The Konami Pre E3 Show Wrap Up

Today, Konami held their pre-E3 event, showing off all the new games that they are planning to show at the convention. The event started with a short rundown of Konami’s history followed by a few short discussions on Konami’s latest projects such as their new push toward mobile games and the release of Dance Dance Revolution Classroom Edition. They then say that Konami is all about Joy and Fun. Snappy motto, but that’s not what we are here for. We want to see the games!

On the social end of things, Kung Fu Factory has signed with Konami and will be bringing us Domo Jump. Konami will also be producing MLB Live Challenge, a new social and mobile baseball simulation. They are also going to be working on two new “Casino” titles, Slot Revolution and Casino League. These games will be developed by Konami’s new Orange County Development Studio.

The event then switched over to PES 2014, Konami’s hit soccer title. The game will utilize an entirely new game engine that was created exclusively for PES. The engine comes in six parts, TrueBall Tech, M.A.S.S., PES ID, Team Play, Heart, and The Core. TrueBall Tech gives the player realistic ball control, allowing players to dance around the ball. M.A.S.S. stands for Motion Animation Stability System and simulates body contact. Heart refers to the game’s implementation of team morale and player motivation levels that are affected by home and away environments. They did not go into detail about the other aspects of the engine.

Up next was what most fans were waiting for, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Kojima took the stage to talk about the story of the game, which is set in 1984, when Snake is 49 years old. He explains that as being the reason for replacing David Hayter with Keifer Sutherland; he wanted to have someone who could accurately voice snake as he was in his late fourties. They gave us a few shots of Sutherland in a motion capture studio, but didn’t actually show off any real gameplay. They did mention that the game would be more open world than previous Metal Gear titles, however.

The presentation then switched over to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. The game picks up where the teaser in Lords of Shadow 1 left off, with Gabriel completely turned into the vampire Dracula, barely surviving in the modern day. Gabriel/Dracula returns as the main character, though this time he fights with a sword and gauntlets as well as a whip. He will also have different abilities that he can use to break down enemy defenses and deal damage. It almost feels like DmC in that Gabriel can hot swap his weapons in the middle of combat. They too said that the title would be far more open world than its predecessor, and that the new engine that they will be using will eliminate load times completely. The game is scheduled to come out later this year on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

After a long new Lords of Shadow 2 trailer which showed off some interesting teases, such as a quick shot of Alucard, we get… a parody video from Mega 64… where a fat guy in a Dracula costume pesters random people on the street. Well, it looks like the show is over!

E3 proper kicks off next Tuesday. We will bring you full previews and first impressions of Konami’s new titles when we get a chance to visit their booth on the convention floor.