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GDC 09: Hideo Kojima Live Blog from Apple Store San Francisco

Kojima-san shares his vision and talks iPhone gaming

GDC 09: Hideo Kojima Live Blog from Apple Store San Francisco

It's the last hour of the last day of GDC 09 (thank you God) and having braved the baying crowds outside, I'm sat in a comfy seat in the San Francisco Apple store amidst the US games press awaiting the arrival of Hideo Kojima, father of Metal Gear Solid.

14:59: Feeling a little outnumbered here as the only member of the English press.

15:00: The talk is due to start anytime now... and the whooping and applause from the back suggests that showtime is approaching.

15:01: The hardcore fans get the first two rows and are filling up now - you can literally smell the excitement. Mind you it is a hot day.

15:04: It's getting very crowded in here now. Maybe I could pop out and grab a quick glass of water? Hmm, probably best not.

15:05: Just had a thought, I wonder if he'll remember we were the guys that gave Metal Gear Solid Touch 6 out of 10? Probably best to take the name badge off just in case.

15:06: Just been handed some neat swag courtesy of Apple. Neat MGS Touch iPhone cover. There's a competition prize waiting to happen. First person to suggest a good question or fun competition mechanic wins.

15:09: Introduction begins. Geoff Keighley from Spike TV is our host, we're in for a special treat apparently. Geoff is talking about the platform and how it's introducing new talent but also attracting the heavyweight designers - hey move along there fella, this isn't the Geoff Keighley live blog you know!

15:11: Geoff is shamelessly plugging. The Metal Gear Solid Touch trailer is played. Very loud.

15:13: He's here! Hideo Kojima arrives.

15:15: Geoff asks Hideo Kojima about his keynote and the allusion towards the next Metal Gear Solid game. Kojima-san can't say very much predictably. Maybe an announcement at E3. There's applause anyway.

15:14: Geoff asks how Kojima-san first got into games, he replies, "Ever since I was a kid I wanted to become an astronaut or a movie director. I didn't grow up in Tokyo but rather in a small town, so there was no opportunity to do that. During that time I met the NES and fell in love with it and saw there was as big future in games."

15:16: Kojima-san talks about the games that inspired him. Super Mario changed his life, but also some Japanese titles with strong story telling elements that I couldn't make out the name of - bah, he also name checks Pong.

15:18: Kojima-san gives kudos to Apple - he's an Apple freak, even though he has to work with PCs in the office.
He can't survive without iPod and shows off his own in a limited edition MGS case to prove the point.

Talking of cool design, have to say he's wearing a pretty cool shirt (although not the one in the image we've added - can't get the pesky bluetooth working on my netbook sadly).

15:20: Kojima-san explains that the original plan was for an external studio to produce the game, but when it came back in the game was so crap (and this is the word he uses, albeit via translator) that they decided to take it into Kojima Productions and do it themselves. Hence the long delay before release.

15:24: Geoff gets tough, asking questions about the decision behind the casual format of the game. Kojima-san answers:
"At first there was going to be two parts - a stealth part and a shooting part. We mocked up the stealth element but couldn't get it to work as we'd like so changed the concept again to focus on the shooting part."

"I was really nervous because even in the team we asked whether this was really a Metal Gear Solid game. I'm glad however after seeing the reviews [not Pocket Gamer's obviously]."

"I wanted to express the world of Metal Gear - the characters and storyline in a way that a new audience could approach it. If iPod goes on to higher standards we could create a stealth game in the future"
15:28: Geoff asks why no cut-scenes?

Kojima-san says "no-one likes my cut-scenes so I leave them out" - the crowd vociferously disagrees, it's a bit like panto here now. "Next time I'll only put cut scenes in" he says - cue applause. I resist the urge to shout 'he's behind you', not sure if the point would make it cross culture.

15:30: Kojima talks about other iPhone game inspirations, name-checks Brothers in Arms, but one of the most brilliant though was the lightsabre app - not sure if this was the original or the THQ Wireless rebooted one though.

15:32: We're talking now about extensions to the game, what's coming next? Well eight more stages are being created now to add to the current 12 stages that have been produced; this was pretty much known. These will be able to be downloaded for free, but he's not saying when.
What's new though is that he's confirming that these levels will be totally different, touch-fighting and robot-punching, not shooting.

15:34: Kojima-san is keen to create more games for iPod touch. This first game is to touch Metal Gear Solid and Kojima Productions. The next will be to punch Metal Gear Solid or kick it... no comment.

Nice quote - "I'm a guy who wants to throw away my past" - Kojima-san is not looking to bring a lot of back catalogue to the format.

15:36: Now we're talking about the bigger impact of the iPod touch on the games industry. The question is how does it compare to PSP/DS - why make games for this format first?

He talks about the handheld market as a whole - difference between formats is where the first base is. Is each format a machine for music, videos first or games first? There's a long ramble about the future of converged devices, we'll spare you that for now.

He has some interesting ideas about connecting music with gaming - so you play Coldplay tracks for instance and Solid Snake gets stronger... or turns vegetarian, marries a film star and produces even more middle of the road stadium rock [okay so we've added the last bit ourselves].

15:42: Kojima-san says he wants to create a crazy app next, citing the light-sabre app and a 'move the boobs' game. 15:43 It's question time. First up a Canadian coder seeking inspirational words of wisdom... The advice is to travel the world, see lots of women or go to the cinema. Grow your emotions!

15:54: Sorry I nodded off there - it's a bit of a love in at the moment so don't worry you're not missing anything.

15:55: Asked about his favourite games, the answer is hardly surprising, the original Metal Gear Solid; MGS4 was the toughest one to work on.

15:58: And that's a wrap. Thanks to Kojima-san for talking, thanks Geoff for presenting and a special thanks to the very lovely Apple PR ladies for inviting the English guy along.

Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, bossman Chris is up for anything – including running Steel Media (the madman).