GO3: Kojima on Metal Gear Solid 4

Famed game creator says Metal Gear Solid 4 is about "situation" rather than location; hints at psychological battles in gameplay.

Hideo Kojima at the GO3 conference.

Few games have had as much hype and expectation surrounding them as the PS3's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. So it was no surprise that series creator Hideo Kojima drew the biggest crowd of any speaker at last weekend's GO3 Electronic Entertainment Expo held in Perth, Australia. And while Kojima didn't unveil any new trailers or gameplay specifics, he did speak at length about the main gameplay theme he's introducing into the famed stealth series--playing hide and seek within a certain situation.

It was Kojima's first time Down Under, and he started his speech to the 200-strong crowd (still barely filling two-thirds of the large hall at the Perth Convention Centre) in English. "It took me a while to come down to Australia, and I am surprised that I have not met a single kangaroo yet. Nor have I seen crazy motorcycles like those in Mad Max," he said. After the lighthearted introduction, Kojima returned to his native language of Japanese and spent the majority of the next hour outlining the history and concepts behind his most famous creation, the Metal Gear series.

Kojima started his tale all the way back in 1987 when he first released the 2D Metal Gear for the MSX system. He outlined the evolution of his original game concept--that of hide and seek within a given area or place--through the various versions of Metal Gear in the past 20 years, adding that he worked hard to introduce new elements into each game. For Metal Gear Solid 4, Kojima said he needed to think of an entirely new idea as the concept of place had run its course.

"I went back to the drawing board, back to scratch, and looked at what I did for Metal Gear 1 and 2, and for Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3," he said through a translator. "Now I can't make Snake go into space to do his stealth mission, and we've exhausted the concept of the place, so now I thought why not create a situation rather than a place? And then I thought of a battlezone or warzone as the situation where Snake has to sneak in. So MGS4's game concept is playing hide and seek within a certain situation."

Kojima said MGS4 would place Snake in war locations where there would be two opposing armies--a situation which the ageing stealth agent could use to his advantage.

"To make it very simple, in the past Metal Gears, Snake was going into enemy environments--so everyone apart from Snake was an enemy. This time it's a warzone, so you have country A or country B, so Snake could interfere with either of the countries. It does not necessarily mean that everyone is an enemy to Snake. This creates a new tension in playing this new hide and seek," he said.

Kojima also cryptically hinted that the increased processing grunt of the PS3 would be used not only for better graphics, but for the introduction of "psychological" elements.

"I would also like to challenge the PS3's CPU power for not only what you can see, but also psychological effects, or psychological battles, where it can affect your gameplay," he said.

Kojima closed his speech by saying the evolution of games hardware means developers will need to work closely with professionals in a diverse range of industries to continue making better games.

"As game hardware evolves and more technology appears, you will gradually start to collaborate with other industry professionals. Doctors, psychologists, many artists, plus maybe some scientists--we can perhaps collaborate with these people in the future," he said.

"Game design evolves with technology, and there is no end to technological evolution. Therefore game design will continuously evolve--it will not stop evolving. And at the same time, through the joint effort of many people, games will continue to be a collaborative art. And I believe in this concept."

751 Comments

  • nin9inchnails9

    Posted Jul 1, 2007 7:55 pm GMT

    Well, it could be that Ocelot is in fact Adam as well as also being The Boss's son.

  • razorflare

    Posted Jun 11, 2007 2:05 pm GMT

    1944:
    June 6th (D-Day): The Boss gives birth in Normandy. Ocelot is born.

    hope this answers your queries. link to source below:

    http://www.metalgearsolid.org/show_features.php?id=493

  • solidsnakelegen

    Posted May 15, 2007 1:47 pm GMT

    lol bro... i am saying that the fact that a guy hu was dead (grey fox) was "revived" leavs anyting in metal gear solid open!... hence the could have braught big boss back to life and healed up his eye... NOW ABOUT OCELOT BEING THE BOSS'S SON


    .... bihboy69... the reason why the boss reaches for ocelot and they look at each other many times in mgs3... is becasue ocelot WAS ADAM and has been working for the cia the whole way through the game... "mr directer" at the end of the conversation after the credits was the directer of the cia.... the boss new ocelot was undercover for the cia for the mission of getting the philosifers legacy... hence why they "nod" at each other when volgin gives the boss the philosiphers legacy ... the reason eva didnt get the real legacy was becasue the boss gave BIG BOSS a fake one legacy film and eva stole the fake one from him...

