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As PlayStation's 30th anniversary nears, Hideo Kojima recalls moving to Tokyo solo with just the console and a TV to make Metal Gear Solid: 'This shift significantly expanded my world'
Hideo Kojima reflects on how the PlayStation 1's release helped shape his career, allowing him to transition from Japan-focused development to a global market, leading to iconic works like Metal Gear Solid and his current projects.
If you can believe it, the PlayStation 1 is turning 30 in December, and Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear, Death Stranding, and Snatcher fame has been reminiscing about how its release ultimately helped evolve his career.
Over on Twitter, Kojima notes that it's also been 30 years since the initial release of Policenauts – a Japan-only graphic adventure game he wrote and directed. This also ended up releasing on the PS1 in 1996, although not before the team was "barely able to release Policenauts on 3DO" in 1995, several months after "the earthquake in Kobe," he explains. In the spring following Policenauts' PlayStation release, however, Kojima made some big moves and "started a new company in Ebisu, and to create [Metal Gear Solid], I moved alone to Tokyo." He adds: "The only thing I brought with me was a TV monitor and a PlayStation. I was even listening to CDs on it."
Kojima explains that prior to the PS1's release, when he was in his 20s, "I spent my time creating games for the closed domestic Japan market, focusing on platforms like MSX, PC, and the PC Engine due to organizational circumstances." This changed after the PlayStation's launch. "But 30 years ago, with the release of the PlayStation, I was fortunate to work on this subcultural platform aimed for the global market," he says. "Around that time, I transitioned to not only development but also roles in management and producing, relocating myself to Tokyo – this shift significantly expanded my world."
Since then, Kojima has obviously gone on to do even more exciting stuff – he went on to found Kojima Productions, which isn't just working on Death Stranding 2 right now, but also the mysterious horror game OD and a new action-espionage title which has the working title 'Physint.' It's strange to imagine how different his works could have been had he not made that "shift" he mentions – he seems to have a lot to thank the console for.