Hideo Kojima had made his presence here in Dubai a few days earlier, the man best known for being the brain behind the beloved gaming series that’s been celebrated for over 25 years had come down here to promote and celebrate Metal Gear. Amid swarming fans of his work, we at Youth Arabia managed to have a word with him regarding his work and the newest game in the series that’s coming out next month.
Excerpts from the interview
Youth Arabia: For a game that you made 25 years back , what were your thoughts when you made the first game for the MSX ?
Hideo Kojima: “Well there were 3 departments in Konami – computer games , arcade games and the MSX. I was looking at arcade games and not at MSX but the director of MSX loved me and I reluctantly joined MSX thus leading to the first Metal Gear being developed for MSX.”
YA: For Metal Gear Rising , how do you explore the story of Raiden?
HK: There is a good balance of game-play actions and cutscenes because of the collaboration with Platinum games. In terms of Ground Zeroes , the story telling through cinematic cutscenes has become rather quite outdated thus I employed a new method for story telling.
YA: Did you have anything to do with Phantom Pain , since the character bears a resemblance to Solid Snake?
HK: Kojima -(Laughs) Phantom Pain is being made by Moby Dick studios , I do not have any part in that game. I saw the resemblance there though.
YA: Psycho Mantis is one of the most iconic villains in video game history, what inspired him to come up with such a character and game mechanic ?
HK: Usually the game exists within the monitor but I wanted to create something that involves the surroundings besides the controller and the console. For example , the character ‘Meryl Silverburgh’ wants to know the frequency of the wireless radio; for that the player would have to pick up the CD cover and look at the back of it for the frequency. Likewise , the same idea to create something beyond the monitor was used for Psycho Mantis.
The idea , at the beginning the idea wasn’t so much well received now however it’s recognized so I can say that we have broken the fourth barrier.
YA: What other projects are planned for the Kojima productions company ?
HK: Within what I am allowed to mention – Ground Zeroes and a few other titles that I am involved in script writing and designing. As a producer, I have Metal Gear Rising
YA: Would you consider doing a Metal Gear Movie ?
HK: I would preferably take the role of an on-set adviser. The metal gear games are optimally designed from a gaming perspective – in terms of characters , their universe, design ,script, environment and mechanics. So it may not work so optimally for a film. So, if I did make a Metal Gear movie it would be against my beliefs. If one day, I were to make a film , it would be completely different not related to Metal Gear.
Spent a great evening picking the mind of Hideo Kojima and we are truly humbled by his presence
With inputs from Kevin Sebastian, Ankur Vincent Peter and Aditya Arte
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