The Genesis of Storytelling in Gaming: Hideo Kojima’s Inspirational Journey

Hideo Kojima has opened up regarding his experiences as a pioneer in narrative-driven video games, disclosing that he once devoured approximately 300 books while researching narrative elements for a single game.

In a recent episode of TBS Radio’s After 6 Junction 2 podcast (timestamped here), Kojima shared his journey as a budding developer, during which he encountered resistance in his quest to dedicate time to crafting narratives in video games.

“They were 2D with large pixels, and you could only move sideways,” Kojima remarked about video games of that era. “However, I recognized [their] potential. I resisted everyone’s objections… There was no artistry involved. There certainly wasn’t a significant narrative. So we aimed to provide it with a story.”

Kojima may not have been the first game developer to incorporate narratives into games, but he is undoubtedly an early innovator in tackling real-world themes and issues within gameplay. Nonetheless, it seems that much of his initial time at Konami was spent advocating for the type of narrative-rich games he is renowned for today.

“We were attempting because it didn’t exist back then, but it was challenging to turn it into reality, as everyone was against it. They warned me, ‘Games don’t require stories, Kojima.’”

Fortunately, Kojima persevered, stating that he would often visit the library during work hours “to examine elements such as plot settings,” all while facing opposition from colleagues who believed stories weren’t essential in video games.

While Kojima would go on to create the beloved Metal Gear franchise at Konami, he first had to persuade others. Not only was he contending with resistance to the concept of story-centric games, but he also had to convince the higher-ups of his vision for Metal Gear’s gameplay. In fact, a recently resurfaced 1999 interview reveals it wasn’t until Kojima showcased the fundamental exclamation point feature in Metal Gear that they were convinced of the idea. Kojima even mentioned he was prepared to abandon Konami altogether at one point due to what he referred to as “passive-aggressive resistance.”

Hideo Kojima initially had “no plans” for a character like Metal Gear Solid’s Cyborg Ninja until he saw Yoji Shinkawa’s artwork, which inspired him to say “hell yeah, a ninja cyborg!”