Konami releases David Hayter-fronted video series about Metal Gear's incredible legacy, doesn't mention Metal Gear creator, director, and writer Hideo Kojima once

Konami has released the first video in what it's calling the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Series, companion videos to Metal Gear Solid: The Master Collection that offer a shorthand history lesson of the games' extensive lore. The opening video is six minutes long and presented by David Hayter, the voice actor of Solid Snake and Big Boss in Metal Gear Solids 1-4, and in its script does not mention Hideo Kojima once.

We'll get into why in a moment, but even for Konami this is absurd. Hideo Kojima took over an existing Konami project for the MSX2 in 1987 and, realising the machine's capabilities limited what could be shown on-screen, hit upon the idea of a game where avoiding conflict was the goal (for the most part). The first two top-down games have nowhere near the sophistication of what was to come, but they do have an abundance of ideas (the cardboard box, smoking, guided missiles, varied patrol routes, codecs) that remained at the heart of the series.

To be clear, these games were, by the end, created by teams of hundreds of people, and Kojima does not deserve sole credit. But he is undeniably the presiding spirit and key creative force behind Metal Gear. Kojima created the series and then co-wrote, designed and directed every single subsequent mainline entry, until his acrimonious departure from Konami after the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

The truth of just what went down between the Japanese publisher and its star man has yet to be fully told (and may never come out), though Kojima stage-managed his exit in a way that led to enormous opprobrium aimed at Konami, with many believing he was shoddily treated towards the end of his time there. Whatever did happen, the outcome was that Konami lost its greatest talent, had its reputation badly tainted, and ever since has acted like Kojima doesn't exist.

Hayter had his difficulties with Kojima, too, and has been clear that he didn't appreciate being unceremoniously dropped for Kojima's final two games