Konami Gamer's Day 2006 – Jumping the Shark?
Konami is probably best known for their franchises such as Castlevania, Silent Hill, and Metal Gear Solid, to name just a few. Each year Konami typically plays it safe by delivering a few new entries to these most venerable old guard franchises while simultaneously testing the waters with a few more 'risky' ventures such as Firefighter FD18 or Lifeline. Often it's the franchise titles that keep the ole' financial blood moving when the 'side ventures' don't grab hold in the market – but what happens when these franchises get a bit long in the tooth? How do you continue to innovate and breathe new life into these properties and still continue to deliver a compelling experience for the consumer – you and I, Jane and Joe gamer?

Konami has spent quite a bit of time working to answer these questions during their recent restructuring and the result was unveiled at today's event. This was evident in a bold step the company is taking with two of its most popular franchises, Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid. Metal Gear Solid Digital Comic (working title) and Silent Hill Experience (working title) while not games themselves, serve to honor the fans of each series with interactive comic-style content, interviews, movies, music and more on the Sony UMD format. The portable entertainment market is a rapidly growing space that Apple, for one, has tapped into with their video iPod. People love their portable devices and Konami is betting gamers will love their PSPs enough to want to take this material on the go with them. Time will tell, but these two products are not mere screenshot archives with soundtracks. Each is presented in a style befitting of the series and offers opportunities for both new fans as well as the most-learned to "geek out," in-depth.

Kojima Studios unveiled another similar treat for fans who pre-order the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence Limited Edition. Metal Gear Saga Vol. 1 is a bonus DVD that will help fans of the long running series to put things into perspective, literally. The game series runs quite famously out of chronological sequence. Saga offers, among other features, five chapters, one for each of the titles, that attempt to tie together the story in sequence and discusses the genesis of many of the characters and storylines with Kojima-san himself doing much of the explanation. And the packaging is no simple paper sleeve. A clear case with silver-foiled stars encloses custom printed inserts and a screen-printed DVD you'd expect to pay good money for.

This attention to detail in expanding and exploring an available franchise's universe is maintained even in the sequels themselves – at least most definitively where Kojima Productions is involved. Both Metal Gear Acid 2 for PSP and MGS3: Subsistence are sequels – well, MGS3: Subsistence is actual a remake of 'Snake Eater' but delivered with new camera angles and fresh content that make it feel more like meeting an old friend all over again than a bland installment. Each, however, serves to offer something new and substantially less than superficial to the series. MGA2 brings new gameplay and exciting visuals while playing on the rich history of the series by giving players access to content that looks ahead with a nod to Metal Gear Solid 4 and continues to develop the milieu with the addition of new characters. Subsistence meanwhile delivers bonus discs, one of which includes 'Persistence' which is nothing less than Metal Gear Online (MGO) allowing up to 8 players to experience online death match Solid Snake style. The second disc delivers a 3.5 hour long movie that brings together all the cut-scenes from the five titles in the form of one long film tracing the story-arch of our favorite troubled warrior.

Not every Publisher can boast of a franchise with a history and depth like Metal Gear but they should take note nonetheless; this is the right way to repay your fans, to bring fresh perspective to an aging franchise. With each new release we are offered "more of the same" but with a fresh twist of lime to sweeten the cocktail. I'm reminded of my record collecting days when buying that 10" import would net you the bonus band bios or pictorial insert. More games should offer as much. More publishers should offer as much.

Meanwhile, Dance Dance Revolution is celebrating its ninth year of life with a new arcade version called Dance Dance Revolution™ SuperNOVA. When was the last time a publisher celebrated a series with a new Arcade version stateside? Karaoke Revolution delves into new territory with its first genre specific entry CMT presents: Karaoke Revolution Country. Gradius fans will delight when The Gradius Collection lands on PSP this Spring honoring over 20 years of releases including Gradius Gaiden which we never saw stateside. And lest we forget our beloved Frogger is turning 25 this year – we can only hope he'll finally learn to swim – no seriously guys – make the damned frog swim!

There were plenty of other announcements from Konami today including a new Beatmania entry, Suikoden V for PS2, Rumble Roses XX (which has the dubious honor of being Konami's first Next-Gen title) and the company has launched separate Mobile and Future Products divisions to better position Konami to look ahead and prepare for the next big thing. But our favorite announcements were those that honored and expanded upon the 'same old thing.' As much as this industry's media machine complains about sequels we were most delighted with just that. Perhaps I might posit here that it's not the sequel itself, but rather how you deliver that sequel – or better yet – what it adds to the franchise as a whole – that can make it stand out in the crowd.

A fellow journalist asked me, while we both pressed our faces against the silly looking "Solid Eye" (a black folding box with two eye pieces that comes as a pack in with MGA2 and allows you to play portions of Metal Gear Acid 2 on PSP in 3D), "Once a product goes 3D, doesn't that mean it's jumped the shark?" Or something to that effect anyway. Well, perhaps it does, but Kojima Productions and Konami are having fun with it – this wasn't a $30 product add-on, it was yet another free added feature the team saw fit to deliver on top of an already solid product. If Konami has indeed jumped the shark – then I, for one, look forward to more of the same.

- Pachoey

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