Konami Showcases the New Suikoden Pachislot Machine

[alter ego]

old, bored men...

Well, I don't know about you guys, but over the never-ending wait for suikoden 6, that quote describes me pretty well...

[Rooks]

Makes me wonder if making video game versions of these machines is more of a play to get more young people to play Pachislot rather than trying to entertain the current crowd.

Yeah, I'd say that's true. Sad, but true. Over here the state lottery runs slot machines and video poker and blackjack, leasing out rights to build the machines to companies like Konami. And even family diners are filled with those kind of machines, as a way to generate revenue for the state through the "lottery" system. As my dad always says, the lottery is a tax on stupidity.

Are these machines run by the state in Japan? or are they run by private parlors or casinos?

[Raww Le Klueze]

Gambling for money is illegal in Japan, aside from state operated lotteries, horses and motor sports. Most pachinko parlors are yakuza affiliated anyway.

They circumvent the gambling laws by offering prizes for your balls instead, and as luck would have for some peculiar reason there tends to be a pawn shop right next to the building that just happens to specialize in the items that are offered as prizes. Total coincidence.

[thcrock]

Gambling for money is illegal in Japan, aside from state operated lotteries, horses and motor sports. Most pachinko parlors are yakuza affiliated anyway.

That's interesting, because Sega is
1. In the Pachinko business
2. In charge of the Yakuza series.

Speculate away.

[Novelist_Games]

What baffles me, is why did Konami decide to base it on Suikoden IV?

It's not the last console or portable game in the series, it's not the latest released, it's also one that sold the least, recieved the lowest review scores and is also debated by fans as the worst.

Every game developer and publisher is a business, so why did they make this business decision? What risk/reward did they base it on? And is it an indication that the next title in the series could well follow on from the storyline of IV?

[thcrock]

What baffles me, is why did Konami decide to base it on Suikoden IV?

It's not the last console or portable game in the series, it's not the latest released, it's also one that sold the least, recieved the lowest review scores and is also debated by fans as the worst.

Every game developer and publisher is a business, so why did they make this business decision? What risk/reward did they base it on? And is it an indication that the next title in the series could well follow on from the storyline of IV?

Bolded text is wrong. It sold more than V or Tierkreis, and roughly the same as III. I can see why they'd pick it over V, and I guess they picked it over III just because its more recent.

[Novelist_Games]

What baffles me, is why did Konami decide to base it on Suikoden IV?

It's not the last console or portable game in the series, it's not the latest released, it's also one that sold the least, recieved the lowest review scores and is also debated by fans as the worst.

Every game developer and publisher is a business, so why did they make this business decision? What risk/reward did they base it on? And is it an indication that the next title in the series could well follow on from the storyline of IV?

Bolded text is wrong. It sold more than V or Tierkreis, and roughly the same as III. I can see why they'd pick it over V, and I guess they picked it over III just because its more recent.

I said one, not THE one but the fact that it sold more than V is news to me (but not Tierkreis). In that case, yes, they might pick it over V because it sold more. Would you like to add anything more worthwhile than sales errors?

[sabrette]

The only reason I could think of was that the designs of the main characters in Suikoden IV look more simple and might be more accessible to people who aren't familiar with the series. Frey's design was already off-putting to a lot of fans, so to the casual crowd it might seem kind of... funky. Especially to that middle-aged smoker demographic, huh.

Also, it'd probably be harder to animate all of those flowy clothes the Falenans tend to wear, but I've got no expertise on that subject.

[Hirathien]

Maybe they hatched the idea when Suikoden IV was just released and just didn't announce it until now?

[Novelist_Games]

The only reason I could think of was that the designs of the main characters in Suikoden IV look more simple and might be more accessible to people who aren't familiar with the series. Frey's design was already off-putting to a lot of fans, so to the casual crowd it might seem kind of... funky. Especially to that middle-aged smoker demographic, huh.

Also, it'd probably be harder to animate all of those flowy clothes the Falenans tend to wear, but I've got no expertise on that subject.

That's actually not a bad suggestion. The character designs in Suikoden IV are simpler; they're also based on "stereotypical" pirates, which the Japanese love. Clothes are more difficult to animate, you're right, but I don't think that would be the reason why.

