14 DAY TRIAL // Hideo Kojima is renowned around the globe for the Metal Gear Solid franchise, but, 20 years ago, he was just a simple programmer, making games all by himself. This week, he went through his achievements and hardships from the days of 8-bit glory to present times. His story was unfolded in the Famitsu magazine by talking to adventure-game writer Jiro Ishii, debating the genre and how it shaped his career. Jiro Ishii is the man that got a perfect 10 out of 10 for his 428: In the Blocked City Shibuyaa visual novel from Famitsu.
"I first met Ishii this year," Kojima said, "but I knew about him a long time previous. I get told by people that there are only three guys in Japan who like adventures: me, Ishii and Shu Takumi." Takumi is the writer of Capcom's Ace Attorney series. "We're both pretty close to each other in that the movie business has been near and dear to our hearts," Kojima said about Ishii. "The only difference is that he's been able to keep making adventures this whole time. It's funny to think that during an era when there was nothing but Mario-style games, there was somebody else out there who wanted to make a Blade Runner-like title, a year before me to boot. It took me a year and a half to get half of Snatcher done; I had six chapters planned out and they told me to cut it down to two!"
Kojima proved to be very fond of his early memories of the gaming industry and the work he did there. He believes that the early days allowed for more creativity, as it was less of a business and more of a hobby. "I think we were born at just the right time," Kojima stated. "We both started with smaller games, so we had to do everything by ourselves. Games development these days is completely compartmentalized; you have people who do nothing but make the logo for a game."
"I think that's kind of a shame," the game creator added. "Things are just different. Ourselves, we're like the people who made their own films before making it big in Hollywood. I think we've got the skills we need to make anything we want, anywhere we want, on any budget we want. That's where my pride, or my confidence, comes from." When referring to present days and the game industry as it was at the moment, he expressed the same disapproval he had done in past statements. "If we don't have an environment where developers can make what they want and find an audience for it, then I think it's all going to come crashing down. I think we'll see fewer people wanting to get into games, and that's dangerous."