'A Snake for a new era,' Kojima teases
A brief interview with Hideo Kojima at Variety isn't so much full of megatons – he hasn't read much Haruki Murakami but he does enjoy Phillip Dick and Kurt Vonnegut – as it is with some insights into the supposed "end" of his Metal Gear Solid series.
Kojima shares some of his thought process on the creation of "Old Snake" – "I made him this way because of the unique characteristics of the game medium ... he represents the players themselves because of the interactive nature of games" – as well as teasing what we may be able to expect from "a new Snake." Kojima says, "If there ever were to be a new Snake (might have a different name), he will be a Snake for a new era." No, we're not sure what that means either, but it gives us great satisfaction in knowing that Kojima probably does.
Kojima shares some of his thought process on the creation of "Old Snake" – "I made him this way because of the unique characteristics of the game medium ... he represents the players themselves because of the interactive nature of games" – as well as teasing what we may be able to expect from "a new Snake." Kojima says, "If there ever were to be a new Snake (might have a different name), he will be a Snake for a new era." No, we're not sure what that means either, but it gives us great satisfaction in knowing that Kojima probably does.






Get a WordPress.com Blog





Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
OMGOMG @ Jul 29th 2008 2:16PM
Jump in, Snake. Jump in.
KingOfGods @ Jul 29th 2008 2:29PM
Jump In....I like that lol
OMGOMG @ Jul 29th 2008 2:31PM
*curtsy*
syrik zero @ Jul 29th 2008 2:17PM
Kojima never makes sense to us "normal" minded people.
FOXHOUND @ Jul 29th 2008 2:26PM
Even as a huge fan of the series, even I wonder if Kojima's mind resembles a Salvador Dali or M.C. Escher artwork.
13alder @ Jul 29th 2008 2:40PM
uh you say that like its a bad thing. not joking, interesting/different minds are refreshing and, well, interesting. Many great leaders or well remembered people in history are well remembered because they think differently than other people so i guess it shouldn't be surprising that someone who can make the caliber of games that Kojima does might think differently
syrik zero @ Jul 29th 2008 2:48PM
You hit the nail right on the head.
Anticrawl @ Jul 29th 2008 3:27PM
"and going up the stairs and going down the stairs and going up the sideways stairs"
Anyway yeah, Solid Snake is a clone so Kojima has no need to be original with a next generation of games involving a "Snake" hero. All they gotta do is have some more children via the super baby method and bam, you guy 8 new Snakes runnin around.
Danny F. @ Jul 29th 2008 2:19PM
That sprite is the best!
Mr.ESC @ Jul 29th 2008 2:29PM
8-bit Old snake FTW.
Matt @ Jul 29th 2008 2:21PM
I'd recommend starting with "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" and working outward from there.
Ayrkain @ Jul 29th 2008 2:28PM
I liked Dance, Dance, Dance, and am think about reading the Trilogy of the Rat soon. Of course, I like PKD a lot, also.
Negativecool @ Jul 29th 2008 2:23PM
Snake for a "new era" is just Kojima's usual esoteric philosophical social and political commentary, rolled into one character and how he tells the story of said character.
This is anything but a "tease," more of an "if ever." I doubt he has any such plans to bring forth a "new snake" anytime this decade.
Marty @ Jul 29th 2008 2:24PM
Younger, emo Snake inbound. [glances over at Sam Fisher]
Boom! @ Jul 29th 2008 2:29PM
Raiden already played that part. I'm probably one of the few that hated him in MGS4. I wouldn't have been surprised if he just yelled out "I NO LONGER LOVE!" at some point.
xFenixKnightx @ Jul 29th 2008 2:47PM
Boom
How could you NOT want to play as Raiden after MGS4? He was a total badass! If it weren't for spoliers round the internetz saying you didnt get to play as him in the game I would have been impatiently waiting to take over the controls during his screen time in the game.
Negativecool @ Jul 29th 2008 3:41PM
xFenixKnightx-
That's exactly how they sold him. A badass. But if you look beyond his rediculous ninja abilities and listen to the guy speak, he's so completely emo he embarasses himself.
MrEverdred01 @ Jul 29th 2008 2:25PM
hopefully this doesn't mean metal gear for the wii.
velocitySTRIKE @ Jul 29th 2008 2:34PM
What would be so bad about a Metal Gear for the Wii?
13alder @ Jul 29th 2008 2:43PM
WII SUCKZORS AMIRIGHT?
