Reader maxax caught an interview with Hideo Kojima in Spiegel Online, the website for German-language Der Speigel, one of Europe's leading mainstream news magazines. Maxax translated it to English on his blog and so we offer up to you here, too.
Kojima explains his brand of antiwar sentiment, which is more or less circumspect about the reasons and results of war rather than outright pacifism. He also pines for a future where smaller, art-house productions are comparatively viable, among a world of titles that are increasingly developed for blockbuster effect, like Grand Theft Auto IV and MGS4.
Kojima said that action, sex and gambling are the genres "immediately understood all over the world," and expands on that in a thought-provoking way.
"We use action and that is why our games become bigger and bigger - Hollywood big. It is however possible to make smaller, more personal games if you, for example, limit the target region, the gender or the age of the audience. MGS is a Hollywood blockbuster, like GTA. But maybe it is time for something like independent movies, with a smaller target audience, like movies for an arthouse movie theater.
And he gives a great one-liner when asked to explain MGS4 to a non-gamer. "It's a game of hide-and-seek."
Spiegel Online Interview: Hideo Kojima talks about pacifism, movies and GTA [Gaming in Germany, thanks for the translation maxax]