[internisus]

I'm hoping for some perspective here regarding the way developers actually think about and approach game design. Are they typically this focused upon technological aspects today? Is Kojima actually saying anything at all in this presentation when he says that he wants to employ both hardware and software technologies while using honest-to-goodness game design on top of that to reach his goals?

Basically, I would like to know whether I am correct in thinking that he is talking for five minutes here without saying anything at all. If I am wrong, then that kind of scares me.

[Bo 0]

Yeah, I think he's right. He's talking about narrative approaches in video games.

I'm guessing that Kojima's approach to video games is similar to how novels, essays, and movies are made. In a linear fashion, from A to B to C. Essentially, the author must have something to say, and needs to express it in a very precise manner to its audience.

He's saying that this is not required anymore, in games anyway. He calls it a "recent thread in Western Game Design".

It's a nice observation, but he does present it in a very assholish manner. He's getting old, after all.

[Dracko]

Kojima talking about game design is like Snyder talking about film directing.

[nemo]

Claiming that the open city or the hijackable cars of GTA are not "game design" decisions is total nonsense. His choice of terminology is so vague and arbitrary that I could only speculate about what he's getting at, but then I'd be putting words in his mouth.

[wasted potential]

Mission: THE ULTIMATE STEALTH GAME

Kojima is hilarious.
I was kind of hoping he'd attack the rise of western game design.
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[Ness]

kojima: hack or charlatan? poll to come.

[Dracko]

Failed film director.

[MOAI]

It seems like he's talking more about the technological issues of game development than what we think of as game design. Although, I guess his "ladder" thing could be an analogy for game design. So maybe he's making a statement about the trend among Western developers towards realism, or towards making software engines for simulating nearly anything you can think of and then plastering a game on it. And so he's saying that he wants to use that technology and also apply solid (pun unintended) game design to make better games.

I'm taking Tim's quips about Japanese game developers lacking common sense a little more seriously now.

[Schwere Viper]

Damn it, I wish they'd just let him lay off the Metal Gear just for a bit.
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boost chains explode brains

[Cossix]

Guys I'm pretty sure that whole presentation was a joke

I mean at least I figured the ladder was a direct reference to MGS3 and the ladder scene that some people complained about
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I play games sometimes

[Adilegian]

Cultural relativism lol?
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[Flackon]

He seems to be criticizing the modern western game design approaches of emergent gameplay, open worlds (as opposed to the room for room design he employs in mgs) and generally game design reliant on some kind of technology/engine instead of hand crafting everything.

I don't see why, though.

[nemo]

[108]

back in the kotaku staff chat room a couple months ago they were talking about running a story about this kojima productions job listing re: help wanted for the next games in the MGS series -- the job was open to "anyone" -- and i told them to include in the translation of the job listing "applicant must have experience of having had novel manuscripts rejected by every publishing house in existence"

they thought it was "too mean" or "too obtuse" a comment for their readers to "appreciate" or "get"
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[Ratoslov]

Weird thing is, the MGS series is actually a quite good game when you're playing it and not watching Cutscene: The Movie.

[glossolalia]

stop palling around with those dorkuses tim

or wait did you
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[Dracko]

[Gin]

What he's trying to say is that, at first, when the limitations were clear, it required effort and creativity to squeeze a fun and innovative experience out of the hardware. You knew it could do this much and you had to make something that worked within those boundaries. And of course, as hardware got better, what was possible to do became much much broader, and there was suddenly ALL THIS ROOM to build software technologies into it. But, BUT!, now, all the cool stuff you can do, and the awesome graphics, and the REALISM and PHYSICS or whatever takes up like 90% of the damn game, and the experience it's supposed to give you, the construction of the game and exchange of expectation and reaction between player and designer, all the god damn work is just the most convenient 10% left. This is the complete opposite of a game like say, Another world, which is pretty much 95% ladder. As soon as the didn't need to be clever anymore, basically, game design got lazy.