/sarcasm
MrEverdred01 @ Jul 29th 2008 2:50PM
It would suffer from the same problems as all Wii games: the graphics would be terrible and it would be targeted for little kids and old people, and the online mode would be a broken structure which is almost unusable. The motion sensor would feel like a gimmick where any skill used with the wiimote can easily be replaced by just flailing the wiimote chaotically. With their love for long cut scenes, the game would have to be on at least 5 disks. With the wii's lack of a hard drive, loading scenes would be long and save states would be limited in what info it keeps on your game, meaning just the basics like where you are in the story. That's what would be so bad about Metal Gear for the Wii.
samfish @ Jul 29th 2008 2:52PM
The Wii isn't H4RDC0R3 enough for Metal Gear.
The Fatass of Kickassness @ Jul 29th 2008 2:55PM
MrEverdred, you're totally right.
In fact, every pre-MGS4 Metal Gear game sucks.
Actually, every game that isn't on the PS3 or 360 sucks.
Your logic rocks mang.
A MGS game wouldn't be bad on the Wii, at all. You're acting as though every developer who works with the Wii targets kids and old people, which is, in reality, a notion so stupid I can't really put it into words. In addition, I own quite a few games that limit the Wii Remote use or use it in a way that adds to the game.
Check my post history real quick, you'll see that I haven't been liking Nintendo lately at all. Still, though, your post was pretty dumb.
Noshino @ Jul 29th 2008 3:10PM
"the graphics would be terrible"
-They can try something different, hell, MGS3 graphics should be ok, or just follow a different art style
"and it would be targeted for little kids and old people"
-What?...why would they change the content/theme of the game?
"and the online mode would be a broken structure which is almost unusable"
-The online mode is broken as is...
"The motion sensor would feel like a gimmick where any skill used with the wiimote can easily be replaced by just flailing the wiimote chaotically"
-They can always offer the option to turn it off/on
"With their love for long cut scenes, the game would have to be on at least 5 disks"
-Once again, that has to do with graphics, they can change the art style to something not as heavy, also lower the quality of music/sounds
"With the wii's lack of a hard drive, loading scenes would be long and save states would be limited in what info it keeps on your game, meaning just the basics like where you are in the story."
-Well, in that you also have to count the fact that problems were also caused by the reading speed of the Blu-Ray
Look, I have completely disagreed with Nintendo's ideas this generation, but the reasons you have posted are not completely true, the only thing that I could see that would make it impossible for the Wii to run is the amount of stuff going on at one time, seriously, that, along with all the stuff in the game that makes reference to the PS3 and other business related pacts between Konami and Sony, are reasons why I don't see this title going to the 360 or the Wii
Jacksons @ Jul 29th 2008 3:17PM
The only thing that would scare me about a wii metal gear is the button layout of the remote. They made it work fine on the PSP, so I know it would be possible, but I'd much prefer any other layout than the chuk/remote.
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 29th 2008 3:47PM
Personally, after playing MGS4 I'd hate to take a such a lagre step backwards graphically. It would make the new game instantly feel old.
MrEverdred01 @ Jul 29th 2008 4:08PM
wow I didn't realize how many people have a hard on for the Wii. Everyone I know thinks it's the biggest joke since the virtual boy. Even my little brother has one and hates it. I'm not saying that the game wouldn't be fun on the wii, I'm just saying that it would feel like a huge step backwards after MGS4. But it would probably still sell like crazy what with all of you fanatics sucking the teat of Nintendo like there's no tomorrow. At E3 that one guy even said essentially, "holy crap I can make a shitty bathroom scale attachment for this thing and it will sell so well that it'll be impossible to find!" I just don't understand the appeal of flailing a remote at 10-year-old graphics in games designed for people in the 12 and under demographic. If Metal Gear went to the Wii, it would be just for the extra cash. Kojima has said so himself that he feels if video games were like movies, the PS3 would be like going out to the theater, the Xbox 360 would be like renting a movie on DVD, and the Wii would be like watching it on tv with commercial breaks and all the racy scenes deleted. Here's him saying that: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/716/716039p1.html
religiousjedi @ Jul 29th 2008 7:05PM
Wait....I still don't understand why you wouldn't want MGS on Wii. From your posts, it's obvious you hate the Wii. However, if it were to be multiplatform, how would it affect your decision to buy it on PS3/360?
Wii holding back graphics? I really don't think Konami would hold back on the graphics capabilities of the other two if that's one of their strengths.
"Waggle" control? Since when has Wiimote control affected PS3/360 control. The fact that they have limited/no motion control should be a relief to you should such a game go multiplatform.
Broken online play? Again, how does that affect you? You'd be playing on PSN or Live, wouldn't you?
Once again...could you explain why MGS shouldn't be on Wii?
