Hideo Kojima speaks to PSM2 UK
by PSM2, 06.2004

PSM2: So kojima san, let's cut to the chase: Is it Big Boss in MGS3 or not?
Kojima: Ah, it's as you see in the trailer and demo...

PSM2: Has the 60's setting affected the level of technology you were able to include in the game?
Kojima: To a certain extent, yes, but things like the thermal and night vision goggles are things that didn't really exist in the 60's but we've included them regardless of the time because these are things that existed in the previous episodes and work well in the game. As for how it affects the story, instead of relying on high technology, Snake now fights using his physical body. That is the focus of the time.

PSM2: The trailer features a character named 'solkolov'. Why is snake rescuing him?
Kojima: That's part of the story and as the game is not released for some time, I don't want to say. He is a very important character in the game and if you don't bring him to the west, there could be another world war crisis.

PSM2: And do you begin with a full set of camouflage kit or do you acquire it through the game?
Kojima: You start out with a few different camouflage patterns and when you visit different places you pick up more camouglage gear to use in the game.

PSM2: From what we'ce seen, Snake seems to show facial expressions this time. What emotions will he show?
Kojima: There are not that many during the gameplay. Pain, Concentration, anger... There are about five or six. With MGS2 there were actually many facial expressions during gameplay but we had to drop them due to a memory limitation. We might have to drop them with mgs3 as well.

PSM2: We love the new 'eating' bits. Do certain foods you find give Snake better abilities and strength?
Kojima: Yes, they don't give you 'special powers' as such but I guess you start developing a preference to keep on eating a particular type of food so that will give you more stamina than other foods will. Obviously there are snakes and there are some poisonous snakes so you could be in trouble if you eat a poisonous snake. But you can use that poison on an enemy... There are some special frogs and some mushrooms that you can ue as medicines and herbs and some of them will even serve as a battery.

PSM2: We saw a scene where snake used a barrel to hurt an enemy. Will the be a lot of this?
Kojima: There are many things. For example, you can slam a door on an enemy as an attack now.

PSM2: What will the new ability to threaten guards give you?
Kojima: There are now two types of hold-ups. There's the typical one where you stand behind the guy, then there's another type using cqc to knock the guy flat on the floor, then when he's down you can point the gun at him. With these hold-ups you'll obtain items. However, if you use cqc, you can use a knife at their neck and threaten them for information. Such as information on characters or, for example, where you can find a certain type of snake.

PSM2: The title sequence has a lot of influence from James Bond movies. Does this influence extend into the game?
Kojima: Not necessarily the james bond series but as the game takes place in the '60's during the cold war, you will see many things such as crazy over the top items and gadgets that the americans and soviets used to spy on each other.

PSM2: What problems has the jungle environment presented and how were these problems overcome?
Kojima: First of all, just drawing the jungle graphically is very difficult and uses a lot of processing power. Next you have the up and down height of the ground which makes things even harder because of the collision detection. You have to adjust the collisions and with the enemies, the players and the bullets and ricochets... It's easier to create flat surfaces with a perpendicular wall in games but when you have these ups and downs, it's very difficult. Then, when you create a jungle, you need the trees, you need the rocks and things in the background and in addition every jungle has its own ecosystem. We have to add animals and plants and a jungle needs its own mist, fog, clouds, light particles coming through the leaves... You need all these effects in addition to everything else to do with the gameplay. What's difficult is that we have to maintain a balance. In an actual jungle even if there were many enemies around you there are probably birds and snakes at the same time but as everything has to be done at once with the ps2 you have to balance what you want to show at what time and with what level of detail.

PSM2: What ares are in the game in addition to the jungle?
Kojima: There are mountains, caves, mangrove tree forests and man made things such as buildings.

PSM2: Tell us about the lady who snake talks to?
Kojima: That is snakes master, his mentor. She is like some living legend.

PSM2: And were they romantically involved in the past?
Kojima: I really can't say...

PSM2: You incorporate many real world references in your games. What can we expect in MGS3?
Kojima: The game takes place in the summer of 1964 and in the previous year, 1963, that's when the cuban missile crisis took place and when kennedy was assassinated. This was a time when America started heading in a bad direction, right before the vietnam war. I think that many historical events happened at that time, before the vietnam war, will be in the game. There won't be any part of the vietnam war in ther though.

PSM2: What research did you do to recreate the jungle? Did you and your team get out of the office on any field trips?
Kojima: When I discussed with the artists what kind of jungle I wanted we did not want a south american or amazon jungle. We wanted to come up with a jungle that no-one else would come up with. We wanted something sacred, like a sacred forest. So what we did was go to an island in japan called Yakushima which is like the princess Mononoke, the hayao miyazaki (anime) film. We also went to another island called Amami-Oshima which is an island famous for a lot of poisonous snakes. We went there and did our research.

PSM2: Metal gear games always feature a lot of plot twists, Do you intend to top your previous surprises in MGS3?
Kojima: There will be a couple of plot twists but I think that this will be the most easily understandable of the three games. It's pretty straightforward.

PSM2: The message of the mgs games seems to be one man trying to stop war. Is this the story of MGS3?
Kojima: Snake once again has been dragged into it. He feels like he has to do this mission.

PSM2: We've seen Snake using heavy artillery and even trying to steal a motorcycle in the first MGS3 trailer last year. What hardware will snake use in the game?
Kojima: If you go to any of the bases and find any hardware, you'll probably be able to use it. As for vehicles you'll be able to hop on a vehicle, say, but as for whether you'll be able to control it... If we did that, it would dramatically change the whole control scheme of the game. So you'll probably just hop on for a ride.

PSM2: Tell us about the psp metal gear game.
Kojima: Metal Gear Acid is for the PSP, a handheld game system. In japan, most people play handheld games on the train and so it's not really suitable to play a high speed action game there. So what we're presenting is an interpretation of the metal gear world and a metal gear game that bests suits a handheld system. So it's not an action game but a command based game that uses a system of cards. There are a lot of strategic elements to explore in this game.

PSM2: Is it really a young revolver ocelot in the trailer?
Kojima: Yes. fans will pick up a lot of neat things in the new game. The revolvers that ocelot uses in MGS1 and 2 he actually acquires from snake in MGS3. Snake says "you're more of a revolver type" So ocelot thinks "maybe I should start using revolvers" and at the end, revolver has been practicing and we see him juggling revolvers.

PSM2: Is johhny saski back in the game?
Kojima: (laughs) I think maybe it's his grandfather, Every first born son in their family is named johnny and they all join the army.

PSM2: Have you enjoyed the show this year and what other games have you seen that you liked?
Kojima: We visited Capcom yesterday and we also tried to see the psp but there were long queues so we didn't see it. We didn't even see our own game.

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