_{[Illustration by Ashley Davis]}

This is the end, my friends.

After the heart-breaking closure of Hudson Soft's North American division last year, tears were shed, but there was still hope that the properties that put the company on the map would live on in some form. This Japanese filing, however, states that whatever remains of Hudson will be absorbed into its parent company Konami on March 1. The Hudson name will subsequently be retired.

This past year, Hudson had been focused on mobile content, and the remaining teams will most likely continue this path under Konami. Does this mean that icons like Bomberman and Master Higgins are truly dead? After the recent cancellation of Hudson titles, the future was looking grim. Now it seems pretty clear. I just don't see Konami putting its resources into new ex-Hudson games when it can instead make fifty bazillion new Metal Gear collections, remakes, and spin-offs.

Long live the bee.

Hudson Ceases to Exist on March 1 [Andriasang]

Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)

llort het

Master who?

Dancing Mad

Sad face.

Tony Ponce

@llort het

See? Dead already.

Gorescream

PiggyGamer

"Good job!"

Drachula64

So long Hudson. Thanks for all the memories.

L3ED

I'm sad that we're losing the company that crafted Bomberman. I'm overjoyed that we're losing the company that made Deca Sports Freedom.

It's a Kinect sports game. But calling it a "game" would be an exaggeration. It's more like virtual, coded hell.

Got it for $50. Sold it for $10.
BEST. DEAL. EVER.

Necron117

Sweet Jesus, I thought you meant Casey Hudson from Bioware.

I shit myself mate.

timtheterrible

"Does this mean that icons like Bomberman and Master Higgins are truly dead?"

Seriously, what was the last game from either of these franchises that you remember buying? I'm sad to see anyone lose his or her job, but at the same time, other than some uninspired iterations of Bomberman, I honestly can't remember playing anything from Hudson since the 90's. Did they even create a single new IP within the last five years?

No company can last last on nostalgia alone...even Nintendo needs gimmicks.

Tony Ponce

@Necron117

His death was announced a full month and a half ahead of time, yes.

RocketKnight

:(
Boooooo.

Spite

I mean Bomberman was okay, but I'd hire it out for a weekend and be done with it. I never felt the need to play a ten dozen installments of it.

Spaz

Bloody Roar. A cheesy as hell fighter that I will miss.

Necron117

@Tony

Cut me some slack, I'm writing two novels, halfway to being somewhat drunk and on painkillers from having minor surgery because of a hernia I received while chainsawing the christmas tree two weeks ago.

My fingers hurt with every keystroke, my head feels like it's left my body and I'm almost out of Land Shark Lager.

Jonathan Holmes

@ timtheterrible- Your last comment + your avatar = definition of irony.

Tony Ponce

@timtheterrible

The VC content that got uploaded, most of which I've never seen nor played before, including the TG-16 which was co-developed by Hudson. That was something of a Hudson revival and most likely helped to get stuff like new Adventure Island and Bonk get greenlit.

@Necron117

Land Shark: good choice.

Captain of the Zanarkand Abes

Did they make Mario party 2 coz I think I remember a bee logo on that if so and either way that is rather sad

David RT

Some people here never played Bomberman blast with 7 friends on their house (4 wiimotes + 4 GC cont and mexican beer) that game was the TITS, even friends of friends who don't enjoy games joined in and had a blast. RIP Bomberman.

Perro

I guess one can only dream of a 5th Bloody Roar now. meh, I suppose ill re-buy BR3

Alex Celeski

Konami has made 1 Metal Gear Collection, 1 remake, and has another company working on 1 spin-off so... Yeah, fuck them right? RIGHT GUYS?... Hello?

No one cares about Bonk.

CaptainHowdy

No future for Bloody Roar than. Good luck to everyone who lost there job.

Nook

I salute you Hudson, may you rest in peace.

Onyx Leo

BOMBERMAN? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!


GOOOOOD, Bomberman 64 and Heroes had some of the BEST Videogame OST's I've ever heard! Not to mention the gameplay was insanely fun... This is a huge loss...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3-5-cqMxPQ

KoKoO Psy

This is so disappointing. I quite enjoyed my odd instalments of Bomberman on every console.

Any news about what happens with the licences for the old games? Does Konami reserve the rights to re-release the old stuff? Would they?

FireFox516

I still don't think you're truly dead, Bomberman, so instead of saying goodbye, I'll just say, "See you later, my friend. We'll see each other again one day."

The Nakedest

@Alex
I will now list every remake and spin off, just to prove how wrong you are.

You want spin-offs? Well, I can give you;
MG: Ghost Babel
MGS: Portable Ops
MGS: Mobile
MGS: Touch
MGS: Ac!d
MGS: Ac!d 2
MGR: Revengeance

For the Rerelesed Category we have;
MGS: Integral
MGS2: Substance
MGS3: Subsistence
MGS: Portable Ops Plus (Oh shit, a rerelese of a spin off!)

