watch them kick seven shades out of each other in a fight for your vote. Last time we watched Advance Wars: Dual Strike give itself fifteen birthday bumps in a two-way bout between East and West. It...
Friday9th Oct 2020
News The Man Behind Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Is Working On A Follow-Up, But There's A Catch
"The market has hit a point where these kinds of games actually make sense"
Sam Barlow's stock has risen sharply in recent years thanks to the award-winning FMV titles Her Story and Telling Lies, but back in 2009, he was employed at Climax UK as the lead writer and designer on Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, a horror title which has since gone down...
Wednesday2nd Sep 2020
News Arcade Archives Contra Runs And Guns Its Way Onto Switch Tomorrow
Bill and Lance are back!
If you are still recovering from the dumpster fire that was Contra: Rogue Corps, then it might be time to go back to basics and enjoy Bill and Lance's first arcade outing in Arcade Archives Contra. Konami's arcade classic is coming to Switch tomorrow, thanks to good old retro publisher HAMSTER. Here's an overview of the...
Thursday20th Aug 2020
News Hamster's Arcade Archives Brings A Konami "Masterpiece" To Switch This Week
Get ready to shoot 'em up
The shoot 'em up library on the Nintendo Switch continues to expand - with Hamster Corporation this week adding Konami's 1990 "masterpiece" Lightning Fighters (known as Trigon in Japan) to the Arcade Archives library on the eShop. Here's a bit about it from the official press release, along with some screenshots: "SUPER...
