Saved for my interests…
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10:18
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Snake? Are you there? It’s me, McWhertor… |
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10:30
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I’ve infiltrated the Moscone Center’s Esplanade Room… |
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10:30
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And I’ve decided not to make any further Metal Gear Solid puns. |
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10:31
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Megan Scavio, the person responsible for something GDC related which unfortunately escapes me, is readying the crowd for Kojima’s appearance. |
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10:32
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Kojima takes the stage, also wearing a leather coat, just like Satoru Iwata! |
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10:32
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He’s giving the speech in Japanese, with the voice of god translating everything into delicious English. |
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10:32
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“I’ve been in the industry for 20 years now, but this is the first time I’ve ever come to GDC.” |
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10:33
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The reason for his absence? He was always busy for E3. |
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10:33
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“Also for the fact that E3 has lost its punch over the years. Plus the guys at GDC told me if I came, I’d get this award….” |
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10:33
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There is much LOLing. |
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10:34
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Kojima says his speech will talk about his game design philosophy, “a long presentation, so I hope I won’t bore you.” |
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10:35
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“Unfortunately, I have to say that I’m not going to give out any presents — like games — today.” |
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10:35
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Thus ends our liveblog. Thanks for joining us! |
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10:35
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“There are no sessions going on right now, so you can’t escape.” |
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10:35
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“Sorry to say it, guys, but you’re stuck with me today.” |
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10:36
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*sigh* |
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10:36
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Kojima moves on to the topic of “Revolutionary Creation.” |
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10:36
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He defines it as “making the impossible possible.” |
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10:36
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“Let me talk about what I consider the impossible.” |
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10:37
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A black line is on-screen. Kojima says, “This is a path.” |
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10:37
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Old Snake crouch-walks across it. |
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10:37
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Then a box appears, a small obstacle for Snake to climb over. |
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10:37
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“Every day, you’re faced with obstacles you see or can’t see.” |
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10:38
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Super Mario Bros. style Mario jumps over the box. “Of course, Mario and Snake can jump over it.” |
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10:38
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Snake is face with a much taller box. Mario runs back, jumps over it. Snake envisions himself as Mario, leaping over the tall box. |
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10:39
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“Snake thinks. He’s not Mario, so he cannot jump over.” |
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10:39
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Kojima defines the “possible” as anything that’s been done before or experienced |
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10:39
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The inverse is true for “impossible” — it’s never been done before and has been inexperienced. |
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10:40
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“Making the impossible possible demands that preconceived notions be discarded.” |
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10:40
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Snake’s jumping animation is fabulous, by the way, arms akimbo in the block punching style made famous by Mario. |
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10:40
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Snake reevaluates the challenge. |
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10:41
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Pole vault over the wall? Shoot it with a mounted turret? Use a balloon? Move a smaller box in front of it? Draw a door on the box and walk through that? |
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10:41
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“The objective is to get beyond the barrier.” |
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10:42
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The camera pans out, showing that the obstacle is a wall, but one that Snake can simply walk around. |
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10:42
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“Or you can dig underneath to the other side.” |
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10:42
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“Video games are a technology dependent media.” |
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10:43
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The floor that Snake is standing on rises. The foundation is hardware and technology. |
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10:43
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The metaphor: as technology improves, the barrier to the impossible becomes easier to pass. |
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10:44
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Otacon and the Metal Gear Mk. II appear, helping Snake out with a box (software technology) and a ladder (game design). |
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10:44
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Kojima moves on to the game design that helps make the impossible possible. |
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10:44
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First up — the original Metal Gear for the MSX/NES |
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10:45
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“The time was 1985. I’m sure many of you weren’t even born yet.” |
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10:45
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“I joined the industry the following year, 1986, and was stationed in a division that worked on the MSX2.” |
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10:46
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Mission: create a combat game for the MSX2. |
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10:46
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“There was kind of a phenomenon around Rambo, with coin-op games quite popular back then. My bosses thought ‘Why don’t we bring these types of combat games to the MSX2?’ That was my mission.” |
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10:47
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Kojima lays out a blank 2D background, with the Player (Snake) and four enemies. Snake shoots ’em. Get ’em, Snake!! |
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10:48
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So, you needed to show all of that onscreen: Snake, enemies and the bullets to kill said enemies with. |
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10:48