Kojima's resolve to make a game that makes use of all the technology available to him in equal parts with the "ladder" part, is, I feel a little off the mark. Rather, what he needs to do is make even more ladder than he needed before.
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[negativedge]

select button has officially turned on it's last white knight (ok not it's last whatever DRAMA)

kojima i still luv u :(

(but MGS4, man, no)
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[img:074899cc9a]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Decinoge/REV_WEEK/negativedge_sig.gif[/img:074899cc9a]

[Gin]

They really shouldn't have made him make another one after Snake Eater
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[toquonce]

Keita Takahashi's presentation was about a billion times more interesting than Kojima's. The best thing that Kojima said was affirming his belief that eventually technology will make everything currently impossible, possible.

i mean it seems like he just reiterated what's in the 'development history' section from each wikipedia article on the mgs games.

i would still play his ultimate stealth action game though, if he ever makes it.

[diplo]

why'd you delete your post, troops?

[shnozlak]

I think in order to love Kojima's works you must also hate Kojima's works.
Thats what it means to be "in on the joke"
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Shnozlak, returns.

[Mr. Toups]

I like kojima a lot. But his speech seemed to be mostly hot air. The basic idea behind it was sound; but you get the basic idea after 5 minutes of hardly paying attention.

I still think he is a phenomenally talented designer. And I think his cutscenes are good too.

I think y'all are a bunch of stinkers, sometimes.
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[negativedge]

[bloody heartland]

Kojima's games always have nice fonts and stuff, if that's what you're thinking Toups, but he's challenged in every, every other area of game design he approaches.

[Flackon]

[Dracko]

HOW MANY UNINTUITIVE BUTTONS DO I HAVE TO PRESS IN ORDER TO DO THE MOST BASIC MOVES

I'LL JUST WAIT TWENTY MINUTES FOR A REALLY DULL VOICE ACTOR TO EXPLAIN HOW TO SHOOT A GUN OR TAKE COVER

OH LOOK I CAN'T SEE AHEAD OF ME

FUCK THIS, JUST GUN DOWN EVERYONE

AWESOME

His cutscenes are pretty shitty too. He has a pretty poor eye as a director. I don't think the Snyder comparison is far off in that regard either.

And it's perfectly to bring those up as a games flaws because HOLY SHIT THEY'RE RIGHT THERE

I like how he claims to love Infinity Ward, but refuses to take a single lesson from them.

[Kilroy{ZTC}]

Those limitations are there for a reason. Except in MGS4 at least. MGS3 Subsistence cut back on them a little as well, but it was pretty obviously a concession. When combat becomes difficult to execute, it gives more incentive to be stealthy. In the stealth game.

I never really had a problem with the control scheme either, but maybe I just played the games too much. Gunning everyone down really isn't an option on the hardest difficulties either. I mean, yes it's annoying that the camera is your enemy, but I actually think it's intended to be so I guess that's ok.
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I has a blog

Older blog (Home of my Mother 3 article)

[parker]

Oh boohoo you big cry babies, so the controls aren't like other games, stop acting like an old sad sack and try something new, and if the cutscenes bother you so much (like you have anything better to do with your time anyway) they make a game called Splinter Cell, it's also pretty good though another option is they also got something called the "start" button, on the controller. What you do is you press that "start" button on the controller and it bypasses the cutscenes completely, don't know if you knew that. I'm talking it just flat out ends it and you're back in the game. How about that, huh? Don't worry, skip cutscenes in MGS and it'll still make more sense than the average action game with it's cutscenes.

Whatever happened to that badass looking new Splinter Cell they showed off years ago anyway, where you were out in public and running from the police and wedging chairs under doors and whatnot.
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When asked how to avoid lust of the flesh, Diogenes began to play God Hand in answer. When rebuked for doing so, he replied, "If only I could soothe my hunger by playing Cooking Mama."

[Tokyo Rude]

[kael]

[MOAI]

[The New Ska]

[negativedge]

[Dracko]

[Lurky]

I like the MGS games.

[Mr. Toups]

[Dracko]

And that excuses poor design how?

[Mr. Toups]

I think you're mistaking "poor design" for "design that I don't like"
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[parker]