Side Quest, Episode 59: A Brief History of Konami (Patreon)

A Brief History of Konami -- CLS Side Quest

Founded as a jukebox repair company some five decades ago, Konami rapidly turned into one of Japan's most beloved publishers and developers of video games, giving the world the likes of Metal Gear, Castlevania, Contra, and more. But as the corporation became more and more distracted by profitable ventures outside of core gaming, its reputation began to collapse. Not that the company cares all that much. Today, Konami is a shadow of its former self to hardcore games consumers at the same time it's raking in record revenues and profits. So just what's going on over there, anyway? Well, to understand what's happening now, it's important we first go back and explore the past. Colin's Last Stand: Side Quest is free of baked-in ads, product placement, and other obnoxious forms of advertising because of your support. Please consider subscribing to CLS' Patreon to show your support for independent content: http://www.patreon.com/colinslaststand Listen to Sacred Symbols, CLS' PlayStation podcast (also available on podcast services and here on YouTube): https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/STU5682506591 Listen to the CLS interview podcast, Colin’s Last Stand: Fireside Chats (also available on podcast services): https://soundcloud.com/colinslaststand Listen to the CLS retro podcast, Colin’s Last Stand: KnockBack (also available on podcast services): http://soundcloud.com/clsknockback Twitter: @notaxation Instagram: @clsmoriarty Facebook: /colinslaststand Colin's Last Stand is a product of Colin's Last Stand, LLC PO Box 1233 | Santa Monica, CA 90406 Much of the gameplay seen in this video was captured for CLS. The following videos were also used, in part, in the creation of this episode of Side Quest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOiEOnhiGlU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0vznFnBWAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVSRjJL1bv8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxVmMA3EyF8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBXpTMGyYXg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNLPiW2SzDI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOFpSsed5yQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcaMw4aCz4c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLgkM0PA6qY Still imagery for this episode of Side Quest was garnered, in part, from the following sources: Amazon, Deviant Art, Dot Tech, eStarland, GaijinPot, Games Revisited, Glitchwave, Moby Games, NicePNG, Reddit, RegMedia, Success Story, Tumblr, Variety, Wikia, Wikimedia, Wikipedia, Win Condition Games, ytmig, and Zenius-I-Vanisher. The following sources were cited while writing the script for this episode of Side Quest: https://www.konami.com/corporate/en/history/ https://www.arcade-museum.com/manuf_detail.php?manuf_id=1467&orig_game_id=&sort=3 http://system16.com/chronology.php?id=5 http://gamebase.retrogames.com/game1976.htm https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9671 https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/a796330/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-frogger/ https://www.giantbomb.com/scramble/3030-14662/ https://www.giantbomb.com/gradius/3030-15508/ https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/17/2712980/the-konami-code-history https://www.glitterberri.com/developer-interviews/konami-the-nintendo-era/ https://mashable.com/2013/08/30/konami-codes/ https://tokensonly.com/2012/05/01/stern-production-numbers-and-more-cci-photos/ https://www.thewealthrecord.com/celebs-bio-wiki-salary-earnings-2019-2020-2021-2022-2023-2024-2025/other/konami-net-worth/ https://www.konami.com/gaming/systems/News/TabId/129/ArtMID/1306/ArticleID/104/footer/AboutSynkros.aspx https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-08-09/yu-gi-oh-sets-guinness-record-with-22.6-billion-cards https://www.konami.com/games/corporate/en/news/release/20130327/ https://www.konami.com/corporate/en/business/health.html https://successstory.com/companies/konami https://watchusplaygames.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/classic-egm-review-castlevania-symphony-of-the-night-ps1-from-egm-100/ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-10-konami-continues-overall-growth-with-mobile-focus http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107042-Silent-Hill-Artist-Claims-Konami-Disbanded-Team-Silent https://www.polygon.com/2015/12/16/10220356/hideo-kojima-konami-explainer-metal-gear-solid-silent-hills https://www.polygon.com/2015/12/16/10270432/hideo-kojima-new-studio-playstation https://kotaku.com/report-konami-is-treating-its-staff-like-prisoners-1721700073 https://www.gamblinginsider.com/in-depth/3055/konamis-new-direction https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/konami-silent-metal-gear-survive-1202807407/ https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/536909-konami-profits https://successstory.com/companies/konami