Hideo Kojima Speaks Out On Z.O.E.
The master himself; Hideo Kojima spoke out in a recent interview regarding the soon-to-be-considered masterpiece; Zone of the Enders.
Published: March 7, 2001
Hideo Kojima (General Supervisor/Producer of Z.O.E.) recently sat down with the editors of Japanese-based Famitsu to discuss his plans for Zone of the Enders (Z.O.E.); the action title that will be released later this March.
When asked about whether Z.O.E. revolves around a genre that we haven't yet seen before, Kojima responded by stated the following:
[blockquote]"That's right. And we don't want people to confuse it with a giant robot simulator. Personally, I cannot play games, like mecha or flight simulators, because they are so cumbersome to control. It's kind of like how some people love to drive cars with stick-shifts. The hardcore people love it, but it's not for me. Because of that, we tried to make this game comfortable to control and battle in.
When they first look at it, most people get the wrong idea. You know, you see the back of a robot, a low-level enemy over there, some complicated looking graphs and a radar on the screen. When people see that, they naturally misunderstand, like 'oh, it's a mecha shooting game.'"
"This is not a robot simulator, but instead, it's a robot anime simulator."[/blockquote]Kojima further stated the following:
[blockquote]"Z.O.E. is a game. We believe action games are the best kind of titles for interactive gaming. Players can control these huge machines, something that they will never experience in real life; that's where the excitement comes from. Action games allow players to really have this kind of experience. As they are experiencing this, many players will feel very at home and comfortable with it, like some kind of 'Animation deja vu.' Becoming a central character in an animated story, and even recall scenes of movies from the good old days..."[/blockquote]Finally, when asked about specific main points were wanted in Z.O.E., Noriaki Okamura (Director/Writer of the title) replied with the following:
[blockquote]"The biggest concern was to have something that really came together as a solid game. Something fun and easy to control, that gamers can feel refreshed by. That was our groundwork. Nothing could be created without it.
"Another point was what kind of message could be conveyed to players through the game. As you know, I have also worked on Tokimeki Memorial, which is more of your standard adventure style game. With that title I was also thinking "I want to send some message to players with this game," and was able to go about implementing it in just such a way. Since then, I've thought about how I could still share a story with players, but with a heavier dose of "gaming" to it. I think there are some things that can only be accomplished in a game like Z.O.E.
"Because of that, Z.O.E. starts off as just a player controlling a robot to play the game, but eventually, a movie-like plot unfolds without anyone even noticing, stories connect with each other, but it all comes back to the game again. I believe the small cut-aways and other story elements during gameplay gives players that feeling of being the main character."[/blockquote]You can read the entire interview by clicking here. We will provide you with more information as it becomes available.
When asked about whether Z.O.E. revolves around a genre that we haven't yet seen before, Kojima responded by stated the following:
[blockquote]"That's right. And we don't want people to confuse it with a giant robot simulator. Personally, I cannot play games, like mecha or flight simulators, because they are so cumbersome to control. It's kind of like how some people love to drive cars with stick-shifts. The hardcore people love it, but it's not for me. Because of that, we tried to make this game comfortable to control and battle in.
When they first look at it, most people get the wrong idea. You know, you see the back of a robot, a low-level enemy over there, some complicated looking graphs and a radar on the screen. When people see that, they naturally misunderstand, like 'oh, it's a mecha shooting game.'"
"This is not a robot simulator, but instead, it's a robot anime simulator."[/blockquote]Kojima further stated the following:
[blockquote]"Z.O.E. is a game. We believe action games are the best kind of titles for interactive gaming. Players can control these huge machines, something that they will never experience in real life; that's where the excitement comes from. Action games allow players to really have this kind of experience. As they are experiencing this, many players will feel very at home and comfortable with it, like some kind of 'Animation deja vu.' Becoming a central character in an animated story, and even recall scenes of movies from the good old days..."[/blockquote]Finally, when asked about specific main points were wanted in Z.O.E., Noriaki Okamura (Director/Writer of the title) replied with the following:
[blockquote]"The biggest concern was to have something that really came together as a solid game. Something fun and easy to control, that gamers can feel refreshed by. That was our groundwork. Nothing could be created without it.
"Another point was what kind of message could be conveyed to players through the game. As you know, I have also worked on Tokimeki Memorial, which is more of your standard adventure style game. With that title I was also thinking "I want to send some message to players with this game," and was able to go about implementing it in just such a way. Since then, I've thought about how I could still share a story with players, but with a heavier dose of "gaming" to it. I think there are some things that can only be accomplished in a game like Z.O.E.
"Because of that, Z.O.E. starts off as just a player controlling a robot to play the game, but eventually, a movie-like plot unfolds without anyone even noticing, stories connect with each other, but it all comes back to the game again. I believe the small cut-aways and other story elements during gameplay gives players that feeling of being the main character."[/blockquote]You can read the entire interview by clicking here. We will provide you with more information as it becomes available.
