So a travesty occurred in this year’s Video Game Awards (I think the event is a sham, but it does its good anyway), wherein Geoff Keighley mentioned that Hideo Kojima was banned from attending to receive an award for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Keifer Sutherland received the award instead, which is definitely an indication that Konami is still adamant about keeping Kojima away from his creation.
I do think it’s in the name of petty revenge; I don’t know if Kojima could have committed a mortal sin that could have him deserve having his baby taken away from him. Previously, I wrote about Konami’s scorched earth policy in recent years and my hypothesis that Yakuza are behind it all. I don’t think that’s a conspiracy; it’s more or less an open secret. I felt strongly about it when I first wrote it, and I still do now.
Then again, it’s more out of purging zeal to out of the video game industry. That’s no hypothesis since they’ve been dumping their properties on the wayside over the years, with Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid being the latest casualties. The company can do what it wants to its own property, but burning bridges and invalidating careers along the way is going much too far just for some business directive.
Too much has already been said about Konami and its recent displays of blatant disregard for its legacy. If it really is company policy to screw your best employees over after their usefulness has been spent, then all fans of these old Konami franchises can do is watch in morbid fascination as the company scuttles itself. It’s pretty much being consumed from within at this point, and it won’t matter how much damage control they’re doing since they’re so bad at it anyway.
These old men have no regard for emotion and sentiment, which something I usually begrudgingly commend but won’t in this case. Yes, it’s for the sake of doing better, but it’s done through erasing its history, and that’s betraying its customer base. As dynamic of a business move it may seem to be, and perhaps shareholders will be happier with these decisions later on, but how could turning your back on what gave you your reputation be a good long-term move?
Also, they’re banking on pachinko (and maybe even water industries). How could it not have Yakuza behind it all when they’re investing so much on those types of businesses? But then again, that’s their business and we can’t really do anything about it but grumble loudly and speculate on what could have been if they didn’t go ape shit. At this point, let’s leave it at that—they’ve gone absolutely bonkers, and you can’t just coax it to get sane again.
But this latest gaffe of theirs is stepping over a line most other big companies dare not cross. It’s one thing to give a longtime employee the cold shoulder after relationships turn sour, but denying them their labor—the very thing that made your company great—in such a fashion is not only sad, but rightfully infuriating. But of course, you can do whatever you want since you hold the copyrights to that property, but taking such a body of work away from its creator is beyond disgraceful.
It’s abhorrent, a transgression deserving of a dressing down and forced exile. No, I’m not exaggerating. (They haven’t done anything that’s deserving of seppuku yet, but they might at this rate.)
These are most likely my final words on this blog regarding Konami. I wish to not speak further on the subject unless it involves confirmation of my Yakuza theory. These are sour grapes that will never turn into wine, but just rot that will slowly but surely fade into the aether.
The only trace of Konami that will remain is in the phrase “Konami code.” Future generations will have to research the etymology of that phrase for they will never grow up knowing the joy of playing a Konami game.
