Kojima talks MGS 4, Wii and girls' panties

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Hideo Kojima has a big challenge ahead of him. Currently working on the most anticipated PlayStation3 game in the world, the design genius is in Los Angeles to tell the world about Metal Gear Solid 4. We caught up with him to chat about his plans for MGS 4, his love of Wii and what he's getting excited about right now.

CVG: So, the big PS3 E3 surprise is the motion sensitive functions of DualShock 3. Do you plan to use this function in MGS 4?

Kojima: It was a big surprise to me when I found out at E3. I'd like to go back and discuss the functions with my team of game designers and see how we can incorporate ideas into the game. As an example, the tilt functions could be used to control the FPS camera and you could shake the pad to get items from dead enemies. I have many ideas to talk to my team about.

CVG: How do you find PS3 as a development platform?

Kojima: PS3 is a big, powerful machine and it's high definition - it takes much more work than the previous consoles I have worked on.

CVG: Can you tell us about the weapons in MGS 4?

Kojima: I can't really talk about key details but some are based on real weapons and we're taking that a little further with our own ideas and expectations of what real future weapons will appear in the MGS 4 development timeframe. We take military concept ideas too, so they're not really fake.

CVG: What are your impressions of Nintendo Wii and how did Snake appear in Smash Brothers?

Kojima: I've played Tennis, Zelda and Mario on Wii. I find Tennis very interesting. I played the early version but the E3 version is far more advanced. As a game designer, I'm very interested in creating something for the Wii. I'd like to run away from MGS 4 creation and create something for the Wii but unfortunately, I don't have anything that I can announce at the moment. I have lots of ideas for Wii but I have a heavy schedule with MGS 4 and Metal Gear Online. Concerning Snake's appearance on Wii in Smash Brothers, I'm friends with the designer of the game and I thought it would be nice if you could play as Snake - when I heard about the new game last year, I contacted the designer and we started working together.

CVG: In MGS 4 we see the return of Raiden, Liquid Snake and Ocelot. Can you tell us about the plot which combines all these familiar characters?

Kojima: In MGS 4, the only character you will be able to play as will be Snake. In the story, I'd like to include all the characters from the whole series if the story allows it. I would like to have a big wrap up in MGS 4 which explains why the characters acted in the way they did in previous games, so everything can be finally revealed in MGS 4.

CVG: How about E3 2006 - Seen anything exciting?

Kojima: I haven't had a lot of time to walk around the convention centre yet. My feelings are that the show has a little less energy than last year, even though I was really looking forward to the show so I could see Wii and PS3 games and Xbox 360 games a year on. I'd like to go and play Gears of War. Also, I hear there's a GTA style game at the show where you try to steal panties (laughs). It's a very interesting idea and I'd like to check it out this afternoon. I understand they're giving away free panties...

CVG: Killzone on PS3 is a competitor to MGS 4 - are you surprised that Sony has chosen not to show a new Killzone trailer or even a playable version at E3 2006?

Kojima: Actually, I don't care about it. I don't really look at it - as a games designer, I have interests in games that I personally like and admire such as Okami from Capcom.

CVG: When will MGS 4 be playable?

Kojima: Well, since MGS 4 is due to be released in 2007, it think will be playable at next E3 at the latest. The current state of play is that we're changing the gameplay every day. We don't want to serve something to people that isn't built or set in stone because my team wouldn't be satisfied.

CVG: Can you tell me a bit more about the online features in MGS 4 and Metal Gear Online?

Kojima: Of course, MGS 3 has online battle functions and downloads and these will feature in MGS 4. Basically the MGO project is moving by itself and it might be packaged with MGS 4 as a second disc or there's still a possibility of selling it as a stand alone game. Therefore, the MGO project will be the centre of online activity - of course, if it comes with MGS 4 it will be for PS3 but if not, it could be for something else but we haven't decided. On the stand alone side, everything you see in the current online version of MGS 3 will be available in MGS 4.

CVG: Can you see people using the Wii controller to play as Snake at some point in the future?

Kojima: I haven't thought about Snake with the Wii controller - I think about completely different things. If I created something for Wii, I would like to create something entirely different to a normal FPS. I don't mind using the MGS world as a theme but currently I'm not thinking about that. I'd like to give Wii users a new experience - I think the Wii controller can be used in more innovative and fun ways.

CVG: The future war setting of MGS 4 is quite bleak, especially as we see Snake with a gun in his mouth in the trailer. Are there any rays of light which could see romance or something similar lift the story?

Kojima: Yes! It won't all be dreadful! There probably won't be any romance in MGS 4, however, as Snake will not fall in love. There are many characters that appear in the game and it's the drama that occurs between the people that leads the story. So, in that sense, it's not just Snake that has a chance of a positive story line.

Rich Melville