P.T./Silent Hills is Cancelled...

[Gikoku]

What the actual ****, man.

Sigh... Guillermo del Toro was quoted at a Q&A event earlier that he is no longer collaborating with Hideo Kojima on the Silent Hills project that was promised. IGN's "source" claims Del Toro was speaking only in context of working with Kojima, but it was then later confirmed as well on twitter by Walking Dead's actor Norman Reedus that it's over. On top of all that, the critically acclaimed heart-stopper P.T. is having its downloadable demo deleted from PSN on April 29th by Konami, so if you have a PS4 and haven't grabbed it yet, then you better do it now.

This all comes right off the heels of Konami firing Kojima not long ago from the company and removing all credit and associations Kojima had with Metal Gear Solid V. But are still keeping him on board for the remainder of the game's development anyway. Really?

I don't know what the hell is going on mentally with Konami, but they just shot themselves in the dick and somehow still expect fans to keep suckin' em? I don't think so. Between this nonsense and Bethesda & Valve going full retard, I don't even know anymore. Damn this industry.

 

[Quistrix]

 

[Dark Drakan]

From what I read on a few sources its not been officially cancelled but Kojima and Del Toro are no longer a part of the project and it could be going through some MAJOR changes. No news on this from Konami themselves yet though as expected...

UPDATE* Norman Reedus has gone too... *

UPDATE 2*

UPDATE STATEMENT BY KONAMI

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.

In terms of Kojima and Del Toro being involved, discussions on future Silent Hill projects are currently underway, and please stay tuned for further announcements.​

 

[Gikoku]

I just don't understand it, Konami continuously appears to be getting golden opportunities just falling into their laps yet they do everything humanly possible to rid themselves of it. It's like they're horribly allergic to money.

The way this whole damn situation has been going, Konami's just said **** it all.

 

[Quistrix]

 

[Dark Drakan]

 

[Gikoku]

JimFuckingSterling <3. I still remember that unbelievable Konami press conference, tears rolling from eyeballs down my cheeks, I never laughed so hard at a press conference in my life. Silent Hill has been a downward trend and the mobile spinoffs were horrible continuations, so their promise of continuing the games gives me nothing. Fresh minds bring fresh ideas and Kojima, del Toro, and Toyama together would've been something not only refreshingly original, but also magical. Talk about a dream team, but I guess that's exactly what it was... something that was too good to be true.

On the flipside, once MGSV is out and Kojima is released from all this, there's nothing stopping him from getting back with del Toro again for a new horror game that doesn't have the Silent Hills name. Not like it needed the name anyway. So maybe there's still hope one day.

As for Konami, only other franchise they have left to survive on is Yu-Gi-Oh... god damn Yu-Gi-Oh. Sigh. At least Capcom's doing slightly less worse.

I like how they lost the willpower to even capitalize the F at the end. **** it all Konami, just **** it all.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Update: Konami has confirmed that P.T. has been completed deleted from the PlayStation Store. "We already announced previously that the distribution period of the P.T. demo was going to expire on Apr.29th," a representative told us via email. "The reasons were that, P.T. was a playable teaser for a project that was being discussed with Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus. That specific project has now been cancelled. Konami will however continue to develop Silent Hill branded titles."
​

 

[Quistrix]

Update: Konami has confirmed that P.T. has been completed deleted from the PlayStation Store. "We already announced previously that the distribution period of the P.T. demo was going to expire on Apr.29th," a representative told us via email. "The reasons were that, P.T. was a playable teaser for a project that was being discussed with Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus. That specific project has now been cancelled. Konami will however continue to develop Silent Hill branded titles."
​

R.I.P :'(

 

[Gikoku]

Update: Konami has confirmed that P.T. has been completed deleted from the PlayStation Store. "We already announced previously that the distribution period of the P.T. demo was going to expire on Apr.29th," a representative told us via email. "The reasons were that, P.T. was a playable teaser for a project that was being discussed with Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus. That specific project has now been cancelled. Konami will however continue to develop Silent Hill branded titles."
​

Ugghh...

