Finished!
The whole thing put together is just shy of 4000 words. :-"
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Kojima: What is that?
Hiroi: It's something we wanted to do back on the PC Engine, but as a system it was too difficult, and we just couldn't. There's a guy who makes money off of you - as you become a hero, he sells goods modeled after you. He approaches you and asks if you'll let him, and if you say yes, you get royalties from him. Clink clink, the money rolls in. And then [redacted] happens.
Kojima: And this is in Tengai Makyo III?
Hiroi: Yes.
Kojima: By the way, when does III go on sale?
Hiroi: Hmmm...
Kojima: Oh man, I really don't want us to overlap! (laughs) I really enjoy spending two or three years on a production. Policenauts and Snatcher were like that. These days, I get on people's cases about things, then when they finish it, I say "What the hell is this?"
Hiroi: I'm an expert at prolonging things (laughs). I apologize right to the customers, too: "Sorry, guys!" (laughs). Back when Tengai was on PC Engine and the launch date got pushed back, we made an advertisement to apologize. We'd say we got snowed in (laughs). Back then, there weren't any cases of creators getting pilloried over delays.
[Note: Hudson was based on the northernmost main island of Japan, where winters are quite harsh.]
Kojima: There was a period there when it looked like that was going to be the norm in the games industry. They'd tell you how in for it you'd be if the launch date got put off.
Hiroi: There was one time that I really wanted to apologize to everyone. It was near the end of the PC Engine's run. I honestly wasn't feeling very needed. I thought, maybe I ought to head back into anime. It was then that I got an invite from [Sega executive] Shoichiro Irimajiri. I was still essentially freelance, but Hudson had employed me for so long. I was afraid things were going to get complicated, and I told him so. Mr. Irimajiri told me "I'll take care of everything." and he dealt with Hudson for me. For manga authors, it is really hard to leave the publishing house where you came up and go to another one, and this proved true for the gaming industry as well. Mr. Irimajiri picked me up, and I went on to make Sakura Taisen.
Kojima: Mr. Hiroi, will you be my father?
Hiroi: Wh-What? Why this all of a sudden?
Kojima: My own father died during my second year of junior high school. He was a pharmacist, and to me, he was really selfish. He used to make me watch movies I didn't want to watch, and he wouldn't let me sleep until they were over. But it's because he was like that that I became the person I am. Growing up without a father gave me a complex, though. This is why I kill fathers in my games. My stuff could basically be described as parent-killing games.
Hiroi: We're alike, you know. These things lurk inside of us. My father worked in black-markets and red-light districts, and he wanted me to land more respectable work. When I told him I wanted to be in movies, he kicked me out. I never went back once before he died. Of course, I went home when I got a call saying he died, but I regretted that I hadn't been a better son to him. When Tengai came out, I visited his grave, and I cried. I wish I could have shown the game to him.
Kojima: If my father had lived, I think he would have smacked me upside the head for getting into games. But maybe if I met him now, he'd be proud of me, or so I like to think sometimes. My mother tells me he'd have been proud, but I'm skeptical. I think he'd say "And you're happy with this 'Metal Gear'?" (laughs) So, Mr. Hiroi, that's why I want you to be my father.
Hiroi: Well...(laughs)...No (laughs). Besides, I'm more like your big brother, right?
Kojima: OK, then come be producer on my games!
Hiroi: I might have to take you up on that. Boy, today is a good day. People offer me work all the time, but it makes me really happy that the great Hideo Kojima wants me to come make him lunch every day (laughs).
Kojima: I'm turning 40 this year, and my father died at 45. Dying early seems to run in my family, too: the others all died even younger. This makes me hurry. I wonder how many more games am I going to be able to make, and it makes me nuts. I'm producing Boktai because I want to make something that's overflowing with this feeling of a live event. Remember in Kamen Rider when Takeshi Hongo got in that big motorcycle accident and it led to Kamen Rider 2's appearance? I want to make a game that feels like that did, that has a kind of "wild show" feeling.
[Note: Kamen Rider is an old kids-show in Japan, vaguely similar to Power Rangers. Takeshi Hongo was the main character, Kamen Rider 1.]
Hiroi: I'm looking forward to it!
Kojima: Hey, make sure you bring me on your radio program someday. Whenever I'm on the radio, I get faxes from my staff saying that I said too much. I'm actually banned from doing anything live (laughs). I've been in Tokyo for seven years...sometimes I think about making a secret association of game creators. You should help me!
Hiroi: Sounds like fun. We'll meet up at Maruten!
[Note: Maruten is a cheap noodle chain restaurant.]
