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Hideo Kojima Interview
In this Boomtown exclusive, Hideo Kojima discusses the newly announced Metal Gear Solid 4...
Metal Gear games have been around since the days of the MSX. However it was with the PSOne title Metal Gear Solid that Hideo Kojima's cinematic vision of videogames came to global prominence. Through several more Metal Gear games, and Zone of Enders, Kojima has shown himself to be one of the best games developers around. In this exclusive interview he talks about the future of Metal Gear solid, and offers a rather unique gastronomic view of the next-generation of console wars.
When did you start work on Metal Gear Solid 4?
Actually quite recently if you're talking about the staff. But if you're talking about the concept, the planning stage we started right during the ending of MGS 3 creation.
What is the main aim with MGS4? I know it's based after the events of MGS2.
The reason behind that, the purpose, is MGS one to three was almost like a trilogy with MGS3 going back to the 1960s to reveal big bosses past. However there were many requests from staff, from all the users of course and even the actors who do the acting for the MGS series said, we want to know what happened after MGS2. That's why I thought I would start to create the world after MGS2.
If we generalise a bit, isn't it difficult to introduce an element of creativity into a follow-up of a highly successful title?
No, actually it doesn't take away any creativity even if it continues the Metal Gear series. Of course I have plans and I do want to create an original title, a totally new concept. However, if we have the MGS brand, every user will look for a better quality and will have high expectations.
Meaning I can present something new even in the sequel to surprise everyone. In that sense there is no creativity loss there. It's very interesting for me to create MGS4 because I cannot create a new, original title using the name MGS4. The situation will change in the game industry as well. New hardware will be coming out, we'll be creating for the PS3, maybe there's new market at that time, we do change staff as well so there will be new staff so everything is very new. In that sense it's very exciting for me to create MGS4. I am actually quite nervous about what the feedback will be about my titles because I do have the confidence of how to create a win title but how will it be perceived by the audiences, I do, frankly, worry a little bit about that.
A change of view
The change to a third person camera view is quite a radical departure for the series. How did it come to that and how will it change the gameplay?
We had experimented with 3D camera when we were creating MGS3. Of course we heard many voices from fans that they want a 3D camera in there. However if we created a MGS3 with a 3D camera point of view of course the users that were used to MGS1 und 2 would feel a little odd. Also, I have my weakness, I get 3D sickness, so when I was creating MGS3, I wasn't really into the 3D camera experiment. However we kept continuing to experiment with the 3D camera but I decided not to implement this in MGS3 because I thought 1, 2 and 3 are like a trilogy, I wanted to keep the same kind of flow or the game feel that the user had for 1 and 2. But I understand that the trend in the games today is this camera. Therefore at the end of creating MGS3 I really thought that we need to put this trend camera into MGS4.
You confirmed that Solid Snake will be the main character for MGS4. Could you tell us about any more characters in the game?
Popular characters from MGS 1 and 2 will probably appear as an all-star cast.
How did the development change from MGS1 to MGS4?
When I first created MGS1, it became a smash hit all over the world. Therefore I had more liberty to use a bigger budget for the next one. Meaning I had the liberty to tie up with Hollywood in terms of sound, actors. So the budget was based on the sales forecast for the hit. I have the side of a creator and at the same time have a side of a producer. So I budget the titles according to the expectations of the sales forecast. Of course, it has risen. But not because of the next-gen platform, it's more because of the contents that is the key to budgeting.
Nowhere to hide
Is there anymore you can tell us about the storyline or the location for MGS4?
If you see the trailer for MGS4, you see we have the concept of "No place to hide". That's the kind of the message how MGS4 is going to be. That doesn't mean that Snake will no longer hide or the game is no longer a stealth game. It will be a stealth game, however the situation will change because in the past there was a concrete wall of a building or some jungle where Snake could hide. But in the event like in the trailer, when a bomb explodes in a building, he has no place to hide because the environment might move or might fade away getting destroyed. There might be situations where Snake cannot hide so that's why we say "No place to hide".
That's the biggest hint and I hope you understand that I cannot say anymore about it. Also, another hint is that you will probably get another feel of a stealth game. In the past MGS series it was very clear the good guys against the bad guys, Snake against someone so Snake had to sneak in some enemy's base. But this time it won't be simply A versus B, there will be more groups like A, B, C, D, there will be more complex situations where it's not your everyday hero versus the villain. That's another point of the theme "No place to hide". There might be a situation where according to your situation or who you stand for there might be no place to hide so you get a totally different feeling even though it's still a combat stealth game.
