TheNPCs » Konami

We're hiring! Click here for more info on Editorial and Development jobs.

Podcast: Non Playable
By: Joe Sayer & Chris Holmes

Review: Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game
By: Matt Purslow

Review: Shank
By: Matt Purslow

PES 2011 demo dated

Posted by Chris Holmes at 3:06pm on September 3rd, 2010

Konami has confirmed that a demo for PES 2011 will be released on the PC and PS3 on 15th September. PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to pick up the demo from 8th September. It’s not currently known when the 360 demo will be released yet, but we’ll let you know when Konami figures it out. Regardless, the demo allows you to take on a friend on the same console/PC or the AI as Barcelona, Bayern, Chivas Guadalajara or Internacional. PES 2011 will be released on 8th October.

Konami | News | PC | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Plus

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow dated

Posted by Chris Holmes at 2:53pm on August 20th, 2010

Konami has announced that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will be released on 5th October in the US and on 8th October in the UK on the PC, PS3 and 360. The game follows Gabriel Belmont, who has to rescue his wife from limbo. Hideo Kojima, whom has led development on the Metal Gear Solid franchise, has also had an overseer role on Lords of Shadow.

Konami | News | PC | PlayStation 3 | UK | US | Xbox 360

No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise coming to PS3 with Move support in Europe

Posted by Chris Holmes at 6:42pm on August 18th, 2010

Konami Europe has decided that it will publish the PS3 port of No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise. They haven’t picked up the 360 version, but they have added PlayStation Move support to the game. Both of the previous Wii No More Heroes games were published by Rising Star Games in Europe.

We’re not sure if the 360 version will ever get released over here or in the US, or whether the US will get the PS3 release. We’ll let you know if they get announced somewhere along the line. Regardless, Japanese gamers can already play the game on the Wii, PS3 and the 360.

Konami | News | PlayStation 3

DDR to support Move on PS3

Posted by Chris Holmes at 10:41am on August 10th, 2010

Konami has announced that DanceDanceRevolution will support the PlayStation Move on the PS3. The game will have 25 new songs by Konami’s in-house artists and 25 licensed tracks.

“For the first time in the history of the franchise, DanceDanceRevolution PS3 will feature a truly interactive dance experience via PlayStation Move as it challenges players to use both their hands and feet simultaneously – providing the most rhythmic and realistic dancing experience yet on PlayStation 3!” Konami said in a press release.

“Additionally, compatibility with the PlayStation EYE allows players to take pictures of their room and add dance club components to transport their home into a virtual club.”

Konami | News | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Move

Metal Gear Solid: Rising details confirmed

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:52am on June 17th, 2010

Konami has given out a few details about Metal Gear Solid: Rising at its E3 press conference. The game is set between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4. It will show how Raiden went through his dramatic transformation to the cyber samurai ninja found in MGS4. There will be futuristic fast-paced stealth, dismemberment and jumping attacks.

You can use the unique cutting ability to take off life, energy, items, information, parts and ammunition off enemies, but you have to be strategic with your cutting angle and what you want to take from Raiden’s foes. Metal Gear Solid: Rising will be released on the 360, PS3 and PC in 2011.

E3 | Konami | News | PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow released “later this fall”

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:22am on June 17th, 2010

Konami has confirmed that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will be released “later this fall” on the 360 and PS3. The announcement was made at their E3 Press Conference. The game is still in development over at MercurySteam, and had input from Hideo Kojima. Here’s the official E3 trailer:

E3 | Konami | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360

Neverdead revealed at Konami E3 Press Conference

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:07am on June 17th, 2010

Konami has announced a new IP at their E3 Press Conference, entitled “NEVERDEAD”. We won’t be capitalising it like them because it looks odd. Regardless, it will be released on the PS3 and 360 at some point. A date was not forthcoming so we have no idea when it’ll be hitting the shelves, but it should be next year by the way the company was hyping it up.

It’s a third-person action adventure, taking place with the world under threat from a demonic plague. Evil has been gone for centuries, with a hero made immortal by demons. The demons return to present day Earth and they’re not very happy. As you may expect, the protagonist turns out to be the immortal hero and has to sort the problem out. To do so, there’s a butterfly design-inspired sword and guns, as well as regeneration.

“For NEVERDEAD, we‘ve introduced some truly exciting new forms of gameplay and sword fighting, including a unique healing mechanism originally designed and conceived by former members of Kojima Productions,” explained Martin Schneider, European Marketing and PR Director for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “Their contributions, and those of the development team, have helped forge a great new action IP to add to Konami’s vast lineup.”

E3 | Konami | News | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360

Konami announces Otomedius Excellent

Posted by Chris Holmes at 11:34pm on June 16th, 2010

Konami has announced Otomedius Excellent for the 360. The game is a sequel to the Japanese-exclusive arcade and 360 title. It features Gradius-style, shoot-em-up gameplay, an improved upgrade system, exclusive DLC and local/online multiplayer for four players. There are nine playable characters and a gallery mode. It’ll be released later this year.

“As the sequel to the 2008 Japanese hit Otomedius Gorgeous, Otomedius Excellent boasts a significant visual and gameplay update since its predecessor,” said Shinji Hirano, President of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “Accompanied by brilliant graphics and an excellent soundtrack, Otomedius Excellent will engage fans with the Gradius franchise on a whole new level.”

