Hideo Kojima Talks MGS5
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http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=187049
Metal Gear Solid 4 is still a few weeks out, but MGS5 appears to be the hot topic in the news of late. Following some hints at a sequel at Konami's MGS4 completion ceremony last week, producer/director Hideo Kojima has once again mentioned the number 5 in combination with those three letters that sound like the stuff you don't want in your Chinese food, this time in an interview with Famitsu.
In the latest issue of the magazine, which just hit newsstands today in Japan, Kojima noted that the Kojima Productions staff is taking some time off now that MGS4 has gone gold, but he added, "We have to start thinking about MGS5. Snake's story is finished with MGS4, however."
Yes, as Konami has made clear in the past, the Metal Gear series will be continuing. And it may still be "Solid." Continued Kojima, "I believe the Metal Gear Solid series will continue from here. Even if I were to leave the company, it would probably continue. However, regarding MGS5, I believe it has to be made by Kojima Productions."
There are a couple of things worth noting in Kojima's comments. First off, he specifically states that the "Solid" series of the Metal Gear line will continue, rather than just the "Metal Gear" series. Additionally, he specifically refers to the sequel as MGS5 in the interview, although it's unclear if he's just using this for convenience, or if the next game in the series will indeed have the number five in it.
While Kojima appears to believe strongly that Kojima Productions should handle the sequel's development, his role appears to be uncertain. "I'd like to leave the producer role to another person," said Kojima. "I want the new MGS to be made by a young person. If it has action involving sneaking missions, I believe it's okay whatever direction it takes."
To this, he added a reminder that Snake has retired.
Elsewhere in the interview, Kojima reflected on the development of MGS4, with a heavy focus on space concerns. Blu-ray disc was insufficient for fitting in everything he wanted from the game, he reminded. He pointed out that four years back, while attending an event in Spain, he'd announced plans to put Spanish voices in the North American version of the game. But this couldn't be done due to space constraints.
"I thought that there was no longer a need to worry about space," said Kojima, reflecting on his thinking at the time of the announcement in Spain. "At the time of CD-ROM, it was the same -- I was happy at no longer needing to worry about space."
Space has been a concern for the Metal Gear series all along, it seems. Kojima recalled the advent of the "Mega-ROM" cartridges, or carts having space of over one megabit, back in the 8-bit days. These first appeared following the original Metal Gear. When planning Metal Gear 2, Kojima thought for sure they'd be able to use a Mega-ROM cartridge and developed the title accordingly. Konami ended up not allowing this due to costs, so Kojima's team had to make the game over again from the start, removing some elements, including a shark-like boss named "Jaws" and an opening demo sequence. Upon showing this removed opening sequence to this superiors, he was finally given the go-ahead to go with the high capacity cartridge, and his team was required to start over from scratch again.
Back to MGS4's development, Kojima recalled getting data readouts, apparently back when the game was scheduled to ship on a single layer Blu-ray disc. He initially thought the numbers were wrong, but they were indeed right -- the game wouldn't fit on a single layer disc. "I didn't like going with two discs, so there was nothing left to do but go with dual layer. Even then, space was insufficient."
Much of the rest of the interview was filled with gameplay spoilers, so we won't share it with you, but Kojima did share a few comments on Metal Gear Online, which is included with MGS4. First, continuing with the theme of space concerns, Kojima noted that the inclusion of MGO with the title was actually one of the reasons for the move to two dual layer.
He then tackled some pricing issues for MGO. Playing the game will be free, he said, adding, "It will always be free." In the future, Konami will be offering downloadable expansion packs. These will cost money, although Kojima did not share specifics.[/b]
In the latest issue of the magazine, which just hit newsstands today in Japan, Kojima noted that the Kojima Productions staff is taking some time off now that MGS4 has gone gold, but he added, "We have to start thinking about MGS5. Snake's story is finished with MGS4, however."
Yes, as Konami has made clear in the past, the Metal Gear series will be continuing. And it may still be "Solid." Continued Kojima, "I believe the Metal Gear Solid series will continue from here. Even if I were to leave the company, it would probably continue. However, regarding MGS5, I believe it has to be made by Kojima Productions."
There are a couple of things worth noting in Kojima's comments. First off, he specifically states that the "Solid" series of the Metal Gear line will continue, rather than just the "Metal Gear" series. Additionally, he specifically refers to the sequel as MGS5 in the interview, although it's unclear if he's just using this for convenience, or if the next game in the series will indeed have the number five in it.
While Kojima appears to believe strongly that Kojima Productions should handle the sequel's development, his role appears to be uncertain. "I'd like to leave the producer role to another person," said Kojima. "I want the new MGS to be made by a young person. If it has action involving sneaking missions, I believe it's okay whatever direction it takes."
To this, he added a reminder that Snake has retired.
Elsewhere in the interview, Kojima reflected on the development of MGS4, with a heavy focus on space concerns. Blu-ray disc was insufficient for fitting in everything he wanted from the game, he reminded. He pointed out that four years back, while attending an event in Spain, he'd announced plans to put Spanish voices in the North American version of the game. But this couldn't be done due to space constraints.
"I thought that there was no longer a need to worry about space," said Kojima, reflecting on his thinking at the time of the announcement in Spain. "At the time of CD-ROM, it was the same -- I was happy at no longer needing to worry about space."
Space has been a concern for the Metal Gear series all along, it seems. Kojima recalled the advent of the "Mega-ROM" cartridges, or carts having space of over one megabit, back in the 8-bit days. These first appeared following the original Metal Gear. When planning Metal Gear 2, Kojima thought for sure they'd be able to use a Mega-ROM cartridge and developed the title accordingly. Konami ended up not allowing this due to costs, so Kojima's team had to make the game over again from the start, removing some elements, including a shark-like boss named "Jaws" and an opening demo sequence. Upon showing this removed opening sequence to this superiors, he was finally given the go-ahead to go with the high capacity cartridge, and his team was required to start over from scratch again.
Back to MGS4's development, Kojima recalled getting data readouts, apparently back when the game was scheduled to ship on a single layer Blu-ray disc. He initially thought the numbers were wrong, but they were indeed right -- the game wouldn't fit on a single layer disc. "I didn't like going with two discs, so there was nothing left to do but go with dual layer. Even then, space was insufficient."
Much of the rest of the interview was filled with gameplay spoilers, so we won't share it with you, but Kojima did share a few comments on Metal Gear Online, which is included with MGS4. First, continuing with the theme of space concerns, Kojima noted that the inclusion of MGO with the title was actually one of the reasons for the move to two dual layer.
He then tackled some pricing issues for MGO. Playing the game will be free, he said, adding, "It will always be free." In the future, Konami will be offering downloadable expansion packs. These will cost money, although Kojima did not share specifics.[/b]
"I've completed the game twice, and am the author of the forthcoming [GamePro] review," Shuman said. "Ninety-minute-long cinemas in MGS4 sounds like an exaggeration. Like the other MGS games, MGS4 definitely has a cinematic quality. And yes, some of the cut-scenes in the game are elaborate and occasionally lengthy. But not a one, to my recollection, even approaches 90 minutes."[/b]
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