the console is dying

the console is dying Kojima, whose "Metal Gear Solid" games have sold more than 27 million copies, says the future of video gaming is on networks that will free players from consoles supplied by the likes of his long-time partner Sony Corp.

"In the near future, we'll have games that don't depend on any platform," Kojima said at a news conference announcing the latest installment in a game saga that began in 1987.

"Gamers should be able to take the experience with them in their living rooms, on the go, when they travel -- wherever they are and whenever they want to play. It should be the same software and the same experience," he said.

Kojima was speaking at an event in Tokyo to detail plans for the late April launch of "Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker," a video game he developed and directed and Konami Corp is launching for Sony's portable PSP device.

The prediction of a future without game machines from a figure regarded as both creative maverick and commercial dynamo appeared to rattle a Sony executive on hand for the event.

"It's a bold prediction," Sony Computer Entertainment Japan President Hiroshi Kawano told reporters with a nervous smile. "We hope he continues to develop for platforms, but we deeply respect his sense of taking on a challenge."

"Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker" goes on sale in Japan at the end of April and the United States and Europe in June.

Kojima, 46, is known for sneaking pacifist themes into a game series that features stealth combat and elaborate plot lines that often reflect on the dangers of technology.

The latest installment features Metal Gear's mercenary hero, Snake, as he and a group of soldiers of fortune Diamond Core Bits Kitset off to save Costa Rica from invasion in 1974 by a mysterious army.