(no subject)
i have been up to work lately.
kojimablog coverage
kojimablog itself
FINALLY: kojima versus the big robots
mgs 2 MOAR
10 most important shooters
retro/active: kojima's productions
metal gear twin snakes longplay
metal gear 2 longplay
metal gear 2 emulation
unseen history of stealth games
sneaky history of stealth games
top 10 stealth games
kojima's legacy
GT: metal gear retrospective
the unseen history of the stealth game
development
how kojima designs!!!
As the programming team spent additional time testing out the PlayStation 2, Kojima began the long and arduous process of creating the scriptment, a massive document that would, when complete, detail every scene and line of dialogue in the game.
Aware of the limits of the PlayStation 2, Kojima turned to writing the scriptment. "The scriptment really involves two senses of plot," he says. "First is the plot in terms of the story, and second is the plot in terms of the actual gameplay. I don't think they can exist without each other--they have to be written and conceived together."
For a game as massive as Metal Gear Solid 2, Kojima plays what he calls "catch-ball" with his collaborator Mr. Fukushima and the entire development staff. While Kojima is the final arbiter of what goes in the game, his collaborative "catch-ball" process involves all the core members of the team. "I have to conceive of a scene in terms of the plot and the gameplay, but I also have to know if it is technically possible to pull it off," he explains.
..."We never tell Mr. Kojima that anything is impossible--we will always give it a try," says Uehara, sounding like he has already been schooled by Kojima about removing 'impossible' from his vocabulary. ...
...As the programming team works on realizing some of the visual aspects of the game, Kojima spends a substantial amount of time working with the scenario and design team, a group of about 12 individuals--a significant number of whom are women--to design the actual gameplay. For each scene in the game, Kojima will draw out a detailed map of how the player should move through the area.
infiltrating kojima productions;
metal gear evolution coverage of gdc 09;
moar in point form, and CONCISELY MOAR
mgs 2 team size: 70
mgs 4 team size: 180
-- turn to page 2 for assassin's solid! DID YOU RIKE IT
sam fisher snake
2000: kojima talks mgs2, with a bunch of other dudes
Hideo: What I'm doing is creating a game. I'm not making a movie. To make the game more enjoyable and captivating, and to make the player feel like he's present in that setting, we need the cinematic element. There may be a misunderstanding in the game world when we say "cinematic," because that doesn't necessarily mean showing a CG movie in the middle of the action, and splitting everything up.
Take Metal Gear Solid. It's basically hide-and-seek. But hide-and-seek isn't fun by itself, so what we do is add rules. The people looking for you are soldiers with guns, and you're a secret agent. We add the setting, which is an enemy fortress, and then we put in all the details. Adding these elements to a game like hide-and-seek makes it cinematic. Of course, the settings are more detailed, thanks to the specs of the new machines ¿ and now that graphics capabilities are more complex, everyone is saying "it looks like a movie!"
kojima's badass workaholism:
Hideo: Well, it's a different experience between MGS2 and ZOE. With MGS2 it's all hands-on ¿ I actually do stuff with the other members, and I can give directions to everyone. In short, I know what's going on. But with ZOE I'm the producer, so I'll give directions through the director, but I don't get the whole picture all the time, and I'm not sure what everyone is doing at one given moment. There is some frustration, because I can't grasp what's going on.
eurogamer interview:
Eurogamer: What would you say was your most personally important game?
Hideo Kojima: That's a question I've been asked a lot of times. I can't name one, I have two. First it's Metal Gear on the MSX, because this was the first title that was sold, that made it out there, because some of the ideas I'd had before didn't make it out. So it was a benchmark to me because it was the first product I did that got released. And it was full of hard times, hard work that I'd put in, Metal Gear - it was a really tough job. If you were to ask me about the second, that would be Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation 1, because it was the first time I actually sat back as a producer. I also did the game parts as well, but being a producer was a different test for me because I had to look at the business side, at promotion and things like that. Also, MGS was sold worldwide, and if it wasn't for MGS on the PS1, I think I wouldn't be in Leipzig today or at this game convention. So these two are really, really precious titles for me.
kojima talks his design sensibilities
Hideo Kojima: Honestly, I don't know! But if you want my answer that I personally think, I don't know if it's correct or wrong, but maybe it's because of my era - because of my age. When I was younger, what built me was always movies or novels or music from America or Europe. I didn't grow up on Japanese movies and television only, I absorbed so many TV programmes of American and Europe; that's what I watched. And the culture really came naturally to me when I was growing up, so when I have a game which is an output of myself, I feel that I put in more of that American or European essence that I absorbed when I was growing up. Maybe that is the reason why it sells more in Europe or America.
