Hideo Blog

[anthony]

Hideo Kojima has his own blog.

www.blog.konami.jp/gs/hideoblog/index.html

Its great..... if you can read japanese.

[Otty]

Here's everything translated into English:


9/24/05 Satuday

It was raining in the afternoon today and around lunchtime I arrived at work.
Roppongi Hills in the rain is pretty interesting; it has a different atmosphere than the usual Roppongi Hills.

In order to avoid the rain people took shelter in the building. It was almost like a giant space shuttle. Yet, the inside of Kojima Productions is the same as always.

TGS ended safely, and MGS3:S has entered the final stages. We're in the middle of debug and final adjustments currently. I've been continually overlooking the main disc for a while now. Since the master version of the game has changed, yesterday’s data won’t work today. We’ll have to do it from the start again.

Even though we worked on MGS3 last year to the point of sickness (like always), the new [3D] camera is keeping it fresh and interesting. I even find myself surprised at times. What's troubling is that because the camera is [3D], the northern part of the screen isn't necessarily north anymore. So the jungle transforms into the true meaning of a jungle. For someone with no sense of direction like myself, I get lost in the caves every time.

Yesterday I finally saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Johnny Depp showed a great performance as always. I couldn't believe that he was almost the same age as me! Brad Pitt is also my age; Tom Cruise is a little older; and the father of Bakabon --A Japanese Comic-- is a little younger than me. I started to once again think about my age and got depressed.

The thought I had on seeing the film was "Can Charlie fit into present-day?" The original novel was a classic, but in this 21st century will the allegory of the good old age reach the children?

The 5 children who received the golden ticket and were invited to the factory: The obese chocolate loving Augustus, the rich and selfish daughter Veronica, the has to be a winter idiotic Violet, the logical yet not charming at all gamer Mike, and the poor yet family loving pure Charlie.

The original novel was written in the '60s, and image of Charlie's family, the "Bucket Family", without doubt must've been based on the model family pattern.

But moving it to the modern era, Charlie and the Bucket Family seem to be stick out. No matter how favorably you try to look at it, Charlie's character and setting have an anachronistic feel to them. I was with my son who said that modern children tend to be closest to the gamer Mike or the have-to-win Violet. This is not because they necessarily want to be, but rather that schools and society are strengthening these character types.

It's too bad that the children of the 21st century who can't see the upcoming darkness and live only for the next day can only seem to feel an affinity to one of the 4 other types of children besides Charlie. In a material society of gluttony, tests, and competition these children can't become like Charlie.
They don’t have opportunity to become like him.

This isn't the era where the child who cares about his family can just get happiness in the end. Rather it's an era where being truthful will only lead to making a fool of oneself. Of course, it's not like people in the past desired to be like the Bucket family either.

Ideally, Nestling together with three generations of a family under one roof in poverty is a wonderful thing.

Yet, in reality it's not.
The era of clamoring for a nuclear family has ended, now it’s become an era of isolation with some family violence mixed in. Really, will we ever return to an era that could produce a child like Charlie? I makes me a little sad.

I went out to buy the second album of Franz Ferdinand.
Who would've thought, but it seems like it's been delayed a week.
So in its place I bought the first album of "The Rakes" entitled "Capture/Release".
Currently in the middle of the rain, I put The Rakes onto my iPod and go to work.

At night I go to the gym and take a swim for the first time in a while.
In the Sauna I think of new ideas for MGS4. I'll tell them to Murata Shou on Monday.
The rain still hasn’t stopped.





9/25/2005 Sunday

When I woke up this morning the rain had stopped so I went for a drive.

Though, because I didn't want to use up too much of the battery --editors note: ?-- I only drove for around an hour in the local neighborhood.

I was listening to the Stellastar new album, "Harmonies for the Haunted" (Japanese release is planned for October) while I was driving.

...Ah this is good. I became full of energy.
Now I can keep myself going for a little longer.

I have a pleasant tale regarding Stellastar.
Two years ago a couple of my UK rock fans said "The director [Kojima] will definitely like this band!" and recommend Stellastar. But I made a mistake and bought the album put out by Starsailor.

It wasn't a big deal. I had had just misheard Stellarstar as Starsailor.
But because this miscommunication happened, Starsailors' "Way to fall" ended up as the ending song for MGS3. It's not really something I should receive praise for, rather it's just one of the things that makes life interesting. Starsailor has an album coming out for the first time in two years this october.

I wonder if they'll come to Japan again?
I'd love to see them in concert.

Last night I tried to teach my son how to do a handstand, and now my shoulders hurt.
This is because it seems that the headstand is in the group exercise at the upcoming gymnastics festival at school. I was original in the gymnastics club and a long time ago performed. But it's been years and my body has gone out of shape. Should I use this opportunity to start doing daily headstands?

Around lunch I went to work and the wind was pretty strong.
It's already gone into the season where you need to wear a jacket.

It's now been a week since the end of TGS.
It was a hard schedule for the period of three days but it was fun.
Now it's like the feeling that follows a festival, a little sad.
I'm enduring the cold wind.

