Hideo Kojima: Behind The Snake

But who is Hideo Kojima? We know that he's one of, if not the first, person to have their name above a game title. Metal Gear Solid 2 almost can't be mentioned without hearing the words "A Hideo Kojima Game" attached to it. Second only to Shigeru Miyamoto for being considered "the guy" in video games, it's rather ironic that Kojima was inspired by one of Miyamoto's first classics, Super Mario Brothers, to get into gaming. Kojima once said in an interview: "Just the idea of controlling your own protagonist and deciding the manner in which to play the game. The idea that you could be part of this whole word that was created and do as you will. That was something very fresh to me. If I hadn't run into Super Mario Brothers back then, I probably wouldn't be in this industry now!" This moment caused the shift in his career plans. Kojima had originally wanted to become a filmmaker, and he still has that dream to this day, but the siren song of the Mario Brothers theme is a hard one to pass up. However anyone that has played Metal Gear Solid can attest that Kojima has not lost his cinematic flair.

So Hideo Kojima entered the video game world, got a job at Konami, and the rest, as they say, is history. Metal Gear seemed to be in his blood. He created the first Metal Gear game for the MGX computer system back in 1987. Even in it's early days, Metal Gear featured that unique blend of stealth and action that make it a classic series to so many gamers. The game was a minor success, and with the console market coming back to life with the Nintendo Entertainment System, Kojima and Konami set about porting it over to the little gray box. This is where Kojima and Metal Gear would take the world by storm. The game spawned a sequel on the MGX system and an unrelated NES sequel that Kojima had no hand in. Most Metal Gear fans choose to believe that chapter in the Metal Gear saga never happened. Just like most Halloween fans choose to believe parts 3 - 6 never happened.

With Solid Snake enjoying retirement, Kojima moved on to new projects, more specifically the new styles a CD based system could allow you to try. His next game was the Sega CD sci-fi mystery game Snatcher. In Snatcher you were Gillian Seed, a private investigator that was assigned to hunt down rogue androids called Snatchers. Showing an obvious nod to Blade Runner, Kojima created a highly detailed futuristic world that sucked you right in. The game was praised by reviewers everywhere and is considered one of the best games ever to come out for the Sega CD. Of course because it was on the Sega CD, which meant very few people played it. So when the sequel, Policenauts, was released two years later on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, it never made it's way to American shores.

However Solid Snake would rise to the occasion again. Two years after Policenauts Kojima would release upon the unsuspecting world Metal Gear Solid. Hailed by reviewers and gamers alike as one of the best games of all time, Metal Gear Solid changed gaming. Kojima and his team worked for three years straight creating Metal Gear Solid first in Japan, and then translating it several times over until it became the huge phenomenon it is today. And why shouldn't it be revered? Metal Gear Solid features some heady stuff for a video game. Nuclear disarmament, genetic engineering, questioning who are the real patriots. These are not light issues and Kojima tackles all of them and more head on.

Oh, but there's no rest for the brilliant, as moving on from Metal Gear Solid created even more opportunities for Kojima and his team. They would go on to create Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions. Kojima took a Producer's role in returning the series to it's old school roots on the Game Boy Color in Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel. Then his Producing talents and development team invaded the PS2 with the mech adventure Zone of The Enders.

All of this led up to the moment that we are living in right now. The release of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The demo that overshadowed the full game it was included with, Zone of The Enders. It's probably a safe bet to say that Metal Gear Solid 2 is the second most anticipated game ever (Super Mario Bros. 3 did have the movie The Wizard based around it's release after all). If the reviews are any indication, Kojima has created his masterpiece.

After all of this, where does Hideo Kojima go from here? "It's time to take a break," he said. Yes, he's taking some well-deserved time off. And when he returns it will not be with Solid Snake in tow. Kojima has said the next Metal Gear game will be created without his input. He says it's in someone else's hands now. But Kojima will return with a new game, let the countdown begin!