Mr.ESC @ Jul 29th 2008 2:28PM
He would be buff , he would have a Shotgun/Rifle with a chaisaw and he would spit one liners every five minutes regardless of the situtaion.
Soldier-Holy Shit Snake Metal Gear.
Snake-Groovy!
Soldier-Snake you dog died.
Snake-Kickass.
Soldier-Snake we are about to get raped,do something!
Snake-Time to kick ass and chew bubble gum and I'm all out of ass.
Kids would love him.
Marty @ Jul 29th 2008 2:30PM
With one liners as hot as those, he'd never run out of ass.
Boom! @ Jul 29th 2008 2:32PM
lol!
I miss Duke Nukem. :(
13alder @ Jul 29th 2008 2:43PM
that is, in all honesty, pretty much my favorite one liner from a video game:
I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum and I'm all out of bubblegum.
its no snakes on a plane but...
David @ Jul 29th 2008 3:08PM
Judging by Raiden in MGS4, new snake would be a painful anime cliche. Kojima doesn't produce a game without its fair share of flaws and cliches by the way, and patronizing insinuations to the contrary are getting incredible annoying on every single MGS post. The game was good, fine, but it was in no way some kind of uncommonly amazing game that changes the world forever. Seriously, the Halo fans that you all complain about are less persistent and annoying.
Mrblonde @ Jul 29th 2008 3:09PM
Evil Dead FTW!
MKA @ Jul 29th 2008 2:39PM
Next game: Raiden trying to figure out how to be a father. Kind of a Sims style game, but for the Wii so you can play catch with your son and stuff... haha...
Haggard @ Jul 29th 2008 2:57PM
Metal Gear 5: Ikea stuff pack!
Saria the Cat @ Jul 29th 2008 2:44PM
Murakami Haruki is so awesome, though.
B3astofthe3ast @ Jul 29th 2008 2:46PM
Kojima must smoke a lot of weed.
AlwaysOn @ Jul 29th 2008 3:01PM
lol so much for last Snake Metal Gear Game... Did anyone relly thought there would be no more games with Snake? Come on, this industry lives on sequels. I mean you can make a supercrappy game but put the right name on the box and it will sell regardless...
Anticrawl @ Jul 29th 2008 3:31PM
Kojima only said this would be the last Metal Gear SOLID (SOLID!!!! SOLID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Fuck people, there could still be dozens of more Metal Gear games, same goes for the Metroid series. Nintendo only said the Metroid PRIME (PRIM!!!! PRIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) series was over, not the Metroid series.
Anticrawl @ Jul 29th 2008 3:33PM
Also there are other Snakes besides Solid Snake, atleast inform yourself before talking. Solid Snake is a clone.
xFenixKnightx @ Jul 29th 2008 4:47PM
Easy on the keyboard anticrawl. Its probably saying "please daddy, make the exclamation points stop, just please make it stop"
:P
Jhongerkong @ Jul 29th 2008 3:10PM
Am I the only one who wants to see a Ghost Babel remake a la Twin Snakes?
FOXHOUND @ Jul 29th 2008 3:38PM
GHOST BABEL actually had a pretty decent story, so yes.
j.howlett @ Jul 29th 2008 3:12PM
black snake moan, sam jackson as an aging assassin whos known to play the blues. and he recites bible passages to his targets if he does them in up close and personal. he also likes to be the only snake on the airplane when he travels.
SkreeHunter @ Jul 29th 2008 5:23PM
I'd like a Metal Gear Lightning.
With Raiden of course.
You know. Raiden. Thunder?
Anticrawl @ Jul 29th 2008 3:35PM
*shakes head*
It's really sad that a person like me, who doesn't care for the Metal Gear Solid series (note I said SOLID) knows more about the canon and story than most of these folks complaining or the folks who have apparently played the games.
monkey3 @ Jul 29th 2008 3:48PM
The fact that he like Phillip Dick and Kurt Vonnegut explains quite a lot.
Nugent @ Jul 29th 2008 4:42PM
It would be tough for any new character to live up to Snake though. Especially if they decide to reuse the codename Snake, which probably would just confuse most people (who seem to think that's his name).
Kojima's comments match the theme of MGS4 though. Snake is outdated; any new Metal Gear game taking place after MGS4 (and lets face it, a game taking place before that would be pointless story-wise) would have to have a modernized main character.
It'll be years before we see another Metal Gear game though, so I guess we all have plenty of time to speculate.
gaddes @ Jul 29th 2008 6:41PM
I wouldn't be surprised if the new Snake was Johnny/Akiba, especially they way he went from pants-wetting wuss to badass in MGS4. Maybe it would be like some twisted version of MGS3, where instead of eating animals to regain stamina, you'd have to find safe places to shit to stay regular?