Oh hey, Konami. Forgot about you

 More like- 'Weird Football'

There's much to criticise about the gaming world and those who make a living providing for it, because as with any industry in the world today, those who try to exploit it typically do so in the most outlandish and obvious ways that it's simply insane how often they get away with their fumbling's. These people are some of the most shameless, and least scrupulous, individuals in suits; and yet they can feed their audience the flesh of roadkill and still turn up to see thousands of waiting plates. It astounds me. And it's when these companies and executives reach this position, as I call it 'the too-big-to-fail stage', and they recognise that they're there; that's when all the penny pinching starts getting kicked into overdrive. Thus has been the case with a company who has been so under the radar lately that it's honestly a surprise to see them again; yet I should have know that when Konami returned to the spotlight, it would be in a stunt both baffling and embarrassing to themselves and all who support them. (Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed)

But first let me take a moment to bring all of you up to date with the Football scene- yes this is another Sports game story, so be it. Back in the days when Football games actually produced decent entries, there were two competitors for best Football title down here in England, Fifa was favoured because it generally had a monopoly on scoring club licences and thus you could play as actual teams, but PES (Pro Evolution Soccer) was known as the technically superior game. (I can't tell you ways which it was technological superior, but that was the way the fan divide was split) As the years went by and Fifa slowly had it's soul devoured by EA, people began recategorizing PES as the series which still had it's soul, against the competitor who long since sold out to recurrent monetisation and selling gambling to kids. In a move most unlike Konami, they had the moral high ground.

Now I haven't actually kept up to date with PES games of late, I'm not a Football fan, so maybe recent years have seen the dial slowly turning in the opposite direction as Konami's true nature struggled to get out. All I know is that when something as drastic happens as the series changing it's name and core model, that's something worth paying attention to. Previous PES was another football game which operated much like Fifa did, only with a lot more tools to make custom teams and the like so that player's could covertly create the real teams that the company weren't licensed to include. Now that series has been scrapped in favour of eFootball, which isn't just a horribly awful title, it's also a free-to-play football platform wherein you can pay to buy new game modes. What?

I feel like Konami are positioning themselves to be alternate universe Fifa right now, doing things so wild that EA higher ups are slapping themselves for not doing first. ("How could we not think to charge them for game modes?") Now in their defence, and trust me you won't be hearing that often in this little chat, the Free-to-play model does earn a lot of slack for this eFootball game. It's not a £70, premium edition, repeat-of-last-year rip-off game that than tries to wring literal blood from your stone-cold heart. The game is free and thus monetisation is a given. That being said, we still got to have some standards as consumers, don't we? I mean, EA and Konami and their like treat us like mindless drones, but we're not that. Are we? So in proving that some slim shadow of pride still resides in my soul I'm going to go out and say it; giving out a demo, calling it a full game, and then charging people to unlock the rest it piece by piece is a bit much, Konami. Might want to turn your 'money-hungry megalomaniac' dial down a notch.

Hardly a week before launch, Konami have made a concerted effort to let everyone know exactly what they're about and where this free-to-play title of their is going through a pre-order pack with microtransactions. Yeah that's right, you can pre-order a free-to-play game in order to scoop up some of that sweet virtual currency day one and a few free pulls on the one arm bandit; or as they put it, "8 chance deals when you pre-order." Typical methodology for selling games like these is to get the thing out under an air of anonymity, wait for the reviews to drop, and then introduce all the crippling microtransactions. In this light I have to give Konami credit once again; they're being impressively upfront about everything they're doing. Doesn't make it any less concerning, but there it is.

And what are these 'Chance deals'? They're players that you can buy up and sign onto your team in a mode that I can only imagine is specifically worded not to use the word 'ultimate' or 'team' as desperately as possible, because it's an obvious rip-job. I'm glad that Konami at least have their priorities straight with this new Football experiment that they're trying, securing the ultimate team clone before, you know, finishing the thing. Oh didn't I mention? When the game launched players will only be able to play local matches with Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern and Manchester United. That's all. Now I know this is a free game, again, but that is the single most pathetic feature set I think I've ever heard of from a sports game. "But don't worry" Konami begs "Because at a later date you'll be able to buy individual game modes as DLC." Considering they're selling those 8 character pulls for 33$, (That's 5.50 a player, because the extra two pulls come free) I don't even want to imagine how much fans are going to have to cough up before this demo-of-a-game begins to resemble a somewhat complete package.

I'm being a pessimist, sure, but this whole thing just boggles the mind. Truly. Are Konami now so bust with their- nothing else going on, that they can't even put an entire football game together in order to monetise it to hell and back? Surely only the morbidly curious and truly desperate are going to end up going to a game more featureless than an Atari Football title. And I hate to speak favourably about an EA game (you know that) but does anyone really think the price of making this game any where near as optional complete as the latest Fifa is will cost any less than $70? Because if you do than you are truly leagues more full of faith than I. All I can see is a desperate attempt to buy a game that fits the China market of free-to-play dominance in the vague hope their gamers are undemanding enough to become Konami's next whales.

Or, heck, maybe this is a desperate cry for help as Konami are truly trying to get themselves out of the gaming market. They've been at this long enough, and ever since just before Kojima was fired it seems like everything has been spiralling down and out of control. Everything they pursue has turned to dust in front of their eyes and it's got to take a huge emotional (and financial) strain to watch an army of beloved fans turn their backs, and wallets, against you. I'd call throwing a pathetic featureless demo at you fans in the blind hope that they imprint on it a pretty succinct farewell note. And if that is the case then I respect the belated retirement letter, it's been a while coming, and I just need to know who gets the IPs in the will 'cause I can think of one guy who might have a good idea or two for a few of them. (RIP Konami, you crazy nutcases)