Metal Gear Solid 4's Kojima explains PS3 comments [update]

by Ross Miller { May 12th 2008 at 5:00PM }

[Update: Joystiq has independently confirmed the validity of the comments below. Kojima also said in the most recent audio podcast that the interview was given to an audience of 15 with intention of being translated into multiple languages. As a Japanese person, he understood the meaning of his words, but from a foreigner's perspective it was lost in translation. Special thanks to Patrick B.]

Something about Hideo Kojima's words regarding the PlayStation 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4 has seemingly gotten lost in translation. In his latest blog / podcast, the MGS series creator said that recent interviews, which have him expressing dissatisfaction with how MGS4 turned out, were misunderstood or mistranslated. According to Kojima (in yet another translation, ironically), his comments reflect a Japanese culture of modesty, as opposed to an American culture of bragging. (For the record, the press-heralded King of Hype honor is bestowed upon Peter Molyneux, a British man.)

In early March, Kojima was quoted as saying (via translation) that MGS4 was too big for a 50GB Blu-ray disc. Then, in April's Edge magazine, Kojima was quoted, "The original vision [for the game] was to go ten steps further, the reality was just one step, which isn't to say we didn't progress." Our Japanese translator is on permanent leave, so we can't confirm the translation yet. Mind you, we all know what ten steps further in Metal Gear Solid would look like.

Tags: hideo-kojima, kojima, konami, metal-gear-solid, metal-gear-solid-4, mgs4

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Night Elve @ May 12th 2008 5:05PM

The only thing I can say is that "Newgrounds" is one of those sites full of awesome stuff.

Go White Sox and Go other Team @ May 12th 2008 5:08PM

How can it be a rumor if he clarified what he said on his blog? A rumor is something that cannot be proven, since what he said is on his blog, I cannot see how that can be considered a "rumor."

DangerMouse @ May 12th 2008 5:12PM

It's a rumor because nobody's sure the translation correct or not.

Go White Sox and Go other Team @ May 12th 2008 5:23PM

ah, I see. Thank you round-eye for your clarification.
Maybe the Divine power of the Pink Unicorn has something to do with this.

SWAT Kats are back! @ May 12th 2008 5:11PM

Aye, its his blog, isn't it? How could that be treated as rumor?

So his "disappointment" in the PS3 game can be chalked up to an equivalent to Epic's statement that they "maxed out" the 360 with the first Gears?

Dave @ May 12th 2008 5:12PM

He's just a humble Japanese man.... who's probably created the best game of all time.

knightsray @ May 12th 2008 5:20PM

metal gear solid isn't even close to being the best game of all time...i've played em all an they never live up to the hype

DangerMouse @ May 12th 2008 5:28PM

The series is in my Top 3 of all time, but i would never consider it the best game ever. Great story, innovative gameplay (for its time) and impressive graphics, but there's flaws that make them less attractive. MGS2, for example, was great, but extremely linear with nothing else to do other than play through it again on harder difficulties. Substance rectified that, but it came a year late.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ May 12th 2008 6:53PM

Since when is Linear a bad thing? Seriously, this is the reason why so many gamers are starting to annoy me....

Does this mean that my enjoyment of Super Mario Brothers is hampered because I always go from level 1-1 to 1-2? And you're talking about an excessively cinematic game in all MGS games. To remove linearity to that game flow is to suddenly have cut-scenes detached from the overworld and last time I checked, GTA had that fucking covered.

Seriously, shut up, sit back, and enjoy the ride of these things you call video games. If it's linear, who cares? Was it fun and told a good story? Yeah?!? THEN WHAT THE HELLS THE PROBLEM?!?

Poisoned Al @ May 12th 2008 7:47PM

Actallly, I'm kinda with knightsray on this one. When the first PS1 Metal Gear Solid came out, I had played Thief: The Dark Project. When I got to play Metal Gear, I couldn't help thinking it was just Thief for thickos. Apparently "super soldiers" in the Metal Gear world was another name for "blind, deaf retards that could be fooled by wearing a fucking box!"

Metal Gear Solid 2 was also a let down. Don't get me wrong, MGS1 was a GREAT game, and so MGS2 was a let down. A game made of cut scenes about some whiny prick that wasn't Snake != teh fun.

