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…
The most common PSVR 2 problems and how to fix them
A PSVR2 headset on a sky-blue background.

The hype around PSVR 2 has largely died off just a year after its launch, though there's no denying it’s a cool piece of tech. Making big strides from the original PSVR, the latest headset from Sony offers better graphics, improved tracking capabilities, and introduced the world to the sleek new Sense controllers, which make it easier than ever to interact with your virtual world.

But, like all new pieces of tech, PSVR 2 isn't without its issues. From faulty Sense controllers to blurry images, here's a look at the most common PSVR 2 issues and how to fix them. Many of these steps will also work with PSVR, though note the menu navigation might be slightly different.
Your Sense controller isn't working properly

Read more
Weekend deal: Save $350 on this Alienware gaming PC with RTX 4070
Alienware Aurora R16 sitting on a desk.

The Alienware brand is Dell’s dive into the gaming world, and Dell is coming up big today when it comes to gaming PC deals. The super popular Alienware Aurora R16 gaming desktop with some serious specs is currently discounted at Dell. It’s marked down from $2,050 to $1,700 and amounts to $350 in savings. This is one of the better Alienware deals you’ll find today and we don’t know how long it will last, so click over to Dell to claim the savings while yo can.

Why you should buy the Alienware Aurora R16 gaming desktop
There are a lot of great options when trying to ensure you’re getting one of the best gaming PCs, and with Alienware you know you’ll be getting something you can take seriously. The Alienware Aurora R16 is a gaming desktop that offers ultimate expansion and customization options, and it’s where a lot of gamers turn when they’re looking to take on the best PC games. As built for this deal the Aurora R16 has 32GB of RAM and an Intel i9 processor with 24 cores. This is a lot of power even by gaming standards, and the powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card with 12GB of its own RAM is part of the package as well.

Read more
TopSpin 2K25 serves up a fun, but safe tennis simulation revival
Serena Williams plays Tennis in TopSpin 2K25.

The first video game console I ever owned was an original Xbox that came bundled with two games: NCAA Football 2005 and Top Spin. My appreciation for both Madden and tennis games can be traced back to those being two of my first-ever console gaming experiences.

That’s why I was very excited to hear that Mafia 3 developer Hanger 13 and publisher 2K were bringing the Top Spin tennis series back with TopSpin 2K25 after a 13-year dormancy. Unfortunately, I'm disappointed with how underwhelming the overall product is. Even though it’s the series’ grand return after over a decade, it feels like an extremely iterative sequel to Top Spin 4. It’s certainly approachable, thanks to great tutorials and new meter systems to help players learn proper timing, but TopSpin 2K25's light content offering doesn't make for the strongest opening serve.
Top Spin returns
Developer Hanger 13 hasn’t been coy about the fact that it used 2011's Top Spin 4 as the base to build TopSpin 2K25. Top Spin 4 is a fantastic tennis game that people still play to this day, as it perfected the series’ timing-based gameplay. This isn’t like Mario Tennis Aces, where a special ability can shoot you across the court and hit timing doesn’t matter. TopSpin 2K25 is a true simulation, so learning proper positioning on the court, when to release a button to swing your racket, and how to aim your shot properly are all critical to success.

Read more