The  gaming section of the interwebz sort of blew up over the recent Kojima/Sony announcement.  And it serves as a reminder that the world we live in can be so unstable an volatile.  Is Konami involved with ISIS terror attacks and threatening the welfare of the free world society most of us take for granted?  Close, but not quite.

I remember there was a time when I held Konami is such high regards for their console games from the orginal NES to the first PlayStation.  The franchises I held dear to my heart were Contra, Castlevania, TMNT, Suikoden, Vandal Hearts, Shadows of Destiny, Zone of the Enders, and Silent Hill.  That's not counting the plethora of arcade offering such as Frogger, Simpsons, X-men, Aliens, Time Pilot, Scramble, and my second all time favorite arcade game Gyruss.  And a lot of those arcade offering made it to consoles.

It was during the 6th gen of consoles that my support for Konami was waining, and ironicly, it was when the Metal Gear Solid franchise was really taking off.  I was never a big Metal Gear fan, but I always regarded Hideo Kojima as the second best console developer on the planet (Shigeru Miyamoto takes that title whether you accept it or not!  ;) )  But what I felt in Konami's previous titles didn't transfer over into the newer generations for whatever reasons.  And I dare say the more informed hardcore gaming community at large seemed to feel the same way since Konami's presence had less impact on the industry during later generations than before.  And now, Konami lost Kojima.  The only ace-in-the sleeve I can think of that Konami has left to stay relevant in the industry is Winning Eleven.  What in the hell are these guys going to whittle away what used to be a gaming icon in the current sea of fierce competiton?  If it weren't for the Metal Gear hype, I would have forgotten that Konami existed.  And again, I'm not a huge Metal Gear Solid fan.

Konami, who are you? You were once in the center of my third party gaming radar, and I once always believed that what you had to offer was always worth my attention.  But now, you have blown it.  And again, I'm not a Metal Gear Solid fan, but I actually bought the games to support a talented developer that helped fuel the industry.  Too bad I won't be able to share wih you that support anymore.  Your loss.

Konami = a publisher without japanese honor. Sayonara, Konami.

Yoji Shinkawa!! and more people go now to Hideo Kojima's new studio :) <3

And i hope, Sony buy the Konami-ip's in the future.

The way Konami has handled the Kojima situation has to be one of the worst PR disaster of the gaming world (somewhere up there with Microsoft's initial Xbox One announcement).

Konami u dun goofed

I agree with the OP in the aspect of loving their games from the NES to PS1 days. I feel the same way. The arcade offerings were top notch as well. I miss THAT Konami. I guess pachinko machines and PES is what's going to be the lucrative route for them. That and mobile. No one will believe in another MGS without Kojima.

They're too busy wiping their tears with their pachinko money :)

They moved to mobile and don't care anymore for this industry. If that market gives them more money, I don't think they give a damn what people think's about them.

I'd argue its worse. Microsoft rebounded, they're not a 100% (and I doubt they will be the rest of this gen), but Konami flushed their credibility down the toilet and a future of irrelevance and pachinko machines await them.

The Konami Code is ingrained in the core of my being.

Still, I don't blame them for simply wanting to change markets. High-profile videogames now are a different beast than they were twenty years ago. There should be no rancor if they've found greener pastures elsewhere. They are a business first and foremost, after all.

No, it's the way they've handled the situation with Kojima that wins them ill-will. Honestly, I don't even know the basis of that. He might be the biggest diva in the universe and a real pain to work with. Regardless, Konami has appeared to be way less than professional during the course of this drama.

The real tragedy of this is that they hold so many classic IP hostage. So much of my childhood will now, in all likelihood, be relegated to simplistic mobile games and cheap, uninspired console titles that are shells of their past glory.

YES!
here a (in my opinion) interesting topic:

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=211415&page=1#

i hope, sony should buy konami in the future - because the old good ip's are coming back then. And konami without Hideo Kojima, Harry Gregson Williams and Yoji Shinkawa is nothing.