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Americans Brag, PS3 No Letdown, Kotaku is Wrong

Posted by Brian Ashcraft at 12:47 PM on May 12, 2008

No, no, no! When Hideo Kojima said the MGS4 graphics on the PS3 weren't to his "satisfaction" or that he realised there were lots of "restrictions" the PS3 posed, he didn't mean it. He was just trying to be humble, you know! He's not disappointed with the PS3 at all. He is totally happy with it. The PS3 is awesome. Says Kojima:

On the internet, there's stuff saying "Hideo Kojima" isn't satisfied with the PS3. I'd like to talk about that today. I just got back from Paris and did 15 interviews and everyone asked me about it, did I say that. The meaning of what I said has totally been changed, made totally different. Today, I'd like to talk about that. Why did it turn into that? When I'm doing an interview, I answer in Japanese, and I can't control how the writer will interpret that into English... What I say is then translated in English, and the writer then changes that into their own words and writes that. So, right there, the meaning of what I say changes a lot.

Hit the jump for more.

 

I am Japanese, so I try to be modest. I'm especially modest person. I don't wish to brag about it to say "I am the amazing Metal Gear guy" or to say "This is the best one", just like how Americans brag stuff like this... That's why i interview in Japanese, and Mr. Sai (translator) translates my side of the inteviews very well in English. Westerners do not have a tradition of modesty. And so, the statements are translated correctly, but the original meaning is totally different. And those statements are on a totally different website and the meaning totally changes. Regarding my recent comment about my disappointment with MGS4, the comments derived from the article "MGS4, Inside The Biggest PS3 Game" to the post "Hideo Disappointed with MGS4." It's become totally different. This was in English, and here's where it gets strange. Japanese readers then translated that in Japanese and put it on their websites, writing things like "Oh, the PS3 is dead." Then that spread through the internet and now people are writing things like "Hideo Kojima Is Making MGS4 on the PS3." This is no good... It's funny how others think "Did Hideo really say that?" then ask me, and my answer is obviously "No" but then... I guess I am responsible for all of the articles...

Now I'm going to say what I really wanted to say, and this is what I told those 15 reporters:

Let's say this developer is making hardware, in this case a game, and that hardware is at the level of a car. And when looking at the specs, the developer claims the car is able to fly. Now there is no stopping when you say, "This is a car that can fly." When you claim that it can fly, the speculation grows from "oh so it can FLY?!!!" And the developer would set his goals higher. The specualtion is that if the car flies, then it should reach a MACH speed...but it doesnt stop there...it'd go beyond the specualtion of then "it should go into space!" with all the excitement around, and the developer would go deeply into making the car going into space... however, he'll come up to the public and say the car reaches the MACH speed, but it fails to go into the space. But he shouldn't give up, because for a car to even reach a mach speed and go into air is revolutionary. I wished to trasnfer my thoughts like such, but I guess it didn't work very well.

Recently I've been thinking about not giving interviews. That's not my job. My job is making games... The next time I interview in America, I will just say "MGS4 is the best, the end." It's not cool for a Japanese to speak so blatantly, and I don't want to say that. But if I don't, things like this [above] can happen... If you look at MGS4, I think you'll understand... MGS4 isn't exactly my property, so I don't have a total control over it and sometimes I get confused with it. Some may be disappointed the way I say things, but I do release the game with confidence. In fact that what I have been doing, not just this PS3 game, but my previous PS2 titles. I always reached for the higher goal and I try to go for it... Things like this often happen with Japanese newspapers. Where they take only the choice quotes. They don't change what you say, but the meaning's different, and the meaning changes. I'm always careful while giving interviews. Even in my company, im learning a lot about media training, but I wanted to do more than just that and here i am with the interview, but if things like above keep happening, I won't do anymore interviews. I don't get paid for these interviews at all. [jokingly] I won't do them anymore! I've decided! I'll stop doing my podcast! Like that.

It's not like we were looking at some shit Babelfish translation of a Famitsu interview. It was from EDGE magazine, and you can read the original quotes and see the original magazine page here. Also, keep in mind, EDGE's comment that Kojima was "being modest" OR Fahey's original comments:

Personally I think the man is being a bit hard on himself, but that's what great minds do.

So there was certainly progress made, but not enough progress...or more specifically, not enough power for progress. Apparently the team overestimated what the PlayStation 3 was capable of.

Now Kojima is a well-known perfectionist, but it is a bit disturbing to see him voice his dissatisfaction with what is supposed to be the masterpiece of the franchise.

