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GameSpot: Kojima to leave Konami after MGSV, power struggle, communications embargo
- Thread starter shinobi602
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I think this is a good time for kojima to go out of the pond of konami, Solid trilogy is finnished, and by sep the big boss trilogy will be finnished as well, it time for a fresh start for kojima and im happy for him, a story needs to end on some point of your life and it ends here, I salute you legend Good luck.
FlashbladeGAF
Member
I was just talking in general.
Even though it was inevitable, Kojima showed that if you had the talent, you could take your in game models and deliver a visual story that was just as compelling as the more expensive CG alternative.
Was it going to happen eventually. YES
Did Kojima make it frigging cool, inspiring hundreds of other developers to take the simpler less expensive approach.
You better believe it.
RoyaleDuke
Banned
Or Walt leaving Disney.
I have serious concerns over whether or not we will now get a censored game or a less of a product somehow because of all this and I hope that doesn't happen. Thinking about downgrading my preorder.
Rambone
Member
How about assign Kojima to the From B-Team to make Souls games when Miyazaki is working on other projects. Now that would be an interesting proposition.
FlashbladeGAF
Member
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Oh, I just realized -- this also ends any possibility of ZoE 3 actually finally happening. It felt like we were on the right track for that a few years ago... kinda sorta.
Doesn't matter now, I guess.
Doesn't matter now, I guess.
Well he died, and they are fine. Anything worth while coming out of that company was going through Kojima. I honestly think they are done.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
It really feels like the end of Konami's legacy.
With series like Gradius, Castlevania, Metal Gear dead... Is there ever going to be a game that contains references to Moai heads, The Vic Viper, Konami Man, parodius?, etc etc.
I really don't think so. Metal Gear felt like the last place that carried that 30+ year legacy of self-referentialism. I think it's all done.
Konami will exist in some way. The Konami gamers love? Dead.
With series like Gradius, Castlevania, Metal Gear dead... Is there ever going to be a game that contains references to Moai heads, The Vic Viper, Konami Man, parodius?, etc etc.
I really don't think so. Metal Gear felt like the last place that carried that 30+ year legacy of self-referentialism. I think it's all done.
Konami will exist in some way. The Konami gamers love? Dead.
akidnamededdy
Banned
Why would this joke keep being made ITT?
Blood Diamonds
Banned
because Nintendo should buy everything!!!!!11
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
True. Because Disney wasn't changing their business after Walt. His legacy lives on. That was more like Steve Jobs dying - Apple still does its thing. Disney still does their thing.
But Konami ousting Kojima is no doubt due to the crunch of going mobile only and relying on non gaming businesses. Konami is changung. They will not do their thing... Unless you mean health clubs, slot machines and mobile.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Thing is, ultimately Konami call the shots and run the business, and if they want to back out of video games then *shrug*. That's their business and if it works, whatever. What matters is who suffers under that decision making, and thankfully people like Kojima have enough sway and authority to more or less do what they want if necessary elsewhere.
While the notion of no more Kojima Metal Gear is most definitely the end of a huge legacy, he's been vocal about The Phantom Pain being the last of his Metal Gears, a design vision he's wanted to do for awhile now, along with years of stating he'd like to move on to new projects. The last point is sticking; while now it seems like Konami has done a rotten, who knows how restrictive and shackled he's been over time, even as an executive, when it comes to truly doing whatever he wants. As Konami becomes less and less interested in pursuing blockbuster video games, they've stuck to tried and true money makers. Namely Metal Gear and PES. Even if Kojima wanted to do something else; Snatcher, Zone of the Enders, Silent Hill, new IP, whatever, there's little to no evidence of Konami letting him do so.
So from his point of view, as a creator who isn't getting any younger, the straw breaking the camel's back allows him to move on to new publishers, new working environments, and new visions. It's wrong, as a fan, to shackle a creator to a series even if you lament their departure as you're basically doing what a bad publisher does. Kojima is seemingly done with Metal Gear, by his own intentions, and Kojima fans should be excited that The Phantom Pain is his swan song along with the opportunity to see fresh new work elsewhere later down the track.
Silent Hills is the real sticking point as we don't know if Konami is going to give a fuck about investing in it, and if they do what capacity a potentially contracted Kojima would work on the project, let alone the rest of KojiPro.
I mean yeah, it stings that hypothetically Kojima will never direct a Metal Gear again, and that the reigns will be handed exclusively over to Konami, who run the risk of milking the fuck out of it, or just fucking it up in general, or letting it die. But as someone interested in Kojima's work I really don't wan't him to be bottlenecked by his creation until the day he retires. Not when he probably has a lot of enthusiasm to explore new projects. Zone of the Enders 3 was canned. Snatcher has never gone anywhere significant. And if Silent Hills is canned or moved to a new team all this indicates is Konami is no longer a place for him to do anything other than Metal Gear. Thus the perfect time to move on.
