Skip to main content

Metal Gear Solid director says video games will absorb movies and music

metal-gear-solid-4-solid-snake-old
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Hideo Kojima, best known for his role guiding the Metal Gear Solid series at Konami, doesn’t believe we’ll use the term ‘video game’ in the future. Instead, he argues, a new all-encompassing word will be created to replace it. Speaking with Nintendo Power (issue 268), the director predicted the demise of the word, reports Nintendo Everything.

“In this day and age, the video game business is a major entertainment industry that surpasses movies in terms of revenue,” said Kojima. “But when I started out, it was a completely different story. Back then, the game industry was a place for people with broken dreams to gather because they couldn’t land the jobs that they really wanted. Today, the industry has matured into a wonderful place where some of the most talented people in their field can take advantage of cutting-edge technology and world-class budgets to thrill and awe the entire world. In the near future I believe we’ll see the term ‘video game’ itself vanish as our industry evolves and eventually absorbs the movie and music industry to create a larger, all-encompassing form of digital entertainment.”

Leave it to Kojima, a man whose games have hour-long cut scenes, to predict the merging of games and other entertainment. While it’s possible that the term ‘video game’  will go away, the term has shown only resilience thus far, with many companies expanding its definition and scope by incorporating game-like elements into software and services that we would have never considered games 10 years ago, like FourSquare or Wii Fit.

But will the video game industry absorb the film and music industry? We’re not so sure about that one. While Metal Gear Solid games certainly feel like they’ve each absorbed several movies, there will probably be a distinction between the art forms for the foreseeable future.

Do you see a future where interactive entertainment (will that be the new name for video games?), movies, and music all combine into one giant, all-encompassing form of entertainment?

Editors' Recommendations

Jeffrey Van Camp
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…
How to start the Nuka-World DLC in Fallout 4
People standing outside Nuka World.

The first major DLC expansion for Fallout 4 lets players go to the abandoned amusement park called Nuka-World. While there's plenty of fun and excitement to be had here, don't expect it to come from the roller coasters or carnival games since this park is the battleground between rival raider gangs. This new zone adds a ton of new quests and side activities to the base experience, but it isn't as simple to get to as a real theme park. Don't worry if your Pip-Boy isn't helping you get to Nuka-World -- we'll show you how to start this DLC.

Read more
How to start the Automatron DLC in Fallout 4
A man and a robot walking in the wastelands in Fallout 4.

Each piece of Fallout 4 DLC adds something substantial to the base experience. In the case of the Automatron expansion, an entire new questline pitting you against a robot army led by a figure known as the Mechanist. Starting it isn't as difficult as starting other DLCs like the Nuka-World expansion, but it-s still a bit cryptic. Buying the DLC doesn't automatically make it apparent how to actually start this new adventure, but we'll give you specific directions to find it in the wasteland.

Read more
One of 2023’s best indie games is getting a movie starring LaKeith Stanfield
James descends on an elevator in El Paso, Elsewhere.

El Paso, Elsewhere, one of Digital Trends' favorite indie games of 2023, now has a film adaptation in the works.

Variety reports that LaKeith Stanfield -- an actor known for his work in films like Judas and the Black Messiah, Knives Out, and Haunted Mansion, as well as TV shows like Atlanta -- is going to star in and produce the film. The adaptation is in the works at Di Bonaventure Pictures, the production company behind the Transformers, G.I. Joe, and The Meg film franchises. Little else is known about the film at this time, although we'd presume it will be a fairly direct adaptation of this intense story-driven game.

Read more