Kojima Wants Metal Gear Solid V’s Character to Be “More Erotic” to Encourage Cosplay and Figure Sale

Hideo Kojima is well known for not having any trouble in showcasing quite a lot of skin for some of his characters, both male and female. Today he made a quite surprising statement about one of the characters for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

[Sarobi]

Oh my.

[pixelsword]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[cleft5]

Indeed, but as the creator of the game he certainly has the right to design the characters however he wants. So long as the characters have deep storylines and history it shouldn't matter if they are erotic in design. Erotic doesn't equal sexist, people who pretend it does lower the power and value of words like sexism and misogyny.

[AntoineDcoolette]

The idea of some S&M with ocelot dressed as a cowboy prodding folk with electrorods sure seems erotic to me

[Bimkoblerutso]

Not a matter of being sexist. It pisses me off slightly that they are willfully designed that way "to make u want to do cosplay or its figurine to sell well."

In all honesty, screw the feminazis. It pisses me off because I am sick of developers compromising their vision to sell a few extra copies to the losers out there that think every woman they look at should give them a boner.

[CalamityCB]

You have the perfect profile pic for that comment.

[3-4-5]

If he says " This one may not be cosplayable", then that is the one all the women will want to be.

You've just told them they can't have it, which will make them want it more.

Genius.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Not necessarily, maybe it's just a naked lady, not cosplayable... at least not legally in public! LOL

Seriously now, I think Kojima is just trolling everyone again with that figurines and cosplay comments... Fact is he has been putting hot ladies in MGS forever now... I mean, 4 of MGS4 bosses all come out to literally be world class sexy super models when you defeated 'em. Call it sexist if you will, but whatever it is, it can't be more obvious than that.

Kojima simply can't help himself, don't matter if it's a magazine, a poster or actual characters. He need to see some nice booty in his games or his view si not fulfilled. And that's completelly fine by me.

[SilentNegotiator]

Intentionally attractive characters?!

SEXIIIIIIIST!!!!!!

[yeahokchief]

I want to see more Dragon's Crown cosplay

[coolasj]

I know merchandising is a huge cash cow but come on Japan! You've been doing this for years for anime, to the point where great shows have pointless scenes just to sell well made pieces of PVC. I'm just kind of sad to see it's influence actively seeping into work like Kojimas.

[Blacktric]

"I create the setting thoroughly, how he/she spent early life, name, style, favorite phrase, fashion, action to stand the character out."

What you need to care about is this. Not what she's wearing. And Kojima's games have always had major influences from all sorts of manga and anime. It's nothing new.

Also;

"Apparently Kojima is talking about a character that hasn’t been revealed yet"

[coolasj]

Yes, I can read the article. That's why I wasn't more dramatic. It still doesn't change my opinion on the matter.

Doing something, "Because it sells well" is not attractive to me. And this is Kojima, he's relatively transparent and blunt about what he does. I don't know what the design ideas Shikawa-san had before or even if it matters and I know the designs will be good either way but, I think Merchandising is a bad modifier to apply to the way you design your content.

[hkgamer]

Kojima has been known to try getting extra revenue streams.

I mean look at all the product placements in MGS4.

[CocoWolfie]

like noodles? those actually dont bother me, i find them more entertaining rather than being a drag :')

[raiden-49]

Yea like this xD
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[coolasj]

If I recall the Integral MGS4 Podcast, the one in-game, said Kojima just thought it would be funny if Snake could use an actual iPod. So they brought up deals begging to use it in the game. It's more of a joke than product placement.

[cleft5]

"Come on Japan," let's be honest here this sort of stuff is in no way limited solely to Japan. Also, let's not pretend like all of Japanese culture is limited solely to games and anime. Yes, games and anime are an important market in Japan, but it is hardly everything that constitutes there culture. It's just that we here in the west resonate with those two particular things more than anything else in Japan.

In the West, we are constantly using sex to sell movies, cartoons, comics, tv series, reality shows, celebrities, etc. The use of sex and eroticism to sell content is something that happens all the time. Look at our tv shows and tell me how many popular female or male characters just happen to be ugly as dirt. Game of Thrones and Spartacus has tons of glorious sex scenes and full on nudity. Fashion and teen magazines constantly display bulimic women as being beautiful and the standard for all women. Do I even need to point the whole Miley Cirus incident.

