小岛秀夫

Born on August 24, 1963, Hideo Kojima is the Konami Digital Entertainment, Operating Officer and Studio Head of Kojima Productions.

Regarded as one of the top game designers in the industry, Hideo Kojima has taken a decidedly cinematic approach with his games, most notably the Metal Gear Solid games that began on the PS one. The film-like directing style isn't an accident; Kojima grew up fascinated by movies, but neither games nor film were a major career choice (he was actually an economics major), but a natural attraction to video games and an encounter with Super Mario Bros. was enough to push Kojima into game design.

Though Kojima is still at Konami where he started in April 1986, the road to his becoming a vice-president of the Japanese development powerhouse was far from smooth. His initial run on a series of MSX games as a designer was fraught with blame for low sales and a regular dismissal of his oft-times unusual game ideas. It wasn't until he was allowed to release the first Metal Gear in 1987 that the commercial success afforded him a little leeway.

As the list of successes grew, from Snatcher in '92 to Policenauts in '94 to subsequent Metal Gear games (culminating in the release of Metal Gear Solid), Kojima's role at Konami deepened until he eventually formed Kojima Productions in early 2005 in an effort to move away from the business side of things and concentrate on designing games.