And see, this is why I don't support the idea of an all-digital future for video games, because of stuff like this. I had grabbed the demo via the browser-based PSN store and added it to my account library for whenever we get a PS4, now that they've done this I'll never be able to play and experience it now. Beautiful. On top of that, if Konami wants to, they can also issue out an update that blocks access to the demo for those who still have it downloaded, rendering it completely useless. Folks are already selling their P.T. included PS4s on eBay for over $1,000 (what a rip). Other than that, this amazing demo will only continue to exist through history via news articles and Youtube videos.

Argh, I'm feeling so many emotions right now and none of them are good.

**** sake, Konami.

 

[Gikoku]

IT LIVES!!! .... sorta..

A teacher/developer created his own tribute remake of the entire P.T. demo on the Unity engine for PC, entitled PuniTy. It's not a perfect remake as it wasn't around long enough for everyone to fully unravel all the hidden goodies the demo had to offer, and a couple things are missing like the radio audio and such. But otherwise, it's the spitting image (even down to the controls and movement).

You can download it now for free as well, probably oughta do it quickly before Konami gets another stick up their butt over it.

Site: http://www.the-outline.com/portfolio/punity-pt-hallway-recreation/
Download Link: http://jedlondo.itch.io/punity (in the pop-up, click: "No thanks, just take me to the downloads", then select your OS of choice)

On the official side of the news, Konami just recently announced a new Silent Hill game... it's a Silent Hill casino slot machine...

Hey Konami...

 

[Precipice]

I had only kinda heard about this news when it first happened. I would have paid more attention had I known it involved Daryl Dixon.
Glad someone pulled something together for it, even if it is just an imperfect clone of a demo.

Just an aside, does everyone here have an extensive gif library?

 

[Quistrix]

It's amazing how quickly Konami has become the most villianized company in gaming over EA. :lol:

Just an aside, does everyone here have an extensive gif library?

Pretty much. Giki more so than others. It's only slightly bigger than his pr0nz collection. :shifty:

 

[Dark Drakan]

Nikkei report: Bad things happening at Konami​

The Summary​

• Culture at the company shifted from traditional, hardcore games to cheaper, social titles in 2010 when Konami shipped a mobile game called Dragon Collection, which earned huge profit at a low budget.
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain‘s development budget has surpassed 10 billion yen ($80 million).
• Kojima Productions is now known as “Number 8 Production Department.” Its computers have no internet access and can only send messages between internal computers.
• Employees that leave the office during lunch beak are monitored with time cards. Those who return late have their names announced throughout the company.
• There are cameras in the office corridors to monitor the movements of Konami’s employees.
• Most Konami employees don’t have their own permanent company e-mail addresses. Staff who deal with people outside the company, such as public relations, do, however, everyone else’s e-mail is routinely randomized and changed every few months.
• Konami developers who aren’t seen as useful are reassigned duties such as security guards, cleaning staff at fitnes clubs, or roles at pachi-slot machine factories. This includes producers who worked on big titles. In 2013, Japanese newspaper Asahi News reported on a former Konami employee who allegedly went from development to working in a Konami pachi-slot factory, which led him into severe depression.
• After announcing on Facebook that he was leaving Konami for a new job, Konami monitored said former employee’s social media post and reshuffled those within the company that “Liked” it.

 

[Gikoku]

Nikkei report: Bad things happening at Konami​

The Summary​

• Culture at the company shifted from traditional, hardcore games to cheaper, social titles in 2010 when Konami shipped a mobile game called Dragon Collection, which earned huge profit at a low budget.
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain‘s development budget has surpassed 10 billion yen ($80 million).
• Kojima Productions is now known as “Number 8 Production Department.” Its computers have no internet access and can only send messages between internal computers.
• Employees that leave the office during lunch beak are monitored with time cards. Those who return late have their names announced throughout the company.
• There are cameras in the office corridors to monitor the movements of Konami’s employees.
• Most Konami employees don’t have their own permanent company e-mail addresses. Staff who deal with people outside the company, such as public relations, do, however, everyone else’s e-mail is routinely randomized and changed every few months.
• Konami developers who aren’t seen as useful are reassigned duties such as security guards, cleaning staff at fitnes clubs, or roles at pachi-slot machine factories. This includes producers who worked on big titles. In 2013, Japanese newspaper Asahi News reported on a former Konami employee who allegedly went from development to working in a Konami pachi-slot factory, which led him into severe depression.
• After announcing on Facebook that he was leaving Konami for a new job, Konami monitored said former employee’s social media post and reshuffled those within the company that “Liked” it.