While the notion of no more Kojima Metal Gear is most definitely the end of a huge legacy, he's been vocal about The Phantom Pain being the last of his Metal Gears, a design vision he's wanted to do for awhile now, along with years of stating he'd like to move on to new projects. The last point is sticking; while now it seems like Konami has done a rotten, who knows how restrictive and shackled he's been over time, even as an executive, when it comes to truly doing whatever he wants. As Konami becomes less and less interested in pursuing blockbuster video games, they've stuck to tried and true money makers. Namely Metal Gear and PES. Even if Kojima wanted to do something else; Snatcher, Zone of the Enders, Silent Hill, new IP, whatever, there's little to no evidence of Konami letting him do so.
So from his point of view, as a creator who isn't getting any younger, the straw breaking the camel's back allows him to move on to new publishers, new working environments, and new visions. It's wrong, as a fan, to shackle a creator to a series even if you lament their departure as you're basically doing what a bad publisher does. Kojima is seemingly done with Metal Gear, by his own intentions, and Kojima fans should be excited that The Phantom Pain is his swan song along with the opportunity to see fresh new work elsewhere later down the track.
Silent Hills is the real sticking point as we don't know if Konami is going to give a fuck about investing in it, and if they do what capacity a potentially contracted Kojima would work on the project, let alone the rest of KojiPro.
I mean yeah, it stings that hypothetically Kojima will never direct a Metal Gear again, and that the reigns will be handed exclusively over to Konami, who run the risk of milking the fuck out of it, or just fucking it up in general, or letting it die. But as someone interested in Kojima's work I really don't wan't him to be bottlenecked by his creation until the day he retires. Not when he probably has a lot of enthusiasm to explore new projects. Zone of the Enders 3 was canned. Snatcher has never gone anywhere significant. And if Silent Hills is canned or moved to a new team all this indicates is Konami is no longer a place for him to do anything other than Metal Gear. Thus the perfect time to move on.
FlashbladeGAF
Member
Let's hope Konami can keep their friggin hands off it before Kojima releases it.
RoyaleDuke
Banned
Or Miyamoto leaving Nintendo
What? I mean it's totally legitimate, this sounds really bad and as a fan I am worried.
Urgh imagine what ND and Kojima can do together :/
ShockingAlberto
Member
What, exactly, do people think Konami is going to do to Metal Gear Solid 5 that they would not have otherwise done?
Lionheart1827
Member
This is not true. I'm pretty sure every mainline AC iteration had dialogue with the main mission targets, though in Unity I think it just showed flashbacks instead of a monologue.
I do agree with you though that it shares similarities with the MGS boss deaths.
FlashbladeGAF
Member
Sorry I was speaking hypothetically
Konami letting Kojima go is about as stupid as Nintendo letting Miyamoto go.
Miyamoto not only gave them the IPs that are known around the world.
He also raised a generation of developers to make GREAT games without the need for him to direct.
And now, even the younger generation of developers are dipping their toes into the ink (so to speak) to get some gaming experience and to continue the legacy Miyamoto started with SMB.
Kojima was worried his subject matter might be too controversial and might not sell well with the gaming audience.
Cutting a few scenes like Arsenal crashing thru NYC in MGS2 might be the order of the day if they are concerned with sales over story.
Romars202129
Member
... I guess I can officially stop caring about AAA video game developement after this year.
Fuck man.
Fuck man.
pants
Member
He doesnt really need a lot of money, sure he likes it so he can hire a billion film students, but he could easily make a game as innovative as his early works again since he now doesnt have the budget for the fluff.
ShockingAlberto
Member
What about all the high-level departures from Konami this week makes you think they're interested in raising a generation of young developers to be high-level producers?
dark_chris
Gold Member
I blame Konami. They make terrible decisions before (like disbanding Team Silent) so I wouldn't doubt they had something to do with this.
ShockingAlberto
Member
I don't see any reason to suspect this a greater possibility now than before.
If they were going to do that, they would do it regardless of Kojima's future employment status. They clearly were not interested in keeping him happy before.
Wouldn't they need Kojima's team to remove it for them? Say this is more than just a cutscene, but something more integral to the game. Something that the people who intimately know the game are needed to change. (Say, a boss fight.) What happens if Kojima refuses? Maybe creative differences are getting in the way?
There's a quote somewhere by Kamiya about how Japanese game development has less supervision compared to the West. This is still speculation, of course. But I don't see how you can be so assured that it's not this.
ShockingAlberto
Member
Well, they obviously have something to do with this.
I think it is naive to think they have everything to do with this.
RoyaleDuke
Banned
It's this thought that scares me the most to be honest, I really hope that if this is the last metal gear game that it has all his ideas and all the controversy that he promised.
I mean we've seen kids shooting guns, and presumably Big Boss shooting kids who potentially stole diamonds made from his dead comrades. So, potentially some commentary on the Blood Diamond industry and of course the brutality of war and the cycle of revenge and hatred it breeds to a point that it can be about any issue for any cause.
He's promised some serious darkness and hinted at some great things I think if he tackles them well, I look forward to what MGSV happens to have content wise I just hope it's his vision and the best product it can be.