    the boss gave the real legacy to ocelot (whome she new was undercaover for the cia) hance ocelot says... the legacy is safe back with US in AMERICAS HANDS!.. he was the only onewho could have gotten the legacy out of russia showing the boss gave it to him clearly showing how they were working together.... clarifying my point of how youre supposed clues between ocelot and the boss are wrong.. they are mearly working with each other subtly....EXPLAINING HOW OCELOT IS NOT THE BOSS'S SON! his name was adamska.... the name he takes in mgs1 and 2 is shalashaksa is a faulse name.. this was what metal gear solid 3 was supposed to tell us about ocelots character.. he appeared to work for everyone... but in this we see what hes all about... OCELOT is not THE BOSS'S son.. that is just wierd oclots like 60 in mgs1... set is 2000... meaning 1964 he would be 36... lol thats just stupid... he is a max of 25 in mgs1... big boss says "hes still young" hesitating to kill him.. if in 1964 ocelot was 36... he would have to have been born in 1928... the second world war didnt even begin till 1939! lol! so she couldnt have given birth to him in the middle of a WW2 battle...

    RAIDEN SUCKS!

    there is no way hideo kojima is leading up to raiden taking solid snakes place!!!!!!!! in all of the joke videos we see in secret theater of mgs3 subsistance... raiden is mocked .by hideo kojima clearly and..... you even here the audience booing him! thers no way raiden could take snakes place and kojima now knows it was a mistake even intorducing that idea in mgs2!..

    solid snake pwnzz!!!!! a character like that can never be replaced!

    hopefully raiden is killed within the first 10 mins of mgs4.. i hate that F@G!

  • LOGGER13

    Posted May 15, 2007 9:08 am GMT

    @solidsnakelegen
    "and the thing about "the eye that got shot out... common this is mgs! with vampiers! maybe when they revived Big Boss they fixed up his eye!.. 'old snake' in mgs4 is big boss"

    You had a good argument until I sat down and thought about it. Snake in MGS4 is wearing the solid eye system over his left eye. In MGS3 Big Boss gets his right eye shot out, so it's highly doubtful that this is indeed Big Boss. He is definitely dead, and Snake will soon die in MGS4. As amazing as Snake is, they need to move on to a new hero to change with the times (i.e. Raiden is now amazing as opposed to MGS2 where he was a troubled youth).

  • sahin40

    Posted May 15, 2007 5:03 am GMT

    solidsnakelegen thx for the great infos, that surely made all of us a bit brighter about the mgs4 story

  • bihboy69

    Posted May 14, 2007 11:41 pm GMT

    solidsnakelegen, ocelot IS sorrow and boss's son. there are many clues towards this. boss reaching for ocelot when he leavs the torture room, being snatched as a baby on the battlefield, having a russian name because he was born in russia plus many more clues.

  • solidsnakelegen

    Posted May 13, 2007 3:08 pm GMT

    hey!!!.... my ideas on mgs4!!! and the sorrow being father to ocelot!?!?

    oh yeah D_MISTA.... metal gear solid portable ops... you said.....
    "If any of you have played MGS portable ops. Elise says that Snakes son will save the world (or something like that)
    That may be Snakes boy. Like father like son." you are forgetting an important detail.. in mgs portable ops.... you play as BIG BOSS not solid snake..... the 'son' who is refered to is Solid Snake... (one of the sons of big boss).... hence solid snake saves the world.... not his son!?!?!? ....
    he is the 'son' that elise refers to -

    HAHAHA!! i think im gonna be sick... you actually think ocelot could be the sorrows son! that would mean that the baby the boss refered to that was snatched away from her in the middle of battle after she gave birth would be ocelot...which is impossible. where the hell did u get that idea from!? secondly... people who dont know this should be shot! in mgs3 u play as big boss (refered to as naked snake) not solid snake.. i think the only possible theory for 'young snake' is as follows

    in metal gear solid one... naomi says that they revived the DEAD frank yeager but never went into detail about how someone could be brauhgt back from being dead... the metal gear series also contains... a vampier who drinks blood and can survive being shot in the head... a guy who can "comunicate with the spirit world and get info from dead soldiers about battle", a guy who can photosynthesise and the iceing on the cake! LIQUID LIVING INSIDE HIS ARM!!! comon guys!! i think big boss may have been "revived" after snake set him on fire with his lighter and spray in metal gear 2: solid snake, the same way grey fox was revived (in an ultimate bs unexplained way) and then lived on in secret!.. in metal gear solid one maybe the pentagon never gave into liquids demands of big boss' remains to fix the genome soldeirs was because the never had the remains.. and so they sent in snake.. to infect everyone with fox die so they could collect Metal Gear as a plan bevause they never wanted to admitt that big boss' remains were never obtained. also.. hideo kojima would never have made big boss sooo cool in MGS3 if he wasn't going to be in the next game... why tell us so much of a story of a guy hu is killed by a lighter... if he isnt going to be in the next game.........

    finishing this off.... big boss in 2015 (around where mgs4 is set) would be like 70ish showing he is the old snake... who has never been refered to as solid snake once...---------the same guy who was standing at the grave of 'the boss' in the trailer... --------(why would SOLID snake go to visit The Boss' grave) and the young snake we see is infact solid snake. i know you're all thinking .. big boss would be like 100 in mgs4...