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So, what kind of hardware technology was available at the time? |
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10:48
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Kojima brings up Konami’s Nemesis, which you probably know better as Gradius. |
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10:49
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He breaks down the elements. The BG (background) and objects (sprites). |
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10:49
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Now there’s a problem. There was a limitations on the number of sprites you could show onscreen at any time. |
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10:49
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The restriction: if you show 8 sprites in a horizontal line, the ninth won’t appear. |
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10:50
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Kojima attempts to make the developers in attendance feel better about their hardware technology limitations. |
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10:50
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He shows off the flicker from the MSX2 version of Nemesis. |
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10:51
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“This is the actual product; it’s not a bug.” |
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10:51
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Audience: (laughs) |
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10:51
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“Now, let’s go back to our combat game. We need to create a game on the MSX hardware.” |
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10:52
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Kojima talks about the layering of sprites. How full colored characters take up two sprites each. |
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10:53
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With 9 sprites needed at minimum for Kojima’s vision of a combat game, the hardware couldn’t live up to the challenge. |
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10:53
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Therefore, Mission: Impossible! |
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10:53
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Snake faces the wall again, faced with technology obstacles. |
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10:54
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“So, the first thing I came up with, was to take the fighting out of the combat game.” |
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10:54
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Snake is shown on screen facing enemy soldiers, tossing his gun aside after the Metal Gear alert sound rings out. |
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10:55
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“Why not make a combat game where you hide? I thought this could work. This could be revolutionary. However, I thought ‘This game may not sell. I need a hero.'” |
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10:55
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“So I made an infiltration game.” |
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10:55
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“And so I thought ‘An industry first! A stealth game is born!'” |
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10:56
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The Mission: Impossible changes to “Create a stealth game for the MSX2” |
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10:57
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Kojima explains the game design of Metal Gear. Trying to avoid the line of sight of enemy soldiers. |
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10:57
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“Believe it or not, the MSX doesn’t scroll. You have to just change the screen.” |
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10:58
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“What happens with they spot you? This changes the action, the algorithm of the enemy.” |
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10:58
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“So I told the player, in a way, that if you get spotted, you’ll have a lot of players come after you.” |
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10:59
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“Unfortunately, Metal Gear wasn’t released outside of Europe and Japan. Oh, you may know the NES version, but it was a cracked game. I didn’t have anything to do with that.” |
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10:59
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“It wasn’t really a stealth game. It was more like a puzzle game, wasn’t it?” |
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10:59
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Kojima is showing the MSX2 version in action. |
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11:00
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The game design: |
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11:00
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Concept: infiltration |
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11:00
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– Enemies with range of sight |
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11:00
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– Dynamic enemy AI |
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11:00
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– “!” |
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11:00
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(Yes, that’s the last bullet point.) |
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11:01
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That exclamation point was a message to the player that the algorithm had changed. |
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11:01
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The new mission? Create a stealth game on the next gaming platform that surpasses the previous creation. |
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11:01
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“That was a mission we set ourselves.” |
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11:02
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Mission: create a deeper stealth game. |
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11:02
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But the hardware hadn’t changed, so the mission had a new factor. Create a deeper game on the *same* hardware. |
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11:03
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“the game design — I added a wider cone of vision to the enemy. Also I said the previous one was like a one screen puzzle game. So I set real-time enemeis outside of the screen you see now.” |
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11:04
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“But since the MSX2 doesn’t scroll, you might bump into an enemy when the screen changes. So I added a radar.” |
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11:04
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Kojima has a little technical hiccup. PowerPoooooiiiiiiinnnntttt!!! |
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11:05
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“Please don’t post this on YouTube, okay?” |
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11:05
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“What I added in Metal Gear 2 was an evasion stage.” |
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11:05
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“So the player will have to hide, keep still.” |
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11:06
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“I also added ‘hearing’ to the enemies, which adds more rhythm and adds more tension to the experience.” |
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11:06
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This was only released in Japan in 1990. |
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11:07
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Kojima also takes the opportunity to throw the American Metal Gear 2: Snake’s Revenge under the bus. I think he may have call it (and the NES Metal Gear) a “little crap game.” |
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11:08
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Snake overcomes the game design obstacle with the “game design” ladder. |
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11:08
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The concept? Infiltration into an area with vision and hearing, radar and three alert modes. |
