The real rise of KONAMI was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when it relied on a large number ofFC GamesThe success of software and a large number of well madeArcade gameKONAMI is invincible in the Japanese video game market. By 1992, KONAMI had become the top third-party manufacturer in Japan.1992Sega《VR racing》, 1993NAMCO《Ridge Racer》And Sega's《VR Warrior》It's up3D GamesPeople began to expect 3D gamesHousehold computerThe presence on the platform.Although KONAMI has a strong economic strength, it is congenitally deficient in technology. In this new revolution, KONAMI was greatly impacted. During the period from 1994 to 1995, the company suffered its first operating loss, with a total net loss per share of $4 in 1995.Later, KONAMI began to redeploy its strategic plan, and its games gradually shifted from shooting to sports and action.After entering 2000, KONAMI once again glowed amazing light. In 1999, KONAMI sharesLondonListing, KONAMI stock officially landed in September 2002New YorkKolomei Co., Ltd. has become the only internationally listed enterprise in the same industry in the world.In 2002, the turnover of KONAMI exceeded 250 billion yen, deserving of being the leader of Japanese game software companies.
After years of development, KONAMI has grown into a world-famous international entertainment enterprise, mainly engaged in home entertainmentsoftware product Manufacture and sales of online games and other electronic entertainment products.The health club operated by it covers large scaleArcade, magazine publications, fitness clubs, sporting goods“Bo Qingge”pachinko Etc.By the end of March 2002, there were 219 branches,Market shareIt ranks first in Japan.
As a typical high-yield software manufacturer, KONAMI has produced numerous well-known classics in its more than 20 years of game development career. Although most players only like some of KONAMI's games, there are not many players who really like KONAMI.This may be because KONAMI is really a software vendor with changeable style.KONAMI's most common method is to conceive a wonderfulGame creativity, and then continue to launch sequels or derivatives based on this idea, until all players hate this idea before developing other theme games.Therefore, players often love and hate the same series of KONAMI games.But extract the last drop of the productcommercial value It is also the inevitable law of commercial society!After all, the number of classic games brought by KONAMI is at least unmatched by other third-party manufacturers.
KONAMI itself does not make games.There are three departments responsible for the specific production of games: specialized productionHousehold computerKCE (Konami Computer Entertainment) of the game and AM (Amusement Machines) and GM (Gaming Machines) specialized in making commercial game consoles.By the way, at first, the logo of Konami was in italics.The explanation on its official homepage is: "This symbolizes that Konami has become a very stable enterprise."
KONAMI HD Company (Kolomei) of Japan released its interim financial report for March 2017 (from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017), with annual sales of 229.9 billion yen (8.0% lower than the same period in 2015), operating profit of 36.3 billion yen (47.3% higher than the same period in 2015), pre tax profit of 35.5 billion yen (49.5% higher than the same period in 2015), and final profit of 25.9 billion yen (2.4 times higher than the same period in 2015),It is in the reduced gain state as a whole.[1]
In February 2022, Kolomei announced thatGreenwoodRemoved from its football game lineup.[2]
On July 13, 2022, Kolomei announced that《Game King: Master Duel》The number of downloads has exceeded 40 million.[3]
Main departments
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In Japan, Konami mainly owns the following companies and departments:
There are also several companies, but the main ones are the above.KCE has appeared beforeNagoya（KCEN）、KCEKobe（KCEK）、KCESapporo、KCEyokohama 、KCERoppongi （KCER）、KCEShinjuku、KCGlush mountain(G: Games), but later they were merged and absorbed by other departments.Practice has proved that this decentralized corporate management system is more suitable for today's stagnant Japanese economy and helps to improve operating efficiency.
KCE Tokyo
Together with KEC Osaka, it is the earliest company of KEC, and the most important part of Kolomei.His representative works are numerous, including《Tokimeki Memorial》Love simulation games led by《Suikoden》Series, the best football games《Live football》Series, etc., in addition《DDR》And《Gradius V》And other works.KEC Tokyo is a prolific company, and the diversity of Konami can be fully seen from it alone.Ps: It is said that Heartbeat Memory and Cosmic Cruiser were produced by a development team.