And what is that? Remakes? Take your pick;
MGS: The Twin Snakes
Metal Gear Arcade
MGS: HD Collection
Metal Gear Ac!d 1 & 2 Mobile
MGS: Snake Eater 3D

Onyx Leo

And just a few more for good measure... *Sigh*, those games were among the best N64 had to offer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nNCXdrHzqk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EGqwY-NJGY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe1CHDa8yZ8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoOliDikfCU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foGn40HuAcY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=zy4uXiKzHjs

VicYoungblood

Screw what everybody else said, I thought "Calling" was a damn fine survival horror game.

I'll miss you, Hudson. Thanks for the memories.

chiptoon

a part of my childhood dies. but I supose that's the problem. I haven't played a hudson game in 15 years.

still sad

MetaTotoro

Hey now... Mario Party 1-8 :'(
(*whisper I kinda liked those games)

Yakulto27

Hudson's case is the same as many from the Famicom era: a developer that just could not evolve with the industry. I'm sad to see them go. I should try to beat Adventure Island before they close...

BrannibalCorpse

Awesome picture, Ashely Davis is a really good artist.

GeekyJuuu

@VicYoungblood

I agree wholeheartedly!

Goodnight, sweet prince. Thanks for the nights spent soiling myself in fear of your game that wasn't even supposed to be that scary.

bobdebicker

I played the shit outta Mario Party 6. Damn, this sucks.

timtheterrible

@ Holmes We will have to disagree. I grew up as a Nintendo kid, and bought every Nintendo system up to and including the Gamecube, but I personally disagree with the technological and creative approach they've taken from the Wii onward.

I'm not going to address hardware issues here (that could be a dissertation in itself), but as far as the software goes, it seems that the same franchises get slapped with a fresh coat of paint and a new gimmick over and over again, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for the first couple of generations, but when they continue unabated for decades and proliferate into handhelds (like Mario Kart 7 and the second Re-release of Ocarina), nostalgia becomes a creative crutch.

spman2099

I was a TG-16 kid so this hits me pretty hard. I owned a Genesis and a Snes; but I always felt a stronger connection with my TG-16. I hope Konami gives Bonk a chance, I would really like to play another iteration of a series that still holds a place in my heart.

pedrovay2003

I'm the only person who's sad that we won't get another Calling game, aren't I?

timtheterrible

And, oddly enough, I don't even like Pacman all that much, but I thought the emblem was pretty neat.

Fuzunga

Why absorb them if they had no intent of obtaining the Hudson game catalogue? Makes no sense to me. I mean, would Hudson REALLY be considered competition that must be eliminated?

Scissors

This sucks I wanted Bomber Land Touch 3 for 3DS really bad. Playing Bomberman Land Touch 1 & 2 in a room with a couple of people with DSs was some of the best multiplayer I've ever experience in my life. The gameplay is so simple, and old, but it's still so much fun

@Tim, he was talking about your Pac-Man avatar.

timtheterrible

@ Scissors

Not just the avatar, but also the last comment.

Usedtabe

Sucks, but they were the ones responsible for fucking up Fuzion Frenzy 2.

BalloonFighter

They're not dead. Konami told me that Bomberman, Master Higgins , Bonk and the bee logo went to a farm where they could run around all day in a large field and eat their favorite foods too. They okay.

TrevHead

The sad thing is that most ppl only know Hudson Soft for Bomberman and Mario Party. But back in the 16 bit era and the TG16 / PCE they were just like Nintendo and Sega.

Unfortunatly the TG wasnt sold in europe and I never got to play any of their games until I got into emulation.

Any shmupfan will be even more disapointed to see them go. They made some great 16bit shooter like the Star Soldier series, Blazing Lazers, the 2 PCE Thunder games and Caravan shooters.

Its a shame to see another shmup dev go like this, recently there has been alot of old and new shmup devs either shutting down or moving away from shmup development like CAVE

Sebproductions

Do you know I cry at night
Cos hudson soft have hit the shite

Scissors

@Tim, I thought it was a pretty cool Pac-Man logo too. I grew pretty fond of it over the time that I've seen it. I'm also not the biggest Pac-Man fan either, but I see what you saw in that avatar.

Fernando Falcon

I remember being very sad about Hudson's closure last year. I enjoyed one of their last titles for Wii, Lost in Shadow (A Shadows Tale). Sure it had some problems but the story, artwork and concept were amazing, I would have really enjoyed another work similar to this.

I will also not forget the long hours playing Bomberman with friends bombing the crap of each other, or the frustration of playing Adventure island as a Kid and failing terribly because... rocks, damn those rocks.

Iris Repliforce

brb commiting suicide

Nemisku

Not Hudson T_T Who will take care of Bomberman now?? Bomberman can't die, he's the icon of local multiplayer excellence...

PalinRMA

Hudson made some of the best games in the 90s.