Today, August 12th, is a special day for our website… It’s our 13th anniversary! Naturally, our site has changed a lot visually and content-wise over the years. But we always strive to bring the wonderful Mega Man Battle Network and Star Force content to you good folks out there!
Speaking of, today, we have a translation for especially rare interview that was published only once in an issue of Weekly Famitsu. Originally to commemorate the Crossover Battle feature in Battle Network 5 and Boktai 2… Here is a special Interview with two of gaming’s biggest icons, Keiji Inafune and Hideo Kojima! The entire interview can be read in the skip.
This interview was originally published in the December 3rd, 2004 issue of Weekly Famitsu, just before the Japanese release of Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team ProtoMan.
This translation will use localized names and terms whenever possible.
Famitsu Exclusive!
Special talk with director Hideo Kojima and Keiji Inafune
The ultimate combo comprised of two renowned creators is realized!
Konami Holdings Corporation Management Vice-President Hideo Kojima
Hideo Kojima-san
The creator who’s worked on the Metal Gear Solid series, Boktai series, and etc. Currently spending his days busy working towards the release of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Capcom Co., Ltd. Corporate Executive Officer – Head of Organization
Keiji Inafune-san
The creator who worked on numerous titles such as the Mega Man Battle Network series, Onimusha series, and etc. Currently, he is handling the December 9th [Japanese] release of Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team ProtoMan and other projects.
Despite the manufacturers and games being different, you can battle each other in these two Game Boy Advance games! With Capcom’s Mega Man Battle Network 5 and Konami’s Boktai 2, you can enjoy a Crossover Battle with characters from both games. So today, we’re publishing a discussion with the two that made this feature happen, Konami’s director, Hideo Kojima, and Capcom’s Keiji Inafune!
The effect of Rockman was really huge!
—First off, since Boktai’s Django appeared in Mega Man Battle Network 4, I’d like to ask about the circumstances that led up to that.
Kojima: Inafune-san has made Mega Man titles, which in a sense, are aimed at a young age group. But he’s also had a hand in the Onimusha series, which is meant to be cool and aimed at adults, right? There aren’t many creators who have worked on both kinds of projects like that. So having worked on Metal Gear Solid, I was trying to make Boktai something aimed at a younger audience. He was the only creator I could consult with. So right after I started making Boktai, Inafune-san gave me advice.
Inafune: If I remember right… we did that in a karaoke booth, didn’t we?
Kojima: That’s right. We didn’t really sing much at all, we just talked about Boktai the whole time (laughs). Inafune-san was the first person I talked to. I hadn’t really told much of anyone within my company about it.
Inafune: When Kojima-san consulted me, I could tell that he really wanted to spread Boktai to children. And above all, I thought we could make something interesting together. So after we had spoken a few times, I suggested “why don’t we put Django in Mega Man Battle Network 4?”, and Kojima-san felt that it would be interesting . So we got the go-ahead from our companies, and we decided to do it. I thought up various ideas, showed them to Kojima-san, and he said OK right away. When I brought the plans to him, the members of our development team said “he’s probably going to say no, isn’t he?” But when he said OK to everything, it became “what do you mean all of this is actually OK?!” (laughs).
Kojima: Thinking about it normally, just having another company’s character appear in your game is surprising, isn’t it? But despite that, Django appears quite a lot. I had people at work bowing their heads and saying, “he’s really going to appear this much?” (laughs).
Inafune: We got to put in Boktai’s weapons, too. Such as the Gun Del Sol and the Pile Driver. The Pile Driver’s usage was especially convenient (laughs).
Kojima: But the effects of putting Django into Mega Man Battle Network 4 were seriously big. Through that, kids got to learn about Boktai and Django. My son started behaving totally differently (laughs).
Inafune: (laughs)
Multiplayer battles through different software are implemented!
—So after Django appearance in Mega Man Battle Network 4 was well-received, MegaMan went on to appear in Boktai 2.
Kojima: That’s right. But actually, as soon as we’d decided to put Django into Mega Man Battle Network 4, we were already talking about doing multiplayer battles for the next time.
Inafune: When it was decided that Django would be in Mega Man Battle Network 4, Kojima said that rather than just having the character appear, he wanted you to be able to play together.
Kojima: Boktai was going to release in the summer, and Mega Man Battle Network was coming out during the winter. So the timing was off no matter what.
Inafune: So we said “next time, let’s do it for sure.”
—So that was the foundation for the multiplayer battles. Could you explain the specifics?
Kojima: Boktai and Mega Man Battle Network are games with totally different controls and systems, right? So having the characters enter each others’ games and fight is difficult. It’s definitely easy to create minigames with the same rules and put them into both games, but just having that alone would be boring.
