Hideo Kojima Recalls Experimenting With Motion Capture in Metal Gear Solid 2

Thanks to motion capture technology, nice and accurate movements in video games are brought to players’ screens to help shape some memorable moments in the titles. Like all other technologies, motion capture has become increasingly advanced and mature over time. However, in its early days, when it was just beginning to be used in the industry, things were a bit challenging.

The renowned Japanese game director Hideo Kojima, a symbol for the Metal Gear franchise and someone with nearly four decades of experience in the industry, recently shared how motion capture was used in Metal Gear Solid: Integral and in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty back to 25 years ago. 

When sharing a post showing a blurred yet valuable “making of video” of MGS2, he shared, “We experimented with magnetic motion capture in Metal Gear Solid: Integral, and in MGS2, we adopted optical motion capture for the first time.” Taking advantage of comparatively new technology was not easy back then, and Kojima admitted that “everything was trial and error,” but the bitterness also came with something sweet, making the developers feel “fresh and exciting” in those days. 

Motion capture was also adopted in other games in the franchise, such as Metal Gear Solid 4, to create the flashy fight between Raiden and Gekko. It also plays a significant role in shaping new roles created by Kojima in his Kojima Productions, the studio he found after leaving Konami. Death Stranding, whose sequel is in the works, features famous actor Norman Reedus bringing the protagonist Sam Porter Bridges to life through motion capture.

The tidbits shared by Hideo Kojima help us piece together the story behind the scenes of the creation of the beloved Metal Gear franchise. Earlier, he also discussed the feature in the original Metal Gear to make it “ahead of its time” and shared some of his memories of working on the first game in the series, the 1998 Metal Gear Solid 1. 

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