    BUT have you ever considered the fact that when liquid told solid snake in mgs2 that big boss was cloned in his 50's was mayb just liquid trying to play with solid snakes mind.. becasue if in 1972 big boss was 50+ years old.. that would mean that in mgs3, set in 1964 big boss was 42+...which is an impossiblity.. everyone calls him a "child" in mgs3 and that hes "too young".. in ms3 big boss was no older than 30!... meaning that in 2015.. he would be no more than in his 70s!.. matching the old snake we see running around.. staning by the boss' grave.. never being called solid snake... and the thing about "the eye that got shot out... common this is mgs! with vampiers! maybe when they revived Big Boss they fixed up his eye!.. 'old snake' in mgs4 is big boss... the 'young snake' we saw in the latesr trailer is "Solid Snake". Cant wait till MGS4 comes out... omg its gonna rock sooooo much ^_^!!!!

    (GUYS SOLID SNAKE SAID HE ISN'T A FAN OF BLADES!! YET WE SEE "OLD SNAKE" IN CQC STAN E WITH A KNIFE!...............HAS TO BE BIG BOSS.....)

  • pixelsword

    Posted May 13, 2007 1:38 pm GMT

    Thanks, 88_movement, and I'm sorry it was too long for everyone else

  • 88_movement

    Posted May 13, 2007 2:12 am GMT

    pixelsword thats one hell of a speech man!

  • Satsin

    Posted May 12, 2007 4:31 am GMT

    Lets hope they improve the graphics too!, although it never mattered in any MGS....but these jap twisted creatures in great graphics would be way coooooooler than anything else...!!!

  • DeadlyMaster

    Posted May 10, 2007 12:07 am GMT

    Pixelsword try to reduce your post its too freakin long, no offence.

  • sahin40

    Posted May 8, 2007 3:24 pm GMT

    Does anybody of you guys nows why exactly is snake older then the other guys like otacan, meryl etc. I did heard there is a younger snakes that supose to be a clone of the older one but that is so lame man is like sci-fi that aint cool man

  • sonygirl23

    Posted May 6, 2007 11:02 am GMT

    yea we aready lost devil may cry f#cking capcom.id never thought they would become traiters.

  • Serraph105

    Posted May 5, 2007 7:59 pm GMT

    metal gear solid 4 is going to be an awesome game because it is

  • bcwyler

    Posted Apr 28, 2007 7:00 am GMT

    Kojima makes gaming sound so exciting, but there are few who share his depth of vision.

  • bihboy69

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 7:25 pm GMT

    since MGS always has heaps of long cutscenes and this game is expected to be longer than the other ones this game will probly take up heaps of space. HD movies are huge. for example the movie "black hawk down" on blu-ray is 48GB. we all know mgs has more than 2 hours of cuscenes atleast. i bet this game will probly be around th 40GB mark.

  • pixelsword

    Posted Apr 25, 2007 9:23 pm GMT

    Kojima said two things in an interview: 1. MGS4 is not coming to the 360

    2. The 360 isn't capable of handling the game (spoken elegantly, of course, as not to hinder future possible prospects)

    As quoted from one of my previous posts...
    I don’t mean to get anyone upset, but really, the Silicon Knights guy is not so correct. Two people who programmed HUGE games on the PS3 said otherwise, but here’s their quotes ’cause I don’t want to sound like a fanboy ’cause I’m not, I’m just considering all quotes… and the majority of people says that the PS3 is vastly more powerful.

    “In Gears of War there is no way you could actually go above the city and then basically go seamlessly from air to ground. Unreal Engine in the end just provides for corridor and corridor being more a metaphor here in terms of design. Our engine is always designed in a huge world bubble and that can be 32 kilometers by 32 kilometers. You can go anywhere at extreme speeds. Unreal Engine is dependent on the fact that you go relatively slowly through your world. With us, you can go through the world fast or slowly. If you are in night mode, or you are on the ground, you get all of the detail that Unreal Engine provides. But there is no way you can get the macro,” said Julian Eggebrecht.

