The following is part of our 25-day Holiday Countdown Calendar! Every day from December 1st through the 25th, we’re posting a cool game history treat, daily updates from the VGHF, giveaways, and more! To make sure you don’t miss a day, sign up for our email list:
This is all part of our annual Winter Fundraiser donation drive, where we ask those who are able to generously give what they can so that we can continue thriving. If you’re able to make an additional one-time charitable contribution, this really is the best time to do so, as your donations will be DOUBLED thanks to a generous group of sponsors! Head on over to gamehistory.org/donate to learn more and give today.
Did you know Konami had a theme song? Probably not, unless you worked at Konami in the early 1990s!
In 1991, Konami commissioned the Konami Image Song, titled “Mahiru no Seiza” and performed by Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura. While there’s nothing specific about Konami in this song—sorry, no lyrics about Solid Snake—it was meant to represent “the new birth of Konami Co., Ltd.,” according to a company memo.
It seems like the Konami Image Song actually became a running joke at Konami. You can find references to “Mahiru no Seiza” hidden in a handful of Konami games. It was even used as the name for a special Konami-themed card pack in Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! games for PlayStation Portable.
We wanted a fun way to share this song, so please enjoy this karaoke-style video singalong. And if you work at Konami, let us know if this is something still talked about today.
Today’s Sponsor
Today’s sponsor is GameDiscoverCo! GameDiscoverCo publishes a newsletter about video game sales trends that is considered mandatory reading by many in the industry.
They’ve offered to DOUBLE every dollar put toward our goal this year, up to $1,000! As I write this we’re still pretty far from our goal, so if you’ve been waiting to give this year, this would be a really great time. Producing content like this takes a lot of effort, and if you’re able this year, we could really use your support.
This copy of the Konami Image Song comes from the collection of Mark Flitman, a long-time video game producer who worked at Konami from 1990–1992. We’ve been processing the material he collected throughout his career, and will have more to share at a later date.
WORLD PREMIERE Sonic 2 “Lost Media” Video Tomorrow!
We’ve got a mini documentary launching tomorrow on YouTube that we’re excited to share! We’ve been working with former staff from Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to uncover work from some of its lost stages. If you were a fan of the game, you might not have realized that nearly half of the game’s original concept was cut from the final product!
We’re doing a YouTube Premiere, meaning that we’ll be capturing live chat in real time for posterity. If you’re able to make it to the live event and support us with your presence, it’s happening Tuesday, December 12th at 10am Pacific.