I believe that even today we can only tell a simple story without really interfering with gameplay. But in the future, I think it will almost be a requirement of all storytellers when they create games, how they can tell a more complex story without conflicting with the gameplay.
You have to be very careful when you're working on a sequel, because it has to be a continuation of what you did before.
In the past, the U.S. was the centre of the world, where everything was happening. I think my stories have always sought to question this, maybe even criticise it.
Hollywood continues to present the U.S. Army as being the good guys, always defeating the aliens or foreigners.
When I was small, I was always thinking about different worlds in my head.
With a movie, it's probably easier to sustain intensity and seriousness over the 90-minute duration. But in an open-world game it becomes exhausting, demotivating and even uninteresting for the player.
I always observe the people who pass by when I ride an escalator. I'll never see most of them again, so I imagine a lot of things about their lives... about the day ahead of them.
I am tremendously excited to introduce a unique 'Metal Gear Solid' experience to a new audience of gamers as well as collaborate with my mentor in game design, Mr. Miyamoto, on 'Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes' for Nintendo GameCube.
Genetic engineering is a result of science advancement, so I don't think that in itself is bad. If used wisely, genetics can be beneficial, but they can be abused, too.
There are so many games where you fight aliens or zombies, and they have very high-fidelity graphics, but they don't ask the question of why the events are happening.
Japanese players do not like being thrown into an arena in which they are given very little instruction. You can head in any direction, 360 degrees. They say, 'What am I supposed to do? Give me hints. Provide me service instead of just throwing me into this arena.'
I want to show people how there are variations and different interpretations of good and evil.
Stories in which the player doesn't inhabit the main character are difficult for games to handle.
As far as how I create games, I'm just reflecting what I feel, the things I have in my mind. I put those out there. Some of the things that I'm going through, the things that surround me, might be reflected there. But for me, it's a natural process. I just reflect what I feel into the game.
Every time I make a new game, I put all of my effort completely into that game. It's like putting all your effort into a new child that's being born. Once the project is done, I can step back and look at it objectively, which is when I can see a lot of flaws. That's when I start to make a new game that tries to fix some of those flaws.
In Japan, there are storm channels on either side of the main roads. There were so many times when I'd fall into these ditches because I was lost in stories as I was walking along. It's still dangerous for me to drive. I've driven into the gate outside my house numerous times.
I won't make games with senseless violence. There has to be a reason for it, such as war.
There are many museums dedicated to technology, artistic endeavors, music, and that sort of thing. From that perspective, I think games really do have a place as a kind of collaborative art or a synthesis of all these various aspects into a whole, and that, in itself, can be perceived as art.
To be honest, my friends weren't really as into making films as I was. But I convinced them all to make some zombie films with me.
