Metal Gear Survive: The Future of a Franchise?

     Metal Gear Survive is the newest game coming out for the Metal Gear Solid franchise. It has already have some differences form the past games. For one it is the first game since the departure of its creator Hideo Kojima. Second it seems that Konami is taking some liberties from the other games as this game will feature zombies. Konami Europe president Tashiro Tomotada has stated that Survive will be a "fresh take" on the series.
     So far the game has been met with some backlash. For one the most recent trailer on YouTube has been met with a lot of dislikes. Adding to that Kojima in a recent interview at TGS 2016 kinda did a backhand remark on the game, saying the following:
"That’s nothing to do with me!" “The Metal Gear games are about political fiction and espionage,” “Where do zombies fit in with that?”
     The idea of adding zombies in the series isn't new. Kojima himself had an idea of putting zombies in as "nanotech" corpses in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Even though zombies never made it into the series, weird has never been new to the series. Psycho Mantis, time paradoxes, The Sorrow, and playing as an old Snake to name a few. This however does raise an interesting question dealing with the direction the series might go post-Kojima. Will Survive be an inkling of the future of franchise?
     Going by Tomotada's words, I see this as Konami's way to put their own spin on the franchise and as a way to differentiate themselves from the Kojima-influenced Metal Gear games of the past. They're testing the waters. Whether the franchise is in trouble or not is indeed uncertain. Some things will work and some things will not. Time will tell. What is important is that Konami sticks to what made the series great and not delve too far from that. Everyone is scared that concerned that with zombies, the series and the people developing the new games will lose sight of the past games and it will be a big mess, kinda like THAT other zombie video game series we won't talk about. If they stay focused on what worked for the past games and how they can improve that then maybe we won't have anything to worry about.

What are your thoughts on the future of the Metal Gear Solid franchise? Is it in good hands?

Is The NX Nintendo's Last Chance For A Good Console?

     The NX is probably the biggest secret Nintendo is keeping right now. Since the past two years of what we've heard it being announced we know absolutely nothing about it. Also every bit of information from it has been rumors so far. Nothing legit or official. They have chosen not to reveal anything about it in the past E3 and more recently this Nintendo Direct happening today. You can kinda makes sense of Nintendo being reclusive. They're trying to do something extraordinary. And they kinda need it.
     What isn't a secret is the underperformance of the Wii U and the 3DS. Not that many people bought the Wii U. It is low even compared to the its console rivals the Xbox One and PS4. They did many attempts to try to boost up sales and it did somewhat work, but the company has still faced revenue lost for a few years. With this failure of the Wii U, and once upon a time the Gamecube, Nintendo is starting to repeat the previous failures of their former rivals Sega. In a recent interview with Alistdaily, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said that one of the problems with the Wii U's failure was not successfully demonstrating the Wii U's software capabilities with consumers.
     If they don't think of it as their last console, then they ought to. Nintendo cannot afford another failure console. Fortunately they are aware of the issue they are facing. In the same interview Fils-Aime further stated:

"One of the things that we have to do better when we launch the NX—we have to do a better job communicating the positioning for the product. We have to do a better job helping people to understand its uniqueness and what that means for the game playing experience. And we have to do a better job from a software planning standpoint to have that continuous beat of great new games that are motivating more and more people to pick up the hardware and more and more people to pick up the software."

     It is apparent that a lot is riding on the NX's success so it is understanding that they are taking their time to officially announce things. They're making sure everything is perfect and the NX raises standards and expectations. Whether things come out perfect or people are willing to buy the NX will be determined when we Nintendo finally announce what the console can do.