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Solid Snake Japanese voice actor: ‘Kojima Productions has disbanded’

Alo0oy

Banned
Sony's definitely going to sweet-talk him. As will many publishers. But like I said before, I think he's going to go where the most money is, if only to hold as much of Kojipro together as he can, and after the recent Sony 2nd party downsizing and the Shenmue Kickstarter thing, I'm not sure they can offer Kojima the kind of funds I'm assuming he'll want. Microsoft on the other hand could and probably would pay through the nose to have him. I'm sure we'll hear something by the end of the year.

There have been no downsizing overall, in fact, studios like Naughty Dog & Guerrilla Games doubled in size since the launch of the PS4, & Santa Monica right now are bigger than they were before the layoffs.

I don't know who has been manufacturing these false narratives, Sony is still the biggest consoles video game publisher in the world, & they have been that way for over half a decade.

"Sony can't afford Kojima" is as hilarious as "Sony can't afford advertising the PS4" a couple of years ago.
 
Let's look at it from a different perspective. Let's say you're right, that MGS4 costs say, $40 million. Can Sony recoup the cost of that game alone?

The Gran Turismo series selling on an exclusive console alone has made >70 million worldwide sales. The Metal Gear Solid series being multiplatform has only made >40 million in comparison. If Sony picks up Kojima and he continues making these huge games that sell half Gran Turismo can Sony bank it all on his games? I doubt it.

Microsoft, Facebook, and probably Nintendo are the only 1st party companies that can take a risk by funding a full KojiPro studio.

Skimming through the thread. You do know they've sold 40mil COPIES, not $40mil in sales total. And there have been only 4 major titles, vs GT's 6. Although plenty side games, they sure only add a small amount (a million here or there).

I guarentee you Kojima's games are very profitable. And especially so to sony because it could mean more systems sold.
 
Skimming through the thread. You do know they've sold 40mil COPIES, not $40mil in sales total. And there have been only 4 major titles, vs GT's 6. Although plenty side games, they sure only add a small amount (a million here or there).

I guarentee you Kojima's games are very profitable. And especially so to sony because it could mean more systems sold.

I wouldn't be so sure all the big guys are going to immediately jump on him. This is a man who basically formed his own company within a company so he could spend and do what he wanted. He isn't going to be cheap and his spending of 5 years per game is not going to fly in today's market. They are going to have to rein him in.
 

Venom Fox

Banned
I wouldn't be so sure all the big guys are going to immediately jump on him. This is a man who basically formed his own company within a company so he could spend and do what he wanted. He isn't going to be cheap and his spending of 5 years per game is not going to fly in today's market. They are going to have to rein him in.
Spending 5 years per game can fly though, Rockstar manage to do it with GTA (Although I suppose you could count RD and MP).

But I can see what you mean, although if Sony snag him they'll give him his own studio anyway so it could work.
 
One of the most talented teams in this industry.

RIP :(

B5wsy20CQAAOMwv.jpg:large

I hope they form a new studio soon. :(
 

Valnen

Member
This is worrying for the game. Who's going to fix bugs post launch? Who's going to support the online mode? And for how long?
 
Spending 5 years per game can fly though, Rockstar manage to do it with GTA (Although I suppose you could count RD and MP).

But I can see what you mean, although if Sony snag him they'll give him his own studio anyway so it could work.

You singled out a series that sells 40 million PER ENTRY.

They are an anomaly no one will match.

I honestly think he will finally go make a movie within the next 10 years.
 
This is worrying for the game. Who's going to fix bugs post launch? Who's going to support the online mode? And for how long?

High Voltage Studios.

Seriously, disbanded means that the whole team has been relocated in different or smaller teams inside Konami, just like happened to Team Silent. Not everyone will leave Konami, either.

Probably a small member of them will still work on the game post launch.
 

Venom Fox

Banned
You singled out a series that sells 40 million PER ENTRY.

They are an anomaly no one will match.

I honestly think he will finally go make a movie within the next 10 years.
Yeah, I know, I even put why i couldn't really count it as the same in brackets.

I agree nobody will match what R* has done though, well, apart from Mojang with Minecraft.
He won't make a film, he will carry on making games.
He's unproven and in tested in film making, you can't just throw somebody at a film and say "make it".
 
You singled out a series that sells 40 million PER ENTRY.

They are an anomaly no one will match.

I honestly think he will finally go make a movie within the next 10 years.

Why people keep talking about "movie" when it comes to Kojima. If he was David Cage I would understand, David Cage "games" really feel like little less than interactive movies. But Kojima games have always worked as videogames first. The only exception may be MGS4 but even the most dramatic scenes and parts only work as well as they do because it is a videogame. Also Kojima also goes way beyond his way and give each game an attention to detail that is unmatched in any other AAA game and most of those details are miss if the player doesn't go out of his way as well to look for them, which also translate badly if Kojima decided to make movies.
 

