Hideo Kojima Reveals the True Innovation of the Original Metal Gear (And It's Not Stealth!)
The Metal Gear series celebrated its 37th anniversary on July 13th, and to commemorate the occasion, series creator Hideo Kojima shared his thoughts on the franchise's legacy. The legendary game designer believes the original Metal Gear was ahead of its time, but not for the reason most people think.
While Metal Gear is often credited with pioneering the stealth genre, Kojima believes the game's true innovation was something far more subtle: the in-game transceiver used by Solid Snake to communicate with other characters. This seemingly simple device was actually a groundbreaking interactive tool for its time, allowing players to send and receive messages, immersing them in the game world in a way that few games had achieved before.
"Metal Gear is full of things that were ahead of the industry," Kojima stated. "I was only 23 when the game came out in Japan in 1987. And the transceiver was an important part of the project. Although the game was only praised for its stealth element."
Originally released in 1987 for the MSX2 home computer, Metal Gear is now available as part of the Solid Master Collection Vol. 1.