Now there's this shit along with the iffy review. Grey me out all you like, but the fact is, I won't be running out to buy a PS3 to play this. I could be wrong and this game could be awesome, but seeing how I don't know anyone with a damn PS3, I won't be able to find out first hand.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ May 12th 2008 10:55PM

are the MGS games decent yeah. But seriously, greatest game of all time? I seriously doubt it.

BananaBoat @ May 13th 2008 12:10AM

Most Bizarre of all time perhaps. Best of all time? No. Metal Gear Solid, as a whole, is a game that is better than the sum of it's parts. It's not the best shooter, it's been one-upped for stealth gameplay by Splinter Cell, it lets you play as Raiden etc. When you add it all up though, the shooting, the stealth, the humour, the bizarre F'ed-uppedness, etc, you get something that is better than the things that went into it.

I'm hoping that MGS4 can bring back that MGS1 feel, but without the crazy Ninja's, or the vampires, etc. Give me snake, give me an exciting (wintery, not deserty, kthxbai) setting to sneak around in, and I'm set.

kobebryunt @ May 12th 2008 5:23PM

Best game of all time. LMAO sure keep telling yourself that. Trying to justify that $500 dollars you spent on that triple ;_;

XanthouS @ May 12th 2008 5:24PM

You are a really poor excuse for a troll. If you're going to try and flame someone, put some effort into it.

Hyams @ May 12th 2008 5:27PM

Well, at least you're not pretending to be a 'sony fan' any more...

el serpiente @ May 12th 2008 5:39PM

His last name is "Bryant".

LaughingTarget @ May 12th 2008 5:43PM

He needs to spell the last name differently to avoid a lawsuit.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 12th 2008 6:08PM

I doubt it. I don't think anyone here really thinks the real kobe cares where MGS ranks as a series on an all time list or even knows what it is.

Ninjakamster (PSN: Chin-Poh) @ May 12th 2008 8:50PM

You just make 360 owners look bad, make 360 fanboys way more annoying than PS3 fanboys as a mindless troll retarded clone of Kobe. : )

XanthouS @ May 12th 2008 5:23PM

Any unbiased mind expected MGS4 to be a fantastic game. And and unbiased mind expected Kojima to talk about how it could have been eons better, and that it will be his last Metal Gear game (until he returns three years later for Metal Gear Vapor).

SWAT Kats are back! @ May 12th 2008 5:27PM

probably true, like Brett Favre's numerous retirements, or how SSBB's Masahiro Sakurai left HAL Labs in 2003 because he didn't want to do anymore Nintendo sequels

Hyams @ May 12th 2008 5:28PM

MGV is gonna rule.

trmacdonal @ May 13th 2008 1:25PM

Isn't expecting it to be great without playing it first biased to begin with?

XanthouS @ May 13th 2008 4:04PM

@trmacdonal

Considering the development time put into this game along with the studio's past accomplishments, I think it's fairly objective to assume the fourth and final title in the series will be as well received as the initial three.

kobebryunt @ May 12th 2008 5:29PM

I'm just basing it off what I hear in other forums. Don't shoot the messenger

Hyams @ May 12th 2008 5:30PM

You're funny. :)

Hyams @ May 12th 2008 5:32PM

So basically it all comes down to cultural differences, yah?

Leobebes @ May 12th 2008 5:42PM

This guy is a such an egotistical, Japanophile, pretentious douchebag. This but another stupid comment in a long line of subtle boorish behavior by this "acclaimed genius".

He thinks his shit don't stink and the Metal Gear series is God's gift to gaming, but those who have removed the wool from their eyes can see it is nothing but a collection of incoherent cut scenes, with a sliver of stealth gameplay thrown in. It just amuses me to see the uneducated masses calling something they don't understand "high art", but MSG4 is simply a bunch of random ideas and thoughts sewn together and called a game.

Thanks for stereotyping us Westerners Kojima, if it wasn't for our bragging maybe your little overrated series wouldn't have got off the ground with your fans' incessant irrational support of your games.

How do I know this of Kojima. He stripped my friends' action figure company's license because they accidentally previewed of MSG Solid's Figures. Kojima was pissed, dude needs to get off his high horse.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 12th 2008 6:12PM

Sounds like someone's got a grudge. Also if you honestly think kojima is arrogant I'd love to hear what you think of miyamoto who's done nothing but say things like "I can create halo" and "I wanted OOT in FPS mode back in 1996" for the last year or so.

