Konami has registered a trademark for “Big Boss” pachinko.
This new registered trademark will allow to Konami to put the Metal Gear Solid hero into all sorts of media, ranging from pachinko, slot machines, card and board games alongside regular video games as well.
The trademark was originally picked up on by Siliconera, and was registered by Konami Pachinko Entertainment, an exclusive arm of the Japanese company that deals with the aforementioned pinball-esque machines.
This new move is reflective of the current debate on how Konami is approaching the gaming market in the 21st century. Back in May President Hideki Hayakawa said Konami would “pursure mobile games aggressively,” with smart phones and mobile devices becoming their “main platform.”
This sudden commitment to mobile gaming (as well as reports that Konami would abandon all of their AAA franchises save for Pro Evolution Soccer) was directly countered by UK community manager Graham Day. He said that these rumours were taken “out of context” and that we should not “believe everything we hear in the press.”
Day went on to clarify that Hayakawa’s comment that “mobile is where the future of gaming lies” did not directly correlate to an abandonment of the AAA market. Instead, it simply meant they wanted to “embrace” mobile as a platform, as their commitment to console gaming had “never changed.”
Overall, it’s becoming less and less clear as to where Konami stands on their production of games. For now, Japanese fans can at least look forward to an influx of Big Boss pachinko machines.