—That’s certainly true.
Kojima: People who are good at Mega Man Battle Network want to battle Django using Mega Man Battle Network’s controls, and people who like Boktai want to battle MegaMan using the techniques they’ve become familiar with in Boktai. But thinking about it realistically, that just isn’t possible, right? We decided, “let’s do it anyway”. It’s difficult to put it into words, but it’s not like a baseball club and a soccer club competing and saying “let’s meet in the middle and play volleyball”. It’s more like the baseball club keeps playing baseball, and the soccer club keeps playing soccer.
Inafune: Basically, the person playing Mega Man Battle Network doesn’t have to learn Boktai’s system, and the person playing Boktai doesn’t have to learn Mega Man Battle Network‘s system. They can play with their own controls and systems, and fight against their opponent’s character.
Kojima: I think our players can enjoy it.
What is Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django?
It’s the latest installment in the Boktai series, which is played by using a solar sensor and sunlight. Players lead it protagonist, Django, through enemy-riddled dungeons. In this installment, in addition to the solar gun, Gun del Sol, there are new items in your arsenal such as swords and spears. You can even create your own weapons. Another feature is the ability to engage in combat without using any solar energy.
Always keep the sun in your heart!
What is Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team ProtoMan/Team Colonel?
It’s the latest installment of the well-known Mega Man Battle Network series. This installment features Team Battles. Team ProtoMan is set to be released on December 9th and Team Colonel will come out February 24th, 2005, each will feature different team members. In addition to the Double Soul ability carried from the previous installment, Chaos Unison, which utilizes the power of darkness, has been added.
It’s a Team Battle this time!
The multiplayer battle system was decided beforehand
—So you can do multiplayer battles between Boktai 2 and Mega Man Battle Network 5, but how did you include that in the technical parts and the system?
Inafune: Kojima-san and I shared our opinions together by going back and forth. He’d go “how about something like this?” and I reply with “then, how about we go with this?”. Konami’s staff came to Osaka, where Capcom is, time and time again as well. Technical interactions between the game were necessary for multiplayer battles. So Capcom and Konami interacted with each other technically, and helped each other out quite a bit.
—That’s amazing!
Inafune: By the way, we made absolutely sure not to ruin the setting of either game. We kept that at the forefront when making everything.
—Boktai 2 has already been released, so once Mega Man Battle Network 5 comes out, that means you’ll be able to battle against each other.
Kojima: When we released Boktai 2 [in Japan], we couldn’t even say anything despite us really wanting to (laughs). Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team ProtoMan [it’s Japanese release] will come out on December 9th, so we’re finally able to announce it.
—Can you please tell us about the rules of the multiplayer battle in detail?
Inafune: In Mega Man Battle Network 4, there was an enemy called ShadeMan and he will be the common enemy. Django will fight like himself, and MegaMan will fight like himself. When they deal damage to ShadeMan, disturbance icons will appear on the opposite side’s screen. Still, they fight for a common goal. Both players are aiming to defeat the evil in a sort of competition.
Kojima: And by completing the multiplayer battle in Boktai 2 and Mega Man Battle Network 5, players can obtain items in their games.
Inafune: I’d really like to see the players compete using their mastery of their respective games.
“I’d like to make something interesting with Kojima-san.”
“Boktai exists as it is now thanks to Inafune-san’s MegaMan.”
The relationship will continue on the Nintendo DS!
—In any case, you certainly implemented something great…
Kojima: It’s really amazing that we even got to make this happen! I’d like you to be more surprised.
—No, I’m plenty surprised!
Inafune: The same goes with Konami and Capcom working together. As is, including both characters together was actually quite difficult. Both creators have their own opinions, after all. It’s not something simple, even within one’s own company.
Kojima: Creativity aside, it’s also about business, isn’t it? Making a game is really difficult. It’s tough even under normal circumstances, so working together with Capcom like we did this time was certainly something!
Inafune: It’s easier for the staff to make something just amongst themselves as well. It’s like that with Kojima’s company, and mine, too. If we didn’t want to make something together, we wouldn’t want to go through that much trouble.
Kojima: There’s things like the release schedules, and all sorts of restrictions. There are a lot of difficulties. You can’t do anything without some way to overcome them. This surely is proof of my friendship with Inafune-san.
Inafune: You’re definitely right.
Kojima: Also, we’re both definitely confident that kids will be happy. We absolutely wouldn’t do anything they’d dislike!
—So this was able to be implemented because both of you felt the same, isn’t that right?
Kojima: As a matter of fact, we had an even greater concept before Mega Man Battle Network and Boktai.
Inafune: Yes, yes.
