That it was a huge accomplishment to avoid violence. The hurdle is very high, yet if you jump over it, it is an experience that the player may remember for a long time. The harder it is, the bigger is the satisfaction if you make it: playing without killing. Hideo Kojima: I always include it to bring to mind the avoidance of war and violence. However, this is exceedingly difficult - why? Spiegel Online: The "Metal Gear" games, including the new Metal Gear Solid 4 ( MGS4), are in so far unique as they deal with war and violence, yet it is possible to get to the end without killing anyone. If you want to call it educational - maybe it is, but it wasn't the original intention. It is supposed to make the players think. All the humans in that scene have exactly the wounds the player inflicted upon them, gunshot or stabbing wounds. The decisions you made, the casualties you accepted. It's not so much about war as it is about violence in general. What the player character did to survive. I wanted it so that the users have to face what they did in the game. Hideo Kojima: I wouldn't call it education. Is this an attempt to educate your audience? Spiegel Online: In the last "Metal Gear Solid" game "Snake Eater" there is a scene in which you as the player character have to walk past all the people you have killed in the game up to that point, they groan and cry. The scary thing with war is: You start one to achieve a certain goal, but then the war develops a life of its own. Therefore I always have anti-war messages in my games. My personal opinion is that war should not be used as a method to solve problems. I do think that war solved a few problems but when I look at history, I also think that it completely failed to solve others. Hideo Kojima: That is a difficult question.
Originally published in German on June 13 th '08. Kojima talks about art in his games and why a game developer is like a good cook, among other things. UPDATE: I've translated another interview of the same quality and will post it soon.
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