Hideo Kojima’s Escape from Minako

I’m not going to bother adding much commentary to this fictional list of cancelled video games by 1UP’s Bob Mackey. Anyone who regularly follows my writings on all things Metal Gear will have a laugh from reading the part about Hideo Kojima’s cancelled non-Metal Gear title Escape from Minako:

“Started and scrapped between the development cycles of Metal Gear Solids 2, 3, 4, and Peace Walker, Escape from Minako promised a less-stealthy take on Kojima’s standard style. The game put players in control of a humble robot manufacturer imprisoned at the evil Minako Corporation, forced to build a line of increasing complex and time-consuming behemoths against his will; throughout EFM’s ten stages, said protagonist would slay floors of cyborg executives, finally escaping at the end for a tearful reunion with his family and the concept known by many as “leisure.” When exposed to Kojima’s presentation for the game, Konami’s higher-ups couldn’t help but notice the strong allegory between Escape from Minako and Kojima’s actual working life. To counter such claims, the famed developer simply presented a picture showing the stacks of cash this new IP would bring in. The brass at Konami responded in turn with a 1:10-scale diorama depicting the money a new Metal Gear game would generate, complete with a model train that, when fully built, would carry an entire board of directors through tunnels upon tunnels of currency. A lesson for you would-be developers: when working on a pitch, never neglect the size of your money shot.”

The only thing I take issue with? The implication that Kojima was ever forced to make Metal Gear titles; he always had a choice, even if one of the consequences of making a different choice would have ended with him leaving Konami. Maybe Escape from Minako’s main villain should actually be the main character’s evil twin, modeled after Business Kojima. Anyways, check out the full article on 1UP.

LINK – 1UP, META Gear Solid

Posted on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 12:24 AM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response to this article below.