Hideo Kojima has departed Konami – and he's bringing all of the top talent with him. The new Kojima Productions, which will launch Death Stranding exclusively on the PlayStation 4 as its first project, has quietly been fultoning high-ranked employees and adding them to its office. We already know that art director Yoji Shinkawa, producer Ken-Ishiro Imaizumi, and ex-Konami Europe boss Shinji Hirano have joined the auteur – but there are many more.
The most notable of these is Akio Sakamoto, one of the main names behind the FOX Engine. That's got to be a big coup for Guerrilla Games and the Decima Engine. Other additions include game designers Masaki Saito and Jackie Tan, cinematic artist Yasuhiro Kawakami, and senior character designer Chihoko Uchiyama. That's a whole lot of talent, and it means that Kojima Productions must be almost ready to begin work on its new game in earnest.
We're feeling really confident about Death Stranding. With Guerrilla Games contributing technology, PS4 architect Mark Cerny helping out, and Sony overseeing the project instead of Konami, there's plenty of reason to be excited. It's still going to take a long time to get made, but it's one to look forward to in the future. And let's be honest here: the trailers alone have been absolutely incredible.
[source gamingbolt.com]
Comments 20
@KratosMD You're not excited for Bomberman Switch?
@get2sammyb don't you mock this £60 masterpiece from 1994 after all Switch will also be getting modern games like erm Street Fighter 2 😂
@carlos82 @KratosMD To be honest with you, I'd actually take a new Bomberman game, but I'm not keen on the artstyle they've used for this Switch version.
And yeah, it's a bit spendy!
@get2sammyb I'd be all over it too but for about a 1/4 of that price (I'm not even paying that for Horizon). Actually I have paid £80 for Sonic Mania but that's only because of the cool statue with the Sega voice and game cartridge to remind me how old I am 😔
Good, good. Also yes on yoji shinkawa, I like his art & design on mgs and zoe series.
If freakin Bomberman costs the same as Breath of the Wild, it's going to... well... bomb.
The pricing on some of these game is insane. Sure, I'll gladly pay top dollar for the vast, open-world Zelda game, but $50 for 1, 2, Switch, a tech demo that should have been a pack-in with the Switch? Or ARMS, for that matter?
Until Nintendo prices some of this software more reasonably, I'll be sticking to the core stuff. Zelda, Mario Kart, Splatoon, 3D Mario, etc. Games that are actually worth the asking price.
Nice, this is going to be a bit of a belter isn't it
@Ralizah Plus, to play ARMS with a friend locally you'll need another set of Joycons. That'll set you back £75. So that's £125 total for a very gimmicky, casual fighting game.
Anyway, very excited about Death Stranding. Let's not forget that the MGS series started on Playstation 20 years ago this September. Hopefully this will be like history repeating itself around 20 years later with another masterpiece.
I'm actually really excited for the new Bomberman game, honestly. Not sure if it could beat the one of the Saturn, but I'm still in. Personally I think the switch will be great.
But on topic, good for Kojima to bring along some good talent to help him achieve his vision. I bet it'll be a good game!
Yeah, I absolutely love bomberman but it just looks terrible. 350 for a switch to play Zelda or a PS4 Pro or PSVR? Anyway. Yeah, poor konami lol to be fair though there are probably always plenty of talented staff unemployed.
It's not like Konami is using any of them lol
@Matroska If it really is local multiplayer only, then I'll never buy ARMS. Any game that's not at least willing to provide a decent single-player campaign can go shove it, as far as I am concerned.
I haven't seen a Jackie Tan movie in ages.
@Ralizah I'm not saying it'll be local multiplayer only, but the game is clearly based around casual, social gaming. Not as super-casual as 1, 2, Switch, but it's still barely above the level of an EyeToy fighting game from the early 2000s. The motion gimmick is only really effective when both you and a human opponent are partaking. Doing it solo is... well, you might as well just stand there and dance around for free.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULYNMR55j8w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVKKcYMAKqI
Standing alone in your bedroom and punching your fists into the air for an hour isn't exactly the image they're going for with ARMS. Single-player will just be a procession of dumb AI that you defeat by waving your arms for a bit. Not really worth £330 or whatever that'll cost with the console.
I'm actually pretty excited for the new Bomberman for Switch personally. It legimately looks like a lot of love and effort was put into it.
I'm excited about Kojima's new game because he's behind it, but very unexcited about what he's shown so far...
Yes... let's slam Nintendo.. real mature.. anyways, can't wait for Death Stranding. Glad Kojima is swiping people away from Konami. Hopefully we don't have too much longer now until they shut their doors.
I'm not going to sit here and cheer about top talent leaving a company. What this does is serve to highlight how stupid some companies have gotten these days. It's great that these talented people will be put to work doing what they do best which is make great games, but it's beyond annoying to watch suits run legendary companies like Konami into the ground.
What if Death Standing bombs?
$50 for a game... Meanwhile in Canada we are getting scalped at $80+ per game...
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