The New Year was approaching, and 1988 was just around the corner.
Kobayashi Tetsu had his hands tucked into his sleeves, looking like an old farmer in the fields.
"Damn it, why doesn't Japan have central heating?!"
Kobayashi Tetsu slumped over his desk, feeling a wave of infinite desolation.
Although the office buildings of the future didn't have central heating, they at least had air conditioning with a heating function. But the air conditioners of this era...
Window-mounted air conditioners didn't have a heating mode!
The Mitsui Building had been completed quite early, making the winters particularly hard to endure.
"I shouldn't be at the office. I should be somewhere warm, like Hawaii, surrounded by a bunch of girls in swimsuits!"
Kobayashi Tetsu kept his hands tucked in his sleeves, staring at the "Coke" button on his desk.
The button was useless now. Noriyoshi Ohba was in prison. Kobayashi Tetsu wondered if he should try to get him out again.
Just as he was pondering this, a knock sounded at his office door.
It was the voices of Satoru Iwata and Hideo Kojima.
"President."
"Come in."
The two entered one after the other and bowed to Kobayashi Tetsu.
"President, I—"
"You go first."
"Maybe you should?"
Kobayashi Tetsu's head ached. He waved a hand dismissively. "Kojima, you go first."
"Yes, sir. Metal Gear is almost ready for testing."
"Oh."
Hmm. Huh?
Kobayashi Tetsu suddenly sat up straight.
Ready for testing already?
It took him a moment to process.
"Isn't the progress a bit too fast?"
"It's already been delayed!" Hideo Kojima started to explain, but glanced at Satoru Iwata and stepped aside. "Iwata-kun, you tell him."
"It's like this," Iwata began. "Development Division 2 already has extensive experience from previous projects, and the MS is a platform they're well-acquainted with, so there weren't any major technical hurdles. More importantly, Kojima-kun had a very detailed plan for this game, and we encountered very few disagreements during development. So, it naturally came together. While it might still need some polishing before the official release, it's definitely ready for a playtest."
Kobayashi Tetsu understood.
Right, Development Division 2 has been operating for so long; they're seasoned veterans, unlike the rookies in the Third Division.
Speaking of which, the Megami Group has ties to Tecmo. Even before Tecmo became a game development company, Koji Okada and his team were already there—
Man, Tecmo really is a mess.
Kobayashi Tetsu shook his head, clearing his mind of stray thoughts.
"I'll give it a try."
He followed Iwata and Kojima, hooked up the TV, and prepared to play Metal Gear.
Kobayashi Tetsu had a vague memory of the Metal Gear levels. Back then, he hadn't liked the game much. His first experience with it was on a 300-in-1 game disc, which came without a manual. He didn't even know who Snake was—just some little guy who spawned in the middle of nowhere, leaving him completely clueless about what to do next.
But things were different now.
Hideo Kojima stood by, explaining, "It goes like this: after the player spawns here, they need to infiltrate the base. There are monsters along the way, and you can use items to get a rough idea of the terrain and enemy distribution on the next map."
He guided Kobayashi Tetsu's movements. "Get into the back of this truck to find the binoculars. They let you scout the map from a distance."
Kobayashi Tetsu said nothing, silently controlling Pixel Snake as he moved.
The moment he stepped out of the truck, he was surrounded and mauled to death by respawned enemies.
With Old Snake's limited abilities, he had no skills other than punching. The dogs tore him apart with ease.
Kobayashi Tetsu took a deep breath, his expression visibly darkening.
Kojima-kun, you little sadist! He's spawning new dogs just outside the room where I can't see them!
"Uh, this is actually avoidable," Kojima said after a moment's thought.
Then he thought some more.
Alright.
Hideo Kojima couldn't think of a solution. He could only explain, "Just run away as quickly as possible after they spawn."
"Have you ever thought about preventing defeated enemies from respawning?" Kobayashi Tetsu tapped his temple. "It's a stealth game. You're supposed to avoid killing enemies if possible. But if you do kill them, why would you want them to come back?"
Kobayashi Tetsu shook his head and continued playing.
The plot was a bit different from the original Metal Gear he remembered, but the overall style was similar. It was a demanding stealth game that required the manual to be played properly. The functions of various items were also demonstrated one by one under Hideo Kojima's guidance.
After playing for a while, Kobayashi Tetsu put down the controller.
From his perspective, Metal Gear at this early stage was actually quite poor. As a stealth game, you had to use a separate item just to see the enemies' field of vision, and you couldn't even move while using it.
However, Kobayashi Tetsu felt this wasn't completely unacceptable. The consoles of this era had limited capabilities and couldn't provide real-time feedback.
Hideo Kojima explained, "In terms of the plot, my idea is to use the in-game radio for interaction. The commander will give instructions and narrate the current events through the radio, and the player will complete the plot by following those instructions. The entire structure of the story will also unfold through the radio. Combined with the item descriptions in the manual, players can effectively grasp the plot."
Kobayashi Tetsu nodded inwardly.
This is one of the more reliable aspects of the first Metal Gear: its narrative interaction.
Hideo Kojima, a cinephile, had combined gameplay with radio-based interaction. One could say the interactive experience was excellent—after all, this was 1987.
The gameplay was standard: find items, solve puzzles, unlock new areas, and explore the story. The so-called "stealth" could hardly be called stealthy; by the late game, when monsters became increasingly numerous, you were practically forced to fight your way through. The final battle involved blowing up Metal Gear itself before the climactic showdown—hardly the actions of a stealthy operative.
That's right. Just like Metal Slug, the first Metal Gear already hit the nail on the head.
The goal of the first Metal Gear was to destroy the weapon known as Metal Gear.
Kobayashi Tetsu suddenly spoke: "And the ending? What's the ending like?"
Hideo Kojima said, "Of course, after destroying Metal Gear, you have a final battle with the boss. Also, I've set up a twist here—"
"You don't need to tell me the twist," Kobayashi Tetsu interrupted. "I suggest you make the final battle just about destroying Metal Gear, and save your twist."
"Save it for the sequel," Kobayashi Tetsu added.
Hideo Kojima pushed up his glasses.
Will there even be a chance for a sequel? He wasn't sure himself.
But Kobayashi Tetsu was absolutely certain. "This is a completely new way to play that doesn't exist on the market yet. While I can't say for sure if players will embrace this style, it's bound to cultivate a core fanbase once it's released. So, the chances of a sequel are quite high. Keep working with this approach. Also, don't let defeated monsters respawn. Everything else looks fine."
Kobayashi glanced at the calendar.
"Start the promotional campaign after the New Year."
Hideo Kojima clenched his fist hard.
We're actually going to release it!
He never expected his first-ever game project to even reach the launch phase. His own expectations were modest; he figured a lifetime sales figure of 500,000 copies would be a massive success.
Kobayashi Tetsu chuckled.
"With Atlas's brand and Development Division 2's support, if you only sell 500,000 copies, you might as well commit seppuku. Let me give you a number: one million!"
"We're going to sell at least a million!" Kobayashi declared.
Hideo Kojima recoiled, leaning back.
Is that even possible?
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