    And he says the 360 coudn’t handle this game.

    Gears and Lair also have equal quality…

    http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Factor-5-President-Unreal-Engine-3-Slow-039-Lair-039-Engine-Much-Better-2.jpg

    MGS4’s Hideo Kojima said “But like I said, MGS4 is aimed for the movie theatre, it’s aimed for the PS3, so the game’s scenario and graphics need this theatre-type hardware. It’s when a producer has a game that can work on the ‘DVD level’ that a game will go multiplatform”, he says. Sorry kids. Your “OMGMGS4360″ banners will have to come out another day.

    http://kotaku.com/gaming/go307/feature-talkin-metal-gear-with-hideo-kojima-248695.php

    So although the Silicon Knights Prez may be correct in terms of ports, if you were to make a 360 specific game or a PS3 specific game, the quality of the PS3 will shine through, as Kojima said.

    I could be wrong, but since you only can have eight people on a gears multiplayer or eight enemies around at any one time, It leads me to believe that either the 360 is bunk or the Unreal Engine is bunk or the fact that the 360 is using a puny DVD 9 is cutting the game down. Although Resistance is less spectacular graphically, Insomniac Games said that the only reason was because they didn’t stream their textures, but in every game after Resistance, they will stream their textures, so the game quality will remain the same (40 mulitplayers, two types of enemies, ect) but the graphical quality will soar; so the next installment should be equal to Gears in graphical quality and might be better…

    I don’t know… just thinking. Dont’ get me wrong, I likes mah’ Gears, But only eight people at a time? C’mon!

  • mulletman39

    Posted Apr 25, 2007 5:36 am GMT

    ....it will be PS3 exclusive coz it won't fit on 360's choice of disc because Hideo Kojima has said he's going to be using single layer blue ray discs!!! =D ......PS3 RULES!!!!

    .......P.S. ...THIS GAME WILL PWN!!! ^_^

  • npr754

    Posted Apr 24, 2007 2:51 pm GMT

    PS3 exclusive or not. This is the only game that really makes it worth to even own a ps3.

  • bihboy69

    Posted Apr 24, 2007 3:30 am GMT

    i read it in a post on the forum, that was tickied
    its called "everything 2 know about mgs"

    and anyway, when a game goes multiplatform, it usually only does best what the weakest system does. id prefer if this was exclusive (which it is, kojima has confirmed it numorous times) coz then it will push ps3 (maybe not to he limit, but somewhere close)

  • skaterman5000

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 3:48 pm GMT

    bihboy69 where in the world did you get the idea that this game would be 50 gigs, no games will be this large this generation around. The dvd and hd-dvd will be plenty big for this generation of gaming. Get the facts straight!

  • laxkeep999

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 2:43 pm GMT

    KMRB shutup! Who cares about the 360??? This is an article about a ps3 game... if kojima was going to put it onto microsoft he'd have put mgs2 on xbox.. cause we all know the xbox is more powerful than ps2.. but yeh he didn't.. as other people said.. the japanese, for some reason, hate microsoft..its just tough manure to be frank. the 360 may well be as powerful or more powerful in certain ways but that doesn't change the fact that Kojima will obviously not put it on 360! Maybe you should stop whining.. and just hope somebody makes something as good as this for 360..like halo 3?? I have PS3 and 360 so yeh I'm happy either way =]

  • LsTr_Of_SmG

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 1:41 pm GMT

    bihboy69 don't be an idiot, Kojima himself said that MGS4 would be possible on the 360.

  • bihboy69

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 11:42 pm GMT

    coz 360 aint good enough lol

    this game is gonna be "approximately 50GB" which wont fit on hd-dvd

  • npr754

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 9:15 pm GMT

    Why cant this come out for 360?!

  • Mr-Deftino

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 2:12 pm GMT

    I'm not sure about this one. Look at the trailers and it doesn't look like the "Metal Gear" we all know. It doesn't look like you sneak, looks more like Killzone or some game like that. Snakes age is just unrealistic, i like it how they have brung back the old classic characters though! =)

  • m4gicm4rty

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 6:07 am GMT

    i simply can't wait for this game! being a huge mgs fan i cant wait to see how far its come since the mgs1 we all loved on our ps1's years ago (no i didn't own metal gear because im too young). i just hope it wont be the last mgs game with the hero being kiled off that kojima has suggested : (

