The silence of a legend: Hideo Kojima reveals the secret of mute Solid Snake in the first Metal Gear
1987 brought the world Metal Gear and its protagonist, Solid Snake, created by the genius Hideo Kojima. Over time, Snake has become one of the most recognisable figures in the gaming industry, but in his debut, he appeared as a silent and unwavering figure, unable to utter a single word.
Here's What We Know
Recently, Kojima spoke about the reasons for Solid Snake's silence, recalling his first steps in working with voice actors and reflecting on the technological limitations of the past.
In an interview with An An, Hideo Kojima explained in detail why Solid Snake was a silent protagonist in the first Metal Gear game, which was released in the late eighties:
"In 1986, when I entered the gaming industry, games couldn't talk yet. The characters didn't have voices. There wasn't even a kanji character font, and the characters were displayed one by one. Solid Snake, the protagonist of my debut game Metal Gear (1987), was born a silent tough guy because of this."
Nevertheless, technologies were developing rapidly. The legendary developer said that a year after Metal Gear's release, a technological breakthrough occurred when NEC released the CD-ROM2, a console with a disc drive. This evolution satisfied Kojima's wishes:
"Since the CD became the medium, it was possible to use voice dialogue, which was not possible before. I was one of the first to step forward and redesign the game.
It was my first experience with voice recording. I did the casting myself, but since I was a complete outsider, I handed over the management to an agency. I took the first bullet train from Kobe and arrived at the studio in Tokyo. The voice actors were already standing at the microphone.
There was no time for greetings or even a meeting. It was a crazy schedule, and everything was recorded in almost half a day. I had no opportunity to establish a relationship. The regret and disappointment of this first experience significantly changed my subsequent voice recordings."
Today, his projects feature Hollywood stars, and the scripts and acting are cinematic. So just from this one example, you can see how far the industry has come.
Source: Automaton