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11:09
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“metal Gear 2 was a hit again.” |
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11:09
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The next mission: create a 3D stealth game! |
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11:10
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Snake grumbles at the thought of the technical limitations of the MSX2. |
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11:11
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Kojima moves on to the release of the original PlayStation in 1994, with the Sega Satrun mentioned as a footnote. |
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11:11
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“I think everyone [here] was born by then. So let’s see how the hardware elevated Snake.” |
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11:12
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The hardware builds on the foundation of Snake’s barrier to the new mission: create a 3D stealth game, now for the PSone. |
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11:12
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“So I went on to create this game, which I think you know by now, Metal Gear Solid.” |
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11:13
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The transition to 3D added extra elements, like air ducts that Snake can hide in to avoid enemy detection. |
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11:15
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Kojima talks about the European localization. He shows off the English language versoin, with David Hayter as Snake. |
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11:15
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Now we listen to the Japanese version. “He sounds young back then.” |
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11:15
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Now the German version. “Hier Snake!” |
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11:16
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“It sounds like… well, I wanna eat some sausages.” |
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11:16
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Audience: (chuckles( |
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11:16
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Then, the Italian version inspires Kojima to hunger for pasta. What will the Spanish version make Kojima hungry for?! |
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11:16
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Ah, paella. Of course. |
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11:17
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Here comes the French version of Snake. “It feels romantic, doesn’t it?” I don’t think Snake and the Colonel would appreciate what you’re implying, Kojima. |
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11:17
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Kojima shows off the 3D rendered cut scenes and camera control, letting the player know where the enemies are. |
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11:19
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The new concept: infiltrate into a 3D area, with 3D stealth action, dynamic changes in erspective controlled by the player and realtime cut scenes and voice. |
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11:20
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“I’m pretty sure you got tired of my presentation up til now. So let’s take a break.” |
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11:20
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Kojima has something to show us… but it’s simply a Metal Gear Solid television commercial that aired in Japan. |
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11:20
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After Metal Gear Solid became a hit, we decided “We have to make a sequel.” |
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11:21
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The new mission? A realistic looking stealth game… on the original PlayStation. |
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11:22
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This was the year 2000. |
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11:22
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But the wall of impossibility was much higher, so Kojima decided to create a more realistic looking game on the PlayStation 2. |
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11:23
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“So I changed views again, not just trying to make a more realistic looking stealth game, but a more immersive stealth game. This was, of course, still Mission: Impossible.” |
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11:23
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Kojima moves on to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. |
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11:24
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“The face of Snake has change. He has expressions now.” |
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11:24
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“I wanted to create a new environment.” Kojima talks about weather, sights, smells, shadows, new elements for a stealth action game.” |
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11:25
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“We created long cut scenes for the game. I understand some of you didn’t like these long cut scenes.” |
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11:25
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“Um, you’re supposed to laugh at this point…” |
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11:25
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Audience: (obliges) |
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11:26
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Kojima shows off the shadow element in MGS2 that can give away Snake’s location or help him see when enemies were approaching. |
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11:26
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“The whole environment, I thought, was important for me to use in the game, not just how it looks.” |
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11:27
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That was the game design, the ladder, with a concept of “infiltration with an atmospheric setting” |
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11:27
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60 frames per second, various movements, location based damage detection and the ability to shoot in first-person. |
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11:28
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Mission: complete! I have a suspiscion that Kojima will start talking about Metal Gear Solid 3. |
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11:28
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But not before another Japanese television commercial for MGS2, which shows Japanese businessmen hiding around the office. It’s hilarious. |
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11:32
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Mission: swtich laptop battery complete! (Sorry for the pause) |
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11:33
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Kojima talks about the inevitable Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, noting that the team had no hardware upgrades to work with for the sequel. |
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11:33
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He also explains why they went with an open, natural environment, as Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 were both man-made and closed-in environments. |
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11:34
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Obviously, in MGS3, Kojima introduced the camouflage system, helping Snake to blend in with the environment, as well as a “cure system.” |
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11:35
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“That was to introduce the concept of survival.” |
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11:35
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“Everyone said the cut scenes were too long in MGS2, so I shortened them for MGS3. You’re supposed to laugh here again, guys. I’m talking about my cut scenes.” |
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11:35
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Audience: (laughs) |
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11:36