To give an example in my title, in MGS4 the main character is this old fogey, right? And he battles with a lot of old guys, and in Japan that would never ever sell. So this kind of sense that I have perhaps tingles the European or Western market more.
on the wacky sense of humor in his games:
GameSpy: The E3 trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater is very funny. Will the game have the same sense of humor?
Kojima: The references to Grand Theft Auto will not be in the game. We made that especially for the trailer. However, the game will have a lot of humor in it, like my previous Metal Gear games.
Metal Gear is a stealth and infiltration game. You are always under this maximum stress thinking that you might be caught at any moment. When you are under this pressure for too long, it starts to get tiring. That is why I throw in the funny things every now and then.
commentary
evolution of the series by 1up retro/active
the evolution of game mechanics in mgs
critical reception;
- bad end?
opinion: what are we fighting for?
design 101: metal gear
different ways of playing the game: difficulties
player choice/metatexualism
circular wall: fission mailed
breaking the 4th wall: press the action button, snake
But video games are not exactly the same as these other art forms. The reality-fantasy dynamic in games is complicated by the player, who is always tethered to the game world by an umbilical cord called technology.
ign articles
fruity moments
game content
junker hq script dumps
videos, media et al
kojima's keynotes: slides
easter eggs
according to ign
game summaries
pre mgs4
this article appears here only because it are FUNNY, and i quote
No one bought Metal Gear Solid 4 solely for Hideo Kojima's unique treatise on private military corporations and the war economy, but a lot of people bought it because it was a major title for the only console they own, and were looking to validate that original purchase. When Metal Gear Solid is the only game in town, the player is going to get very well acquainted with it.
More still bought it because they were invested, via message board proxy wars, in the financial success of the PS3 platform. Metal Gear Solid 4, as a major exclusive title for a console which attracts relatively few major exclusives, evoked a great protective fervor in its audience that it would have done had it appeared simultaneously on Xbox 360, PC, Wii, DS, PS2, PSP, the iPhone, and the N-Gage. Or if there were a dozen other titles releasing at the same time -- on any platform -- with comparable levels of production, positive hype and potential for high sales.
the art of design: zoe and mgs2
Snake:
Psycho Mantis?
Psycho Mantis:
You don't seem to believe your own eyes. Very well... I'll show you the power of the world's greatest mind reader and psychokineticist! I'll start by reading your personality. Or rather, your past. That's right... This is no trick. It's true power.
[Psycho Mantis attempts to read Snake's mind, but to no avail.]
Psycho Mantis:
...What?! Where is your data... Where is it saved?!
[Flashbacks of the PlayStation memory card appear.]
Psycho Mantis:
There's no Memory Card! Damn! Your skills have improved. Or rather, your hardware... How about this, then?! Witness my psychokinesis... Put your controller on the floor. Put it down as flat as you can...
[Snake keeps his weapon aimed at Psycho Mantis, seemingly confused.]
Psycho Mantis:
That's good. Now I will move your controller by the power of my will alone!
[Psycho Mantis begins sending psychokinetic waves toward Snake, as the armored pieces of Screaming Mantis's armor follow his movements. Flashbacks of the original rumble controller from the PlayStation appear.]
Psycho Mantis:
Vibration is back.
longplays mgs 1
longplays mgs 2 (subsistence)
longplays mgs 3
longplays mgs 4
some last quote lulz
Solid Snake: Is that remote control?
Otacon: Yup. And this mechanism is equipped with a Cell Processor.
