Post by Otty on Mar 12, 2005 6:16:04 GMT -5
The mastermind behind Metal Gear talks candidly about grabbing back the reins on Snake Eater, stepping back from MGS 4, and why the US might not get number four at all
17:22 While the movie industry is still motivated by big name directors - think Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and James Cameron - the games industry has never quite managed to elevate the notion of the 'auteur' to such heights.
Sure, everyone looks forward to the next Miyamoto or Inafune game, but with development teams expanding all the time the sense of the single creative driving force behind a videogame is becoming increasingly rare. Except for Hideo Kojima. A true creative force and director of videogames, Kojima-san has built a series in Metal Gear that inspires as much loyalty and obsession among fans as the work of any of Hollywood's bigwigs.
This is a man that cares so much about his vision that he snatched back the developmental reins on Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater when he saw the process wasn't running smoothly. As he looks forward to the next Metal Gear title, expected to be a next-gen proposition, he's planning to step back from the project.
Speaking to Kojima-san, it's hard to believe that he will. Such is his enthusiasm, passion and excitement for his creative vision it's difficult to imagine him watching from an Ivory Tower when there's work to be done.
As the solid-gold soundbites rolled off Kojima-san's tongue we discussed Snake Eater's reception around the world, the controversial decision to dump the radar, the prospect of a next-gen Metal Gear and his irreplaceable sense of humour.
One thing is clear: Kojima-san is a true videogame director.
Congratulations on Snake Eater, it's already a big hit across the globe both with critics and fans. How does the positive reaction make you feel?
Hideo Kojima: I'm really happy with everything. In the United States I think because Halo 2 and GTA: San Andreas came out at the same time the title hasn't done as well as expected, it's still done moderately well, but it's been doing really well in Japan and Europe so we're very relieved. Maybe I won't even sell the next game in the United States.
You said you wouldn't direct another Metal Gear game after the release of Sons of Liberty, so what convinced you to make Snake Eater?
Hideo Kojima: After Sons of Liberty I said I wouldn't do it, but I came up with the game plan and the script and I gave it to my younger team. I thought I'd leave it there. However, it wasn't going well and I couldn't just sit there, so I had to get involved and after a while I found myself totally involved in the project and so I decided on doing most of it myself.
Were you worried about getting rid of the radar in Snake Eater and getting players to rely more on their senses?
Hideo Kojima: I had initial concerns. It was a split decision even within the team. The thing about the radar is when I originally came up with the game Metal Gear in 1987 and then Metal Gear 2 in 1990, the hardware didn't allow games to scroll. That's why we originally created the radar, so that the player could see the positions of enemies who are outside the screen. I guess the radar in Metal Gear Solid and Sons of Liberty are residuals of that.
With Snake Eater I decided to go back to basics and the original plan of not having the radar. We discussed it within the team and decided that not having the radar would increase the level of tension in the game. Of course, there are radar-esque items in the game, but they're not the same as in the previous Metal Gears. We've heard from many fans that they wanted the radar, but judging from most reactions I think not having the radar makes for a scarier, more frightening and thrilling game, so I think the decision was a good one.
Snake effectively retired for good at the end of Metal Gear Solid 1. After the poor reception that Raiden received in Sons of Liberty was this why you decided to go back to the past and the 1960's to resurrect Snake?
Hideo Kojima: We didn't go back in time to re-introduce the Snake character. We did so to highlight the spy and espionage element of the Cold War. It wasn't like the Star Wars universe where we wanted to re-do or revisit characters.
And setting the game during the Cold War also helps reinforce Snake's values and the anti-war message of the series, right?
Hideo Kojima: There's always been war, battle, combat and fights in human history. Who is bad and who is good always changes. The motives for wars and the seeds for wars are always different. By setting the game in 1964, people who live in the 21st century can look at the motives of war in the past and hopefully learn from them. We can learn why people felt a certain way or why people chose certain actions. That was the main reason for setting the game in 1964.
Were there any ideas that you wanted to include in Snake Eater, but didn't have time, therefore ideas that we might see in a future Metal Gear game?
Hideo Kojima: Since Metal Gear Solid I've been director and producer, the producer side always imposes the deadlines. The thing about time is that it's not that I want to add more features, it's more that I want to spend more time on tweaking. For example, we talked about the radar before. Obviously the game is designed to work without the radar, but if I'd had the time I would have loved to have created a separate mode that has a radar for a slightly different playing experience. That's something that I'd have loved to have done if I had more time.
Not only do you make reference to rival game characters, but in Snake Eater you make plenty of references to movies, your own games and you even joke about the character of Raiden. Do you make these references to amuse yourself, the fans or both?
