Will SNK Playmore Survive 2013?

[insaneben]

Let's take a look back at what SNK Playmore has released over the past year. Since the start of 2012, there have been:

-6 games for the iPhone/Android (3 ports, 1 card game, 1 original IP and one scaled-down KOF XIII port)

-19 Wii Virtual Console ports (zilch for PSN and XBLA)

-4 Pachislot machines (with two more coming out over the next two months this year)

-1 Arcade "Game" (a slightly upgraded KOF XIII known as "The King Of Fighters XIII: Climax")

-Zero console games (nothing for the handhelds, either)

Add it all up, and it looks like SNK Playmore is slowly becoming the company Aruze wanted it to be more than a decade ago.
Of course, I could be wrong, and the revenue from all those pachislot machines might go towards a new arcade game (like, say, KOF XIV or Samurai Shodown VII), but given everything SNKP has (or hasn't) done in the last year, it's hard not to think that they're just spinning their wheels (and spinning themselves into the ground). (Heck, there's not even a single mention of the Neo-Geo X on the company's homepage.)

So, my question to you, long-timers and greenhorns alike, is, given SNKP's current state, will they make it past 2013? Answer in the poll above and discuss.

 

[evil wasabi]

I don't think that the iphone supports the concept of mobile gaming that SNKP envisions - namely precision demanding games. I don't think any phone is going that direction. virtual controls are terrible things. They could consider to do a puzzle game, or maybe league bowling, or maybe baseball stars - because those don't require the same precision and reaction time. And I think they could use their ip to do this well. They just need direction.

I think that KoF 13 was great, and showed that they are still up to the job, but you're right - they didn't do anything last year other than a KoF XIII upgrade.

 

[Daedalus]

Goota agree, I don't think that what made SNK great is even remotely made for a touch screen. I think that the smartphones can make or break a company now-a-days...

 

[SSS]

rovio will buy up their assets and we'll see Angry Birds: Orochi Bloodlines

 

[evil wasabi]

they should remake super real mahjong for the iphone.

complete with porn.

 

[LlorensBlood]

I don't know if it will survive... because i don't understand how a legendary company can survive for many years without releasing an actual great new hit... What about NEW ideas?

They still "eat" making ports and re.re.re.remakes of their old hits, but nowadays (in the videogames scene) How a big company can get a benefit doing this? Well, on the other side, it's actually an achievement!

BTW!
Do you know if SNK is changing to pachinko industry? It's SNK a strong company in the japanese market? This is an information that i would like to know

Thanks!

 

[NeoGeoNinja]

I think KOFXIII showed that, not only are SNK still up to making tournament worthy fighting games (which is what makes or breaks a fighting game nowadays tbh), but that other fighting games alongside KOFXIII have shown that there is a pasture there for other successful fighting games to graze on also - just like Arc and Capcom have been doing for themselves. No reason why SNK couldn't get 'involved' and either launch some fresh NEW 2D franchises or even be commissioned to do someone else's fighting game franchise (like Arc have undertaken with Persona recently).

I think right now is the best opportunity they have to get re-involved with the 'big tymers', but like others have said, I think direction and a probable lack of risk capital is unavailable to them. Had XIII not been the least bit successful, I think we could have written off their future involvement in videogames for good. I think the same may apply to any other future releases too, thus why we'll only ever see incremental KOF's...

(I voted opt.2 btw)

 

[valgalder]

I am guessing they have a very small staff these days and just outsource any programming elsewhere... what little there actually is these days that is. They will probably survive, but I doubt we'll see much output from them yet again. Who knows...

 

[TikTekTak]

They will do what lets them survive. If it's pachislot then it will be.

My big question is if we will ever see a new ip from them!

Considering we got good homebrew devs out there luckily at least we get something new for the ol' hardware.

 

[dilla7]

Considering everything the company went through im glad that the games are being ported onto other consoles for a new generation to enjoy as well their games still being sold they have a rich legacy that most companies now wish they had SNK Forever

 

[scrubsy]

You will see a lot of companies end this year. Unless you have the mainstream audience such as Madden or COD or can score that one big hit, you go out of business because of how expensive it is to develop now a days.

 

[xsq]

honestly I never gave up the hope SNK(P) will have some sort of blazing comeback into the fighting game scene. KOF XIII was a good start, it would be nice to see a worthy continuation of Samurai Shodown, Last Blade etc. Looking at how they fared in the last years and considering the overall state of the gaming industry however, it'll be sometime until they will start work on such a project let alone come up/dare with something new - and that might just become the reason for their downfall.

 

[insaneben]

I see a number of good answers so far.
Now that we're a third of the way into the new year, and with word from SNKP's new president, Masao Ohata, that SNKP's gaming division "is in bad shape", has anyone's opinion changed? Will SNKP crank out a new arcade game this calendar year? Or are they following the same path tread by the likes of Irem?
Thoughts?

 

[Setherial]

I see a number of good answers so far.
Now that we're a third of the way into the new year, and with word from SNKP's new president, Masao Ohata, that SNKP's gaming division "is in bad shape", has anyone's opinion changed? Will SNKP crank out a new arcade game this calendar year? Or are they following the same path tread by the likes of Irem?
Thoughts?