Metal Gear Mk II: *starts dancing*
crazy codec shit, among which is... "the worst rations are ours. America ftw" -- Colonel Campbell
and disturbing laughing octopus easter eggs not linked
kojima hates metal gear
hardcore natal plans
more metal gear analysis
game design stuff:
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/09/echoshift/#more-16896
not echochrome another creatively done platformer!!!
kojimablog coverage
kojimablog itself
FINALLY: kojima versus the big robots
mgs 2 MOAR
10 most important shooters
retro/active: kojima's productions
metal gear twin snakes longplay
metal gear 2 longplay
metal gear 2 emulation
unseen history of stealth games
sneaky history of stealth games
top 10 stealth games
kojima's legacy
GT: metal gear retrospective
the unseen history of the stealth game
development
how kojima designs!!!
As the programming team spent additional time testing out the PlayStation 2, Kojima began the long and arduous process of creating the scriptment, a massive document that would, when complete, detail every scene and line of dialogue in the game.
Aware of the limits of the PlayStation 2, Kojima turned to writing the scriptment. "The scriptment really involves two senses of plot," he says. "First is the plot in terms of the story, and second is the plot in terms of the actual gameplay. I don't think they can exist without each other--they have to be written and conceived together."
For a game as massive as Metal Gear Solid 2, Kojima plays what he calls "catch-ball" with his collaborator Mr. Fukushima and the entire development staff. While Kojima is the final arbiter of what goes in the game, his collaborative "catch-ball" process involves all the core members of the team. "I have to conceive of a scene in terms of the plot and the gameplay, but I also have to know if it is technically possible to pull it off," he explains.
..."We never tell Mr. Kojima that anything is impossible--we will always give it a try," says Uehara, sounding like he has already been schooled by Kojima about removing 'impossible' from his vocabulary. ...
...As the programming team works on realizing some of the visual aspects of the game, Kojima spends a substantial amount of time working with the scenario and design team, a group of about 12 individuals--a significant number of whom are women--to design the actual gameplay. For each scene in the game, Kojima will draw out a detailed map of how the player should move through the area.
infiltrating kojima productions;
metal gear evolution coverage of gdc 09;
moar in point form, and CONCISELY MOAR
mgs 2 team size: 70
mgs 4 team size: 180
-- turn to page 2 for assassin's solid! DID YOU RIKE IT
sam fisher snake
2000: kojima talks mgs2, with a bunch of other dudes
Hideo: What I'm doing is creating a game. I'm not making a movie. To make the game more enjoyable and captivating, and to make the player feel like he's present in that setting, we need the cinematic element. There may be a misunderstanding in the game world when we say "cinematic," because that doesn't necessarily mean showing a CG movie in the middle of the action, and splitting everything up.
Take Metal Gear Solid. It's basically hide-and-seek. But hide-and-seek isn't fun by itself, so what we do is add rules. The people looking for you are soldiers with guns, and you're a secret agent. We add the setting, which is an enemy fortress, and then we put in all the details. Adding these elements to a game like hide-and-seek makes it cinematic. Of course, the settings are more detailed, thanks to the specs of the new machines ¿ and now that graphics capabilities are more complex, everyone is saying "it looks like a movie!"
kojima's badass workaholism:
Hideo: Well, it's a different experience between MGS2 and ZOE. With MGS2 it's all hands-on ¿ I actually do stuff with the other members, and I can give directions to everyone. In short, I know what's going on. But with ZOE I'm the producer, so I'll give directions through the director, but I don't get the whole picture all the time, and I'm not sure what everyone is doing at one given moment. There is some frustration, because I can't grasp what's going on.
eurogamer interview:
Eurogamer: What would you say was your most personally important game?
Hideo Kojima: That's a question I've been asked a lot of times. I can't name one, I have two. First it's Metal Gear on the MSX, because this was the first title that was sold, that made it out there, because some of the ideas I'd had before didn't make it out. So it was a benchmark to me because it was the first product I did that got released. And it was full of hard times, hard work that I'd put in, Metal Gear - it was a really tough job. If you were to ask me about the second, that would be Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation 1, because it was the first time I actually sat back as a producer. I also did the game parts as well, but being a producer was a different test for me because I had to look at the business side, at promotion and things like that. Also, MGS was sold worldwide, and if it wasn't for MGS on the PS1, I think I wouldn't be in Leipzig today or at this game convention. So these two are really, really precious titles for me.
kojima talks his design sensibilities
Hideo Kojima: Honestly, I don't know! But if you want my answer that I personally think, I don't know if it's correct or wrong, but maybe it's because of my era - because of my age. When I was younger, what built me was always movies or novels or music from America or Europe. I didn't grow up on Japanese movies and television only, I absorbed so many TV programmes of American and Europe; that's what I watched. And the culture really came naturally to me when I was growing up, so when I have a game which is an output of myself, I feel that I put in more of that American or European essence that I absorbed when I was growing up. Maybe that is the reason why it sells more in Europe or America.
