The Most Profound Moment in Gaming History

Special thanks to LogosSteve, who gave me his blessing to do this. If you haven't seen his original video, or subscribed to his channel, click on one of the links below. Ever since I first watched his video when I was 16, the words spoken in this codec call have haunted me to this very day, as they should for all of you.

Sources for Graphs in Video:

Public Perception of News Network Ideology (7:44):

Political Polarization (12:46):

[otispaul]

I’m proud to have been involved with such an iconic and thought provoking entity. Kojima-san, I hold you in the highest regard. Brilliant, then. Brilliant, now. Well done, Max!

[Sluppie]

That moment when you realize that someone's idea of a dystopian future is the current reality you are living in.

[TheDreadedZero]

I remember when MGS2 first came out. People HATED it for ages because they were pissed you spent most of the game not playing as Snake. People didn’t even give it a chance.

[squidikka]

"Rights of criminals are given more respect than the privacy of their victims." Bruh...

[VinceOmega]

With the advent of AI being able to almost perfectly mimic voices now this scene is even more relevent then ever.

[lukezylik]

When MGS2 came out, Kojima was criticized by fans for doctoring videos and images and lying to them. For instance the gameplay videos showed the player playing as Snake throughout the entire game. There was a picture released of Ravens shadow against a wall leading fans to speculate about Raven coming back. When you play the game you find a little action figure with a flashlight pointed directly at it with its shadow appearing normal sized on the wall behind it.
I remember a lot of people being mad at Kojimas deception, but look at the point he was trying to make. One of the biggest ideas presented in MGS2 is the control and dissemination of information. Media becomes tailored to audience responses. The misinformation by Kojima was done to prove just how easily we can be fooled by fake news, especially when it agrees with our bias.
He predicted today's political climate down to a T. Safe spaces, echo chambers, censorship and political correctness. BOTs shaping the narrative.
Kojima was ahead of his time and I think videogames need a creator willing to piss off his fanbase as part of the meta narrative. We can all look back now and be like...yeah Kojima..you called it.

[thaimuturay]

Holy shit, I thought I was the only one. I remember playing this 2002 feeling very uncomfortable and scared the this could be a possible reality. This game's narrative was ahead of its time.

[Leoo]

I don't think this was so much a warning of the future, but more of a showcase of how the world has always been. Kojima just noticed the world around him, drew inspiration from it, and put it in a game.

[nolilado]

Before the AI cutscene. I was kind of disappointed that there are similar scenarios from first game. Then after watching it, the realization that I have been accustomed to MGS2 was because I played MGS1 and having it pointed out blew my mind. That they were in control all along and knew how to motivate us. Then realizing I inputted my own name in the console and seeing that name in Raiden's dogtag just amplified the AI scene to me. We were Raiden all along, trained soldiers who have to do their bidding to progress and complete the mission.

Powerful and scary scene.

[stiffdarren]

The Colonel: "Turn off the game console right now!"
10year old me in 2001: "OK!"

[renren]

Kojima's abillity to predict the future makes me wonder if in the future we'll see a Senator with Nanomachines fighting a Cyborg Ninja

[Dadbod]

This codex conversation is much more profound and mind blowing when you’ve played MGS 1 for years then beat MGS 2 for the first time after struggling through it. It melted my brain in 2001.

[ballsonc]

I remember playing this game the year it came out at 14 years old. I played through the entire game over the weekend and reached this climax at 3 am in the dead of night. Talk about spooky. As I grew up in this post modern world, the conversation and themes of this resonated more and more every year. We truly live in Kojima’s world.

[goopfella]

Konami in 2001: We've created a hypothetical solution to a dystopian future.
Konami in 2018: Z O M B I E S A M I R I G H T G U Y S

[JS-uhms]

My history teacher showed us that cutscene and I am now horrified but thankful for him

[kruegerpooltheth]

I was shocked how accurate to today this speech is
It’s scary how accurate this is to the present

[elvisojeda]

To this day, I keep revisiting this video and sharing it... Thank you, really, it's a great contribution.

[nyrei]

and YouTube's algorithm recommended this video to us..

[TheNullNumber]

"No one is invalidated, but nobody is right"

[onlyougi]

it is incredible to me how a 21 year old game has aged so perfectly, even becoming more relevant today. the entire last arc of mgs2 gave me the chills, both in its gameplay and what its message was and it pretty much perfectly encapsulates what our world has become of today