Nikkei Business has published a lengthy interview with Hideo Kojima, and it shows that the Japanese genius is up to something…

Kojima thinks that the history of the films and games are nearly identical (initially, you couldn’t enjoy them at home – see the theatres and arcade, then they got home versions – see VHS/DVD and consoles, and now, the Internet plays a role in both), and with the 5G technology spreading, he thinks that the streaming platforms such as the Google Stadia will gain ground: „5G commercial services have launched, Google announced a cloud gaming service, and Apple is strengthening its position in the gaming industry. Cloud gaming allows direct delivery of games on any screen, be it a smartphone, a tablet or a laptop, without the need for consoles. Cloud gaming experienced a boom around 4, 5 years ago, but there was no phenomenon carrying it. Many say it’ll end in failure, but I think it didn’t work out because the technology wasn’t advanced enough. Now that 5G has launched, we’ll see a huge shift to cloud gaming during the next five years. Entertainment as a whole will change and allow more liberty,” Kojima says. He added the following about the Google Stadia and other streaming platforms: „Games we’ve never seen before will appear. This is certain, considering how the entertainment industry evolved. Most movies aren’t longer than 2 hours because the audience at theatres would get hungry or need to use the restroom. Plus, it would mean fewer screenings a day, and theatres’ revenues would drop. When TVs came around, entertainment adapted to keep watchers glued to their screens so they don’t switch channels. Hence why concepts like cliffhangers before commercial breaks were invented.

As streaming keeps evolving, games, movies, documentaries and any type of video content will all be on the same platform. This is the future I’ve always wished for. Services like Netflix will divide its content between “interactive games” and ‘”non-interactive movies”. Games and movies are complete opposites, separated by a border. But that border will disappear. It already started to disappear. Like with Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch published last year.”

Kojima says that there was a change in the music industry, too: previously, customers didn’t flip their vinyl to the B side to avoid breaking their pins, which is why the popular songs got the A-side, while the more experimenting songs got the B side. It all disappeared with the appearance of the CD format. He also hopes to see games and movies continue going under the same roof: „Games will change drastically. Of course, high-end console games like the ones released nowadays will remain. But technology will keep progressing, and we’ll be able to create brand new types of games with novel gimmicks. I’m very busy myself, but I too would love to leave my mark on this side of history.” The artificial intelligence will understand our personality and provide interactive content based on the results. Kojima doesn’t know how the making of such content will change, though.

The surprise is that he already has an idea in his head related to streaming: „We’ll start seeing completely different games these next five years as 5G spreads. There’s one big thing I have in mind related to streaming as well. I can’t say anything more as I don’t want to spoil though (laughs).” It can either be related to Death Stranding, or to Google Stadia, or we can tie them together, and perhaps see the game expand via the Stadia in the future…?

Kojima wants to stay alive as long as possible so he can experience these changes, and he also wishes to be the first person to create interactive content. However, he added that pioneers usually never turned a profit, but he will try, as he doesn’t make games for money. He wants to make games until he dies.

Tough words. Is Kojima approaching Google Stadia…?

Source: DualShockers