E3 | Konami | News | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live | Xbox Live Marketplace

New Silent Hill installment announced at E3

Posted by Matthew Archer at 10:57pm on June 16th, 2010

Konami announced a new installment of the scary, creepy, thriller Silent Hill at their E3 press conference. Silent Hill: Homecoming was the last installment of the series to make an appearance on the PS3 console, which was developed by Foundation 9 Entertainment and Double Helix Games. The new game will be simply titled ‘Silent Hill 8’, (according to the press release, but this is a working title) delivering the same feeling of horror and suspense that we’ve come to expect from the series.

It’s under development over at Czech outfit Vatra Games, but expect series mainstays like weird enemies, parallel worlds, blood, gore and lots of general horror. Apparently the combat will be different than past titles in the series, with Konami promising that it will improve “in a logical direction”.

The game will “try and give gamers a feeling of helplessness and dread”. The trailer shows the walls disintegrating around the player as he tries to survive in the dark and rainy world, accompanied by his faithful flashlight and gun. The game also follows a new protagonist, a convict (the jumpsuit and shackles gave it away a bit) with blonde hair called Murphy Pendleton. A bus transporting him crashes into a ravine, with everyone but him and a female law officer dying. They explore the area and walk straight into Silent Hill. After that, there were some typical Silent Hill moments; torchlight exploration through dark houses, random creatures attacking you for no reason whatsoever and rusted iron features everywhere.

One other interesting bit of information is that the composer who does the music for amazing TV show Dexter, Dan Licht, will be sorting out the music side of the game. Silent Hill 8 is set to be released in 2011 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. We’ll be updating this post with a YouTube embed of the trailer once a high quality video appears.

E3 | Konami | News | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360

Nearly every 3DS game in development listed

Posted by Chris Holmes at 1:22am on June 16th, 2010

Nintendo has released a long list detailing nearly every single 3DS game in development. Nintendo first party titles announced here include Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Paper Mario, PilotWings Resort, Star Fox 64 3D and Steel Driver. Third party titles include Capcom’s Resident Evil Revelations and Super Street Fighter IV, SEGA’s Sonic and Super Monkey Ball, and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Lost Legacy. There’s loads more on the full list. It’s available after the jump.

Read the rest of this story »

Activision | Capcom | E3 | EA | Harmonix | Konami | Namco Bandai | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | SEGA | Square Enix | THQ | Take-Two | Ubisoft | Warner Bros

First Metal Gear Solid Rising gameplay trailer

Posted by Chris Holmes at 9:58pm on June 14th, 2010

Kojima tagged his new apprentice in to show a new gameplay trailer for Metal Gear Solid Rising at Microsoft’s E3 conference. Here’s the new trailer:

E3 | Konami | Microsoft | Xbox 360

Posted by Chris Holmes at 7:45am on June 13th, 2010

Hey guys, it’s that time of year again when we all gather round our computer screens like the nerds that we are and cheer game announcements. This is our first E3 in our current form, but we have tested and re-tested our equipment and everything seems good to go. We’ll be there, and will be offering live text feeds (with images, audio and video if we get time) from the big press conferences. Expect all the usual news coverage you know and love from us, as well as a few surprises sprinkled on top. Other sites might be going for the experience or as teen frat boys, but we’re going because this is E3 and because you guys deserve factual coverage.

The links for each conference will go up half an hour before they begin, and will be available after the break on each post you’ll see on the homepage. Just click the “continue reading” text link on each of our conference posts and it’ll take you to our weird and wonderful coverage.

Here’s a list of the major press conferences this year in chronological order (we’ll be posting links to our live coverage for each of these when they begin):

Microsoft – Monday June 14th 10:30am PDT (See what time that is for you)

EA – Monday June 14th 2:00pm PDT (See what time that is for you)

Ubisoft – Monday June 14th 5:00pm PDT (See what time that is for you)

Activision – Monday June 14th 9:00pm PDT (See what time that is for you)

Nintendo – Tuesday June 15th 9:00am PDT (See what time that is for you)

Sony – Tuesday June 15th 12:00pm PDT (See what time that is for you)

Konami – Wednesday, June 16th 1:00pm PDT (See what time that is for you)

Activision | E3 | EA | Gaming Culture | Konami | Microsoft | News | Nintendo | Sony | Ubisoft

Konami to stream E3 presentation online

Posted by Kevin Prince at 1:24pm on June 5th, 2010

Konami has announced that they will be live streaming their E3 presentation at http://www.konami.com/e3. The conference will begin at 1pm PST (find out what time that is in your corner of the world here) on Wednesday 16th June. You have to sign up for an “honorary Konami press pass” in order to access the feed. We suggest you do it now before the carnage of E3 begins.

E3 | Konami | News

Def Jam Rapstar dated

Posted by Chris Holmes at 3:39pm on June 3rd, 2010

Konami and Autumn Games have announced that Def Jam Rapstar will be released in the UK on November 5th for the 360, PS3 and Wii. They have also announced six new songs for the game: Drake’s “Best I Ever Had”, Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean”, Tinchy Stryder featuring N-Dubz’ “Number 1”, Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend”, Pete Rock and CL Smooth’s “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” and Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It”.

It has also been confirmed that DJ Premier and Just Blaze are the first confirmed producers to provide exclusive instrumental beats for Def Jam Rapster’s Freestyle Mode.DJ Premier’s track is called “JJ’s Beat”, and Just Blaze’s track is called “On the One”.

Konami | News | Nintendo Wii | PlayStation 3 | UK | Xbox 360

N3II: Ninety-Nine Nights demo now available

Posted by Chris Holmes at 10:14pm on May 27th, 2010

Konami has released a demo of N3II: Ninety-Nine Nights on the Xbox Live Marketplace. It is available in all Xbox Live regions except Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, India, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland. There is no word on what the demo contains at present.

Konami | News | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live Marketplace