This Is Good, VGA.

Normally, I loath the Spike VGAs with every fiber of my being, but they actually surprised me with a bit last night. But then, Konami also continues to surprise me as well for VERY different reasons...

Anyway, for those not aware, spreading out over the past couple months, there has been some very shady stuff going on with Konami in regards to Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima. I wont get into it all here, but basically it seems as if they are doing their best to box him in and force him out of the company. We don't know all of the details, but definitely go look into the various stories as it's staggering at how insane this whole drama has been playing out. And, just when it didn't seem it could get any more bizarre, the VGAs last night proved to add yet more madness to the mix.

Kojima has been a regular at the VGAs for years. In fact, the original Phantom Pain trailer premiered there well before we even knew it was a Metal Gear game. Metal Gear usually wins an award, and Kojima is there to accept it and show off a little more wackiness to come. That changed last night. Metal Gear won an award last night as usual, however, the award was accepted not by Kojima, but by new Snake voice actor Keifer Sutherland. Odd, especially considering Kojima was supposed to be at the show as he always is. And we quickly found out why when host Geoff Keighley explained right afterwards. It seems just before the show, Kojima was informed by Konami lawyers that he was being barred from appearing.

I'm gonna write that again. Konami sent lawyers to prevent Kojima from attending the awards show. That's just... Holy shit. Now, I don't always agree with some of Kojima's choices as a creator, he's not an infallible god among men. But this? What kind of children are running Konami at this point as to keep sinking lower and lower into this asinine behavior? I have many MANY issues with MGSV, but preventing the creator and face of such a long running and beloved video game series from celebrating his last entry in said series? That's just slimy, no matter how you cut it.

But, even with that, I gotta give some props to Geoff and the VGAs. First of all for actually telling us about this travesty. Second of all, for going out of their way to send Kojima some love in spite of Konami. After the announcement, Geoff introduced Stefanie Joosten herself as she took the stage and preformed Quiet's Theme in honor of Kojima. It was... something else. Have a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4VAzkK_Wmc

I watched the video originally to see the outrage at this nonsense. The crowd actually Boos the announcement as Geoff is making it. But what nobody said anything about, was the song directly following it. Quiet's Theme is such a wonderful moment in MGSV, that final mission with her being a high point in an issue laden game. For all the problems the game has, Quiet's send off is not one of them. Now, take all this bullshit Konami has been pulling, punctuated by this last bit with Kojima and the VGAs, only to have them in turn do this? Kudos VGAs. That was a beautiful moment that brought a tear to my eye. Taking Konami's latest fuck you and turning it into a moment for showing love and respect for Kojima is just utterly astonishing. For a show filled with so much ridiculousness from years past, an almost condensation of so many of modern gaming's problems year after year after year, they managed to do something powerful in that single moment.

So while we talk about how massively dickish Konami is being, I thought it only right to point out that little bit there on the VGAs part. It's good that they pulled it around from a moment of insult and outrage, and instead turned it into a heartfelt send off to not only Kojima, but an entire ERA in gaming. There will never be another Kojima Metal Gear game. From 1987 to 2015, that small moment was far better a conclusion to the whole series than even that final game itself managed to pull off. And a lovely moment when instead of saying something hollow about a creator or a bash at Konami, they produced a genuine bit of love.

So again VGAs, bravo, you did good.