Is Konami going to announce a new Suikoden game or a Silent Hill 2 remake?
With the news of Konami’s schedule at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) listing a 45-minute slot which is title “Konami new release announce” (source: VGC), the rumor mill has gotten a little frothy.
The first rumor is one that has been floating around for a bit: a Silent Hill 2 remake. With the spate of remakes either in the pipeline or already released, it is a no-brainer for a company to re-release a fan-favorite game. On the other hand, it also feels like a “low-risk” type of rumor because of how easy it is to believe and how likely it is to be true, whether it actually is or not. However, it seems that there are actual images of a “pitch demo” (basically something substantial – a video or even a working part of a game, also called a vertical slice – that a studio would use to convince a company to let them do the game) is circulating around Twitter. To add to that, a Polish game development studio announced a “strategic co-operation agreement” with Konami (source: VGC) a while back. This makes the rumor very convincing.
The second rumor stems from the recent renewal of a trademark for a JRPG franchise called Suikoden. I won’t go into the details of a trademark or its renewal, but essentially they might renew a trademark for a number of reasons including protecting the name/trademark as well as preparing to actually release something with that trademark. A renewal is so common that it may not shed light on anything of substance. However, keep in mind that a new trademark application may lead to something. Even in that case though, it might be years before it turns into something that a fan can play.
One thing that gives the Suikoden rumor more weight, however, is the fact that Konami has tapped voice actor Yuji Kaji as a guest for the Konami announcement slot at TGS. Although he has done the voice for a lot of characters over the years, he has also provided the voice for a character in Suikoden 2 and Suikoden Tierkreis. (source: VGC). The problem with this rumor is that it might be a very long time before we actually see something, definitely something worth announcing. Game development is a long, tough process – anything can happen that can prevent the game from launching – so having such an important announcement at such an important show reserved for a game that may not even have started production seems like a stretch.
And of course, the rumors above aside, it could be something totally different.