Today I'll once again do a check on the latest burned disc of Subsistence.
The 3d camera works, but for small areas, rooms, and such it's probably better to use the original overhead camera. Also when you get lost in the jungle, change to the overhead camera with the right stick and you'll figure out where you're going. It's a good idea to use both cameras. Should we use both even in MGS4? I need to give this thought another look.

In the seat next to me, Yoshikazu Matsuhana is doing a check of the MSX version of MG2 (Included in Subsistence). Just now, a hang glider is crossing over a valley, and an egg received in the laboratory is about to hatch.

In end will a snake hatch? Or will an owl?

Like a brooch that changes with temperature, it was the industry's first attempt at an item that changes with time and temperature. To proceed in the game the owl is necessary, but if you hatch a Snake all your current items will be eaten.

Giving it a play now, "Metal [Gear] hasn't changed at all" I think to myself.
MG is 18 years old and even the sequel MG2 is 15 years old.

Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? I don't know.
It's just that as a game type, whether it's 2d or 3d it [MG] hasn't changed at all.

I recall watching Matsuhana frequently change between elevators [in the game].
Now that I think about it, the elevator didn't make an appearance in MGS3.
The elevator is an important gimmick of the MGS series.
Originally the film "Zombie" and the feeling of tension created from using an elevator inspired me so I adopted the idea. That's why an elevator is an import stage-setting object in a 'stealth' game. What about in MGS4?

A catalogue of illustrations by Mr. Komatsuzaki Shikenobu came from the Asahi newspaper. In September, starting from the Aichi prefecture and heading up to
Hokkaido and then down to Kyushu, the exhibition, "Our Komatsuki Shikenobu: The artist who continued to draw the dreams and longings of our children" will be going around.

Like the subtitle says, we were raised on Komatsuzaki-sensei's images.
Now a days in this current objectless era, we find his images fascinating and long for these unexplored regions of space, the future, latest weaponry, and the unknown universe that tickles the heart of a young boy.

In the images there are no objects from this end of a century era and no decadence.
Nothing negative, only positive dreams.
In page 159 of the catalogue, in what's become one of his final pieces, an illustration of
MGS2 Snake and Ray appears.

It was something I had asked as a favor for the pamphlet in the MGS2 Limited Edition.
In the lively composition the positioning of the moon and the statue of liberty leave a strong impression. There is majesty of the two gazing over the confrontation of Snake and Ray. It's an incredible piece.

By all means go see the exhibit in Tokyo.
Since I'm nearby I'd like to go and see the originals.

If the children of today are lacking in dreams, then it's because us creators have failed.

The responsibility is on us.

We have to leave behind dreams for the children.





9/26/05 Monday

During TGS, I took interviews from the overseas media.
The question that came up the most was "Why is MGS4 Snake an old man?"
I was also repeatedly questioned, "Why have you [Hideo] returned for MGS4?"

The theme of MGS is "What we pass along to the following generation".
MGS1 was GENE (Genetics), MGS2 was MEME (Cultural Genetics), and MGS3 was SCENE (Effect of an Era/Time period). With SCENE, a time period putting emphasis on basic choices, and the GENE and MEME set I wrote about the chain of passing on life (the baton).

That's the MGS trilogy.
That's why MGS ended at "3".

At the same time I had planned to pass on information not only to gamers, but I had planned to pass the soul of MGS and how to make MGS to the internal staff as well. This young staff that had fought together through three titles with me was supposed pass me and jump into the new battlefield (MGS4).

But the soul and the will didn't make it through.
Neither to the users nor to the staff.
If there's something I want to leave behind with MGS, it's the will (SENSE).
It's not something you can show to people.
It's something they have to see for themselves.
And that's where the reason for this almost 42 year old game designer to take direction of the work spot comes from.
What I need to leave behind for the next generation is that even if you're old…even more so if you're old, you can be a revolutionary figure.

Most of the creators holding up this game industry, including myself, are salarymen.
In this industry a creator gives birth to a hit title, and with its success entrusts the series to the company leader, moving themselves away from the project.
There are a lot of people who leave the work group and start up their own company or some type of undertaking.
Ultimately, as a secondary approach to game creating, many head unfortunately towards management.

However I like to make games.
I'd like to stick to making games.
Only I myself can prove this will.
Old Man Snake has this determination of a middle-aged man built into him.

At lunch I was re-united with a nostalgic book.
Mrs. Andre Norton's "Graveyard of the Universe"
It was re-issue as part of Hayakawa Book Collections' 60th anniversary revival fair.

The cover and illustrations are the same as the original.
It's very nostalgic.

I first encountered this book in my starting year of Jr. High School.
As a huge fan of Matsumoto Leiji I bought the book because he did the cover and illustrations. If Matsumoto-sensei did the illustrations, Even if they were something like science books, I'd read anything.
So I gave it a read and discovered the new world of Science Fiction.

The contents [of the book] were great.
Due to this book, I graduated from Mystery novels and turned my admiration towards SF
(Mainly Hayakawa Book Collection's titles)
You could say that this book changed my destiny.

