Kojima creates a new studio, partners up with Sony

SeantheMan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=annuTcmB1rw

Look forward to see what his next game might be.

Links234

I had been worried that the partnership with Sony would mean Kojima would be creating games exclusively for the Playstation, and I let out a sign, us filthy PC peasants get nothing... But according to this, it'll be a 'timed exclusive' and also coming to PC. Hurrah!

I wish Kojima the absolute best, and can't wait to see what he'll do now that he's out from under Konami's yolk.

2Mad2BeMad

Wonder how long it took him to learn that bit of Japanese.
He looked so uncomfortable speaking in it xD

Links234

2Mad2BeMad wrote: »

Wonder how long it took him to learn that bit of Japanese.
He looked so uncomfortable speaking in it xD

In my expert opinion* his spoken Japanese is actually seriously good, impressively so. Definitely not something he just learned off a card in preparation for the video, dude's pretty fluent as far as I can tell. He probably wouldn't have got the job of head of Sony Computer Entertainment without a decent level of the language. I think what you're picking up on is that he's speaking super-formally, which comes across as extremely stilted.

*Not an expert at all, I can barely hold a conversation about the weather, make a joke, ask directions, order food, and was somehow able to navigate Shinjuku station.

Sonics2k

2Mad2BeMad wrote: »

Wonder how long it took him to learn that bit of Japanese.
He looked so uncomfortable speaking in it xD

Andrew House is fluent in Japanese, I watched a video with him some 2-3 years ago and spoke it perfectly. Given his job it's probably essential he speak it.

Retr0gamer

I felt Kojima did his most interesting work outside of Metal Gear Solid so looking forward to what he can do.

wes

Good news for Kojima, and for the rest of us.

I always felt Kojima needed someone around him to ground him , tell him no when need be , no thats stupid, no that doesn't make any kind of logical sense, cop on, slap his face if need be etc. etc.

I've no idea how he is treated by those (we have the konami/phantom pain mess) he has worked with but I always had the impression he would work better with a partner to keep him grounded and that those around him treated him with far more reverence than he should have got and gave him way too much freedom. Don't get me wrong I have a lot of love for his games but often felt had there been an equal counter to him things could have been even greater. That will never happen for him at this point.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Be interesting to see how long it takes him to produce something, he's not a chap who likes to be rushed. My money's on it being at least 3 - 4 years before anything is released

Stone Deaf 4evr

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Be interesting to see how long it takes him to produce something, he's not a chap who likes to be rushed. My money's on it being at least 3 - 4 years before anything is released

True and anything already in the works would have Konami lawyers all over it

Xenji

He has also stated today that he is still interested in doing Silent Hills.

Captain Chaos

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Be interesting to see how long it takes him to produce something, he's not a chap who likes to be rushed. My money's on it being at least 3 - 4 years before anything is released

Quicker than that I reckon. Hints are, 1) look at the new logo for his studio, his last one was based around the Foxhound symbol with Snakes wild hair style. He has an idea already and 2) they are advertising for staff familiar with the Unreal 4.0 engine. Using an "off the shelf" engine will save time as it took years just to make just the Fox engine for MGSV.

Just wild speculation but still.

Xenji

He has also brought Yoji Shinkawa and Kenichiro Imaizumi with him, expect the next game to have mechs, lots of mechs.

Links234

Deleted User wrote: »

I always felt Kojima needed someone around him to ground him , tell him no when need be , no thats stupid, no that doesn't make any kind of logical sense, cop on, slap his face if need be etc. etc.

I've no idea how he is treated by those (we have the konami/phantom pain mess) he has worked with but I always had the impression he would work better with a partner to keep him grounded and that those around him treated him with far more reverence than he should have got and gave him way too much freedom. Don't get me wrong I have a lot of love for his games but often felt had there been an equal counter to him things could have been even greater. That will never happen for him at this point.

To be entirely fair to Kojima, I don't actually think that he's entirely to blame for delays and overbudget stuff. Each Metal Gear Solid had become bigger and more elaborate since the get go, not just in terms of narrative, but in features they kept cramming in. MGSV went open world, took in the extensive base management stuff, and considering how tacked-on and invasive the online multiplayer element was, you do have to wonder how much of the delays were down to Kojima, and how much was down to Konami shoehorning in microtransactions and FOB nonsense.

Given the freedom to create a new IP, I'd be very eager to see where he goes with this, it might be something with a much smaller scale story, a single game without the pressure to keep creating sequels. Who knows? But I think that Konami is definitely far from blameless with the mess that MGSV became, and I'm more than willing to give Kojima the benefit of doubt here.

gizmo

Links234 wrote: »

To be entirely fair to Kojima, I don't actually think that he's entirely to blame for delays and overbudget stuff. Each Metal Gear Solid had become bigger and more elaborate since the get go, not just in terms of narrative, but in features they kept cramming in. MGSV went open world, took in the extensive base management stuff, and considering how tacked-on and invasive the online multiplayer element was, you do have to wonder how much of the delays were down to Kojima, and how much was down to Konami shoehorning in microtransactions and FOB nonsense.

To be fair, MGS 4 was also delayed by around six months citing the need to make "make further improvements to the quality of the game", resulting in it missing it's original Winter 2007 launch date before eventually releasing in June 2008. The second delay even resulted in drop in Konami's share price by nearly 7% resulting in a four year low.

