Hideo Kojima Quotations

My first concept was for a game in which you were a prisoner of war and simply had to escape. If you were caught, you'd be brought back to the prison. The idea was for a non-combat game.

I always say, 'This will be my last 'Metal Gear.'

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.

My biggest failure is 'Metal Gear.' It's my biggest failure and my biggest success.

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.

Games shouldn't only be fun. They should teach or spark an interest in other things.

Genetic engineering is a result of science advancement, so I don't think that in itself is bad.

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 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.

If it weren't for Miyamoto-san, I wouldn't be where I am.

My parents were born in the 1930s, and they experienced the air raids on Tokyo.

The last remaining thing that must be communicated to the next generation is an aging figure that still continues to change.

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.

As a game creator, I'm not 100% satisfied when looking back at the previous game that I released.

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.

As a creator, I always want to betray fans expectations.

At Disneyland, you never go backstage - even when youre in the bathroom.

I don't like necessarily that people think 'Metal Gear' defines me. I love 'Metal Gear,' don't get me wrong. But as a creator, I really want to work on other projects, including new games.

I believe the game should really feel what the players are feeling and change according to that.

My games are rather stressful games, where you have to play for a long time.

My goal is to make a player think, 'I want to reenter this world of lies tomorrow.'

Stories in which the player doesn't inhabit the main character are difficult for games to handle.

What I'm really trying to do is create unique characters.

In any game, you have an enemy coming at yourself that you have to shoot. If you go back to 'Space Invaders,' they shoot at you when they come at you, so how are you going to protect yourself? You're going to shoot, and that is a typical videogame.

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.

When I was a child, there really weren't very many video games, but I do have memories of 'Pong.' Maybe it was 'Pong.' It was a home system in Japan, so maybe it wasn't the real 'Pong.' It was just sort of a Japanese game that was similar to 'Pong.'

Many people are taking 2D games and making them into 3D games by recreating the characters in polygons. But the gameplay's still the same, and that's not what they should be doing.

Should I use this opportunity to start doing daily headstands?

One of my first dreams when I was a child was becoming a painter.

I believe that this cooperation between Nokia and Konami will form the perfect match to share the vast potential of mobile entertainment content with users all around the world.

I have always had a fascination about what's inside a human being.

If 'Castlevania' wasn't created next to me, and Capcom didn't release 'Ghouls n' Goblins,' then maybe there wouldn't be any 'Metal Gear,' and I would have created a horror action game, because I really like that genre.

Hollywood continues to present the U.S. Army as being the good guys, always defeating the aliens or foreigners.

The painter has total control over what they're showing to the viewer.

People nowadays don't know about the Cold War and the U.S.'s old rivalry with the U.S.S.R.

My parents were huge fans of westerns, European cinema, and horror in particular. They wouldn't just show me kids' films.

Looking back, I am thankful that I didn't go into the film industry.

I won't make games with senseless violence. There has to be a reason for it, such as war.

'Metal Gear Solid' is, for the most part, an infiltration game. You go somewhere, you execute your mission, then you go back. Those are your actions as the player.

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.

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.

Finally it is possible to battle with players from around the world online at Metal Gear Solid from the comfort of your own home. For the online mode, the essence of Metal Gear Solid is retained, with additions of various online rules and original stages. With the continued growth of the culture of Metal Gear Solid, this new online addition, I believe will bring a new way to enjoy and experience the world. I hope fans will look forward to experiencing it.

When I was small, I was always thinking about different worlds in my head.

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.

Normally, when people compose for film, you give them the film, and they look at it, and they compose it.

This fourth is going to be the final one for me and Shinkawa. There are other things that we want to create.

I try to watch a movie a day, if not more, and through movies, I learned about so many different political themes I hadn't been interested in and cultural things I hadn't been aware of and economic factors I hadn't thought about.

It's part of my ritual to watch a new film every day, no matter what. It's important to me.

Even when people abroad see me, I'm often asked about a 'Zone of the Enders' sequel.

I have to have a creative role; otherwise, I simply wouldn't come into work.

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.

I don't really want to be a celebrity.

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.

My past identity separates from me and remains in the past; he becomes someone else. Is memory really as insubstantial as the fragments of information that we store in our heads?

War buddies don't exist in the meeting room. It's a battle between a lot of different officers. Some continue fighting when they don't realize that they have been shot.