Arturis @ May 12th 2008 6:16PM

I disagree with pretty much everything you said, except for the toy license reference, of which I can not confirm or deny.

It sounds more to me that you are the one that couldn't understand the games, and thus you pan them off as crap and slight anyone that enjoyed them. Bad form, Leo, bad form.

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ May 12th 2008 6:35PM

"How do I know this of Kojima. He stripped my friends' action figure company's license because they accidentally previewed of MSG Solid's Figures. Kojima was pissed, dude needs to get off his high horse."

That's called a bias opinion kids.

Your opinions are now void, even if you liked the game you wouldn't say so because Kojima raped your dog and burned down a local orphanage... so, just stop.

KTHX

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ May 12th 2008 7:00PM

So your "friends" company likely broke confidentiality and previewed something before he should have despite the papers that he obviously signed and had the license rightfully pulled but it's Kojima being an egotist....

You do realize this is the same man who harnessed the power of the sun, not for a fruit drink, but for a vampire hunting game and is the producer of Japan's largest dating sim series (Tokimeki memorial)? Not to mention if you took the time to READ his blog, his observations and such can best be described as a random genuis. His official blog runs the gamut from BluRays impact to gameplay (which he said was very little) to lamenting on needing to buy a new organizer since the one his wife gave him many years ago is no longer useful (and to him, it would be like losing a friend since it was a 10+ year old organizer).

Now, compare his behavior to Pete Monyluex, Cliffy B, Mark Rein, John Carmack, or even Dennis Dyack...

Joeshie @ May 12th 2008 7:01PM

I agree with you on the "high art" statement. It's kind of sad to see so many teenagers think that the story of MGS is "deep" and "complex" when anyone who has taken any literary or philosophical courses can see what a jumbled up mess of a story Kojima tells. It's overly pretentious and trys way to hard to be deep and philosophical. Unfortunately, a majority of people that play this game are teens who have little grasp on storytelling.

If Kojima wants a deep story, he really needs to start figuring out how to actually TELL the story in an intelligent way and stop using philosophical ideas that are laughably bad.

Note: I've generally enjoyed most of the MGS games so far, if only for their gameplay and characters. Those are the two things that Kojima can do well.

Leobebes @ May 12th 2008 7:28PM

@Joeshie

I have been saying over and over what you just posted on many other blogs and those who have some education in literature and know the works of Hemingway, Beckett, and Fitzgerald can attest how unnecessarily convoluted Kojima's attempts to storytelling are.

Here is an excerpt about this same subject I posted on Kotaku;

"

If anyone here took a screenplay class or an intense writing class you would realize that Metal Gear story lines are completely unnecessary and extremely self centered and egoistic. What made Hemingway so great was that he wasn't so focused on adverbs and adjectives he just got to the meat of the story without aggrandizing everything the character was experiencing at the moment. Metal Gear does this and then some. Instead of Solid Snake went to point A then to point B, its Solid Snake went to point A while staring at the night sky contemplating thoughts about his war at home and while realizing he hasn't taken a shit in two days then shows up at point B showing strain on his face with no bathroom in sight. Kojima thinks we care about Solid Snake's irrelevant mundane thoughts, he thinks we care about the most mundane minutia between the conversations of his characters. He does not trust his audience to disect and analyze the subtext of the characters.

Japanese game writing is notorious for this. They think that verbal masturbation is important to their games, but anyone with any lick of writing experience can see right through it and look at it for what it is, an sneak peak into the soul of an immature 6th grade poem about being rejected for the first time."

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ May 12th 2008 11:10PM

@Joeshie

Yeah I'm going to have to agree with you there. MGS is kinda like the evangelion of the gaming world. It's a game that is heralded by many as the greatest video game series of all time(which is bullshit) and the creator is considered to be a genious. But in reality the actual gameplay in MGS have always been meh at best and the cutscenes are (as you put it best) a bunch of jumbled incoherent cutscenes that try to make the game seem deep and meaningful but in reality is just incredibly pretentious. I still shudder when I think of the 30 min cutscene in MGS2. SEriously what the fuck?
What makes it worst is the insane fanbase that, just like the fans of Evangelion, insult your intelligence claiming you didn't understand it (which is also bullshit). Becaues apparently, only those with a high IQ can fully appreciate the series.

