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According to Kojima, one main reason games aren't art is because videogames are meant to appeal to a much wider range of people than a piece of art. Where an artist is looking to connect with that one special person, videogames are made to be more accessible to more people. He continued, "For example, look at a concept car. You don't have to be able to drive a car, but if it's called a car and it has artistic elements in the visuals, then it's art. But an actual car, like a videogame, is interactive, so it's something used by people, so it's like a car where you have to drive it. There are 100 people driving a car; they have 100 ways of driving it and using it. It could be families driving the car. It could be a couple driving a car. The owner of the car could be driving along the coastline or they could go up into the mountains, so this car has to be able to be driven by all 100 of these people, so in that sense, it's totally not art. "While Kojima said that games as a whole aren't art, he did say that games do incorporate art. "Art is the stuff you find in the museum, whether it be a painting or a statue. What I'm doing, what videogame creators are doing, is running the museum--how do we light up things, where do we place things, how do we sell tickets? It's basically running the museum for those who come to the museum to look at the art. For better or worse, what I do, Hideo Kojima, myself, is run the museum and also create the art that's displayed in the museum." the lengthy interview, which delves further into the subject, can be found in the most recent issue of OPM.The Official Playstation Magazine (OPM) in the UK recently did an interview with Hideo Kojima, head of Kojima Productions, creator of the PS3 exclusive stealth game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Prospecter at forums typed it out. The game won’t just take place in the Middle East, but will travel the world. Also interesting is that the GEKKOs (yes the mechs that moo like cows) won’t always attack Old Snake…
OPM: We noticed in the new MGS4 trailer that Snake seems to be shooting soldiers from both sides of the conflict. With graphics getting more realistic do you feel that the moral aspect of gaming is going to become more important?
Kojima says this time Snake has his own rivals and destiny so he’s in a battlefield but sometimes the people there don’t have anything to do with him. So yes, there’s a moral aspect to what Snake should or could do to others that are not really involved in his actions. It’s up to the player, and that’s a deliberate theme this time.Kojima also says there are three aspects to this. Firstly, the real world changing as it is now with the Americans going everywhere and creating war. Secondly, MGS4’s theme and plot, which has something to do with this. And the third aspect is that while MGS has always been a sneaking mission, FPS shooting is a trend and I really wanted to give players that freedom this time. I also want players to discover their emotions about how war changes life and people. You may decide to stick with nation ‘A’, or ‘B’ in the game’s war, or you could destroy both. You could also choose not to ally with either country. There are not political issues involved for Snake. You don’t have to kill the enemy, but you might decide to.
I want people to understand that kind of feeling - killing someone you had no intention to kill. These days, with any FPS you’re either on side ‘A’ or side ‘B’ and you’re killing, killing, killing, but my games shouldn’t be like that, and thats why I have this big theme. Of course, this is still a game and I don’t want people to be sick every time they shoot an enemy.
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