  • bihboy69

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:21 am GMT

    good post pixelsword

  • pixelsword

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 12:36 am GMT

    Everyone, MGS4 isn't going to the 360, so get over it. Goodness! I currently and recently only own the PS3, I had to give up my other system in the dawn of the elite (which I may buy when the price drops, next year or the next), but quit being fanboys over the PS3, it's a great system with great potential. The mere fact that some are still comparing a launch title (Resistance) to the efforts of a game that's been out for a system that's been out for a year (Gears) only shows that the potential for thePS3 to pwn on graphics and gameplay over every other system is great; or tell me, what Killer App came out for the 360 on it's launch day? *Ahem* Anyone? I dare you to answer that question. I'll shoot your answers down like Elmer Fudd does a duck. And as far as game quality and disc size, it DOSEN'T affect visceral quality, but it DOES affect size; which in turn can affect overall quality. Gears and Lost Planet were both great games but their sizes were WAY to small and the overall game was short. I suspect that GTA's curiously small size has something to do with the XboX's smaller capacity (GTA will all take place in just one city... Liberty). Not only that, I'm watching Halo 3's size to see if will be either short, or on multiple disks. I would expect the latter if the game is of any sizeable length. Okay, for those who think size won't matter, MGS4 is estimated at around 50 Gigs; that's about six DVD's. That sucks

    The PS3's launch games are looking sweet, and the games are only going to look and play better and better over the years because the Cell processor is something that is a wonder in itself. Most Programmers moan over the way it's handled, but companies like Factor 5 and Insominac are taking the bull by the horn and making awesome games.

    Blah, blah, blah; and whatever. Done talking.

  • kingkong_roar

    Posted Apr 20, 2007 1:39 pm GMT

    Metal Gear Forever...

  • rikhan_z

    Posted Apr 20, 2007 1:21 pm GMT

    This is sounding more interesting... it's a nice new idea that worth playing.

  • imwatchinu

    Posted Apr 19, 2007 6:03 pm GMT

    god i thought we lived in the world of the free,but you come on here,and state facts and some moaning person who can only afford a seconhand ps2 gets your factual msgs deleted ---CHARMING--our thoughts are being censord

  • imwatchinu

    Posted Apr 19, 2007 5:46 pm GMT

    rocky2k32000 why would i wanna pay a measly 425quid for a poostation 3 when i have already paid 830quid for 2xNVIDIA 8800GTX

  • ni6htmare01

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 1:10 pm GMT

    Cant wait for this game to come out! Looks awesome

  • Kiwi_108

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 1:05 pm GMT

    man this game looks immense, i dont have a PS3, and i currently own a 360, and i have to say that MGS has to be the greatest games i have ever played ^.^

    i have considered a PS3 just for them har har

  • imwatchinu

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 5:56 am GMT

    HIEOUS KOJIMA WARNS PS3 USERS OF THE POWER OF THE CELL----he recently told a press meeting that prolonged use of the PS3 would result in the console becomming SELF AWARE-- already there have bin 3 failed attempts on bill gates life and all 3 of the assasins had bin sent from the FUTURE---HIDEOUS KOJIMA said that only GOD and the RAW BRUTE POWER of the cell was able to manipulate time and space like this ,HIDEOUS KOJIMA also HAD A WARNING FOR BILL GATES and told him that governer SCHWARZENNEGER wouldnt always be around to help him out

  • HXCDEW

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 3:55 am GMT

    I am dying to play this game! But take your time Mr Kojima, and give us a game that many generations to come will remember as being the greatest stealth-shooter of all.

  • hamza_420

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 7:38 pm GMT

    cant wait to play this game! hope its as awesome as the others(or even better)!=D

  • bihboy69

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 7:20 pm GMT

    imwatchinu: btw oblivion on ps3 has longer draw distances, better graphics and sharper textures. but this isnt about consoles. i know alot of people that will flame you for calling kojima as you said "hideous." and yes i can feel the sensation of speed while playing F1:CE so get your facts straight.

  • bihboy69

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 9:18 pm GMT

    this is about mgs anyway, not a contest of which console is "better." PS3 haters go away, your critisism is neither wanted nor appreciated.

  • DarkJedi_0x

    Posted Apr 13, 2007 1:07 pm GMT

    Cant wait to play this one! Sounds like its gonna be a game in epic proportions. I'm getting this one as soon as its placed in shelves around here!! PS3 haters.. go away. Just admit you cannot afford one. I got the three consoles so I don't have to stoop down to your level. :p

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!

Related Game

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Boxshot
Metal Gear Solid 4

Game Stats

Full Game Details »Close

Related Games

Site Blogs