Hideo Kojima Wants Non-Metal Gear Recognition

[Tanakh]

2001: Zone of the Enders (PS2; Produzent)

ZoE is my favourite project which had Kojima involved. But he was the producer there, which is entirely different from being the director, not sure how much of it can be actually attributed to him.

Also, i am quite sure he was closely involved with that Castlevania reboot, you might want to add it there.

 

[Senare]

I'm with Kojima on this. I have heard a hypothesis that MGS 2 was so bad because he actually wanted to work on another IP, but MGS 1 did so well that the company wanted him to make the sequel really badly. The result was that Kojima trolled his audience hard by packing his game full with weird design decisions (because he didn't really want to work on MGS at the moment), which simultaneously let him try new things. It's like making Shigeru Miyamoto drop everything else to work on the Halo series when a new sequel is coming up.

EDIT: Reading through the thread it seems I'm not the only one who thinks this.

 

[JEBWrench]

Actually, he wanted to stop after MGS 3, but saying that caused him to receive a lot of death threats, not to mention that Konami itself wasn't happy with his choice. So he did eventually give in and make MGS4...but that's the reason why everyone is dying/dead in 4. Because he wanted the series to definitively end there.

But with Rising and Ground Zeros coming up, I'd say that Kojima is probably bashing his head against a wall somewhere.

Edit: Before anyone brings it up, yes, I know that Rising isn't being developed by Kojima, but he is working on it in an advisory capacity. At least, he was the last I heard of it.

I vaguely recall him saying something about being done with them after MGS 2, but I could be mistaken.

So Kojima wants to prove hes not a one trick pony?

The world is already watching, all he needs to do is what he wants.

He already proved that. Just nobody bought the non Metal Gear games.

ADDENDUM:

I'm with Kojima on this. I have heard a hypothesis that MGS 2 was so bad because he actually wanted to work on another IP, but MGS 1 did so well that the company wanted him to make the sequel really badly. The result was that Kojima trolled his audience hard by packing his game full with weird design decisions (because he didn't really want to work on MGS at the moment), which simultaneously let him try new things. It's like making Shigeru Miyamoto drop everything else to work on the Halo series when a new sequel is coming up.

Just out of curiosity, what decisions were actually bad design choices in MGS2? The controls were better, and true, a large bit of the game got cut for tech and time restraints. The only actual design choice that could be arguably poor would be the whole Raiden thing, and that is absolutely where Kojima wanted to take MGS. Raiden's his favourite character in the series.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Ah, it's good to see the old Kojima duck picture.

And surely you would think Kojima would have enough pull within Konami and everything that he would be able to make other games besides Metal Gear games?

 

[RaikuFA]

Remake Policenauts and do your best on that Silent Hill game you're making cause that's all I ask.

 

[Something Amyss]

"I've always said that I want to work on original properties, but Metal Gear offers plenty of benefits," says Kojima.

Like being able to make a huge amount of money off it.

It seems to me that Kojima wishes to reap the benefits of the MGS series without being attached to it.

Maybe, instead, he should actually try making other games. Throwing new ideas into a MGS game with some vague intents of introducing a "new IP" isn't that.

Nor is continuing to make new MGS games, though he's said he's claimed to be "done" after every game since MGS.

 

[Tanakh]

He probably hasn't got any choice in the matter. Konami are ultimately the ones who own the franchise, and finance the developers. It's the same situation as with any other franchise: the developers have enough ideas for a dozen different original ideas, but the publisher just want another sequel to their hit game.

It doesn't help that Kojima's non-Metal Gear games haven't exactly sold all that well. I imagine shopping yourself out to other publishers becomes a lot harder when everything you've done that isn't Metal Gear had niche success at best.

He totally does. Has several alternatives:

- Go Kickstart. Just with his name he will get enough support to make a mid-small AAA game for sure.

- Ahh... just greenlight the project inside Konami. I don't know if you realize he is almost independant within the company, and he greenlighted stuff like Castlevania rebbot and ZoE almost singlehandedly. Read the Wiki entry about Kojima Productions to read quotes from him about having the power to do so.

He is one of the few devs that has ALL the choice about what to develop.

Edit: If he can't is probably due how japanese corporate culture works in regards of stagnation. IE, he can, but he won't due cultural limitations. That said the same corporate culture makes their companies stronger in some other regards.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

New IP's are risky and most publishers don't like putting out new IP's unless they know for sure that they'll sell well.

Kojima is probably using GZ and Rising to test the waters with some new ideas. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that whichever one does better is the path that he'll pursue with his next IP.

I know that's pretty much what's going on with Rising, and from the little info we know of GZ, it's probably what he's attempting with that too.

Kojima told CNN, "If this game becomes hugely successful and popular, then we might make it into a franchise."