In the 7 book series (1-4 written by Norton, 5 written in collaboration with PM Griffin, and 7-8 in collaboration with Sherwood Smith --editors note: What about vol.6?--), the stage was set on a ship called the "Queen of the Sun" that the main character was riding in. But only the first two volumes were released in translated form in Japan. I remember sending numerous calls for further translation to the publishers by postcard during my Jr. High School days.

Actually two years ago at the Second Hand Book King, with the help of Hisatome Kazuo -- editor note: name might be off-- I went to Jinbouchou and bought the first two volumes, but since this was a commemorative re-issue I bought it without thinking [this time].
I also got the 3 volumes of Terasawa Takeichi's "Cobra Complete edition (again a re-issue)"

No matter how many decades pass, good books can be enjoyed all over again.

I'm going to give some more interviews in the middle of the day. I passed out some more "Kojima Productions, taking applications" fliers at TGS so it looks like it's about to get busy.
Half of making a game is deciding which people to hire.

I wonder what type of people I'll meet today.
I'm looking forward to it.

I’m doing the audio check on the 3rd disc of Subsistence that comes with the first press edition.
First I'll check chapters one and two.
Even though the polygon demos are connected to the in-game material, it's tough to get a good balance of sound effects, dialogue, and music.
Since this is setup than the way it went in the original “game->cutscene->game” order, the meanings of the scenes themselves begin to change. We need to keep a good pace with the flow between action scenes and dialogue scenes. Especially in the case of scenes meant to be informational [to gameplay]. The only way to decide what to do with them is to watch the whole thing to the end and then decide.

It’s the middle of the night and I'm still doing game checks at work.
The ending is quite a ways away.

[FoxDie]

Ahh... Thanks for the english translation, Otty!

[Liquiduz]

Think you can get the translations of the latest days Otty?

[Otty]

I didn't translate those. This isn't my work. I hope the guy that actually translated the first three will do the rest to.

[The Mad Jackyl]

Kojima sure has a lot to say.

[mgfan]

I agree...I hope he can do more of the translation on his blog, Hideo is very open minded to his work that I understand.

[Liquiduz]

This is suppose to be a summary of what he's been writing:

Hideo Kojima revealed some interesting details relating to Metal Gear Solid 4: GunS of the Patriots on its blog official. Indeed, if the history will proceed many years after Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty, it is not for this reason that Solid Snake aged, but quite simply that ageing is due to the cloning (we know all that Snake is a clone of Big Boss). Moreover in the video presented at the time of Tokyo Game Show, it was strange to see the character of Otacon without having taken a wrinkle, finally almost. In any way, the faces of the known characters of the series will not have aged as much than Solid Snake, as for example Revolver Ocelot (confirmed presence) with its quite advanced age which will not have any evil to fight Snake in a epic battle indicates Hideo.

The history will put Snake in a quite delicate situation, two countries fight in a devastating war and it will be necessary to move in a completely devastated city. Destroyed buildings, not being more that ruins, Snake will not have any means of hiding from where this name "No Places to Hide" explains Mr. Kojima. The players will live, them also, this feeling which will require reflexion, to make a choice between the escape or the combat. The Artificial Intelligence will be also re-examined since the enemies will be able to make decisions (to launch out to your continuation for example). Mori Motosada, a specialist in war, which already worked on the two preceding shutters, will bring once again his assistance to the team of development to create tactics of war and movements more real with the enemies. Metal GEAR Solid 4: GunS of the Patriots will leave on PlayStation 3, but no date of exit was still announced.

[Otty]

That could be a note of the translator or it is part of Hideo's blog.

[cernex]

Or both.

This blog thing is really interesting... only thing is, I REALLY don´t want every other programer/game developer doing this...

I mean, Kojima's a genious, just like Miyamoto-san (although, he doesn't have a blog), but, hell, BUNGIE??? Or Yuji Shibata???

I don't CARE about those...

El Cernex

[shockleyhaynes]

I have learned that the translator whose work is posted earlier in this thread has stopped making his translations available publicly, because 1UP.com has offered to pay him for them.

I am the Head Editor of the DELTAHEAD Translation Group. Our current project involves the translation and annotation of Hideo Kojima's personal web log, found on the Konami web site.

Our group consists of three members: a Japanese-native translator, a redactor with Japanese comprehension and native English proficiency, and an editor (myself) who has received prestigious recognition for his composition skills. The results of our alliance into DELTAHEAD are top-notch translations from Japanese into English, for the public gaming culture.

Nothing is charged; all of our work is available for free perusal.

Please, enjoy our translations of Hideo Kojima's web log.

www.angelfire.com/poetry/deltahead/KojimaBlog.html

Thank you for your time.

J. Howell

P.S.: Again, I apologize if this is spam. I only do this under the belief that alerting you to our translations will benefit the general community of fans of Kojima's games.

[ipoder]

Wow man. I read stuff I didn't expect to see in a blog by Hideo Kojima.

[shockleyhaynes]

Kojima's blog for 28 September 2005 has been posted.

[Otty]

Nice work shockleyhaynes! ;D

[The Mad Jackyl]

We're certainly glad to have you here, shockleyhaynes. Thanks for all your hard work! We sure appreciate it around here.