Game Development Giant

Jester also knew that Kojima’s dream was to be a director.

But he also knew something that Kojima didn't know, and that was that Hideo Kojima, who was unparalleled in game development, was really talented in movies.

Although he can always capture the G~ point of players when it comes to game movies, when it comes to real movies, he has indeed made movies, and Jester has also seen them, but they can only be said to be mediocre ones. , this is still a kind of praise, so Jester just smiled at the words that Kojima often said that the award he wanted to win most was the Oscar.

In the afternoon, Xiaodao came to Jester's office.

He had just finished his class at the University of Southern California. When he returned to his studio, he heard his assistant say that Jester had just called and asked him to go to the headquarters if he had time in the afternoon. Xiaojima guessed that his boss should be Asking himself about the game, after all, he had guaranteed it at the beginning, but now... Kojima smiled bitterly, not being able to complete it as planned was not what he expected.

As soon as he came in, before Jester could ask, Kojima took the initiative to apologize and said that "Metal Gear" might not be able to be completed according to the original development plan.

This made it impossible for Jester to say what he had already prepared.

Therefore, Jester pondered for a moment, and then decided to ask in detail: "Xiaojima, how far has the game reached now?"

But Kojima shook his head.

"It was almost done, but when I looked at the DEMO we had finished from the beginning again, I found that the effect after we completed it was a bit different from my expectations. I was not satisfied with the release of such a work. , so I decided to make it from scratch, but when I was making it, I had no idea. So I decided to go to university to take a directing course."

Jester was unconvinced by Kojima’s statement.

Instead, he asked: "Do you think you have gained anything?" Xiaodao nodded quickly, admitting that there was indeed something gained.

Jester had previously seen the DEMO completed by the Kojima group and played it himself. The game process is not long, some areas have not been optimized, and the modeling is relatively rough. It is just an internal test version, and there is no need to be too demanding. But the cut of the shot is still the same.

This is also one of the biggest improvements in 3D games compared to 2D games.

That is to make the game like a movie, with lens language. Through some clever lens editing, the producer can create a great game experience without using language. Kojima's later games are among the best. Of course, many later games in Europe and the United States, especially Sony's first-party games, were like this.

Naughty Dog Games. The lens language is top-notch in the world, whether it is "Uncharted" or "The Last of Us". In addition, the same is true for Sony's first-party "Heavy Rain".

When Jester played this DEMO, he felt that Kojima still seemed naive in the use of camera language. Of course, this is because he has played countless more outstanding cinematic games, but in this era people. I have never played such a game, so Jester is not too worried. Kojima's learning ability is amazing.

In a few years, when the second part of "Metal Gear" comes out, Jester believes that the island will have entered its mature stage.

The greatest Metal Gear Solid series will ever come out.

When "Metal Gear" came out at E3, it shocked the audience with its CG and frightened several major manufacturers into not following suit. will reappear in this world again.

But Kojima doesn’t think so.

After watching the use of lenses in Jester's "The Hero", Kojima seems to be obsessed with it. He increasingly feels that the use of lens language in his works is too low-level. Therefore, Kojima is very Kuaijue made the decision to remake it.

Jester heard Xiaojiao say this.

He was also a little speechless. He did not expect that because of his game, the first "Metal Gear" in history would be difficult to produce.

Moreover, not only that, Kojima's previous research and development funds were also in short supply. This time he came to Jester because, in addition to Jester's previous call, he also wanted to continue working on the first part of "Metal Gear" Apply for funding.

But this matter doesn't need to give Jester a headache.

Because Mars Entertainment’s application qualifications for development funds not only need to convince Jester, the company’s BOSS, but also the members of the review committee. Although Kojima has a high status in the company, because he has not produced many games, Because of the relationship, this time the previous plan was abandoned. It was not easy to convince those committee members.

Of course, as Jester, he definitely didn't want the historically famous "Metal Gear" to be so difficult to produce.

Even if the company's application fails, he can still fund it himself.

When he thought of this, Jester thought of the fate of the island in its original history. To say that the fate was not very suitable could only be the end of a journey. After all, the company that he had worked with for thirty years parted ways and founded the company by himself. The established IP has nothing to do with me from now on, and I won’t be happy if I press it on anyone.

Moreover, the most important reason is that Kojima's last "Metal Gear" work also left a lot of regrets.

The bad blood between him and Konami may not be known to anyone but himself.

However, Jester thought about it together with Kojima, whom he now knows, and one of them is that developing games is probably too expensive. Previously, "Metal Gear Solid" was Konami's signature product, and games were also Konami's main business, so, Konami naturally attaches great importance to Kojima. Kojima is even the vice president of Konami, leading the Kojima team independently. The headquarters is in Los Angeles and is not subject to interference from the headquarters.

It's a high-ranking position.

However, Konami said that the development fund of 80 million US dollars for "Metal Gear Solid 5" was purely nonsense, and it was impossible for the Kojima team to spend 80 million US dollars on Leo.

If this includes the development cost of the FOX engine, then although the price is expensive, it is not outrageous. Moreover, the optimization and performance of the FOX engine are also recognized as powerful, especially in light processing. Some low-level modeling has been optimized into good-looking modeling, and overall, the image quality is very good.

It is a game engine that is not inferior to EA's family treasure Frost.

