1997 Interview with Hideo Kojima (GameFan)
This interview was published circa November 1997 in GameFan Magazine (Volume 5, Issue 11).
It was conduted in a "round table" format, and the questions were asked by many different members of the USA gaming press.
I made some minor alterations to the text where the grammar was clunky.
Interviewers:
It was my understanding that all of your team's previous games were originally developed for Japanese PC formats. Why did you choose to develop on the PlayStation, and how was the experience different?
Kojima:
I really don't care at all about which hardware I develop on. The original Metal Gear came out on the MSX computer system ten years ago. There were lots of things I wanted to do with the ideas I had [for Metal Gear], but of course the things I wanted to do and the things the hardware were capable of doing didn't quite match up, and I was really only able to do about 20% of what I wanted... When I started to hear the rumors about the PlayStation and what it would be capable of, I started to think that maybe I could create a much better Metal Gear with this; that with this hardware I could do the things I wanted to do but couldn't do before...
Interviewers:
And what percent were you able to achieve this time?
Kojima:
About 60% (laughs).
Interviewers:
I've noticed that Meryl from Policenauts appears in this game, and that there are references to Metal Gear in Snatcher. Do you consider all of your games to take place in the same universe?
Kojima:
No, they're completely different. As for Meryl, I really liked her in Policenauts, and so I've made her Solid Snake's partner in Metal Gear Solid.
I was working on Policenauts at the same time that I was doing the initial planning for Metal Gear Solid, so that's sort of where she came for (laughs).
Interviewers:
What are you doing about the camera angles?
Kojima:
For about 80% of the game, the camera angle will situated above the player. But at any point you can bring the camera to the player's viewpoint, and manipulate it freely from that perspective.
Interviewers:
Obviously, Metal Gear Solid borrows a lot from previous Metal Gear games. Will you start with nothing in MGS, as in previous games?
Kojima:
Yes. I guess it's kind of strange for a special ops mission, but the player begins with nothing. Just his cigarettes (laughs). Oh, and binoculars. But you can take enemies' weapons and armor and get stronger as you go.
Interviewers:
Are there more weapons than there were in the previous titles?
Kojima:
Yes. There were lots of things we couldn't do before, but with 3D polygon graphics, they are now possible. For example, now you can use scopes mounted on your weapons to zoom ahead and look in any direction. We've implemented lots of stuff like that. Do you remember the guided missile from the first Metal Gear? With polygons, we were able to do the guided missile effect I always wanted to do. The way it works is basically the same, you can move it freely while it's in the air, but if you use the first-person perspective view while using the missile, you can see things from the missile's viewpoint.
Interviewers:
I had heard that you and your team came to the USA to study SWAT team tactics. What sort of things did you all learn, and how are they being implemented in the game?
Kojima:
There are lots of little things, the various costumes, armors, weapons, strategies... But the biggest thing was when we saw the SWAT teams in their training exercises, I was very impressed by the feeling of tension, and we've tried to capture that intensity in the game.
Of course, we had previous only seen them in movies, books, and television. Seeing the actual SWAT teams in action, I realized how very different they are from those portrayals, and how difficult it would be to create real SWAT action in a game. I think the action in Metal Gear Solid falls right in the middle between the "real" SWAT and the "entertainment" SWAT (laughs).
It's like when people are sent flying by explosions in movies and TV. I don't think that that would happen in a real explosion... But those scenes in which people are being lifted away from explosions in slow motion, pulled forward by wires, that's the reality we've learned from movies and such. While working on Metal Gear I've been trying to maintain a balance between actual reality and that fake, cinematic reality. I thought about putting in polygon wires to hold up the characters as they get blown back by explosions (laughs).
Interviewers:
How many people are involved in the development of this game, and how long has it been in the works?
Kojima:
We have a staff of only about twenty people. Metal Gear Solid has been in actual development for about a year, but we've really been planning it since we were working on Policenauts. It's by the same team.
Interviewers:
For such a major title, twenty people seems like a small staff, doesn't it?
Kojima:
That's my personal preference. As a leader, I need to know what everyone's working on, know everyone's face, know when one of my people are sick or unhappy. I can't watch over 100 people (laughs).
Interviewers:
When do you think your game will be ready to ship in the USA?
Kojima:
When we showed it at E3, I was happy that it got such good reviews. I feel really good about the American marketplace. I think that I'd like to release it at the same time as the Japanese version [Summer 1998], or just a tiny bit after. Actually, I wish I could release it here first! But the script is huge, and it's all in voice... The translation might take a while.
Interviewers:
However long it takes, I'm sure it will be well worth the wait! Thank you!