I think they are playing it safe now. Don't forget the crisis is still going on. I hope SNKP is making a big comeback to the fighting scene. The fighting games have always been their trademark and strongpoint, but the industry has changed. I"m not sure if they are able to adapt to that.

 

[GutsDozer]

They have enough money to stay afloat I belive. In order to keep living through the next few years they need to make alot of good games. I would love to see a KOF 14 or maybe a new
2-d High def SamSho. even do something crazy like make a few new MVS and or AES titles. I wish them the best of luck I hope to see SNK on games for years to come.

 

[wyndcrosser]

Everything here is pretty much assumption or simply put "ideas", without getting mad and throwing shoes at me... has anyone spoken or asked SNK Playmore about their future or read any creditable sources regarding the topic matter? That would be highly interesting to me.

I'm curious too, I'd like to see their IP's put to good use, The KOF for android and iPhone aren't terrible, but like the last user said, precision games are not cellular "friendly". You need a dialog or analog pad and real buttons. We saw ports of Metal Slug if I recall on DS and that was actually pretty "tits", I enjoyed it. That's why I was so PUMPED for Neo Geo X, until I realized it wasn't an actual console, but emulation, that my PspGo has been doing for YEARS. A Collector needs something to collect, not just SD Card... I'll stop the rant here. I wish I knew about the NGPC when I was younger, but by then I was into HS sports, Xbox, and PS2 in those NGPC years. A newsfeed wrote about the complete lack of support of gamers with the NGPC, but when they folded... people came out in "herds" to pick up titles and consoles, but obviously it was too late for the system, but I guess this goes for most gaming consoles that failed.. like the Virtual Boy.

I can't wait to see what comes next, I think it would be an excellent fan support win for SNK, if they were able to release the prototype games in any format with some kind of "SNK Life after Death" treatment . Especially that pinball game! Ultimate win there.

 

[Xian Xi]

From looking at the last year, it looks like SNK is following the trend and riding it. Not like before when they wanted a niche market.

 

[wyndcrosser]

From looking at the last year, it looks like SNK is following the trend and riding it. Not like before when they wanted a niche market.

Trend as in the mobile market? Or just "over-all" porting of older titles?

 

[Boredom]

Even with the loss of so much of their staff to other companies, KOF XIII proved that SNKP still has it in them to create amazing new games. Unfortunately, their meager resources combined with the hefty demands of HD development means that it takes them a very long time to produce each one, and the incentive to do so has diminished further in the moribund economy. Not to mention that we are entering the next console generation, which will balloon development costs even more.

I honestly wouldn't mind if they continued to farm out new titles to third-party developers like Yuki Enterprise (SamSho V & Special), Mega Corporation (Slug 4/5), and K2 LLC (SamSho Sen), as long as such games continued to be of decent quality. But it seems like they're not even willing to do that anymore.

 

[Setherial]

Makes you wonder why.

 

[Taiso]

They'll continue to exist and make money however they can, limping along and treading water until they can achieve a greater degree of stability in order to tackle new projects.

I'm going to guess we'll see something completely unoriginal from them at that point, something that requires little manpower or money to put forth, and that it'll be a very long time, if ever, before they make anything worth playing beyond the level of 'distraction.'

 

[rumbl3]

Probably a bad idea, but maybe they could make something for the AES and release it on the neo geo x. Or just make it mainly for the neo geo x and put out small limited amount of copies for aes etc. I'm not a programmer or game maker so no clue what it would take. But sometimes owning the "nitch" market is not bad. It's not insane profits, but if done right can put food on the table and the car payment paid lol.

I know a lot of people hate the neo geo x here. But, it's doing decent. With collections coming out and if they were to put a new title out for it once in a while might draw even more people into the X. Hell even toned down verisons of newer Neo games put on to the X.

 

[malignantpoodle]

You will see a lot of companies end this year. Unless you have the mainstream audience such as Madden or COD or can score that one big hit, you go out of business because of how expensive it is to develop now a days.

This is only true in some cases, and the companies that release the big ones are the most vulnerable. The expense to develop is based more upon your company model than the costs of development itself. Running posh offices with publicly traded companies where a large percentage of employees perform tasks unrelated to game development in a management top-heavy environment puts the company way in the red before the costs of producing the game, which end up being a drop in the bucket, are even considered.

Time and again we're shown that the cost to develop games is far lower than the potential return for even moderate success (Minecraft, Chivalry, companies like Stardock as examples). I can't think of any product investment that has the potential to offer such enormous returns disproportionate to their initial investment as video games potentially do. Naturally, if you're going to release a Hollywood blockbuster style game and run your company with the luxuries of a Hollywood production company, then you require Hollywood blockbuster revenue to make it work.

 

[andsuchisdeath]

Hell even toned down verisons of newer Neo games put on to the X.

Isn't the Neo Geo X bad enough as it is? Putting "toned down" versions of games on it is like salt in the wound.

Anyways, I predict SNKP won't do anything but Japan only phone games and pachislot stuff indefinitely.

 

[Neo Yahtzee]

Isn't the Neo Geo X bad enough as it is? Putting "toned down" versions of games on it is like salt in the wound.

Anyways, I predict SNKP won't do anything but Japan only phone games and pachislot stuff indefinitely.

I was hoping that SNKP would make new and original games in the Neo Geo Style on that system. That alone should be reason to get a Neo Geo X and keep us happy for years. I just don't want re-releases, I want quality new content.