Hideo Kojima talked to Famitsu in a recent interview about Metal Gear Solid V’s open-world and online features, after an eventful week at E3 2013. In the interview, he also spoke of his intent on taking on the rest of the world with Metal Gear Solid V and shared his thoughts on Western reactions of his latest announcement for the game.
Famitsu started the talks by asking Kojima to share his thoughts and reasons behind his recent global announcement of a “AAA” title.
“Well, a part of me likes to express myself in such a way, but video games are a form of media that rely on technology,” says Kojima. “Games continue to grow horizontally, but in order to evolve in a vertical direction, they need to climb one step at a time, and it isn’t easy to jump two steps at once. In other words, if they don’t pursue the most they can, it’s a tough road ahead.”
Kojima then added that social games cannot be overlooked in this regard, and that Metal Gear Solid V will have a next-generation social aspect to it.
In a recent web radio show, Kojima talked about the possibility of a multi-tablet implementation for Metal Gear Solid V, which could be part of his plans for next-generation social features. Kojima pointed out how the Metal Gear Solid series evolved after each title, as he has implemented new ideas for each installment, which he believes were vertical steps for the franchise in their own ways.
As for Metal Gear Solid V, Kojima believes that it is important for a game’s appearance and its impact to be heavy whenever a title is announced. For this reason, Kojima Productions put effort into the game’s visuals and making it into an open-world title. Kojima would also like to emphasize that Metal Gear Solid V is a core game on its own, but once you get to try it out for yourself, there will also be a next-generation social world, that utilizes cloud features, waiting for you.
Metal Gear Solid V will be available for current and next-gen consoles. Additionally, it will also have tablet features mixed in. Kojima believes that we live in an era of cloud services, and there isn’t a need to be restricted in particular platforms, which is another reason they’re going with the PC-based Fox Engine.
The Metal Gear Solid franchise has been one of the most successful Japanese developed series that has shared most of its success in the West. Famitsu asks whether Metal Gear Solid V is currently being developed with the thought of further expanding in the West in mind.
Kojima replies, “Our intent is to develop something that can please players on a global scale, so we’re not thinking about anything like that. However, Metal Gear sells the most in the United States. The largest market is also the United States, and they’re home to the world’s largest game show in E3. Naturally, we’d like to compete and win against the world’s best, there. Metal Gear Solid V’s ‘V’ also stands for ‘Victory,’ which also means that we’d like to win in a global scale, once again.”
The trailer that was shown at E3 this year, was a huge hit among Westerners, which Kojima shared his thoughts on as well. Says Kojima:
“In the past 15 years, hardware has continued to evolve, but I don’t think the substance of games have evolved as much. In a sense, I’d like to take a step forward. But If I go too far, I may not be able to sell as much in Japan (laughs). Not only the graphics, but I want to increase the quality within the games themselves.”
Finally, here’s a message from Kojima to the fans looking forward to Metal Gear Solid V:
“Metal Gear Solid V will indeed be challenging the rest of the world. In order to win this fight, we’ll be needing all of your support. Please look forward to the world of a next-generation social service that will utilize the cloud.”
Metal Gear Solid V is currently in development for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
