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Kojima likens game industry's challenges to Charlie Chaplin
Somehow, between helping run Konami Digital Entertainment and accepting a lifetime achievement award at Gamelab, Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima found the time to sit down with Gamesindustry.biz and talk shop. Specifically, the impact that new technologies are having on the way games are being made. When asked about cultural expression in games, Kojima said that developers now have "more capability for expression" than ever, likening the situation to a similar story-telling crossroad that challenged silent-film giant Charlie Chaplin. "He didn't need words to express himself in his movies but suddenly he had to include words in order to stay relevant. With this increased capability of expression through games, I think it's a matter of learning how to use it." This enhanced ability to express ideas also causes problems for Japanese directors, according to Kojima. "There was no cultural barrier to the rest of the world because the technology meant that you couldn't tell whether it was Japan or anywhere else. Now it is possible, so it becomes more difficult." He maintains that "creating something is about turning impossible things into possible things," and that as technology continues to improve, game design could potentially lose its luster. "If it gets to the point were I'm able to create anything I want," he says, "I'll probably stop making videogames."