Wow, that is horrible! I can't even fathom how those working conditions are even legal. There comes a point where a company can still turn things around, but then there's situations like this where all hopes of salvaging your precious titanic is lost. I hope those employees are able to quickly find new positions elsewhere and get the hell off that sinking ship. There's a big difference between actually running a company and pulling a get-rich-quick scheme for your higher ups, Konami's on borrowed time with this. Screw them.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Wow, that is horrible! I can't even fathom how those working conditions are even legal. There comes a point where a company can still turn things around, but then there's situations like this where all hopes of salvaging your precious titanic is lost. I hope those employees are able to quickly find new positions elsewhere and get the hell off that sinking ship. There's a big difference between actually running a company and pulling a get-rich-quick scheme for your higher ups, Konami's on borrowed time with this. Screw them.

Its one thing to make an apparent 'business decision' to get rid of a well loved developer (Kojima) but its another thing when it comes out that you treat your staff so poorly. Doesnt exactly make their apparent excuse to getting rid of Kojima look all that believable when this is how they treat everyone, its appalling.

 

[Gikoku]

Its one thing to make an apparent 'business decision' to get rid of a well loved developer (Kojima) but its another thing when it comes out that you treat your staff so poorly. Doesnt exactly make their apparent excuse to getting rid of Kojima look all that believable when this is how they treat everyone, its appalling.

Yeah and turns out it's commonplace over in Japan for companies to work their employees like this and treat them like cheap meat. Which is why if they do speak up to others, it usually ends up falling on deaf ears. Wouldn't surprise me if a lot of Japanese devs are finally seeing that European & American developers can still make great games with comfortable working conditions, so they're now realizing "Huh. Guess things don't have to be this way after all."

Going back I actually remember an old story from the Silent Hill programmer for the original game on PS1. He essentially lived in his office, sleeping under his desk while all the top-tier employees got to go home to their warm homes and dinners, while he slaved over the game's code behind their backs making it into the game he wanted it to be despite his given orders to turn it into a Hollywood-esque cliche. As awful as that was though, when they found out, they gave him a big promotion and the rest became history... until Konami recently killed it of course.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Seems not everyone gets their hard work appreciated & Konami actually try to downplay the role of some staff & their importance...

 

[Gikoku]

Seems not everyone gets their hard work appreciated & Konami actually try to downplay the role of some staff & their importance...

My god. It honestly sounds like Konami is being ran by HAL 9000 or some other cold, apathetic, synthetic being incapable of rational and caring thought.

If you can't manage to work and communicate with your employees on an even level, how in the world can you ever hope to survive for long? Especially when you're most certainly not the only game in town. Konami won't last and they're heading towards a painful and embarrassing demise, I miss the old days of what felt like a much-less corporate industry. Make fun games to make fun games instead of trying to maximize profits with minimal effort.

 

[Dark Drakan]

My god. It honestly sounds like Konami is being ran by HAL 9000 or some other cold, apathetic, synthetic being incapable of rational and caring thought.

If you can't manage to work and communicate with your employees on an even level, how in the world can you ever hope to survive for long? Especially when you're most certainly not the only game in town. Konami won't last and they're heading towards a painful and embarrassing demise, I miss the old days of what felt like a much-less corporate industry. Make fun games to make fun games instead of trying to maximize profits with minimal effort.

Things like this shouldn't be happening in this day and age, companies shouldn't be allowed to get away with this sort of practice. They have turned into a corporation that doesn't care about employees & everyone is just a number to make them a profit they aren't even treated as human beings never mind valued members of a team.