To give an example in my title, in MGS4 the main character is this old fogey, right? And he battles with a lot of old guys, and in Japan that would never ever sell. So this kind of sense that I have perhaps tingles the European or Western market more.
on the wacky sense of humor in his games:
GameSpy: The E3 trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater is very funny. Will the game have the same sense of humor?
Kojima: The references to Grand Theft Auto will not be in the game. We made that especially for the trailer. However, the game will have a lot of humor in it, like my previous Metal Gear games.
Metal Gear is a stealth and infiltration game. You are always under this maximum stress thinking that you might be caught at any moment. When you are under this pressure for too long, it starts to get tiring. That is why I throw in the funny things every now and then.
commentary
evolution of the series by 1up retro/active
the evolution of game mechanics in mgs
critical reception;
- bad end?
opinion: what are we fighting for?
design 101: metal gear
different ways of playing the game: difficulties
player choice/metatexualism
circular wall: fission mailed
breaking the 4th wall: press the action button, snake
But video games are not exactly the same as these other art forms. The reality-fantasy dynamic in games is complicated by the player, who is always tethered to the game world by an umbilical cord called technology.
ign articles
fruity moments
game content
junker hq script dumps
videos, media et al
kojima's keynotes: slides
easter eggs
according to ign
game summaries
pre mgs4
this article appears here only because it are FUNNY, and i quote
No one bought Metal Gear Solid 4 solely for Hideo Kojima's unique treatise on private military corporations and the war economy, but a lot of people bought it because it was a major title for the only console they own, and were looking to validate that original purchase. When Metal Gear Solid is the only game in town, the player is going to get very well acquainted with it.
More still bought it because they were invested, via message board proxy wars, in the financial success of the PS3 platform. Metal Gear Solid 4, as a major exclusive title for a console which attracts relatively few major exclusives, evoked a great protective fervor in its audience that it would have done had it appeared simultaneously on Xbox 360, PC, Wii, DS, PS2, PSP, the iPhone, and the N-Gage. Or if there were a dozen other titles releasing at the same time -- on any platform -- with comparable levels of production, positive hype and potential for high sales.
the art of design: zoe and mgs2
Snake:
Psycho Mantis?
Psycho Mantis:
You don't seem to believe your own eyes. Very well... I'll show you the power of the world's greatest mind reader and psychokineticist! I'll start by reading your personality. Or rather, your past. That's right... This is no trick. It's true power.
[Psycho Mantis attempts to read Snake's mind, but to no avail.]
Psycho Mantis:
...What?! Where is your data... Where is it saved?!
[Flashbacks of the PlayStation memory card appear.]
Psycho Mantis:
There's no Memory Card! Damn! Your skills have improved. Or rather, your hardware... How about this, then?! Witness my psychokinesis... Put your controller on the floor. Put it down as flat as you can...
[Snake keeps his weapon aimed at Psycho Mantis, seemingly confused.]
Psycho Mantis:
That's good. Now I will move your controller by the power of my will alone!
[Psycho Mantis begins sending psychokinetic waves toward Snake, as the armored pieces of Screaming Mantis's armor follow his movements. Flashbacks of the original rumble controller from the PlayStation appear.]
Psycho Mantis:
Vibration is back.
longplays mgs 1
longplays mgs 2 (subsistence)
longplays mgs 3
longplays mgs 4
some last quote lulz
Solid Snake: Is that remote control?
Otacon: Yup. And this mechanism is equipped with a Cell Processor.
Metal Gear Mk II: *starts dancing*
crazy codec shit, among which is... "the worst rations are ours. America ftw" -- Colonel Campbell
and disturbing laughing octopus easter eggs not linked
kojima hates metal gear
hardcore natal plans
more metal gear analysis
game design stuff:
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/09/echoshift/#more-16896
not echochrome another creatively done platformer!!!