Konami reveals NeverDead, new Silent Hill

Japanese publisher Konami has revealed a number of new titles at its E3 conference yesterday, with both sequels and spin-offs to existing IP and brand new titles.

For the first two products to be demonstrated, Konami acted only as distributor, instead using Def Jam: Rapstar and Lucha Libre AAA: Héroes Del Ring to expand its portfolio of localised content in the Americas. A direct licensing deal for Glee: Karaoke Revolution was also revealed later.

The company did demonstrate a number of other traditionally-published titles, including Western made game Saw II: Flesh & Blood and Japanese titles such as N3II: Ninety-Nine Nights II and 2D shooter Otomedius Excellent.

Konami also previewed two titles for Kinect, with hoverboard game (the second for the system alongside Sonic Free Riders) Adrenalin Misfits and Dance Masters from the Dance Dance Revolution team.

Subsidiary Hudson also announced a Kinect entry in the Sports Island (aka Deca Sports) franchise, alongside a new Wii MotionPlus compatible iteration, a new Beyblade game and critically praised WiiWare title Lost in Shadow.

The newly unveiled Silent Hill game, which currently has no subtitle or numerical identifier, is made by Czech studio Vatra Games and will be the first not to feature music from series mainstay Akira Yamaoka.

An entirely new IP debuting at the event was NeverDead, from UK developer Rebellion. Overseen by a Japanese producer living in Oxford, the third person action game features an immortal main character who can survive complete bodily dismemberment.

Konami's highest profile game of the show remained Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Although no additional footage was shown beyond what was present at Microsoft's pre-E3 conference, the producer and director were both on hand to provide additional gameplay details.

The final two products demonstrated two very different attempts to continue the Castlevania franchise, with Xbox Live Arcade title Harmony Of Despair (recently announced as part of the Summer of Arcade promotion) featuring 2D multiplayer gameplay.

Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow is a cinematic 3D action adventure from Spanish developer MercurySteam, with input from Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima. Unusually Kojima, who is not heavily involved in Rising, was not present on stage at any point during the event and yet Konami was still able to present one of its largest and most varied line-ups for several years.

In keeping with other third party developers at E3 no additional information or footage was provided of its 3DS titles, but Konami is already one of the most committed publishers to the format with entries due in its Metal Gear Solid, Pro Evolution Soccer, Contra, Frogger and baseball franchises.

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