Though Rising is interesting because it's largely developed by Platinum Games and not Konami. Although Kojima is producing it, and there's a few Kojima team members involved, a majority of the work is being done by Platinum, and Kojima doesn't seem to have much personal involvement in the development process. I wonder if Platinum could continue making MGR games without requiring Kojima's resources. It's not even him writing the game (Although the lead writer is a member of Kojima's team) and the game is still being considered part of the existing Metal Gear canon.

If that's the case, I bet Platinum could continue making MGR games without the involvement of Kojima. Which is good since it lets Platinum do what they do best, and Kojima could keep his focus on other things (Finally finishing MGS, and making new/going back to old IP's.) That is of course, if MGR is successful.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

well, then please work on one.

how can we recognise your skill outside of your flagship when you make most times games in and about your flagship?
SNIP

so just do it. no one is going to make you suffer if you step outside your shell. (we will take care of the fanboys)

Then for the love of god stop making them. They stopped being good after the second one.

You should probably stop making them then, Kojima.

He probably hasn't got any choice in the matter. Konami are ultimately the ones who own the franchise, and finance the developers. It's the same situation as with any other franchise: the developers have enough ideas for a dozen different original ideas, but the publisher just want another sequel to their hit game.

It doesn't help that Kojima's non-Metal Gear games haven't exactly sold all that well. I imagine shopping yourself out to other publishers becomes a lot harder when everything you've done that isn't Metal Gear had niche success at best.

Exactly. A question to all of you telling him to just go out and do what he wants, how many of you played Policenauts? Snatcher? Zone of the Enders? And do you really think that Kojima, tired of working on one franchise and wanting to experiment, wants to work on one of those old series? Or that Konami would let him do anything other than MGS? It is mostly all outside of his control. I honestly feel sad for the guy. If I had to keep working on a series I feel ended a decade ago I would do nothing but troll my audience and publisher until I got to do something else.

 

[elilupe]

I really hope he can get away from Metal Gear. He's someone the gaming industry has needed, someone who can make a game awesome with hundreds of little subtle touches instead of massive LOOK OVER HERE setpieces, and I really hope he can finally get away from the series that he very obviously wanted to end with MGS4.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

I love Metal Gear quite dearly, but I just want it to be over with. Guns of the Patriots was a superb ending to such a long running series that I'm a little miffed at the existence of Rising: Revengeance. At the very least, the latter looks entertaining, so I let it go.

OT: If Kojima wants recognition for other things, might I suggest working on other things? Kojima even teased us back in 2008 by saying he was interested in working on a new Zone of the Enders title. Go back to that, please... We've been waiting forever for a sequel. Or a prequel. Gods know Kojima has plenty of THOSE up his sleeve. *cough*groundzeroes*cough*

 

[Tanakh]

I... erm... what? How did we go from "He probably doesn't have the creative freedom he likes" to "It's totally the fault of Japanese culture" ? Do you have any idea just how plain racist that sounds? Taking a small, singular problem like this, and then claiming it to be caused by an entire culture is just xenophobic in the extreme. Especially seeing as this isn't a problem limited to Japan. This is a problem facing publishers and financiers all round the world. It's a universal given that if something is popular, the people making money from it will want to see more of it. Just look at Activision, an American company, and Ubisoft, a French company.

Sigh, fine, go for interpretations and ignore the facts that he greenlighted ZoE (a new franchise) and Castlevania (a reboot). He literally got the approval and money for those two, but whatev, think what you want.

And ask any japanese, their country corporate culture is different. Its not racist, i am not saying its worse, just a fact... so... where the crap you get the racist connotations from?

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Gotta wonder why he doesn't just "do it" then... I mean Zone of The Enders 2 was pretty darn good and the Boktai/Lunar Knights games were fun... I suppose I don't get why he doesn't spread his wings if he wants to. Can't find money to make them perhaps? Or afraid of failure maybe? Who knows, I'd like to see those games though, I love Kojima's work, warts and all.

 

[Casual Shinji]

He probably hasn't got any choice in the matter. Konami are ultimately the ones who own the franchise, and finance the developers. It's the same situation as with any other franchise: the developers have enough ideas for a dozen different original ideas, but the publisher just want another sequel to their hit game.

It doesn't help that Kojima's non-Metal Gear games haven't exactly sold all that well. I imagine shopping yourself out to other publishers becomes a lot harder when everything you've done that isn't Metal Gear had niche success at best.

He has just as much of a hand in cementing himself in the MGS franchise as Konami does, perhaps even more so: He set up his own production studio, and what does he use as a logo? He creates a new graphics engine, and what does he call it?

I'm not saying this out of spite for the guy. He's very passionate about his baby and understandably has a hard time letting go. And frankly I'm glad there are still developers out there with as much passion for their games as Kojima.

 

[Baldry]

As much as I'd love to see Hideo make a new game series it wouldn't change the fact he would still be famous for his work on Metal gear and its fame.