So Konami Wants to Win Back Gamer's Trust

As someone who grew up playing Castlevania, Contra, Gradius and the late '80s and '90s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games, it sucks to see Konami devolve into the company that it currently is. Not only has Konami treated its own employees like utter crap, they've also given console and PC gamers a giant middle finger by focusing game development exclusively on mobile and pachinko machines. Nintendo, Capcom and Square Enix have made some pretty dumb decisions over the years but even at their worst, they aren't as bad as Konami. So you can imagine my mild surprise when I heard that Konami wanted to win back the fanbase that they went above and beyond to spurn so badly.

There's always that one, thankless job that someone has to do. For some people its washing dishes. For others it could be janitorial work. But look on the bright side, at least you're not in Ben's shoes. Who is this Ben? Why, he's Konami's social media man. He's been on Reddit defending Konami from the onslaught of criticism they've been receiving. I don't think there's a single sane person on this planet that is well aware of the mess Konami has made that would rally with Ben to defend them, but he has said that Konami wishes to win back those that they've pushed away.

Now we've all heard this kinda thing from numerous companies that have alienated fans at one point or another. While this is the first time Konami has made mention of setting things right, I, like I imagine many of you, don't really believe them. This is largely in part because Konami has royally effed up, but also because anyone can say they want to win you back and until we see some try strides to actually do so, all Konami is producing right now are some pretty unimpressive words.

Konami has made some of their best franchises live on through pachinko machines and after having some killer offerings on consoles in the past, that's hardly what I'd call living. Sure, there's a new Metal Gear game on the horizon for consoles but how do we know Konami won't find some way to screw that up? Even when Hideo Kojima was with the company, they managed to push out an incomplete game in the form of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zero to make for a quick cash grab.

I do think it is good that Konami wants to get fans back but I'm looking at them with a glare and both arms crossed. I've already said more than once in this piece alone that Konami has pulled a lot of crap so going back to them is akin to Harley Quinn crawling back to the Joker after the countless times he's mistreated and abused her. It would be different if the Joker truly changed, but the sad fact is, the clown prince of crime is always going to treat her like a doormat. That isn't to say that Konami can't change, but they've got one seriously steep uphill battle ahead of them if they truly do plan to win their fans back and until they can prove that they mean what they say, I'm going to continue looking at them arms folded, glare and all.