Hideo Kojima: It's purely for the fans. All the references and humour come from me so you probably won't be seeing it in Metal Gear Solid 4.
There's a lot of new development going on with new consoles hitting the market during the next few years; what would you personally like to see the new hardware bring to the table and how could you use this in a game?
Hideo Kojima: I don't expect too much from new hardware each time. Although, this moment is actually the most fun time for me, when we don't really know too much about what the new machines are made of and what sort of specs they might have. So this is my imagination stage where I come up with ideas: "Maybe this next machine will allow me do this, or maybe this console will allow me to do that."
So I start coming up with ideas and concepts based on what I think these machines might be. That's the stage I'm at right now. With more powerful machines, hopefully we'll be able to include things other than better graphics and sound, maybe more conceptual things or even spiritual elements. With new cars you always talk about the maximum speed or how many people it seats, fuel efficiency, things like that. It's now time for us to think how great it feels when you sit in the car or why do you drive that particular car. I think we've come to that moment with videogames.
You once said that humans are made up of 70 percent of water, but due to your love of movies you were made up of 70 percent of movies. What percentage is left for games?
Hideo Kojima: I'd say 70 percent of me is film, novels and music, probably about 0.5 percent is games. I say 70 percent because I grew up with these things. I'm from a generation that had films, novels, comic books and music. There were no videogames when I was small, that's why games are only a small percentage.
Do you have any hopes to make a Metal Gear movie?
Hideo Kojima: To me Metal Gear Solid is a game and has always been a game, all the characters, stories, everything. That's why I'm not interested in creating a Metal Gear Solid movie myself. I've always said I wouldn't mind seeing a Metal Gear Solid film, but let it be worked on by someone else, someone in Hollywood.
You've said that in Metal Gear Solid 4 there will be "no place to hide." Does this mean having more action over stealth next time around? Obviously you don't want to say too much, but can you tell us any more?
Hideo Kojima: That comment was probably a bit too misleading. Metal Gear has always been about stealth, that aspect definitely won't change. When we come up with a new Metal Gear game we always think about where we want to hide. With Snake Eater it was the jungle. If you want to hide in the jungle you need camouflage, that's why we added the camouflage to the game. The reason we're saying "no place to hide" for the next Metal Gear is the game will be set in a place, we're not going to tell you where yet, but a setting where your response will be "Oh my god, how do you expect me to hide here?" When you do actually hide in that environment, it will be very thrilling and tense.
17:22 While the movie industry is still motivated by big name directors - think Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and James Cameron - the games industry has never quite managed to elevate the notion of the 'auteur' to such heights.
Sure, everyone looks forward to the next Miyamoto or Inafune game, but with development teams expanding all the time the sense of the single creative driving force behind a videogame is becoming increasingly rare. Except for Hideo Kojima. A true creative force and director of videogames, Kojima-san has built a series in Metal Gear that inspires as much loyalty and obsession among fans as the work of any of Hollywood's bigwigs.
This is a man that cares so much about his vision that he snatched back the developmental reins on Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater when he saw the process wasn't running smoothly. As he looks forward to the next Metal Gear title, expected to be a next-gen proposition, he's planning to step back from the project.
Speaking to Kojima-san, it's hard to believe that he will. Such is his enthusiasm, passion and excitement for his creative vision it's difficult to imagine him watching from an Ivory Tower when there's work to be done.
As the solid-gold soundbites rolled off Kojima-san's tongue we discussed Snake Eater's reception around the world, the controversial decision to dump the radar, the prospect of a next-gen Metal Gear and his irreplaceable sense of humour.
One thing is clear: Kojima-san is a true videogame director.
Congratulations on Snake Eater, it's already a big hit across the globe both with critics and fans. How does the positive reaction make you feel?
Hideo Kojima: I'm really happy with everything. In the United States I think because Halo 2 and GTA: San Andreas came out at the same time the title hasn't done as well as expected, it's still done moderately well, but it's been doing really well in Japan and Europe so we're very relieved. Maybe I won't even sell the next game in the United States.
You said you wouldn't direct another Metal Gear game after the release of Sons of Liberty, so what convinced you to make Snake Eater?
Hideo Kojima: After Sons of Liberty I said I wouldn't do it, but I came up with the game plan and the script and I gave it to my younger team. I thought I'd leave it there. However, it wasn't going well and I couldn't just sit there, so I had to get involved and after a while I found myself totally involved in the project and so I decided on doing most of it myself.
Were you worried about getting rid of the radar in Snake Eater and getting players to rely more on their senses?