KCE Osaka
To make《Big Robber Five Blessing Guard Gate》Series and "Powerful Professional Baseball" series.Although other KEC companies have also made these two games, most of them are made by them.In addition, KEC Osaka is the first company to list shares among these companies, and it also shares shares withNintendoCooperate to form special productionGBAThe main player of the game's "Mobile21" company.
KCE JAPAN
It is divided into two groups, KCEJ West and KCEJ EAST. West is commonly known as "Island Group", that isHideo Kojima Your group.In addition to production“Metal Gear Acid”In addition to the series, we also carried out some activities such asdance dance revolutionGame transplantation.EAST, the original "KCE Shinjuku" company, specializes in making some games adapted from comic books and animation works, the most famous of which is《Yu-Gi-Oh!》Series.
KCE STUDIO
It is merged by KCE Sapporo and KCE Yokohama.There are many games produced, but not many are famous, because most of them are transplanted works.The main products are "Muscle Fanfu" series and "Pop'music" series.
KCE SCHOOL
It is dedicated to cultivating talents for Kolomei, and each KCE company has its own branch school.It is said that the teaching standards of the school are quite strict.
AM Business Headquarters
Special producerVideo game machineHowever, it is said that both the AM Business Department and the GM Business Department have participated in the development of music gamesBenign competitionFrom the beatmania series to the DDR series, and then to the pop 'music series, it is not unrelated to the fierce competition between them to launch so many excellent products.It is also easy to distinguish the products of these two departments. The logo image of AM products is accompanied by the sound of "jingling...", while GM products do not.
GM Business Headquarters
After all music games were assigned to AM Business Headquarters, he mainly engaged in the development of a gambling game machine called "medal".In fact, GM has a wide range of businesses. All kinds of commercial amusement devices without screens are made here.
CS Business Headquarters
Consumer Software is a department specially responsible for the sales of Konami home games.Actualsoftware developmentKEC is responsible for all, CS is only responsible for sales, in addition, it also publishes a special magazine called KONAMI MAGAZINE.
CP Business Headquarters
A short term for Character Products, which is specialized in producing and selling some gamesPeripheral products，《Tokimeki Memorial》When it was popular, it even produced high school uniforms.They often sell their products in large quantities at some game exhibitions.It is not only the game of Kolomei, but also some game peripheral products of other game companies.Similar to CS Department, it also publishes a magazine called KONAMI LOOK.
PS Business Headquarters
PS here does not meanPlayStation, but "PachinkoSlot"（one-arm bandit）(isBo QinggeBozi machine), which is specialized in producing slot machines.
SP Business Headquarters
Sport Club is not a department that produces sports games, but a specialized health club.
HE Business Headquarters
The short term of Health Entertainment is to produce some products integrating fitness and entertainment, and also produce and sell some sporting goods.
Company Profile
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Different from other game manufacturers, it is difficult for people to make an accurate positioning for Konami.《Silent Hill》《Tokimeki Memorial》《Red Fortress》《Green Beret 》《Contra》《Castlevania》《Metal Gear Acid》《Saroman snake》《Live football》These game series are well-known to everyone, and they are homeboy artifacts《loveplus》, was once very popularDDR？After careful consideration, we can only draw the following conclusion: Konami is like a person who is constantly running, and every corner of the game industry has left its footprints until the whole machine dominates, which has witnessed the history of the game.As a game title, fromMSXKonami, which has dominated since then, should start from ACCommercial machineWe started to "run". Now let's talk about“Forrest Gump”Give a more complete introduction.