The use of eroticism to sell content is in no way limited to Japan. It's just that right now people like to get really upset over this stuff coming out of Japan and pretend like they are somehow engaged in activities that are holding women back, meanwhile they completely overlook the abundant use of sex to sell content on there own Western tv shows, commercials, and magazines.

[Kleptic]

I see what you're saying, but seriously dude...Japan is weird...no other way to say it...

I mean, yes, the rest of the world uses sex for similar intents and purposes...its just 'sex' is a bit of a moving target...whats controversial to some markets is totally different to others...and Japan is apparently the hardest demographic on earth to really shock...Its not 'only' Japan, we get that, but no one can argue that accidentally stumbling on Japan's version of crazy...is a lot harder to un-see than some other areas of the globe...

tentacle porn...used underwear from vending machines...tentacle porn...end_discussion.exe

[Transporter47]

I don't mind. There has always been a bit of erotic in all of the MGS games anyways. It doesn't matter to me.

[NeXXXuS]

EVA 8)

[BallsEye]

Same here, actually a little bit of skin in this kind of game is not bad, even my wife likes it :P lol.

[paul-p1988]

The Beauty and the Beasts from MGS4! I remember reading interviews and apparently the actresses where naked (or at least not wearing any other clothes under the mo-cap suits) to make sure they looked as sexy as possible on screen.

It worked, i spent a lot of time staring at their arses when they lost their beast suits lol

[plmkoh]

Well MGS takes lots of cues from 007/James Bond.

[UpghostNpersonal]

like MGS has ever needed erotic characters for strong sales..MGS4 sold nearly 5 mils on ps3 alone

[Viper7]

Not to mention that it was released fairly early in PS3's lifetime. Meaning that there where like half the buyers then there are now.

Although there's nothing wrong with having erotic characters. MGS4 literally had all the Bosses walk around in skintight suits while player took pictures.

[level 360]

Most likely he's got a copy of Goichi Suda's Killer is Dead..

[GenericNameHere]

If it means Quiet having bigger boobs (or maybe it's just her bra making it look bigger), and having other female characters have nicer bodies and have very sexual themes like Eva did in MGS3, I'm all for this! As long as this kind of fan service isn't shoved in my face every second, it's all good to me.

Now to shut up the feminists. You have young Liqui... I mean Eli. He's probably around 12-16, but he's a pretty boy for you girls. Pretty sure there are plenty of you who like bishonen, so don't lie about it -_- Plus, Snake and Kaz are still better looking than most 40-50 year old men will look like, so that's another bunch of people you MGS fangirls can gawk at.

Btw, if some of the erotic parts of this game are like the MGS4 Beauty and Peace Walker Beach photoshoots, that's even better!

[JLT-Sandwitch]

Nothing wrong with games having sex apeal. If I can I always play as a girl and I make her as good looking as I can. A good looking girl looks better kicking ass then a guy. As long as the gameplays there who cares. My gf might tell me it makes her worry but she still knows I can't cheat with fictional characters so hey I continue with my ways lol

[Inception]

In before the feminazis bitching and accused Kojima as sexism bastard, MGS always had this kind of staple for beautifull / sexy women in every MGS game. Not to mention Kojima also work together with sports magazine such as FHM / Playboy, to used some of their pages for in-game cameo.

So if Kojima want more sexy / erotic characters in MGS V than i don't mind. As long as he can created amazing characters with awesome background story for them ^^

[WitWolfy]

Here here.. Im not into polygon females.. But if the character seems believable and fits into the universe then I'm all for it.

[Inception]

I'm sure Kojima can made a believeable characters that fits into MGS universe ^^

Just look at Beauty & the Beast corps from MGS4, who consist of four hot chicks from real live model and show a sensual pose after you beat their 1st form. Their background story still believeable and they are one of the best boss battle in MGS series.

And Naomi in MGS 4 with her unbutton shirt who show her nice cleavage almost the entire game. Or Eva in MGS 3. The two of them are some of the best female characters in MGS / gaming history that i ever seen.

So i'm not worried if Kojima wants this way. Even though his intial purpose are to sell action figures and cosplay.