Hideo Kojima: I had initial concerns. It was a split decision even within the team. The thing about the radar is when I originally came up with the game Metal Gear in 1987 and then Metal Gear 2 in 1990, the hardware didn't allow games to scroll. That's why we originally created the radar, so that the player could see the positions of enemies who are outside the screen. I guess the radar in Metal Gear Solid and Sons of Liberty are residuals of that.
With Snake Eater I decided to go back to basics and the original plan of not having the radar. We discussed it within the team and decided that not having the radar would increase the level of tension in the game. Of course, there are radar-esque items in the game, but they're not the same as in the previous Metal Gears. We've heard from many fans that they wanted the radar, but judging from most reactions I think not having the radar makes for a scarier, more frightening and thrilling game, so I think the decision was a good one.
Snake effectively retired for good at the end of Metal Gear Solid 1. After the poor reception that Raiden received in Sons of Liberty was this why you decided to go back to the past and the 1960's to resurrect Snake?
Hideo Kojima: We didn't go back in time to re-introduce the Snake character. We did so to highlight the spy and espionage element of the Cold War. It wasn't like the Star Wars universe where we wanted to re-do or revisit characters.
And setting the game during the Cold War also helps reinforce Snake's values and the anti-war message of the series, right?
Hideo Kojima: There's always been war, battle, combat and fights in human history. Who is bad and who is good always changes. The motives for wars and the seeds for wars are always different. By setting the game in 1964, people who live in the 21st century can look at the motives of war in the past and hopefully learn from them. We can learn why people felt a certain way or why people chose certain actions. That was the main reason for setting the game in 1964.
Were there any ideas that you wanted to include in Snake Eater, but didn't have time, therefore ideas that we might see in a future Metal Gear game?
Hideo Kojima: Since Metal Gear Solid I've been director and producer, the producer side always imposes the deadlines. The thing about time is that it's not that I want to add more features, it's more that I want to spend more time on tweaking. For example, we talked about the radar before. Obviously the game is designed to work without the radar, but if I'd had the time I would have loved to have created a separate mode that has a radar for a slightly different playing experience. That's something that I'd have loved to have done if I had more time.
Not only do you make reference to rival game characters, but in Snake Eater you make plenty of references to movies, your own games and you even joke about the character of Raiden. Do you make these references to amuse yourself, the fans or both?
Hideo Kojima: It's purely for the fans. All the references and humour come from me so you probably won't be seeing it in Metal Gear Solid 4.
There's a lot of new development going on with new consoles hitting the market during the next few years; what would you personally like to see the new hardware bring to the table and how could you use this in a game?
Hideo Kojima: I don't expect too much from new hardware each time. Although, this moment is actually the most fun time for me, when we don't really know too much about what the new machines are made of and what sort of specs they might have. So this is my imagination stage where I come up with ideas: "Maybe this next machine will allow me do this, or maybe this console will allow me to do that."
So I start coming up with ideas and concepts based on what I think these machines might be. That's the stage I'm at right now. With more powerful machines, hopefully we'll be able to include things other than better graphics and sound, maybe more conceptual things or even spiritual elements. With new cars you always talk about the maximum speed or how many people it seats, fuel efficiency, things like that. It's now time for us to think how great it feels when you sit in the car or why do you drive that particular car. I think we've come to that moment with videogames.
You once said that humans are made up of 70 percent of water, but due to your love of movies you were made up of 70 percent of movies. What percentage is left for games?
Hideo Kojima: I'd say 70 percent of me is film, novels and music, probably about 0.5 percent is games. I say 70 percent because I grew up with these things. I'm from a generation that had films, novels, comic books and music. There were no videogames when I was small, that's why games are only a small percentage.
Do you have any hopes to make a Metal Gear movie?
Hideo Kojima: To me Metal Gear Solid is a game and has always been a game, all the characters, stories, everything. That's why I'm not interested in creating a Metal Gear Solid movie myself. I've always said I wouldn't mind seeing a Metal Gear Solid film, but let it be worked on by someone else, someone in Hollywood.
You've said that in Metal Gear Solid 4 there will be "no place to hide." Does this mean having more action over stealth next time around? Obviously you don't want to say too much, but can you tell us any more?
Hideo Kojima: That comment was probably a bit too misleading. Metal Gear has always been about stealth, that aspect definitely won't change. When we come up with a new Metal Gear game we always think about where we want to hide. With Snake Eater it was the jungle. If you want to hide in the jungle you need camouflage, that's why we added the camouflage to the game. The reason we're saying "no place to hide" for the next Metal Gear is the game will be set in a place, we're not going to tell you where yet, but a setting where your response will be "Oh my god, how do you expect me to hide here?" When you do actually hide in that environment, it will be very thrilling and tense.
. I think MGS4 will be a great game since Kojima san will still be involved one way or another.