Kojima talks Metal Gear 4, Subsistence and Acid 2

Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima has unveiled some tantalising info regarding his forthcoming projects, including the hugely-anticipated PlayStation 3 title Metal Gear Solid 4.

In a recent interview, the producer noted that his studio will have "something new to announce for Metal Gear Solid 4" at next month's Tokyo Game Show, with not only a teaser on display, but "something from PS3"; presumably meaning we'll get to see some direct footage from the game, as well the direction in which the series will now go.

But ultra-realism won't be at the top of the agenda as Kojima explained : "Everybody will probably [want] to make everything more realistic in terms of graphics and sound with the next-generation hardware, but what I want to do is something a little different… to make it a little more natural with a natural flow when creating a world. Not just upgrading graphically. I'm looking forward to the new hardware to make that."

He also stated that he was happy that such high anticipation came from the trailer shown at E3, although Konami employees weren’t too impressed. Nevertheless Kojima was confident he'll surpass his previous efforts: "To overcome myself is quite easy, so I'll probably just have to do it again for Metal Gear Solid 4".

Curiously, Kojima still refuses to rule out bringing the Metal Gear franchise to other formats, despite having no specific plans yet, although he did imply that "everyone in Japan has a good feeling" about Xbox 360 development, and Microsoft Japan is supporting the community well.

Regarding PlayStation 2 title, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Kojima admitted that originally there were no plans to release the game, but European consumers expressed a strong desire for a follow-up, much in the vein of Integral or Substance.

Along with the experimentation of Metal Gear Online, the result was a combination of the two projects through Subsistence, which he insists that even though it's an online title it will still have "the Metal Gear feeling".

Intriguingly, Kojima sees this implementation of the online mode as a "trial" for how well online features are accepted for the series, suggesting that feedback will play a role in the development of Metal Gear Solid 4. For Subsistence, he has also changed the game's camera into a full 3D version, although the normal mode will still be available and changeable in real-time.

With Metal Gear Acid due for release in Europe along with PlayStation Portable on September 1st, Kojima says the plan was to originally create an action game for the system, but changed it more to a battle-simulation after looking at the hardware and wanting to create something more suited to portable gaming.

Although he is happy with the way the game turned out, he's unsatisfied with the visual side of things, which is something he hopes to improve on for the follow up: "Originally when we started to create Metal Gear Acid for the PSP… we thought [it] was a little bit more of a cool tool, a fashionable tool, meaning we wanted to… make it pop with more colour to make it more appealing to new audiences who will have that new hardware. We'll upgrade this more in Metal Gear Acid 2, which will fit more of my original plan, which was to make [it] a little bit more colourful and fashionable."

Despite all these forthcoming projects, the Shigeru Miyamoto and Alfred Hitchcock-inspired creator expressed his desire to move gaming into new genres, culminating eventually in a "new game".

"What I really wish is that I would leave Metal Gear Solid 4 to my younger staff," he admitted. "However, I have to spare time for Metal Gear Solid 4 so I can't create this new thing. I am, of course, always thinking of a new genre and a new game - which I cannot reveal right now - but yes, I do have plans to do this…. the thing I want to next create is something I've had plans to create for more than ten years now, and now it's technically possible, so I would like to advance into some new features."

Expect more on the Metal Gear games next month when we get a closer look at the Tokyo Game Show.