Hideo Kojima has been in charge of the Metal Gear series since 1987, he’s a veritable master of videogaming legend with a series spanning 21+ titles over 7 platforms. However, in an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine, he revealed that Metal Gear Solid 2 would have been the last Metal Gear game that he was directly in charge of, but problems with his team not portraying his ideas in a way he wanted them to forced him back to the series again and again.
He said in an E3 interview,
“Metal Gear Solid 2 was meant to be my last Metal Gear before I handed it off to the team, and the team did actually start working on MGS3, but unfortunately there were problems and it didn’t go well, so I was forced to come back and work on it.” Similar problems occurred with the PlayStation 3 sequel. “When it came to MGS4, I said OK this time for sure I’m not getting involved so I really handed it off. Because I set two different directors working on it I was sure I wouldn’t have to get involved, but there was a difference in expectations of what I felt that Metal Gear should be.”
Dedication to an IP this strong deserves a medal, but perhaps taking his hands off the reins a little could speed up the production of Zone of the Enders 3, which is no bad thing. However, I can’t help but wonder if the games and the characters would be the same without Hideo Kojima. The recent E3 trailer for Metal Gear Rising: Revengence shows how vastly different the games can be when Kojima reduces himself to being in a “producer” role.
