Old OPM Interview with Kojima about the PS2

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Mr. F
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Old OPM Interview with Kojima about the PS2

Post by Mr. F »

I was digging through my old magazines and came across an issue of the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine from December 1999. In the interview, Kojima shares his thoughts on the PS2 and all that fun stuff. I thought it was interesting enough to share with everyone here.

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Official PlayStation Magazine wrote:OPM: What do you think of the PlayStation2 hardware in general? What are its strengths and weaknesses in your eyes?

HK: If one simply focuses on the graphics capability of PS2, what you end up with will not be that different from existing games. With the appearance of PS1, 2D evolved to 3D. If one wants to re-create that impact with PS2, one much try to expand the game world in an extreme way that can be done only by adding the element of time to 3D and creating things in 4D. The current focus for many people on the PS2 is only its "Hollywood graphics." If this is the direction taken, what we will be seeing won't be that different from current PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast titles. Just like when games evolved from the 8-bit Nintendo to the 16-bit Super Nintendo, graphics and sounds will improve while playability remains the same. Fighting and racing games have become far more beautiful, but controls, gameplay and the game experience all remain the same. What's important is what you want to express with the PS2 and where you want to use its high-speed calculation capabilities.

OPM: What percentage of the PlayStation2's total potential do you think these first-generation games will use?

HK: The first games will probably make good use of the machine's capabilities, but I think it will take 3 years for games to make complete use of the total potential of the PS2. What's key is where to use those capabilities and what to make stand out. After some trial and error, titles with new ways of expressing things will appear. However, this is not going to happen right away.

OPM: How would you categorize developing for the PlayStation2 as opposed to developing for the first PlayStation?

HK: Items, systems and ways of expression that have become "givens" in existing games will no long be able to survive as "givens." When we present the player with realistic cinema-quality graphics, how are we to show life gauges and life-restoring items on the screen? When everything shifts toward reality, a bunch of these existing rules in the game world become obstacles. In addition, as the graphics and sound become more realistic, game creating becomes extremely time-consuming. When the human model become more realistic, backgrounds, items, outfits, etc. all become more realistic. Then motion and everything else in the game must also be made more realistic to avoid discrepancies. If one were to create a game of a size equivalent to a PS1 game, it will probably take 2-3 times as much time. Scenario-based games will be facing a choice--whether to spend five years and release a whole game or release half a game every two and a half years.

OPM: What do you think of the PlayStation2's chances of being successful? How do you view Sony in the whole Sega/Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo next-generation hardware battle?

HK: With the DVD feature, PS2 will sell a lot. Regardless of the game software (killer apps), this is a system that will sell because of what the machine is all about. Since the directions Sega and Nintendo are taking differ from this, I think they will coexist. Just like human genes, different kinds must coexist while a species tries to evolve.

OPM: What aspect of the PlayStation2 excites you the most, either as a developer or as a gamer, or both?

HK: The fact that it lets you play your DVDs and CDs on your game console. This turns music and movies into rivals of games. It's like all these different forms of entertainment become residents of the same apartment complex.
For the consumer, the walls between different forms of entertainment will not disappear--in fact, I think the walls will become even more obvious to them. However, for the creators of such software, those walls will disappear. All kinds of collaborating will take place. I personally would like to create a game that effectively disables players from watching DVD movies, because my game is just too fun to eject from the PS2.
Marc
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Post by Marc »

Great read. Thanks a lot for posting this.
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Snake700
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Post by Snake700 »

I got the danish OPM via post every month back in the days. Anyway, the danish OPM was basiclly, the english OPM translated to danish, so i think there´s the interview translated to danish, somewhere in my pile of magazines.
What?

Say what say what one more time i dare i double dare you mother f##### say what one more god damm time

from Pulp Fiction
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Squallidus
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Post by Squallidus »

His reply to what he thinks about the PlayStation 2 is VERY similiar, almost the exact same thing, as to what he recently said about PlayStation 3.
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