Hi all!
I went to the ECTS this year in London, a big show for game developers (I'm
a GameBoy Color developer). Kind of like the E3 in the USA, but no
consumers or students are allowed. I went to Konami, and with some effort I
managed to get an appointment with the head of Konami in Holland, Paul Groen!
Paul is the same guy that gave MCCM the permission for putting Konami ROMs
on their CD's and it's also the guy that asked the late Klaas the Wind to
borrow the NES Metal Gear cartridge. BTW, Paul was shocked by Klaas' death,
he knew him from all the letters Klaas had sent over the years.
Anyway, the reason I went to Konami was not for a trivial conversation
(cows and calfs ;)), but to ask them if they were planning on porting their
old MSX titles to GBC, and if not if I could do it. Paul told me Konami
does everything in-house, to limit possible legal and financial issues.
They have 2 Universities in Japan (one in Tokyo, and one I can't remember)
in which talented people can enjoy a 4-year education. Also, Konami has 48
(if I remember well) development teams spread throughout Japan, Korea and
some other asian countries. They have one dev team in Chicago as well (KCEC).
So, after he basically told me I could not port Konami stuff without being
a Konami employee, he introduced me to the Head Developer in Japan! That
guy is like 22 years old or something, and graduated with the highest
grades from Konami University. I don't know his last name, because it seems
everyone is on a first-name basis. Anyway, this guy Aki was the leader of
the Metal Gear Solid team!
Aki told me about Konami's plans to port their old games to GameBoy Color,
including their MSX and NES titles. Furthermore, these ports (unlike the
Konami MSX Antiques on PSX, and the Konami GB Collections on Gameboy) WILL
be released in Europe and the USA! It's gonna happen pretty soon as well!
Also, next year Konami will open a Research & Development department in
London.
I'd never been to a show like this before, I've seen the newest releases,
played the latest alpha or beta versions, and talked to the biggest
companies in the world. Hell, even the President of Sunsoft was impressed
with my game! One thing's for sure, next year I'm gonna go to the Tokyo
Game Show! :)
Patriek
,--. ,-------. ,--. Homepage: \"To make a mistake is
| '--.| __ \ \__/ http://www.tni.nl/ / human, but to really
| __|| | | | ,--. E-mail: \ fuck things up, you
| | | | | | | | [EMAIL PROTECTED] / need a computer."
| '---' | | '--' | \- Glenn Scott,
\_________| |________| The New Image -since 1991-/ Secret Agent W7
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