Why Did Hideo Kojima Leave Konami?

cageymaru

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Why Did Hideo Kojima Leave Konami? .
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/why-did-hideo-kojima-leave-konami

Pretty good article from The New Yorker about the state of Konami; what markets they are seeking to pursue, and why Mr. Kojima didn't fit into their plans.

The game, which takes place in mid-nineteen-eighties Afghanistan and Zaire, made a hundred and seventy-nine million dollars on its launch day, in September—more than the two highest-grossing films of the year so far (“Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Jurassic World”) combined.
 
Much better article than the one from the other threadhttp://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041913106#post1041913106

, but still pulls in the movie comparison numbers out of context.
 
Well he is under contract until December from what I understand. So in theory he is still working for them. :)
 
Well he is under contract until December from what I understand. So in theory he is still working for them. :)

I read that his non-compete lasted through December. Not his contract. (I don't know which is correct though.)
 
I recall a ton of public battling between Kojima and Konami over the last year, looks like he was leaving regardless of whether they went mobile.

I like that they're selling going mobile as the way of the future when in reality Konami has been in the red it looks like for a long time now. They're just scraping shop and selling off assets, going mobile is just them generating junk income. The only thing I'm interested in is who gets the Silent Hill IP.
 
I recall a ton of public battling between Kojima and Konami over the last year, looks like he was leaving regardless of whether they went mobile.

I like that they're selling going mobile as the way of the future when in reality Konami has been in the red it looks like for a long time now. They're just scraping shop and selling off assets, going mobile is just them generating junk income. The only thing I'm interested in is who gets the Silent Hill IP.

Mobile gaming shit pile probably.
 
I like that they're selling going mobile as the way of the future when in reality Konami has been in the red it looks like for a long time now. They're just scraping shop and selling off assets, going mobile is just them generating junk income.

Konami is profitable.
Konami's mobile division is very profitable.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/250656/Konami_profits_up_by_159_as_mobile_games_gain_traction.php
 
Good article overall. It really provides a great example at how "mobile" and "F2P/freemium" game ethos are hurting the marketplace and distorting it into a grotesque business. Its a real pity that the company that coined the "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start" code will be focusing on mobile games (and patchinko. However, that's more or less a Japan/Asia local market) to the point of closing Kojima Productions and (perhaps worse) assigning developers to be janitors and whatnot. This kind of thing should not be profitable or accepted, but sadly the state of the market has degenerated thanks to the "freemium and mobile' development ethos. While its true that the Japanese gaming industry has been intransigent in the past, I rather wish they could have not chosen these toxic elements to incorporate as they "modernized". There are far better ways to be flexible and add new ideas than these particular ones which are exploitative to customers and developers alike, squash vision and quality on the alter of maximized short term profit, and overall damage the industry.

The article mentions sources saying the future being "mobile", console development becoming more expensive, and that many Japanese titles never see Western release.. all of which is true, but there are much better solutions than what it seems Konami and some others are retreating toward. I personally have been an opponent of "consoles" for the last several generations because they are basically near-commodity hardware PCs, locked down with proprietary software systems. Console manufacturers are basically middlemen who have been extracting a significant toll to develop/publish on their platforms. The solution here is to generally abandon proprietary platforms and develop exclusively for the PC (multiple OSes preferred) as well as mobile OSes like Android. There is a much larger installed base, fewer requirements, more options for selling your title and far more benefits. Especially when it comes to mobile, I'd love to see more mobile 3DS / N3DS titles release on Android (or iOS) - I'd love to play the new Fire Emblem on my existing Android phone/tablet, and something like Final Fantasy TheatreRhythm CurtainCall seems a perfect title for gaming on phones. With respect to JP titles never coming to western shores, its great to finally see some Japanese titles coming to PC. There is a considerable fanbase for everything from major JRPGs to "weird" Japanese titles on PC yet for years, many of these titles were console-specific never coming to PC, came over impaired by a lack of JP audio/voice acting and/or censorship, missing content and features that are present on other platforms (see; Namco-Bandai or Koei titles that lack online multiplayer for the PC version, or have overly expensive, limited access DLC) etc. Even today with much progress being made, its amazing how many titles are impaired in some way. Publishers/distributors like Playism have evolved to support Japanese indie devs exclusively, which are good examples of worldwide appetite for these titles.

Oh, one thing that is notable about the article's closing sentences in particular that struck me as offputting - " It’s likely that, after Kojima’s non-compete clause expires, in December, he will find a new studio and continue making lavishly produced games. But these future projects will be anomalies in a mobile-dominated Japanese market. Although Western fans may mourn the loss, McCarthy doesn’t share their despondency. “Honestly, I am not so sure that any threat to yet another shouting, shooting game full of American grunts saving democracy from the wiles of dark-skinned terrorists is any great loss to the art,” he said."

It shows a profound misunderstanding of Kojima and Metal Gear series to categorize the game as if it was just another Call of Duty style shooter; the underlying message of the series is pretty much the complete opposite to the typical "Team America vs Brown Terrorists HOOOAAHHH" shooter plot. If anything, Metal Gear has an anti-war message, with deeper themes about history repeating, dangers of certain ideologies and cycles of violence, the dangers of privatization and especially private militaries, and unscrupulous characters behind the scenes manipulating various governments, ideals, and other factors to their own ends at a huge cost to society. Hell, even the gameplay itself touches on issues of non-violence in that the "best" ranks completing any Metal Gear Solid game require the player to complete the entire game without a single (non-scripted) lethal attack, focusing instead on stealth, non-lethal CQC, and tranquilizers. Seemed a strange way to end the article, if the implication was that Kojima was making the kind of games the author would not lament the loss.
 
People are asking the wrong questions. A retard could figure out why he left. What I want to know is why Konami is the only publisher that is hell bent on pushing mobile to the extent of killing traditional gaming. The entire board is obviously senile and corrupt.
 
People are asking the wrong questions. A retard could figure out why he left. What I want to know is why Konami is the only publisher that is hell bent on pushing mobile to the extent of killing traditional gaming. The entire board is obviously senile and corrupt.

They are going mainly Japan-centric. In Japan the money is on mobile and pachinko, and the RoI is really nice, so they are going directly to it.

BTW they are also developing "standard" slots gambling machines, and that is where you will find the latest Contra.
 
The game, which takes place in mid-nineteen-eighties Afghanistan and Zaire, made a hundred and seventy-nine million dollars on its launch day, in September—more than the two highest-grossing films of the year so far (“Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Jurassic World”) combined.

Apples and oranges - one is 3 - 6 times the price of the other. I can't figure out why people are so worried about this as he left a company and didn't state he was done making games (makes no difference to me either way).
 
Metal gear has an anti-war message? Which part, the one where I arm my dog with a knife and order him to slit someone's throat? Or the part where I take on assassination missions for money, so I can use said money to upgrade my weapons and my ability to call in helicopter gunships and airstrikes. Not to mention this is all done for revenge.

OR HOW ABOUT THE PART WHERE I KIDNAP PEOPLE, PROPERTY AND SMALL ANIMALS BY STRAPPING THEM TO A BALLOON AND LAUNCHING THEM INTO THE SKY WHERE THEY ARE RETRIEVED BY MILITARY PERSONNEL WHO COERCE THEM INTO FIGHTING FOR ME There's a real anti-war message.

Love this game!
 
Because he was hideo s .

No I'm kidding. He was a master but I'm not sure why he left. :confused:
 
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