Btw, i wonder if Kojima will used FHM / Playboy magz that can refill Snake stamina's...or distract the enemies again in MGS V XD

[Irishguy95]

Japan is much more easy going on Sex and titties that the US. It's also much more harsh on Violence than the US.

[Inception]

Not really. If games or visual novels who contains tons of sex / violence scenes, than the CERO will rated Z and will not sell it to person under 18
http://www.ign.com/wikis/co...

Japanese gov also have strict rules for porn movies. If some porn studios break the rules and release uncensored porn, than they will got some penalty.

So i think japanese and US isn't that different when come to sex or titties :D

[Irishguy95]

Maybe I should correct myself.

When it comes to 'sexism' and use of women, Jp has no shame about it.

[Godlovesgamers]

@Irishguy95

I call B.S.

Japan is just as violent as the U.S.

As for being "easy going on sex"...if you want to label "used panty machines" as "easy going" LOL!!

[Fergusonxplainsall]

Japanese are more open to sex as with the USA trying to demonize everything that is pure and hide it away until your ready for it..Or till they think your'e ready for it.

Crazy I know, but lies are a dime a dozen here.
Japanese go to sleep without locking doors or worrying about mindwarped citizens created from own government thinking about jacking or killing them. So yeah Japanese are a savages//s

[MooseyXTC]

About time people start turning a deaf-ear to the "sexism" fad of the gaming industry, which inhibits directors' creativity because of "appealing to the masses".
Kojima, as well as Kamiya, are wonderful auteur directors who follow their hearts and dreams and make the art they want to make, and you just can't hate someone like that.

[pyramidshead]

Oh Japan

[goldwyncq]

If there's a man who can successfully make a male in his 50's erotic, it's Kojima.

[furneri357]

hmmm, its okay i guess, as long its not too obvious like resident evil revelation

[Mr-SellJack]

Long Live Kojima!!!!

[medman]

It's always comforting to see that pandering to the lowest common denominator is universal. Ahh, the sweet smell of progress.

[CrossingEden]

Well there goes some of my excitement for this game telling a serious a mature plot, character design has to be consistent with the serious nature of the plot. Stop objectifying women Kojima. If you dress Snake/big boss as serious military figures you should do exactly the same for serious military women.

[isarai]

Sex appeal =/= objectifying, and just because the characters have a certain erotic nature about them doesn't mean it's not going to be a very serious and mature plot. and Snake/Boss are not always "serious military figures" either, military don't run around in skin tight muscle suits or with their shirts off showing how ripped they are, nor do they run around with a long band around their head. It's honestly like you never played a MGS game in your life

[KonsoruMasuta]

When does adding more sex appeal equal objectifying?

A woman can't be sexy and be strong in character at the same time?

[Fergusonxplainsall]

Objectifying woman? I don't speak for all sexist females since i'm male, but I do know they enjoy to look good and kill at the same time.

Plus she looks meaty delicious and is in a hot ass desert.. Yeah she should be wearing a mask and military uniform//sarcasm. Get real 'Yo.

To me she looks like Jill Valentine but better.
Hater got to hate and pickers have to knit.

[isarai]

um, this isn't news for MGS really, there's always been a mass amount of eroticism and sex appeal in MGS games, hell you had to stare at an ass to finish MGS1

[MuhammadJA]

How low can these devs go?

[Jagsrock]

At least he's being honest.

[TwilightSparkle]

I hope they dont spread sexitism to rpgs then ill play any games again

[redaxis]

MGS is getting lamer, the characters are getting more commercialised than being cool with solid concepts. Who the hell wears panties only in war zone. They can be erotic but has to make sense. I miss those characters in MGS1.

[KingKelloggTheWH]

yeah...this girl seems out of place, just like some kinky fantasy

[SchwoererBear]

seriously, figures? Lets take a step back and not design a virtual character around toy sales, oh sorry I meant figurine sales. I love mgs, I still have my MGS4 ps3 bundle. Who buys the toys and really does cosplay? I bet asmall percentage of fans actually do that stuff. I know he has to please his home crowd but sometimes Japanese games are way too dramatic.

[Fergusonxplainsall]

Not really that bad, Quiet has a unique look and isn't anorexic like most female action icons like Lara Croft, Jill Valentine and Tank Girl.(there's more I know)

She is totally a woman I would wrestle virtually.

People who want games to be too real are only fooling themselves.