—What sort of concept?
Kojima: There was talks of selling Onimusha 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3 alongside each other.
—Those kind of talks were happening!?
Inafune: That was… at the time of E3 2003, wasn’t it?
Kojima: Yes, that’s right. At that time, it was during the Sony (Computer Entertainment Japan) party. In that seat, I spoke with Company President Kutaragi, but there wasn’t much of a reaction (laughs).
—If that had worked out, it would have been amazing!
Inafune: Instead, it worked out like this.
—As a result of Django appearing in Mega Man Battle Network 4, MegaMan appeared in Boktai 2, and it all comes together in a multiplayer battle between their games. Certainly, this has to keep going.
Kojima: Well, how about we decide here and now?
—Oh, that would be good!
Kojima: Inafune-san, will you make Mega Man Battle Network for the Nintendo DS?
Inafune: Mega Man Battle Network will be made for the Nintendo DS.
Kojima: I’m also thinking of making the Boktai series for it as well. Shall we do something new together? Something that uses the Nintendo DS’s features.
Inafune: We’d certainly like to do something that would surprise the children.
The two’s proof of friendship will continue from here on forward!
Kojima: But today, there’s something I simply must ask Inafune-san. It’s actually regarding a title he’s has been working on.
Inafune: Do you mean the title that hasn’t been announced yet?
Kojima: Yes, I do.
Inafune: I’m working on some projects, but there’s nothing I can announce right now. If I were to announce it, I think it would have to be around E3.
—Ohh! So next year’s?
Inafune: Yes. I’m thinking I’ll definitely have to announce it by then. But before that, maybe I should drop by Kojima-san’s place for a talk (laughs).
Kojima: Come whenever you want! I’ll be coming to visit you as well.
“Let’s do something new again!” (INAFUNE)
“How about we do it on the Nintendo DS?” (KOJIMA)
Inafune: I’ll probably get an earful from Kojima-san (laughs).
Kojima: No, of course not (laughs).
Inafune: Kojima-san is very prominent as a creator, but he’s also mindful of the management aspects, so he’s easy to talk with. When you’re discussing strategies, it’s better to get someone who looks at things from a broad perspective. But talking to external people can be scary in a certain way. But in Kojima-san’s case, he’s very direct with his own opinions, so he’s someone you can rely on.
Kojima: I’m the same way, really. Or is there not many people to discuss that sort of thing within the company?
Inafune: I’m sure Kojima-san experienced this as well, but if Kojima-san asked the internal team, “what do you think of this?”, no one that would say, “no, that’s not good.”
Kojima: I get told that fairly often (laughs). Even during Metal Gear Solid 3, I was told that plenty by the team’s members (laughs).
Inafune: Really? (laughs)
Kojima: I often discuss various things with Inafune-san, but when it’s about the management aspects, there are some things you just can’t talk about. I’m still an employee from a different company, so sometimes I can’t say too much. But with something like Mega Man Battle Network 5 and Boktai 2, since we’re making it together, we can talk about everything. So I’d like to be able to keep making games with Inafune-san, too.
—And we’re looking forward to it!
Kojima: I haven’t been able to get Inafune-san to meet with me recently, so our friendship parameter is on the down-turn (laughs).
Inafune: And the only reason for that is because Kojima-san is so busy with Metal Gear Solid 3! (laughs)
Kojima: But because of that, Metal Gear Solid 3 turned out very interesting. Since things have begun to settle down, let’s take our time and talk then.
Inafune: Mega Man Battle Network 5 has settled down as well, so let’s talk ideas together some time.
Let’s look forward to their proof of friendship from here on!
What does Inafune-san think of Director Kojima?
Kojima-san is a unique creator, in a good way. I was shown Metal Gear Solid 3 earlier, and his work just can’t be imitated. This is mainly due to him constantly thinking of way to surprise the players. To say the least, he is a world class creator. I, too, am excited for Metal Gear Solid 3.
A world class creator.
What does Director Kojima think of Inafune-san?
I think Inafune-san is a great producer, in the truest sense. During Onimusha, you managed to get Takeshi Kaneshiro, didn’t you? And then, just went you’re wondering who he’s going to bring on next… bam, Yusaku Matsuda! Knowing exactly where to look, to get high-profile talent like that; that kind of savvy is quite uncommon! He’s the type of person where you can’t wait to see what they’re going to do next. In the future, I’d like to create more games with Inafune as the producer.
A great producer in the truest sense.
Enormous thanks to Kobun20 for finding information on the book, tracking it down somehow, and scanning the article. You can check out their website here.
Translation by Jumi and Darknet.
Edited by Midnite and Prof. 9.