Who are you?
The People Behind Kojima Productions
That “sneaking” game was Metal Gear. After a sequel and a few other warmly received titles, Kojima began to have more pull at Konami. When he finally pitched the idea of Metal Gear Solid, he knew the team that he had built was up to the challenge. Even though Kojima Productions now staffs over two hundred employees, his core team make up the heart of the company. Here are some of the most dedicated, yet unknown individuals in the industry today:

Hideo Kojima – Game Designer, Director
The man is a visionary, taking this medium where it has never gone before. Kojima humbly maintains that he does not create art, he simply creates a service: entertainment. While he has become well known by the hardcore in recent years, he still does not have the deserved fame in the common household.

Yoji Shinkawa – Art Director
He started working for Konami in 1994 as part of the original team for Policenauts, where he met Hideo Kojima. When Kojima needed an artist for his new Metal Gear Solid game, he knew exactly who he wanted at the helm. Shinkawa has done the art direction for every single MGS game since then, as well as the Zone of Enders series.

Kazunobu Uehara – Senior Programmer
Another Policenauts veteran, Uehara joined Konami in 1993. Renowned for his great work in the Metal Gear Solid series, he says, of all things, he is most proud of “the speed of the [Metal Gear Solid] rendering engine and the ease with which you can operate the game” (Metal Gear Confidential, 1998). On top of the MGS games, Uehara has also worked on the two Zone of Enders games published by Konami. Uehara is the only one on this list to have left Kojima Productions, leaving shortly after the release of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Kazuki Muraoka – Sound Producer
He worked on the PC game Snatcher before coming onto the Policenauts team. He has since directed the sound for almost all Kojima Productions games, including the MGS, ZOE, and Boktai series’.

Yoshikazu Matsuhana – Line Producer
Again of Snatcher fame, Matsuhana has been the line producer on all of the MGS games. Working closely with Kojima, he has penned scripts that have paved the way for video games to not only be accepted as valid media, but also as art.

Defining Attributes
What makes Kojima Productions special?
Kojima Productions has always been known for its extremely twisted narratives. They start off as standard military fare, but by the end become so epic they verge on insanity. Superhuman villains emerge, a twist occurs, and the main character realizes that if he fails his quest, everything he has known could disappear. And just when the plot seems to finalize, making the goal become clear, Kojima always manages to add in another twist to make the player’s head spin 180 degrees. Rob Smith, editor-in-chief of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, said this about the MGS plot:

“It’s deep, complex, but thoroughly rewarding… between the history of the game series, the timeline of events that make up this crucial chronology, and the show and tell of the faces that have dominated the franchise in so many iterations” (PlayStation: The Official Magazine, Spring 2008)

Yet, it is not only the plot, but the manner in which it is told. While companies like Valve strive to keep cut scenes out of their games entirely, Kojima Productions revels in telling stories through cinematics, tossing the controller aside for – at times – hours on end, though still keeping the player enthralled. Visionary director Hideo Kojima incorporates many (sometimes conflicting) themes into his work, and challenges his audience to figure out the meaning hidden between the lines.

No matter how seemingly contradicting the messages, you always know they are there for a reason. Jeff Gerstmann from Giant Bomb put it brilliantly while describing Kojima Production’s latest creation:

“Whatever choices that were made in the development of MGS4, good or bad, I feel like they were all completely deliberate… I truly believe that this is exactly the game that Hideo Kojima wanted to make.”

Some complain about the dated feel of the controls in Kojima Productions games. While those are valid complaints, I personally feel that those people are missing the point. Kojima Productions makes wonderful experiences. It might take time to get used to the mechanics, but those who do will be rewarded with an apple worthy of Eden. It is truly a magnificent affair.