I can understand why some people like the game. It isn't my cup of tea and I understand. But I really do hate it when people try to pass it off as "THE GREATEST GAMING SERIES OF ALL TIME!!!" It simply isn't true.

And to the Evangelion fans, I really did try giving the show a chance(I watched 10 episodes) but the story was incredibly boring and Shinji is possibly the most annoying main character I've seen in an anime.

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ May 12th 2008 11:28PM

Vegeta, no.... so close... only 6 more episodes and things would have changed... you really need someone to watch it with.

But, I guess I'm mindless because MGS is probably my favorite series, and EVA is my favorite anime.....

Am I truly that much of a conformist? I really doubt it.

But please, for the sake of a fellow Joystiq'r try and watch the rest of EVA.

Wes @ May 13th 2008 12:23AM

I've got to say the same thing Vegeta. The storyline is not as direct as say Vegeta describing how Freiza destroyed his homeworld and why he needs to prove Saiyan pride, etc etc yadda yadda,

However, it speaks to a lot of japanese people who feel pressured to follow in their fathers footsteps but at the same time feel abandoned by their father. Succeed in school! Work hard! Become successful!

In the meantime, the father is working such long hours, burried in work, to pay for housing, schooling, cost-of-living, he rarely gets to see his Son except for an hour or two a night if even.

The story is a narrative interpretation but taken to a bit extreme. Shinji literately is given the 'weight-of-the-world' or responsibility for 'survival-of-mankind' is put on the children's shoulders.

Shinji who has never gotten to see his father as he's been so busy working for Shinji's future now as to come to terms with his father's absence and Shinji's darker feelings towards his father.

Granted, its characters are a bit extreme, the fantasy world involves lots of angry screaming, etc, but overall if you look at the story. Its a pretty nice exploration of the concept through fiction.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ May 13th 2008 12:42AM

Oh don't get me wrong, I did get Evangelion, and I understood why Shinji acted the way he did. That doesn't mean that made the story any less boring, nor does it make Shinji an interesting or likable character.

Perhaps I will finish the series, but it's incredibly hard to find any motivation. Like with MGS, I can undestand why people would like this anime. But it's nowhere near the "GREATEST ANIME OF ALL TIME" status it has garnered.

FOXHOUND @ May 13th 2008 8:38AM

...how do I put this lightly without going onto a long half-page rant like the previous comments?

By saying it's a just friggin' videogame. Anyone taking this game, or any other title for more than that needs a serious reality check.

Sure, I'm a fan of the series but it's *just* gaming entertainment value. Nothing more or less. Don't like it? Don't bother giving it your "precious" time.

`the end.

HighFiveJesus @ May 12th 2008 5:54PM

how old are you????

pkpk523 @ May 12th 2008 5:58PM

Whether you're "kidding" or not, people like you make me sad.

Leobebes @ May 12th 2008 6:01PM

You sir are a dumbass if you were serious. Japan's culture is pretty friggin awesome, and we have benefited from their games, tech, and porn these past few years. They have been a little nationalistic of late because I think they feel the heat from western developers of late, but they still deserve our respect.

Go back to FreeRepublic or the Onion if you were joking around of course.

Microswirl @ May 12th 2008 6:14PM

Unacceptable. Everyone click the report "!" next to JoSav's comment. You're not welcome here.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 12th 2008 6:14PM

Oh shit josav look there's a black person in your back yard. Quick go and get your shotgun and your confederate flag hat and chase him away!

DesertPyrate @ May 12th 2008 6:37PM

Not too big on MG series I think Splinter Cell is better. Anyone notice how Snake is starting to favor Sam Fisher in appearance? MGS4 will hopefully be a good game, I dont see it getting bad reviews, I dont see it as a system seller but thats just my opinion so easy up on the fanboy darts.

The game looks ok, didnt blow me away from what I've seen as some arent blown away by the new Gears of War footage. The characters seem to move robotic to me in MGS4 footage of gameplay, again my opinion! Final Fantasy will sell more PS3s than MGS4 does.

Ross Miller @ May 12th 2008 7:31PM

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children.

"And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is The Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee"

*Banhammer*