Konami, Hudson Team Up, Smash Bros-Style

Thanks to Nintendojo for the news that Konami and Hudson are creating a mascot-infested fighting game in the vein of Nintendo's classic multiplayer fighter Super Smash Bros. The title, called Dream Mix World Fighters, is being released for PS2 and GameCube in Japan this December, and the game will ship "...featuring such enigmatic characters as Bomberman, Peach Taro, Master Higgins, Bonk, Takao, Yugo, Rika, Simon Belmont, Dracula, and many more." But, as Video-Fenky points out, where are the Kojima-game characters?

Re:An IP blender

[Wildfire Darkstar]

Of all the companies out there that have the kind of pull to do this, I think Sega is probably the only one left I can think of. Square too, perhaps, but we all remember Ergheiz and Chocobo Racing were bad ideas. Or a great ideas, I can't decide. Let me just say that if I ever see a game where Solid Snake and Alucard are driving around go-karts is the day I stop purchasing video games.

Whereas I would sell my family into slavery to see Solid Snake and Alucard in go-karts. Go figure. :-)

Although I think the basic problem here is that Konami lacks the "mascot" characters that companies like Nintendo have. Most of Konami's games are more serious and oriented towards an older audience: Solid Snake, Alucard, and the heroes from the Silent Hill series are less given to the sort of caricature that is in some respects essential for games of this ilk.

Hudson, on the other hand, has a few franchises this would work well with, particularly the Adventure Island series. But they lack a sufficient quantity to really carry this one on their own, I would think. It'll be interesting to see how they pull this one off.