Kojima disappointed with MGS4

[PkmnTrainerJ]

Looks like Kojima Jr. isn't the only one disappointed with Metal Gear Solid. The latest issue of the UK's Edge magazine contains an interview with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, who expresses disappointment with the latest game in the series, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. It isn't so much the gameplay itself as it is the graphics.

"Game-wise, it's pretty close to the original vision: you sneak into the battlefield and can choose whether to do a stealth game or interfere with the battle more directly. But the graphic, side things like motion-blending and the size of the map, totally was not accomplished to my original vision - to my satisfaction.

Now Kojima is a well-known perfectionist, but it is a bit disturbing to see him voice his dissatisfaction with what is supposed to be the masterpiece of the franchise. So where does he lay the blame for not fully realizing his vision?

"When we first showed the game engine at TGS, the staff were really proud and happy. PS3 was a dream machine, y'know, and we were going to work on this and that - and we had so many ideas. But when we actually started developing the game, we realized there were a lot of restrictions and so it turned out how you see it today. The original vision was to go ten steps further, the reality was just one step, which isn't to say we didn't progress.

So there was certainly progress made, but not enough progress...or more specifically, not enough power for progress. Apparently the team overestimated what the PlayStation 3 was capable of.

I remember saying three years ago that we wanted to create something revolutionary, but in reality we couldn't really do that because of the CPU. We're using the Cell engine to its limit., actually. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing the PS3 machine, it's just that we weren't really aware of what the full-spec PS3 offered - we were creating something we couldn't entirely see.

Well there you have it, straight from the man himself. Metal Gear Solid 4 is not revolutionary. Personally I think the man is being a bit hard on himself, but that's what great minds do.

Source: http://kotaku.com/381412/kojima-disappoint...al-gear-solid-4

[Renegade]

Hopefully this means there'll be an MGS5.

Edited April 18, 2008 by Renegade

[Crybaby Bunting]

*cue generic anti-ps3 comments*

[brenchill]

It's a strange thing for Kojima to say before it's been released. The gameplay has never interested me half as much as the storyline, anyway. I'm still looking forward to it regardless and I'll probably end up getting selling my Xbox and getting a PS3 just so I can play it.

[stokeriño]

Isn't it etiquette to release at least one game for a console before creating one that breaks its processing limits? What an uncouth gentleman this Mr. Kojima is.

[brenchill]

On a side note; Isn't Kojima stepping down from the franchise after MGS4?

[apsham]

He said that after Metal Gear Solid 2 I believe, as well. So you never really can tell.

[Vilge Duin]

So?

Seriously, who cares? I don't know if many people were into the series 7 years ago but Kojima said the exact same things in regard to Metal Gear Solid 2 and the Playstation 2. He also said it would be his last game in the series.

Then Metal Gear Solid 3 came out, proving it all wrong.

Kojima is also a known obsessive compulsive perfectionist that is never satisfied with anything he does, as is true of any visionary or artist. There is always something to do, add, change, etc. A work is never honestly done.

Kojima wants to create a life-like, ridiculously sized, epic in scope, interactive movie. That's what he always has wanted to do, and until the day he can, he'll never be happy.

This has no bearing on the quality of the game or storyline with MGS 4, it's simply him not being able to do everything he wanted to.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I've read the entire article in Edge and it's very interesting. I don't think that it's a complete slur against the PS3 itself as the 360 wouldn't have been able to fulfil Kojima's vision either. The guy is a massive perfectionist (thankfully) and has a very dry wit and can turn an ironic eye on stuff. I don't think Kojima will be totally satisfied with a project for another couple of console generations yet and to be honest, as much as I love Metal Gear Solid, his best work (if not most critically acclaimed as the MGS series) is yet to come....Free of MGS expectations he can create something sublime and utterly different if he's allowed to.

I hope that MGS dies beautifully with him.

[zero]

This is just going to be his excuse to make MGS5. As apsham said, the guy says stuff like this after every game and says each one will be his last.