Konami, which started as a shooting game
I believe most players have playedRed and white machineKONAMI four in one bar on（《Contra》《Saroman snake》《Castlevania》And《Red Fortress》）。In fact, Saroman Snake is just a branch of the famous shooting game series "GRADIUS" of Konami. As a relatively large game series, GRADIUS is roughly composed of three parts: "orthodox GRADIUS series", "Saroman Snake series" and "PARODIUS series".
The original GRADIUS was first introduced on the commercial aircraft in 1985.Before that, the most popular shooting game was based onnamco"XEVIOUS series" produced by the companyVertical shootinggame.The appearance of GRADIUS has caused quite a stir. It stands out among many commercial aircraft with its unique charm: horizontal shooting type, power can be enhanced by obtaining energy capsules, and sub aircraft can be equipped.After that, Konami took advantage of the hot iron and successfully transplanted GRADIUS to MSX and red and white machines. At that time, Konami becameShooting gameA pronoun for.
However, the company has such a problem: once it meets a business opportunity, it will seize it and try every means to earn players' hard-earned money from it until people will turn their stomach when they see the game (which may be too much).In addition to transplanting GRADIUS on the MSX, red and white machines, PC88, X1, and X68000, in 1986, Konami launched the "Shaloman Snake" on the commercial machine, which has a world view very similar to that of GRADIUS. The Shaloman Snake should be the first shooting game that can be played by two people at the same time.
In August 1987, GRADIUS II was first sold on MSX and appeared on commercial aircraft in March 1988.The pictures of the second generation are much more gorgeous than those of the first generation, among which the gorgeous firebird image leaves a deep impression, and the game also gainsGAMESTa grand prix.
Since then, Konami has launched many shooting games one after another.More famous are the first funny shooting game "PARODIUS", the first generation and the second generation of "THONDER CROSS", which are more targeted at beginners than GRADIUS (the composer of the second generation is METAL YUHKI, who also played《Tokimeki Memorial》Musical composition), the role image is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people“TwinBee ”The highest peak of GRADIUS series is "GRADIUS Generation III", "XEXEX" and "Saroman Snake Generation II", which are famous for their beautiful pictures and unique systems.
However, for unknown reasons, the difficulty of the game launched by Kelomei became higher and higher, and ordinary players could not adapt to it, which gradually caused dissatisfaction among players, and the sales volume became lower and lower.Until enteringNext generationAfter the era of modelsSSSexyParodius andPSThe Konami shooting game represented by "GRADIUS" on has ushered in a short spring.However, the appearance of "GRADIUS IV" on commercial aircraft in 1999 completely overturned the confidence of players in the GRADIUS seriesbugThere are as many as 70 or 80 places, and the game can not be played normally.Hiroko Machiguchi, the main producer of GRADIUS series, known as the "father of shooting games", also lost his reputation because of this game.Many Japanese players are unwilling to face this reality and speculate that Machikou has not really participated in the production of GRADIUS IV.
Although afterPS2The GRADIUS collection of three generations and four generations also appeared on theGBAGRADIUS works appeared on the website, but we have to admit that the era of shooting games of Konami (even the whole industry) has long gone.
Game Skills
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KONAMI secret skill is a famousvideo gameSecret skill: input with the handle of the video game machine.The input code is: BA from top to bottom, left to right.
KONAMI secret skills can be used in many KONAMI games.It first appeared in KONAMI's game in 1986《Space cruiser》Medium, later gameContraAnd carry forward the secret skills of KONAMI.
The utility of this secret skill is applicable to different games issued by the company, but it is not always applicable, and it has different effects in different games. For example, in the "Cosmic Cruiser", the player's weapon equipment reaches the peak full status immediately, while in other games, it may be a level choice, even invincible.
Interestingly, some well-known websites also use this secret technique as their "eggs".such asTudouAfter entering this secret skill on any video playing page,Video playerIt will disappear temporarily, and a tag with the words "Letter potato, resurrect in situ after death, full status. HP+100%" will fly in from the left side. Later, it will prompt to disappear and resume the display of the player, during which the video playback will not pause.