What's troubling is that because the camera is 3D, the northern part of the screen isn't necessarily north anymore. So the jungle transforms into the true meaning of a jungle. For someone with no sense of direction like myself, I get lost in the caves every time.

I was born in Japan and raised in Japan, but those are the only things that make me Japanese, I've grown up reading books from all over.

I usually wear casual clothes to the office. I wear a suit maybe two or three times a month, and usually only when I need to meet with the head office.

I always say this will be my last Metal Gear, but the games in the series that I've personally designed and produced-Metal Gear on MSX, MG2, MGS1, 2, 3, 4, Peace Walker and now MGSV-are what constitute a single Metal Gear Saga. With MGSV, I'm finally closing the loop on that saga.

Super Mario Bros. is equivalent to the Big Bang of our gaming universe. If it were not for this blindingly spectacular creation, digital entertainment as we know it today would not exist.

People are satisfied with making minor upgrades and tweaking things here and there - as long as that's the landscape, it will keep on happening. I don't see a problem necessarily, but at the same time it is nice to see new things come.

My unlimited desire to create stuff surpasses the advancement in hardware power.

Gamers should be able to take the experience with them in their living rooms, on the go, when they travel -- wherever they are and whenever they want to play. It should be the same software and the same experience,

It's nice to wear a suit once in a while. It can restrict some body movement, but it makes me feel as though I'm part of society. I feel a sense of security because I've conformed to the standards of the rest of the world.

In the near future, we'll have games that don't depend on any platform,

This may sound pretentious, but I don't like being thought of as 'the Metal Gear guy.' There's a lot more I can do.

Hollywood continues to present the U.S. Army as being the good guys, always defeating the aliens or foreigners.

There are so many books and movies I like I never mention specific ones.

I want to reassure fans that I am 100% involved and will continue working on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; I'm determined to make it the greatest game I've directed to date. Don't miss it!

My problem is that whenever I shoot, I do it Bruce Willis "Die Hard" style - in a very cinematic fashion.

We really can't boil a man's life down to seasonal divisions of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Seasons cycle perennially, and we enjoy them because they recur. We should understand a man's life this way too. An elderly person may yet see new springs and summers. On the other hand, some young people never escape winter. Others become ensnared by their own private autumns.

I want to show people how there are variations and different interpretations of good and evil.

We really feel the fact of our mortality after we turn forty years old.

We might compare each day's decisions with the work of steering a boat. Our efforts will result in nebulous confusion if we make a wrong move at any point, even if it's only a small tack to the side. We absolutely cannot afford carelessness, lest we risk becoming lost ourselves.

Building the future, and keeping the past alive - are one and the same thing.

Game creation keeps on expanding, just like the Universe. That is why I keep making games

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.

Another world exists that I must experience. A genus of people exists who I must meet. I must inhale the air they breathe--share their world at all costs.

The human body is supposed to be 70 percent water. I consider myself 70 percent film

Humanity needs more than merely information. We express original ideas, humor, and our personal wills. We express passions and emotions. A person's point of view conveys all of these aspects of identity.

I can see how everything relates to everything else when I think that nothing is merely coincidental. If everything that happens is inevitable, then the world is connected and whole.

Japanese gamers aren't really into action games right now. They're into role-playing or strategy games with a lot of stats, but action titles are still really popular across the US and Europe.

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.

I want my games to teach a message about life, by presenting situations where the answer isn't a clear yes or no.

I respect Shigeru Miyamoto, so there will be a lot of mushrooms in Metal Gear Solid 3. But you cannot eat turtles.

We ought to remember the past, yes -- but we shouldn't allow it to consume us. We live in the present moment, and some people are too tied to the ideals of that period to fully move forward. We'll never work through the future unless we accept the present. We must fill the twenty-first century with dreams.

When a man is hit by Friendly Fire, his blood pressure lowers and his morale sinks. I have been hit by Friendly Fire in my heart. Sighs spill from my body instead of blood.

It's not wether you were right or wrong, but how much faith you were willing to have - that decides the future.

Games are a way of escaping reality - that's why you need heroic factor.

90% of what is considered "impossible" is, in fact, possible. The other 10% will become possible with the passage of time & technology.

Find something to believe in, and find it for yourself. And when you do - pass it on to the future.