Hideo Kojima

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

'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 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.

I don't really want to be a celebrity.

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.

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 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.

Personally, I'm not too fond of remakes.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.'

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

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. If used wisely, genetics can be beneficial, but they can be abused, too.

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

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

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

I want to continue making things.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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 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.

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

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.