Kojima - Where Should He Land?

Kojima - Where Should He Land?

Article written by Zikron on 4/20/09
Last edited on 4/20/09

Hideo Kojima the man behind the Metal Gear Solid franchise came out and and said he would like to work with a western developer. This partnership with a western developer would likely end up creating a new original series. So the question to be asked is where should he go?

Silicon Knights - The Early Favorite

Hideo Kojima has already worked with Silicon Knights when they brought over the original Metal Gear Solid to the Gamecube. Silicon Knights could definitely use some help. Their latest game, Too Human, was a huge disappointment both in gameplay and its story. Eternal Darkness is widely considered their best game which won awards for its gameplay and story back in 2006. Currently Silicon Knights is working on two projects, a sequel to Too Human and an untitled game which they are partnering with Sega on. Overall Silicon Knights is not a good fit for Kojima. One great game doesn't mean a studio is established.

Bungie - It Kinda Makes Sense

Bungie left Microsoft to work on new projects outside of the Halo universe. The Halo storyline has received a lot of criticism from the gaming community and while I think it improved with each addition to the series it wasn't great. Bungie can partner up with Kojima and make a fresh original game and not receive that criticism on the story, if they do they can deflect it on Kojima. However, by all accounts it sounds like Kojima is going to want to call the shots. Is Bungie going to want to listen to someone else telling them what to do after what happened with Microsoft?

Epic Games - Could Benefit the Most

Epic Games has the most to gain from partnering with Kojima. Epic has made some great games but none of them have done a great job of creating a cinematic experience like Metal Gear Solid achieved. Gears of War has tried and certainly improved with Gears of War 2. Unreal on the other hand has never really tried to tell a story, just look pretty and help sell a graphic engine to the rest of the industry. Epic sells their engines to developers all over the world so they may have talked to Kojima before and a connection could be there. As mentioned earlier Kojima has an existing relationship with Silicon Knights who is being sued by Epic Games over the alleged use of the Unreal Engine in Too Human which may effect his stance with Epic Games.

The Rest of the Crowd

There are too many big developers out there to name and explain why they would and wouldn't work out. Valve and Infinity Ward are popular choices but do they really need help? They already make great games with excellent stories, what would Kojima bring them other than MGS fanboys? EA and Activision have to be mentioned just because they have tons of money and are so massive. If he goes to one of them though he will hear the collective sound of groans from gamers all over the world who know he just sold out to the man.

In conclusion

Kojima is similar to a pro athlete who just became a free agent. Everyone knows he is a talented individual it is just a matter of finding the right situation. Where that will be is anyones guess but let's hope his talents don't go to waste.

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