Nuke Soda

Member
Hopefully they form a new team and find a company that is not a bunch of nitwits swearing the future is in mobile and gambling machines.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Open your EYES this is all a RUSE
 

Floody

Member
Why people keep talking about "movie" when it comes to Kojima. If he was David Cage I would understand, David Cage "games" really feel like little less than interactive movies. But Kojima games have always worked as videogames first. The only exception may be MGS4 but even the most dramatic scenes and parts only work as well as they do because it is a videogame. Also Kojima also goes way beyond his way and give each game an attention to detail that is unmatched in any other AAA game and most of those details are miss if the player doesn't go out of his way as well to look for them, which also translate badly if Kojima decided to make movies.

I think it's more to do with it clearly being one of his big passions, than a "his games are just interactive movies" type thing, his games are heavily influenced by movies too. I honestly can see him doing a movie, just as much as I can see him doing a game next.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Kojima has also said he will do games until he dies. Does that discard him making a movie? Not really, but it probably means that he'll go and form another team after December.

EDIT: Can I ask what's the logic behind the thought that Sony wouldn't get Kojima to make a horror game because of Siren's director? I mean he's clearly into Gravity Rush (Team Siren being called Team Gravity now), and Sony probably has noticed that P.T. and Silent Hills was more popular than Siren ever was.
 
Kojima gonna pull a DeAndre Jordan.

December comes, Kojima releases statement:
"Words that kill" is symbolic for the WORDS THAT spread about my departure, which KILLED my fans. I ain't going anywhere. Metal Gear Solid 6 on the way, bruh. Sons of The Boss coming 2016. Did you like it?
leuhkikcskn4.gif
 
As passionate as Kojima is to movies, I still genuinely think he's a gameplay guy first and story second. The only reason why mgs3 is a prequel storywise is because Kojima is inspired to make stealth game in jungles and figure setting the story in the past is a better fit. He constantly retcon his previous game's story if it better fit the gameplay he had in mind.

Anyone saying Kojima want to be movie director first than game director second is dead wrong imo.
 
As passionate as Kojima is to movies, I still genuinely think he's a gameplay guy first and story second. The only reason why mgs3 is a prequel storywise is because Kojima is inspired to make stealth game in jungles and figure setting the story in the past is a better fit. He constantly retcon his previous game's story if it better fit the gameplay he had in mind.

Anyone saying Kojima want to be movie director first than game director second is dead wrong imo.


I love kojima and the gameplay innovations all of his games bring, but all of these these things were born from konami itself and/or his team's incompetence forcing him into making another metal gear.
 
Kojima gonna pull a DeAndre Jordan.

December comes, Kojima releases statement:
"Words that kill" is symbolic for the WORDS THAT spread about my departure, which KILLED my fans. I ain't going anywhere. Metal Gear Solid 6 on the way, bruh. Sons of The Boss coming 2016. Did you like it?
leuhkikcskn4.gif

Shu is driving around Japan trying to call Kojima but he won't pickup the phone.. Kojima's location unknown.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
I love kojima and the gameplay innovations all of his games bring, but all of these these things were born from konami itself and/or his team's incompetence forcing him into making another metal gear.

That much was evidence with Metal Gear Rising. Damn, the fact that he admitted that was showing. He must have been pretty furious.
 

Bashtee

Member
Killing Silent Hills after the positive reception of P.T. made it clear that Konami doesn't have any interest and business sense in gaming whatsoever. After that, nothing was or is a surprise.
 
That much was evidence with Metal Gear Rising. Damn, the fact that he admitted that was showing. He must have been pretty furious.
It's pretty harsh the way he slammed down his own Rising team when he put the video announcing the switch to Platinum games. Does the guy in charge with original Rising team still at Kojipro by now?
 

J-Skee

Member
@Chris_Broussard:
CORRECTION: Sources: Shu beside himself. Driving around downtown TOKYO begging (thru texts) Kojima's family 4 address to Kojima's home

@yosp:
.@Chris_Broussard that's is the dumbest shit Ive ever heard. If you had any ethics u would msg me and I will give u his address
 

Salaadin

Member
I wouldn't be so sure all the big guys are going to immediately jump on him. This is a man who basically formed his own company within a company so he could spend and do what he wanted. He isn't going to be cheap and his spending of 5 years per game is not going to fly in today's market. They are going to have to rein him in.

5 years per game?

MGS1 was in '98. MGS2 was in '01. MGS3 was '04. MGS4 was '08. And that's not including all the other stuff he was involved in like ZOE, Boktai, Portable Ops, Peace Walker, Rising, etc.

The wait between MGS4 and MGS5 is long but a lot of that time was also spent building a multi platform, cross platform game engine that konami was going to use on several games until they decided to stomp on my heart instead.
 
The wait between MGS4 and MGS5 is long but a lot of that time was also spent building a multi platform, cross platform game engine that konami was going to use on several games until they decided to stomp on my heart instead.

No, the wait between MGS4 and MGS5 is long because MGS5 is essentially MGS6.

It's not like he started work on TPP while he was working PW.
 

J-Skee

Member
No, the wait between MGS4 and MGS5 is long because MGS5 is essentially MGS6.

It's not like he started work on TPP while he was working PW.

