Few companies have shaped as many corners of gaming as Konami. Born in Osaka in 1969, it conquered the arcades with Frogger, Gradius and Contra, then spent the console era producing an astonishing run of masterpieces across wildly different genres. It gave the world Metal Gear Solid, which taught games to be cinematic. It made Castlevania, whose Symphony of the Night invented a genre people now call the Metroidvania. And it created Silent Hill, still the high-water mark for psychological horror in any medium.
This is the studio's golden age: the arcade legends, the Metal Gear saga, the Castlevania and Silent Hill classics, and the deep run of Japanese role-playing and action games in between. Here is the map.
The essential Konami
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From the arcade to the auteur
Konami's story runs from the coin-op to the auteur. In the 1980s it was one of the kings of the arcade, its run-and-gun Contra and its shoot-em-up Gradius defining whole genres in a few frantic minutes. In the 1990s and 2000s it handed its franchises to visionary directors, Kojima on Metal Gear, Koji Igarashi on Castlevania, the Team Silent group on Silent Hill, and let them make some of the most ambitious, personal games a big publisher has ever shipped.
The Metal Gear saga
Kojima's cinematic stealth epic
The Castlevania saga
Dracula's castle, from the whip to the Metroidvania
The Silent Hill nightmares
Fog, guilt and the town that gets inside your head
The arcade legends
Where Konami conquered the coin-op
The role-playing and sci-fi worlds
Suikoden, Zone of the Enders and more
A short history of Konami
- 1969Konami is founded in Osaka, Japan, and grows into an arcade powerhouse.
- 1987Contra and the original Metal Gear establish Konami as a console force.
- 1997Castlevania: Symphony of the Night invents the modern Metroidvania.
- 1998Metal Gear Solid makes the video game cinematic and Hideo Kojima a star.
- 1999Silent Hill redefines horror games as psychological, atmospheric art.
- 2001Metal Gear Solid 2 pushes storytelling and spectacle to daring new places.
- 2010Peace Walker caps a golden run before later turmoil at the company.
The people who built Konami's golden age
The auteurs behind Metal Gear, Castlevania and Silent Hill. Follow any of them to their full catalogue.
Keep listening on Podfriend
Shows and themes that go deep on this era of gaming.
More golden-age studios
Every studio in the series. More on the way.
The cinematic blockbuster, the Metroidvania and psychological horror all trace back to one company's astonishing run. That was Konami.
Frequently asked
What is Konami best known for?
The Metal Gear Solid stealth series, the Castlevania action games, the Silent Hill horror series, and arcade classics like Contra, Gradius and Frogger. Konami is one of the most influential Japanese game companies of all time.
Did Konami invent the Metroidvania?
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997), directed by Koji Igarashi, fused the exploration of Metroid with Castlevania's gothic action to create the template now known as the Metroidvania, one of the most popular genres in modern games.
Who made Metal Gear Solid?
Metal Gear Solid was created by Hideo Kojima at Konami. Its cinematic storytelling and stealth gameplay made it hugely influential, and Kojima became one of the most celebrated designers in games before leaving Konami in 2015.
Why is Silent Hill so acclaimed?
Silent Hill pioneered psychological horror in games, using atmosphere, symbolism and Akira Yamaoka's music rather than cheap scares. It is widely regarded as one of the most artistically ambitious horror series in any medium.