All of this Konami news is exhausting and honestly saddening. To watch such a historically important video game company go through such a rough patch has been extremely difficult. It is hard to digest to say the least. Not only have they muddled up the whole P.T. fiasco, but they also nuked the Kojima relationship. I am sure long time fans of the mega publisher will agree with me when I say that this has been rough. They own so many intellectual properties that matter to so many people. Unfortunately, we got more depressing news from Konami in today’s Gaming Daily: Konami states that mobile gaming will be more of their focal point from now on, Microsoft will be holding a FanFest, and a silver Metallic Mario amiibo will be hitting stores this month and it may not be impossible to nab one.

Konami will be focusing on mobile.

Is this what the end of days looks like? Konami Digital Entertainment President Hideki Hayakawa, while speaking to Nikkei Trend Entertainment, said something that will most certainly make the most hardcore of fans cringe. Here is the statement, filtered through google translate:

“We will pursue mobile games aggressively. Our main platform will be mobiles. Following the pay-as-you-play model of games like Power pro and Winning Eleven with additional content, our games must move from selling things like items to selling things like features.”

Every move that Konami has made from the announcement of Silent Hills being canceled to now, has been a complete mess, with no regard for their fan base. Their plans are becoming clearer each day, even if they have yet to come out and blatantly state them. They are moving away from home consoles, at least to some degree.

This begs the question, is there enough money to be made in making video games? That may sound silly, but companies like Square Enix have been disappointed that their Tomb Raider reboot “only” sold 3.4 million copies in the first month. How is it possible that those types of godly numbers are not enough? It is becoming a more apparent issue for developers and publishers alike. I fear what Konami is doing will become a trend for those that tread the middle ground between indie and huge AAA titles.

The answers given by Hideki Hayakawa also seem to contradict the past sentiments from Konami, when they said that the Metal Gear franchise would be continued as well as the Silent Hill franchise. It is possible to focus more on mobile games while still working on home console titles, but how long until they decide AAA games, even those as historicaly important as Metal Gear and Silent Hill, are just not worth their trouble?

HT: Forbes.com

Microsoft will hold a FanFest celebration for 500 the week of E3.

I love that all of the big three, Sony, Nintendo, and now Microsoft, are giving their most loyal fans a little something extra to be excited about. Microsoft has announced today, that they will be hosting a FanFest for 500 lucky fans during the week of E3. With only 500 tickets available, Microsoft will be giving them away June 14^th in Los Angeles at a location yet to be disclosed.

Expect more news on where you can get one of these bad boys. If you are one of the lucky 500, you can expect a great time with these events planned, straight out of the blog post from Major Nelson:

• Entry into the Xbox E3 2015 Briefing on Monday, June 15^th, 9:30 am PT, at the Galen Center in downtown Los Angeles.
• Invite to the exclusive Xbox FanFest Party, Monday afternoon, June 15^th, where fans will get to play the best exclusives and biggest blockbuster games this holiday and beyond.
• VIP access to the Xbox esports Celebrity Challenge & Twitch Party sponsored by Xbox.
• Meet-and-greet with some of the industry’s top developers, leaders and influencers.
• Even more surprise events during the week.

It looks like it will be a grand time. I am glad that these big companies are realizing more and more that the fans are important.  Even though this is a small gesture, it goes a long way in making consumers feel wanted and important. Nintendo has their Directs in which they speak directly to their loyal fans, Sony had its PlayStation experience, and now Microsoft is giving back as well. Hopefully this trend continues into the future.

HT: MajorNelson.com

Silver Mario amiibo available in stores this month and won’t be a retailer exclusive.

Hey, maybe Nintendo is finally listening to their fanbase. On May 29^th, Nintendo plans to release a metallic silver Mario amiibo, and it won’t be a retailer exclusive. This is great news for collectors of the little figurines (I now own 7) that want to collect them all. Metallic Mario is essentially the same one as the Mario Party 10 version, which is the same as the Wal-Mart exclusive gold one. Therefore, all three can be used on all the same games.

With the amiibo line-up being such a huge hit for Nintendo, I hope they begin to produce a lot more, at least enough so that scalpers lose some of their leverage. As high hoped as I am for that to occur, Nintendo is known to create artificial demand by not producing enough of a product, turning said item into a must have for collectors. Would anyone really care about a Villager toy if it were readily available? Probably not. It works though. If I ever see one of those rare figurines, you better believe I will snatch that sucker up.

In other words, if you are a collector, grab the metallic Mario before it is on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Even if it does feel like a second place trophy.

HT: Gameinformer

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That’s a wrap folks. Another Thursday full of interesting news. Hopefully the end of this train wreck that Konami seems to be in, is almost over. To be fair, Konami will be 100% fine, as they make much more money in their other business ventures that don’t include traditional video games. Make sure to use your NFC abilities to let us know what you think is going on with Konami in the comments section below. Now I am off to watch Mad Max: Fury Road.