FlashbladeGAF
Member
How the conversation started:
Or Miyamoto leaving Nintendo
I was speaking hypothetically <-- Here's where I messed up*
(wrong choice of words on my part)
I was just presenting my own mind baffling scenario and fell into a rant about Nintendo's continued success over keeping and growing their talent pool while the rest of the jpn industry relied on the IPs to bring in the money while not really giving a shit what the developer did until he failed to knock it out of the park.
Demotion and radio silence usually follows until you hear them later forming their own company or starting a kickstarter project.
Konami's problems started along time ago. I never expected them to want to keep or raise any talent within their company.
But at the same time Kojima is a friggin rockstar and for some reason I almost felt Kojipro was untouchable, as crazy as it may sound.
CosmicGroinPull
Member
Gee thanks, now I realise there's never going to be a ZOE3.
Anyway hope Shinkawa goes wherever Kojima goes.
RoyaleDuke
Banned
I totally get you man, I mean I wanted him to do other projects just to see what he and the teams at Kojima Productions Japan and Los Angeles would do. He has a great talent and I would've loved a sequel to Policenauts or Snatcher or even remakes in the fox engine of those games.
Just don't buy the game. Getting so emotional is really going too far, even if this is your favorite game series.
FlashbladeGAF
Member
As I said earlier, even though I knew KojiPro was part of Konami, I felt that Kojipro was untouchable.
I knew Konami was losing IPs and talent for decades now, but if their was one constant, one guiding light at Konami, it was GODAMN FUCKING HIDEO KOJIMA!
If TPP didn't do well I could kinda see them wanting to rethink their strategy, but for them to have a falling out happen after we barely got a release date (and after we all just preordered the [US] collectors edition)... it just...
...I'm still in shock, despite all the evidence.
He has to buy the game. We have to give Kojima a nice severance package.
Besides it's not like he said he was going to cause violence. Nothing wrong with being angry over losing the things you value.
Especially if its censoring a work/form of art
RoyaleDuke
Banned
Yeah, I feel the same and I am just completely blown away
I always looked forward to seeing what Kojima Productions would do, and whatever Kojima was involved in.
He's a fucking visonary, and one of my few gaming idols. I'm really at a loss.
Regret Upon Approval
Member
I can see them not liking some of his ideas for new IPs but what is going on seems to be way to bitter to be a matter of best business decisions.
Possibly, something personal seems like it could be a factor.
LiquidSolid
Member
I don't really think they're that different though. MGS did sometimes have incredibly long cutscenes and could really have used an editor at points but TLOU is still a story focused, cutscene heavy game. I don't think the demand has ever really gone anywhere for these games, if anything I think developers/publishers have been making changes in spite of the demand (like the way Ubisoft changed Splinter Cell into a shooter and it sold worse than the stealth games).
No AAA publishers have pushed digital as much as Konami did. $10 off a $40 game is a fairly significant discount at launch.
As for digital sales, they're always hard to figure out but I'm sure they easily outnumber those NPD figures you posted. They did announce that they shipped over 1 million copies a month later so unless they had a few hundred thousand copies sitting on shelves, do you really think the US only accounted for that little of that total? We do know it sold 200k on Steam alone though and that came out 8 months after the console versions.
Unless you know something no-one else does, why exactly can't it be "Konami is stupid"? This is the company that successfully killed pretty much every franchise they had except for Metal Gear and PES, though the latter is a mere shadow of its former self. This is the company that shuttered Team Silent for no reason and made the Silent Hill 2 director go work on PES games. This is the company that released the Silent Hill HD Collection. Stupid is a perfectly valid assumption one could make based on their history, regardless of the reasons they had.
Personally I think it went somewhere along the lines of Konami's executives getting sick of Kojima's demands and influence in the company and thought they'd be better off without him. It's similar to what happened with Mikami at Capcom and just look at what's happened to that company since then.
I think I'm in denial right now, I find this all hard to believe. I can understand him leaving, but removing his name from the game like that seems a bit too much, it doesn't make sense to me. Though if this is a a joke, what's the endgame? I dunno, I don't know what to believe, I'm so confusing.. and scared.
hold me
hold me
GillianSeed79
Member
Technical limitations of hardware with the MSX is what gave birth to Metal Gear and the entire stealth genre in the first place. I like AAA Kojima as much as the next guy, but the guy was also a fucking genius back when he was constrained. I would love to see what kind of game Kojima could come up with now with a small team of say 12 or 20 instead of a few hundred.
Most people succeed the most while under pressure as it presents challenges and stimulates the mind. Given the whacky nature of Kojima I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case with him.
NeoGeoOwner
Banned
He will bring back the PSP with a fantastic game.
Snatcher 3.
Snatcher 3.
I do love small indie games, but Kojima has been there, done that. He wants to compete with GTAV. If there is any justice in the world, he should be able to do that.
I didn't realize the people saying that were joking.
I suppose it's possible but the fact they took his name off the Metal Gear legacy collection implies otherwise and is pretty damning IMO.
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