True. People tend to forget that Kojima was going around saying that Peace Walker was MGS5. But I guess people couldn't wrap their head around a mainline MGS game being only on a portable console.
 

Salaadin

Member
No, the wait between MGS4 and MGS5 is long because MGS5 is essentially MGS6.

It's not like he started work on TPP while he was working PW.
I won't argue against this. I just know that some people get irritated at the "peace walker is mgs5" stuff so I wasn't going there :p
 

Neff

Member
"Sony can't afford Kojima" is as hilarious as "Sony can't afford advertising the PS4" a couple of years ago.

I didn't say Sony can't afford Kojima. I said that Sony, in light of its recent and undeniable cost-cutting, won't be able to write him blank cheques the way Microsoft will be able to, so that gives them the advantage if huge budgets are what he wants.
 
I didn't say Sony can't afford Kojima. I said that Sony, in light of its recent and undeniable cost-cutting, won't be able to write him blank cheques the way Microsoft will be able to, so that gives them the advantage if huge budgets are what he wants.
More potential sales for one since ps4 sold more units than xb1
 

Krejlooc

Banned
MGSV is the end of the series for me. I'll never play another Metal Gear after.

I have basically every game Kojima ever made during his entire career, from his days on the MSX to today. I love this guy's work and I'll follow him wherever he goes, but man I'm sad to see his time at Konami end. He did magnificent things for that company and it appears they are self destructing.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
I didn't say Sony can't afford Kojima. I said that Sony, in light of its recent and undeniable cost-cutting, won't be able to write him blank cheques the way Microsoft will be able to, so that gives them the advantage if huge budgets are what he wants.

- Sony spends more on first party games.
- Sony publishes more games than any publisher in the world, including big third parties like Activision, sometimes publishing more than twice as many games as MS.
- Sony spends more money overall in their video games division.
- Sony is more likely to publish a game by Kojima that is profitable because 1) most of his fanbase are on the PS4. 2) They have twice the install base.
- Sony has a great relationship with Kojima.
- Kojima likes working in Japan, & he has a local fanbase.
- The majority of Sony's studios grew since the launch of the PS4, sometimes to being twice as big (you ignored that in my post & then made the same false argument again btw).

But MS is more likely to have Kojima? Your argument is MS has more money, which is false, they have never ever spent as much money on Video Games as Sony has, how much MS makes selling Windows & Office is not really relevant.
 

Neff

Member
More potential sales for one since ps4 sold more units than xb1

On NeoGAF where sales are argued over exhaustively, it's easy to think that games developers care as much about sales as we'd like to think. But they really don't. Publishers do, sure, but so long as developers get to make the game they want to make, which is successful enough to let them make another game after that, they're ecstatic, trust me. Kojima will have this luxury wherever he goes.

MS is more likely to have Kojima?

Again, I didn't say that. And I'm not seeing much evidence regarding your points. What I am seeing is VIPs fleeing 2nd party studios, TLG being stuck in development hell for half a decade, a ton of debt hanging over Sony, property being sold off, studios closed, Vita being abruptly retired, and Yu Suzuki being paraded on stage like an orphan begging for tablescraps. Basically, a lot of cost-cutting and conservatism. Point me in the direction of evidence to the contrary, or an example of Sony's gaming arm spending cash akin to MS' Minecraft purchase, and I'll happily embrace it.

My observation is merely that if Kojima is looking to work on projects with 40m+ budgets like he's used to, and if MS think he's worth it, they'll be able to make Kojima a very competitive offer that with all manner of financial and developmental perks, which Sony in all likeliness probably can't.
 

Jigorath

Banned
On NeoGAF where sales are argued over exhaustively, it's easy to think that games developers care as much about sales as we'd like to think. But they really don't. Publishers do, sure, but so long as developers get to make the game they want to make, which is successful enough to let them make another game after that, they're ecstatic, trust me. Kojima will have this luxury wherever he goes.

Game developers not caring about how much their games sell is one of the silliest things I've ever read. Of course they care. They want as many people as possible to play their games. It's a pretty big morale killer when your game comes out and a very few people actually play it.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I don't doubt Kojima would fairly easily find work given his networking and reputation. But the scope of a new project is something I'd scrutinise. I also don't think Sony or Microsoft will pick him up.

That being said, I think funding a PT-like horror game with his name attached would be easy browny points for whoever would be willing to do so.
 
Honestly, discussions regarding where Kojima will go next is so much of a 'tales-from-the-arse' across the board that it's all interpretation of respective individual GAFers based off extremely, and I mean extremely limited amounts of information.
 
I didn't say Sony can't afford Kojima. I said that Sony, in light of its recent and undeniable cost-cutting, won't be able to write him blank cheques the way Microsoft will be able to, so that gives them the advantage if huge budgets are what he wants.

Have you taken into account the recent announcement of a restructuring, and, pending a massive job cut, in Microsoft's mobile division? Its not a cheap expense.

I don't think neither Sony nor Microsoft are currently ready and willing to write blank cheques, let alone to a single individual, furthermore, in their gaming branch imo.
 
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