Kojima-san On MGS4 News

Hideo Kojima has recently shed further light on Metal Gear Solid 4 in a tantalising interview with Game Informer. Claiming that he first made the decision to put Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation because at the time both he and the format were unknown, however despite his displeasure at multi-format ports Kojima-san did express the decision is not because he doesnâ??t like any other formats.

The interview leads on to Kojima-san talking about making titles exploit the particular hardware their on, giving Metal Gear Solid 2 on the Playstation2 as an example because of its ability to display transparent polygons and the ability to render wind and rain effects. As a result the Xbox conversion of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance didnâ??t fare so well on the format, and so Kojima-san and his team want Metal Gear Solid 4 to be designed specifically around the Playstation3 with the tantalising claim that it would be exactly the same if Metal Gear Solid 5 was announced for the Xbox 360 (thatâ??s not confirmation before the Xbox fans get too excited).

Kojima-san moves on to talk about increasing realism and the simulation nature of the game, reiterating the claims of pouring water onto a tree to make it grow or burning it to the ground to make it die â?“ whether or not Snakeâ??s getting green fingers in his old-age has yet to be discussed, however we can quite imagine him with a watering can and trowel.

The hugely impressive Tokyo Game Show trailer gives some indication of the final quality, however Kojima-san hopes to improve upon this. The interview also states that Solid Snake is old in Metal Gear Solid 4 as it provides a better canvas to show the PS3 visual quality; that said he could still come across as younger if thatâ??s what the fans want.

The tagline â??no place to hideâ? isnâ??t to describe a change in the series style but to emphasise the dynamic nature of the game, and as such the various changes that players have to utilise to solve the dilemmas Snake finds himself with.

Otacon wonâ??t be the only character returning alongside Snake with Kojima-san hoping to include as many characters from Metal Gear Solid 1 and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty as possible.