Snake vs. Hollywood
How do you decide on which areas of the game to improve in its next incarnation?
Actually, I have and the team has so many ideas, new things that they want to put in. So the idea comes first. I kind of think that okay, if I put this in, the fans are going love it. The other idea is, since we have this new technology, so we can put it in. Another idea is, so now we have enough budgeting to do this, let's put that in. These kind of ideas we do initiate. However, when we start to put that idea in the game, we try to get the user's feedback and try to implement the user's feedback that we had before.
There have been a few rumours about a MGS movie. How would you like to be involved in that process if there was a movie?
First of all, when I designed or wrote MGS, it was designed for a game, for interaction. And I thought the plan, the story, it works only in a game and not in a movie. Therefore, if there were a MGS movie, I'm not thinking that I want to do the story or that I want to direct it. But if we are going to create a film, since the MGS franchise was created by myself, it is more like a child to me. I'm not going to say, "this is MGS, Hollywood guy, just create a movie." I want to at least get involved, like for instance checking the story. Maybe not a producer, but a co-producer. I don't want my child leave on its own if it's going to a different area such as a movie.
Zone ended?
Did you ever think about using the MGS universe in a completely different genre, like strategy?
No, not really. I've been of course told by the company to think about it and yes, there were some ideas about it. But from my point of view MGS only works as a pure stealth action combat game. There is the exception of Metal Gear Acid which is on the PSP. Lot of people said to me that on the PSP I should almost do a port, an action-stealth type on the PSP. However since it's a handheld game console, especially in Japan people play it on crowded trains during commuting, an action-stealth-game like the original MGS is not possible. So therefore we gave it a thought and said, why not make it a card game with the same tension of playing as a stealth game. So that was one exception that we had this franchise move on to the PSP.
Would you like to make another Zone of Enders sequel?
Personally, yes, I would like to create a sequel. However, it's quite difficult because it's a robot themed world meaning in Japan it might sell quite well but in the PAL territories and the US it's not a huge number hit. So from the eyes of the producer point, it's quite difficult to create a sequel.
Do you think the new consoles are coming at the right time, is the old hardware already at it's limit?
Well, I’m really not sure if we have used up all the limits of the existing hardware. However looking at the time cycle like the users time cycle, the creator’s point of view cycle, I think it is a good timing.
Next-gen dish
Are the new console platforms fulfilling what it’s makers promise?
I actually haven’t started developing on the new consoles yet. My impression is, for PS3 Sony is aiming for a very high level. I’m not sure if everyone can live up to that high standard that Sony is expecting. So if everyone is expected to meet that high level, I am not sure that every creator, every publisher will be able to meet these high expectations. For Xbox 360, it’s a little bit more down to earth, more realistic so people maybe can join easily to start creating on the 360. Speaking about Revolution, there are still a lot of secrets and I don’t know everything but from what I heard like you could connect your portables or you could play old games, I get the impression that the developers could create games on less budget or create titles that are not super high expensive in cost. If you allow me to express the three hardware platforms in a funny example, PS3 would be like a dinner that you only have once a year or twice a year on your anniversary etc.
Xbox 360 will still be a special dinner so you might go there two or three times a month on the weekend or something. Revolution is the kind of great dinner that you have everyday at your home. What I want to emphasize is that all three are dinners meaning that they have a salad, they have a soup and maybe have a dessert but they are a little differently, maybe other dinners have two salads or two appetizers or maybe extra coffee on top of that. The point is that they are all individualistic dinners. So if they are all dinners, like a steak dinner, the choice is up to the users and the game designers at the same time.
If the game creators and the users want to have a great steak for their anniversary, they go maybe to PS3. But if they want great dinner, great steak with their family, a little bit more casual during the weekends, they might select Xbox 360. Or why not have a great steak at your house everyday, they might choose Revolution. So my impression of the battle between the consoles is, it’s not about what kind of dinner it is. It’s more about how much the dinner will be. Will it be worth the cost of being served? Or where can I have this dinner - number of restaurants, is it near my house or do I have to take a cab or train or bus? I think the battle amongst the next-gen platforms lies in that area.
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