Konami gets a lot of stick for its foul treatment of creators and staff, cynical approach to microtransactions, and a propensity for selling out its biggest franchises for pachinko machines. But it should be applauded when it does something good, and its latest endeavour is certainly worthy. Konami has partnered with the UK’s leading prosthetic creators to build an artificial limb for an amputee, inspired by the Bionic Arm worn by Venom Snake in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
“KONAMI is working closely with renowned prosthetics artist, Sophie De Oliviera Barata and a team of engineers, roboticists and product designers, to produce a highly stylized and multi-functional limb for 25-year-old James Young, drawing from the Metal Gear Solid aesthetic,” a blog post on the Konami website reads.
“Young was the sad victim of train accident in London, losing an arm and a leg after being dragged on to track. Despite his loss,” Konami writes, “James refuses to let it interrupt his life and hobbies of travel and video games. He has become extremely adept at playing games one-handed, and was carefully selected by Sophie as a candidate comfortable with the idea of an eye-catching alternative limb and who would benefit from the capabilities it offered.”
Sophie De Oliviera Barata, the lead artist on The Phantom Limb Project, is a pioneer in the field of custom prosthetics, making a career out of building artificial limbs that “[reflect] the personality of its user.”
While the project is still in its infancy, the team are currently working on creating a prosthetic based upon Snake’s Bionic Arm, with incremental updates, and even a documentary, to be posted to the official The Phantom Limb Project website.