SeantheMan

What are the chances him and Del Toro might hook up and finish that game they were working on (P.T)...they could easily rename it something else.

Retr0gamer

PT had nothing to do with that game other than being a promotional teaser for it. It was a separate development that a small team did on the side.

Considering how Del Toro feels cursed when it comes to making a videogame and Konami now own all the work done on the project so far so it would need to be started as a brand new project from scratch I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Zero-Cool

I was hoping they could buy the rights of Silent Hills from Konami and finish it but doubt Konami would do him any favours.

gizmo

Retr0gamer wrote: »

PT had nothing to do with that game other than being a promotional teaser for it. It was a separate development that a small team did on the side.

Considering how Del Toro feels cursed when it comes to making a videogame and Konami now own all the work done on the project so far so it would need to be started as a brand new project from scratch I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Yup, plus Sony are just off the back of publishing Until Dawn so going by some back-of-a-napkin logic, I'd wager they'd be more interested in something more action orientated next. Kojima's comments about it being "slightly more edgy" and Shinkawa's "...concepts for the mechs" are certainly interesting though.

Either way, I'm sure we'll see something in-engine around E3 or TGS time next year.

Retr0gamer

Apparently there's going to be Mechs in his new game. Now while the prospect of Silent Hill with Mechs sounds awesome I doubt it's that.

Generic Dreadhead

Retr0gamer wrote: »

while the prospect of Silent Hill with Mechs sounds awesome

No, no it doesn't :pac:

Sounds more at place in Resi 7

Stone Deaf 4evr

Isn't the guy who oversaw the fox-engine also gone from Konami? I wonder where that leaves the usage rights to the engine - it'd be a shame if it ended up mothballed just because they dont have anything in production that needs it.

gizmo

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Isn't the guy who oversaw the fox-engine also gone from Konami? I wonder where that leaves the usage rights to the engine - it'd be a shame if it ended up mothballed just because they dont have anything in production that needs it.

That would be Julien Merceron, their Technical Director, who left a few months ago after becoming unhappy with Konami's change of direction. His departure wouldn't have any bearing at all on their usage rights to the engine and since it was also used in the development of PES 2015 and 2016 I think it's safe to assume it'll continue to be used for any AAA productions that Konami decide to continue.

Genghiz Cohen

gizmo wrote: »

That would be Julien Merceron, their Technical Director, who left a few months ago after becoming unhappy with Konami's change of direction. His departure wouldn't have any bearing at all on their usage rights to the engine and since it was also used in the development of PES 2015 and 2016 I think it's safe to assume it'll continue to be used for any AAA productions that Konami decide to continue.

Konami looking for developers for a new MG game too. Rumour has it.

gizmo

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Konami looking for developers for a new MG game too. Rumour has it.

Whatever about internal tech guys they may hire to replace those lost, I really really don't envy whatever Game Director takes over the next iteration in the series.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Isn't the guy who oversaw the fox-engine also gone from Konami? I wonder where that leaves the usage rights to the engine - it'd be a shame if it ended up mothballed just because they dont have anything in production that needs it.

Was there anything particularly special about the Fox Engine, that they couldn't have saved a lot of time money and effort in using an off the shelf product?

I ask out of ignorance , I haven't read much if anything about it other than them hype it and say how great it was

I got the impression playing the game , that it didn't even push that engine given the amount going on vs other open world titles like GTA 5 etc.

gizmo

gizmo wrote: »

Whatever about internal tech guys they may hire to replace those lost, I really really don't envy whatever Game Director takes over the next iteration in the series.

I don't know, if JJ Abrams was able to pull it off with star wars .... ah but then this is Konami :pac:

Retr0gamer

Deleted User wrote: »

Was there anything particularly special about the Fox Engine, that they couldn't have saved a lot of time money and effort in using an off the shelf product?

I ask out of ignorance , I haven't read much if anything about it other than them hype it and say how great it was

I got the impression playing the game , that it didn't even push that engine given the amount going on vs other open world titles like GTA 5 etc.

Fox Engine was a beautiful piece of programming, the PC version of the Metal Gear games just showed how well optimised it was especially considering **** like Arkham Knight. Fox Engine was meant to power all of Konamis games for this generation and maybe the best and when it entered development Konami had invested heavily in Kojima and his team, moving the studio to LA and buying one of Howard Hughes old buildings to house them. It's just a pity their priorities totally changed when it was complete.

humanji

I'm cautiously optimistic about this. I kind of feel Kojima needs someone to rein him in when he goes off on one, otherwise we'll get a lot of him stroking his ego. But on the other side, I would kind of imagine Sony being the type of people who'll rein him in too much and strangle his creativity in order to force games out of him as quickly as possible.

But if they get the balance right, they'll come up with something magical.

salamanca22

2Mad2BeMad wrote: »

Wonder how long it took him to learn that bit of Japanese.
He looked so uncomfortable speaking in it xD

His Japanese is amazing. It's not often you find a foreigner of Japan to have such a great grasp of the language. His accent is spot on and if I closed my eyes I could almost swear it was a japanese person talking.


Looking forward to what Hideo comes out with and I wish him all the best in the world and hope he is treated better in the industry today than he was last week.

Somnus

I'm definitely curious to see what Kojima does away from Metal Gear now. Starting a new IP could feel really fresh.

I would say he is disappointed about losing the FOX engine though. He really tries to push the technological boundaries in his games and with all the effort that went into that engine it must feel a bit crap to have to abandon it.