I think that the possibility of them continuing on the story from IV in the sequel is highly interesting and relevant with this Pachislot release. Perhaps not directly, such as 1, 2 and 3 but there is a 150 year gap in between IV and I, with a other nations having been mentioned. That would give Konami a lot of time and some material to start with. What do you guys think?

[Nikisaur]

I said one, not THE one but the fact that it sold more than V is news to me (but not Tierkreis). In that case, yes, they might pick it over V because it sold more. Would you like to add anything more worthwhile than sales errors?

Bit of a snarky thing to say to a site admin, don't you think? Your poorly worded information wasn't accurate,and so you got corrected. That's a worthwhile comment in my opinion.

Anyway, I think it's a little weird to choose it on sales alone. If they had come of any fan website for five minutes, they would see that Suikoden 4 isn't the most popular...which they should already know... I dunno. It seems weird to me. I don't understand it...

[sabrette]

I think that the possibility of them continuing on the story from IV in the sequel is highly interesting and relevant with this Pachislot release. Perhaps not directly, such as 1, 2 and 3 but there is a 150 year gap in between IV and I, with a other nations having been mentioned. That would give Konami a lot of time and some material to start with. What do you guys think?

This sounds like it could happen. If the writers feel boxed in by the history of the games I, II, III, and V, then setting VI after IV would give them less historical baggage while not forsaking it altogether. I desperately want a game taking place after III, but I'm more than willing to compromise if it means getting us another game in the main series. :/

[thcrock]

I said one, not THE one but the fact that it sold more than V is news to me (but not Tierkreis). In that case, yes, they might pick it over V because it sold more. Would you like to add anything more worthwhile than sales errors?

Sorry if my reply was curt, but in a business decision like this, sales is pretty important. For the record, I wish it was a different game, but I'll probably never get to play this, so I can deal with it.

I can see their decision boiling down to the question 'of the games released in the last five years, which one sold the most?' The answer is Suikoden IV. The fact that the characters were reprised in Rhapsodia makes them more recognizable. Yes, Suikoden IV came out a little more than five years ago but this decision was probably made a while ago.

[Vextor]

Another way to think about this choice is that because Suikoden IV is the most unpopular installation of the series, the developers have something to fall back onto if the product totally fails. They can say "well, the product wasn't bad, but using an unpopular title such as Suikoden IV was the reason..." etc. You'd be surprised how companies hedge against failures when risk is involved, such as in development of a new product line. Especially in this case KPE is basing their product on something that was developed be KCE, and if their product doesn't sell they'd want to make sure they can blame KCE instead of taking the blame themselves.

[Novelist_Games]

I said one, not THE one but the fact that it sold more than V is news to me (but not Tierkreis). In that case, yes, they might pick it over V because it sold more. Would you like to add anything more worthwhile than sales errors?

Sorry if my reply was curt, but in a business decision like this, sales is pretty important. For the record, I wish it was a different game, but I'll probably never get to play this, so I can deal with it.

I can see their decision boiling down to the question 'of the games released in the last five years, which one sold the most?' The answer is Suikoden IV. The fact that the characters were reprised in Rhapsodia makes them more recognizable. Yes, Suikoden IV came out a little more than five years ago but this decision was probably made a while ago.

Don't worry about it You are right, sales are very important! Now knowing that Suikoden IV was the most recent release, which sold the most, I can also understand why they would choose it for that reason. It looks like they have put a lot of time and effort into the presentation of it so, yes, it probably has been in development for quite a while.

I do agree with you Vextor that businesses do do that but I personally don't think that that's the case in this instance. The reason why is because Pachislots are INSANELY popular in Japan! I honestly think that even if they'd based it on Suikoden Tiekreis it would still be successful! (Not that I personally disliked it, as I thought it was the closest experience to the two PlayStation originals that I've experienced). Also, I'm certain that Konami want the series to succeed. If not, they wouldn't have gone to the efforts they did to develop Tierkreis in order to bring new players into the series' audience.

EDITED: ALSO! Why does Lazlo have the rune of punishment on his left hand, when all of the other heroes have the true runes on their right hand?