If you stick your foot in it and screw up, it's always easier to shift the blame, pull the You-Don't-Understand-Us-Japanese card or gloss over important details like, you know, reading. This wasn't a cultural misunderstanding or blowing things out of proportion, this was a PR disaster. Granted, maybe Kojima, after all these years, really isn't that savvy about dealing with the Western press. Maybe, he expects people to understand that he only uses double talk and metaphors — because those are much easier for everyone to grasp. When in Rome, don't do as the Romans do!

This really begs the question: We understand why Kojima might be humble about his own game (fair enough!), but why be "humble" or make excuses for the PLAYSTATION 3? Last we checked, Kojima doesn't work for Sony.
Kojima Addresses The Issue [Konami via PlayStation Boards Thanks, Re-I!]

Tags: hideo kojima | konami | playstation 3 | sony

 

Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)

uhh

Posted May 12, 2008 2:06 PM

you must not understand the concept of mistranslation..Kojima is not an English speaker, someone translated, unless you can read his Japanese responses to their questions, have some ice cold STFU.

AJ

Posted May 12, 2008 2:49 PM

So... there are flying cars in MGS4? Or the next Playstation will BE a flying car, what the fuck is this man talking about, and to expand on that what the fuck is he ever talking about? I don't think its a cultural problem at all, I've seen plenty of interviews on Japanese movies and Anime DVD's with creators who are only to happy to sing the praises of their product. The problem is, and often in the past has been, Kojima himself; the man might design good games but he is a PR nightmare. Sony execs must chew boot leather and drink heavily every time he does an interview.

I remember a few years ago where he was talking about the fact Metal Gear Solid 2 had the '2' in the title slightly above the text, so it was really Metal Gear Solid Squared and MGS3 would be Metal Gear Solid Cubed. Thats not clever double talk, thats moronic rambling, what dimension is MGS4 supposed to be? The man shouldn't be allowed near a dictaphone.

And why the hell is he at an Xbox 360 launch? Did anyone else notice that.

For the record I love the Metal Gear series and will be getting MGS4. Fingers crossed the cut scenes are skipable this time.

Lee

Posted May 12, 2008 4:24 PM

Wow... a blatant, Kotaku trying to suck ass.

because kotaku is never wrong

you pretty much just proved kojima right.

good on him

MGS4 will be awesome, and he knows it.

I like that he says things are shit.

Unlike americans who just fucking lie and bullshit all day

AJ Mitchell

Posted May 12, 2008 8:20 PM

@ Lee

Just because you say bigoted things against American's, doesn't mean you're not a bigot.

I've known plenty of American's who don't 'lie and bullshit all day', and plenty of Australian's who do. Doesn't mean their nationality has anything to do with it.

Keep your one nation in your pants hey?

FrankZ

Posted May 12, 2008 10:59 PM

"or make excuses for the PLAYSTATION 3?"
Hang on... are you saying that there needs to be excuses made for the PS3? I don't think so. Its incredibly powerful and has delivered on its promises. Your comments reveal your biased opinion which is unnecessary.

What I read from Kojima's comments above is that he aims for the sun and hits the moon. This isn't uncommon. You start off with ideas for your game which would be exactly how you dream the greatest game in the world should be. Obviously not everything you imagine would be feasible, for example thousands of 3 million polygon models running around, billions of acres of playing area, 10 thousand person multiplayer matches, 5000 hours of gameplay, etc. When you start to work out the details and discover that certain things cannot be done, you whittle them down until you get a practical game and live with the slight disappointment of having to accept reality. Its how the best games are made.

johnson

Posted May 12, 2008 11:12 PM

Just take a look at the game graphics for yourselves! they suck! drakes fortune is the best to date on the ps3!! gears of war 1 looks better then this lame ass game!

Kizaru

Posted May 13, 2008 5:04 AM

Look, it's simple; MGS4 is the car. the TGS 05 trailer for the game (and all that followed) was the "car" "flying", because it set an expectation for fans, and for the devs to reach that level of excellence.

Kojima is saying when he can make the car "fly", the next step is to take it into space, however this part is not told to the media so as to impress them further, not only by meeting their expectations but to go further beyond. Problem is, they haven't been able to because of the PS3's limitations/restrictions etc., and because he has always taken previous games "out into space", it is why he expresses disappointment for MGS4.

To summarise what has been said above,
AJ, STFU.

AJ

Posted May 13, 2008 4:30 PM

@ Kizaru

So that means I'm... petrol? :-P

And now that I re-read your post you even make it sound like a negative reflection on the PS3.

Look I think the PS3 is a beast of a games machine from what I've played, and I'll be getting one just to play MGS4.

But Kojima san is nuttier than squirrel shit. If I was a Sony PR man assigned to Konami I would be prematurely bald with some of the stuff he comes out with.