Hideo Kojima Thinks "Way We Make Games Won't Translate Globally"

[wraggster]

It's foreign game panic day! Like Jun Takeuchi, Hideo Kojima is worried about Western games and Western developers. He tells Japanese magazine Famitsu what he's going to do about it.

Kojima mentions that he plans to "start from zero" this year in hopes of competing globally. The game creator says that his company Kojima Productions is undergoing heavy internal review to forge "a team that can challenge foreign creators and software houses." Adds the Metal Gear developer:

I've thought a lot about how Western games have been winning, looking it from a global perspective, and there are things that I've noticed...

I've come to understand that the way we've made games up until now won't translate globally, and I've come to think that I need to make Kojima Productions a team that can compete alongside the rest of the world.

That's nice and all, but didn't Metal Gear Solid 4 do better abroad than domestically? Quick, somebody inform Kojima!

http://kotaku.com/5123293/hideo-kojima-thinks-way-we-make-games-wont-translate-globally

[goshogun1]

I hope he doesn't ditch his style to appease the western audiences. One thing I love about Kojima games is that every single scene is chock full of extras and various easter eggs. Ever since Snatcher I have grown to admire his style. I don't want him to change at all!
But, it might be kinda cool for him to try a different genre/approach. If it fails or not, at least he tried. Hope something good comes out of this.

[Jeric]

In other words he sees non-japanese people as a threat and thinks he has to break a proven winning formula?

Eh, so long as we see more original franchises I could care less how bigoted you are in your spare time. Just don't use your games to browbeat people with 'everything not Japanese is ebil and stoopd.' mmkay?

[shunsai]

i think what it means is, when you consider how huge the video game market is here in japan, and then you think of the actual amount of video games that make it out into the global market, it's really ridiculously low by comparison. if and when a game does make it outside of the japanese market, then it's usually a big name title like Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Biohazard, etc.

there are big crossover hits... but they're a lot less frequent than you'd imagine.