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Hideo Kojima might be best known these days for Metal Gear Solid and his ability to heavily confuse gamers with his stories, but 20 years ago, he was just another schlub in the industry, working largely by himself and making adventure games like Snatcher. He went full circle in this week’s issue of Famitsu magazine, talking with adventure-game writer Jiro Ishii about the genre and how it influenced his career.

Ishii is the main man behind 428: In the Blocked City Shibuyaa visual novel that shocked many when Famitsu gave it a perfect review score last year. “I first met Ishii this year,” said Kojima, “but I knew about him a long time previous. I get told by people that there are only three guys in Japan who like adventures: me, Ishii and Shu Takumi,” the writer of Capcom’s Ace Attorney series.

Both Ishii and Kojima were heavily influenced by Blade Runner, a movie that Kojima’s Snatcher is almost identical in style to. Ishii himself created a Blade Runner-styled adventure game back in the day called Imitation City, released 1987 (a year before Snatcher) for Japanese PCs. “We’re both pretty close to each other in that the movie business has been near and dear to our hearts,” Kojima noted. “The only difference is that he’s been able to keep making adventures this whole time. It’s funny to think that during an era when there was nothing but Mario-style games, there was somebody else out there who wanted to make a Blade Runner-like title, a year before me to boot. It took me a year and a half to get half of Snatcher done; I had six chapters planned out and they told me to cut it down to two!”

Hideo Kojima might be best known these days for Metal Gear Solid and his ability to heavily confuse gamers with his stories, but 20 years ago, he was just another schlub in the industry, working largely by himself and making adventure games like Snatcher. He went full circle in this week’s issue of Famitsu magazine, talking with adventure-game writer Jiro Ishii about the genre and how it influenced his career.

Ishii is the main man behind 428: In the Blocked City Shibuyaa visual novel that shocked many when Famitsu gave it a perfect review score last year. “I first met Ishii this year,” said Kojima, “but I knew about him a long time previous. I get told by people that there are only three guys in Japan who like adventures: me, Ishii and Shu Takumi,” the writer of Capcom’s Ace Attorney series.

Both Ishii and Kojima were heavily influenced by Blade Runner, a movie that Kojima’s Snatcher is almost identical in style to. Ishii himself created a Blade Runner-styled adventure game back in the day called Imitation City, released 1987 (a year before Snatcher) for Japanese PCs. “We’re both pretty close to each other in that the movie business has been near and dear to our hearts,” Kojima noted. “The only difference is that he’s been able to keep making adventures this whole time. It’s funny to think that during an era when there was nothing but Mario-style games, there was somebody else out there who wanted to make a Blade Runner-like title, a year before me to boot. It took me a year and a half to get half of Snatcher done; I had six chapters planned out and they told me to cut it down to two!”

Hideo Kojima might be best known these days for Metal Gear Solid and his ability to heavily confuse gamers with his stories, but 20 years ago, he was just another schlub in the industry, working largely by himself and making adventure games like Snatcher. He went full circle in this week’s issue of Famitsu magazine, talking with adventure-game writer Jiro Ishii about the genre and how it influenced his career.

Ishii is the main man behind 428: In the Blocked City Shibuyaa visual novel that shocked many when Famitsu gave it a perfect review score last year. “I first met Ishii this year,” said Kojima, “but I knew about him a long time previous. I get told by people that there are only three guys in Japan who like adventures: me, Ishii and Shu Takumi,” the writer of Capcom’s Ace Attorney series.

Both Ishii and Kojima were heavily influenced by Blade Runner, a movie that Kojima’s Snatcher is almost identical in style to. Ishii himself created a Blade Runner-styled adventure game back in the day called Imitation City, released 1987 (a year before Snatcher) for Japanese PCs. “We’re both pretty close to each other in that the movie business has been near and dear to our hearts,” Kojima noted. “The only difference is that he’s been able to keep making adventures this whole time. It’s funny to think that during an era when there was nothing but Mario-style games, there was somebody else out there who wanted to make a Blade Runner-like title, a year before me to boot. It took me a year and a half to get half of Snatcher done; I had six chapters planned out and they told me to cut it down to two!”