Konami goes crazy for the 3DS
In what can only be described as an enthusiastic outpouring of support for Nintendo's new handheld, Konami has announced no less than five titles in the works for the 3DS. We get the obligatory sports games--Pro Evo Soccer and an unnamed baseball title--along with new entries in the Frogger and Contra franchises. What really excites me, however, is Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D: The Naked Sample. You read that right--Hideo Kojima wasn't just blue-skying during the developer reel shown at Nintendo's press conference.
I'm not going to lie, Snake Eater is probably my favorite entry in the MGS series. It mixed the perfect balance of gameplay ease and complexity with a largely cohesive (and quite compelling) Cold War thriller plot that left the convoluted MGS2 behind, if only for a time. Kojima is known for using every last feature in a piece of game hardware to its fullest potential, all the way back to the PS1, so I can't imagine what his twisted mind will do with 3D. This is also his first time bringing MGS to a Nintendo platform since Twin Snakes in 2004.
I was afraid the 3DS would be just another throwaway gimmick machine, a dumping ground for more party games, but with so much early support from a publisher like Konami, I might have to eat my words down the line.
KONAMI ANNOUNCES HIDEO KOJIMA'S METAL GEAR SOLID SNAKE EATER 3D "The NAKED Sample", CONTRA, FROGGER, BASEBALL
(working title) AND PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER FOR NINTENDO 3DS™
World Renowned Stealth, Action and Sports Videogame Franchises Make Their Way to Nintendo's Forthcoming 3D Hand-Held System
El Segundo, Calif. - June 15, 2010 - Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced five new titles, including HIDEO KOJIMA'S METAL GEAR SOLID SNAKE EATER 3D "The NAKED Sample", Winning Eleven series / Pro Evolution Soccer series, Contra, Frogger, and Baseball (working title), that are currently in development for the Nintendo 3DS™ handheld system.
"We are extremely thrilled to confirm that Konami has five major titles in development for Nintendo's 3DS system," said Shinji Hirano, President for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "Bringing popular franchises such as Metal Gear Solid, Pro Evolution Soccer, Contra and Frogger to the 3D realm is an exciting endeavor for us and we cannot wait to share more news in the coming months."
Stay tuned for more announcements! For more information on Konami's products, please visit www.konami.com.
About Konami
Konami is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties and traditional trading card games. Konami's software titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, DanceDanceRevolution and Castlevania, among other top sellers. Konami is also the manufacturer of the wildly popular Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, which has sold more than 22 billion cards worldwide. The latest information about Konami can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. Konami Corporation is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, and Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany. Konami Corporation is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KNM. Details of the products published by Konami can be found at www.konami.com.
KONAMI is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION.
Nintendo 3DS™ is a trademark of Nintendo.