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Kojima’s showing off the close quarters combat (CQC) in MGS3. He shows that game design mission wall metaphor again, showing tha software technology and game design helped Snake reach his goal. |
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11:37
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“Okay, you ready for the Japanese TV commercial?” |
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11:38
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This is the extended cut, a minute long version of the MGS3 ad. Again, a Japanese salaryman crawls prone through the jungle, spearing snakes for dinner, ironing his shirt on a river bank, popping out of the river in a crocodile stealth hat, then… |
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11:38
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…watching a girl bathe in the river in leafy camo facepaint. |
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11:38
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“So, Metal Gear Solid 3 became a worldwide hit.” |
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11:39
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“Even though the game series had become a hit, I always said I wanted to end the series as a trilogy.” |
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11:39
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“I thought, if I make the ultimate stealth game, I don’t have to work on Metal Gear anymore.” |
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11:39
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Again, there is much audience laughter. |
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11:40
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“In 2005, there was a rumor in the industry, a *monster* machine was coming out. You could do *anything* with it, you didn’t even need to use game design.” |
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11:40
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“It was still rumor back then, so I didn’t know the name of it.” |
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11:40
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The new mission? Use the rumored “amazing power” of the monster gaming platform to create the ultimate stealth game. |
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11:41
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Then came the PlayStation 3.Snake’s path is given a huge boost from the hardware. The floor drops out and Snake attempts to hold on for dear life. He doesn’t succeed. |
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11:41
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The audience laughs. |
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11:42
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“Don’t take this the wrong way. Of course, the PS3 is a great machine, but our expectations and dreams were so high…” |
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11:42
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The updated mission: Use the actual power of the PS3 to create the ultimate stealth game. |
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11:42
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“So we changed vision, because we thought that would be impossible. What we thought was, ‘Why not create a new infiltration experience?'” |
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11:43
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The updated updated mission: Use the actual power of the PS3 to create a new stealth game. |
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11:43
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“This time we were infiltrating a war zone.” |
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11:44
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Kojima talks about the ability to align yourself with the “red side” of the miliatry in MGS4. |
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11:45
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“I added an element so the user can change their situation to react to what was happening around you.” |
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11:45
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Kojima digs for more cut scene joke fodder. |
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11:46
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He then talks about the down side of having the choice to ally with one of the militia, namely getting on someone’s bad side. |
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11:47
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Or both factions’ bad side. |
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11:47
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Here comes another Japanese TV commercial. |
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11:48
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Kojima begins to wrap up with a review of making the impossible possible. |
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11:49
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Hecovers the foundation of hardware and tech, software and game design. He shows Snake’s path, which rises and deviates, based on these limitations and accomodations. |
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11:49
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“simply put, Metal Gear was born out of hardware limitations, advancing together with hardware to reach new heights.” |
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11:50
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“If I had given up at the beginning, there wouldn’t be any Metal Gear series. Or Splinter Cell series.” |
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11:50
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Kojima instructs the audience to laugh. |
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11:51
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Hideo Kojima’s game design is “designer-driven game design.” |
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11:52
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“Japanese game designers tend to be this kind of game designer. But the current trend is a little different.” |
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11:53
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The recent trend in Western game design is “technology-based game design.” |
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11:53
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This includes having open world game design, going anywhere, riding on any vehicle. |
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11:54
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“In the future of Kojima productions, I want to do it this way. I want to add both the Western game design philosophy and the game design ladder.” |
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11:54
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“That’s my image of the next Metal Gear.” |
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11:55
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“I want to challenge this wall of impossibility today with everyone.” |
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11:56
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“For those people who want to challenge that to join Kojima Productions, you can visit our booth, join Kojima Productions.” |
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11:56
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To conclude: “before giving up and saying ‘I can’t do it’, identify the ‘impossible barrier’ that is holding you back.” |
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11:57
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Kojima basically says, if we can put a man on the moon, we can overcome barriers of impossibility. |
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11:58
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“90% of what is considered impossible is in fact possible. The other 10% will become possible with the passage of time and technology.” |
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11:59
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“I want to make great games with everyone, so lets overcome this barrier of impossibility” |
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11:59
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That’s about it. Kojima is wrapping up. |
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11:59
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Mario makes a final appearance. Kojima walks offstage. |
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11:59
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Sayonara! |
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11:59
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Britney Spears sends us off. Bye bye! |