Kojima: Without MSX, no Metal Gear

In an interview with the Guardian Games Blog, Hideo Kojima once again paid tribute to the MSX computer system. "The MSX audience was more technologically savvy than the Famicom audience and as such the game had a much wider influence than it perhaps might have if it had just released on Nintendo's hardware.", he states. "We spent a long time working on animations that wouldn't have been possible on the Famicom. I would go so far to say that, had I been working in the Famicom department from the beginning I probably wouldn't have come up with the idea for Metal Gear. The features of the systems are so different. And the game concept wouldn't have passed Konami's internal processing, which required more mainstream, family-friendly titles for the Famicom."

The entire two part interview is a nice read, which reveals quite some interesting backgrounds on this legendary game developer. For instance, how his parents sparked his love of cinema and how, initially, the game industry in Japan was more or less a gathering of dropouts and social outcasts. Particularily interesting for us MSX fans is the second part of the interview, which covers Kojima's first years at Konami and emphasizes the importance of MSX in his career.

Relevant link: Hideo Kojima - interview with the Guardian Games Blog