Hideo Kojima has a message to deliver, and the means by which it’s presented is a video game filled with sensitive issues and heavy armaments. The Metal Gear creator understands that games need to be fearless in their approach of difficult topics if they wish to transcend their medium, and while the industry has come a long way, Kojima spoke at a roundtable interview (via GameSpot) on how he believes that they can still match movies or books.
"If we don't cross that line, if we don't make attempts to express what we really want to express, games will only be games," Kojima said. "If we don't try to go beyond that, we won't be able to achieve what movies or novels have achieved. I didn't want to stay away from these things that could be considered sensitive. If we don't go that far, games will never be considered as culture.”
The legendary designer likens his team to the crew from hit TV show Breaking Bad, who let little slow them down from their reaching their goals.
"In Breaking Bad, I also see that these guys are trying to go to the limit; trying to take it as far as they can to try to get their message across. For us as well,” he explained. “In games we have to go to the limit; we want to stay within this limit of how far…pushing the boundaries of conveying our message. We look around and we don't see too many games like this; that is unfortunate.”
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes is Kojima’s next attempt to raise that bar.