80 million to get a top-notch engine and a game with at least millions of units sold. What’s wrong with Konami?

Of course, it is well known that the island can spend money.

"I personally don't agree with your application for new funds, but there's no way you can just convince me. You also have to convince other people." Jester expressed his views concisely and concisely.

Kojima also knows this because he himself is a member of the review committee.

"I know, I will try my best."

Xiaodao is also a little depressed. In fact, there is no problem in releasing the game according to the current level of "Metal Gear Solid". However, Kojima's personality is that he will not let the game be released until he is completely satisfied. In this case, there is no way. The entire project can only be delayed.

Of course, Kojima's games have always been known for their long development cycles.

In fact, the most criticized problem of Metal Gear Solid 5 is that it starts and ends but the film was very well-made. It is like a masterpiece of a generation, but at the end of the game, the gameplay becomes monotonous and boring. Moreover, from the perspective of game design, compared with Kojima's usual design method, Metal Gear Solid 5 - to be precise, Kojima One is to call the game V, not the Roman numeral 5, but the V in the English subtitles.

Although Jester thought about it for a long time, he didn't know. What does this V mean when Kojima talks about it?

This game is not Kojima's usual style either.

Moreover, according to previous interviews, this game should have five chapters, but inside the game. There are only three chapters, but through the large number of audio tapes in the game, you can still know a complete plot, but the game experience is not good at all.

All we can say is that this is a game that could win the game of the year. But according to Jester’s own evaluation after playing it, the work that has been ignored by everyone later cannot be worthy of the full score evaluation by GS, IGN, and FAMI, the three major game media.

This is purely in terms of game quality.

Of course, because this is Kojima's last "Metal Gear", it is only natural that the three major media outlets would give full marks to this GDC Lifetime Achievement Award winner who has made great contributions to the entire gaming industry. Yes, this is the power of emotion. The power of emotion in the gaming industry is infinite. Especially the current editors of these media may have grown up playing these people's games.

Didn't you see that during the E3 live broadcast, GS's live broadcast editor cheered crazily when he saw the news about FF7 and "Shenmue 3"?

Even the domestic Douyu live broadcaster Brother Ji, who is the dominant player of all models from FC to PS4, could still hold on when he saw FF7, but when "Shenmue 3" came out, then But she really burst into tears, and this was something Jester witnessed with his own eyes.

This is nothing to complain about.

Jester has seen many players complaining like this on many forums. Of course, most of them are new players who feel that they have been deceived. They say that he saw someone saying that Kojima is the founder of cinematic games. In addition, the reputation of "Metal Gear Solid" is too big to get into it. After playing it, I feel that it is difficult to live up to the reputation. I don't know how much worse than Naughty Dog's The Last of Us.

Not only that, this player even expanded the topic and spread the map to the entire Japanese gaming industry, making it clear that no Japanese can make games.

At that time, Jester felt a little unreasonable when he saw such a post.

The quality of Kojima's "Metal Gear Solid 5" is indeed not as good as the same, but this is due to objective factors and is understandable. However, even if Japanese games have declined since two thousand years, they have not declined to the point that they can no longer make games.

Not to mention too far.

"Bloodborne" by Hidetaka Miyazaki was produced in the same year as "Metal Gear Solid 5". In every aspect, this game is not inferior to Naughty Dog's work.

Not to mention Kazunori Yamauchi, who has been alone in racing games for many years, and his "Sports Car Romance".

Therefore, Jester severely refuted the other party's ignorance.

It had been a long time since this incident, and Jester had somewhat forgotten it when he recalled it, so he simply talked to Kojima for a few more words. After knowing that "Metal Gear Solid" had no hope of debuting in the launch camp at the end of the year, Although disappointed, it can only be disappointing.

However, Jester thought of another thing. He just thought that if the island was unable to apply for continued development funds, he could pay for the development. This was his whim, but he I didn't tell Xiaojiao about this. I had to let him work hard on his own and apply within the company. He couldn't let him have no worries like this.

Rather, there must be a reason for him to do this.

After thinking about this, Jester naturally thought of the many funds in later generations that support independent game development. There are them in major game companies, in some countries, and in China.

Jester thinks this foundation is very good, and he also has the idea to start one of his own.

The standard of support does not need to be too high. The first batch of investment of 10 million US dollars is probably enough, and it is enough. It can even be implemented around the world in this era. In Jester's memory , a year or five ago, the British government's funding to support independent game development was only a few million pounds.

Moreover, game development in this era actually doesn’t cost much.

Especially the production of independent games.

In the future, there will be many outstanding games that grew up from independent games, such as the famous MC.

Of course, this support foundation is not free. No one would be willing to do anything for free. Since the foundation naturally needs the copyright of the game in addition to money. Of course, the conditions may be relatively loose. For example, the same game company can inject capital. , maybe the game company wants the IP copyright of the game, and wants a 60% share of the game, or even 80%.

And this foundation that supports independent games will probably only take a 50% share.

You can even choose not to use the game’s IP.

In this way, it is very attractive to many developers who have ideas and technology but no money.

Of course, the vast majority of support projects will definitely lose money, but this Jester doesn't care much. Such support plans are inherently like looking for needles in a haystack, and if you can find one, it will be a big profit.

Jester was getting more and more excited as he thought about this matter.

I think there is a lot of potential for this matter. (~^~)