I felt great potential in the medium

Kojima admired that Yukinobu Hoshino continued to produce ambitious, art- and philosophy-driven serialized stories even after moving from a mass-circulation weekly magazine to a small monthly one. He saw himself in Hoshino because, at that time and in the shadow of the Famicom boom, Kojima was also making video games for a minor platform. Years later he continued to question whether Japanese-made games could stop placing market priority first and make the same cultural leap that manga had achieved.

“I saw the future. If it weren't for Miyamoto-san I wouldn't be where I am.”

“It was my first game that made it to release, so I have a lot of memories. It's my cute boy in that sense.”

“These games had their own worlds and stories. I felt a certain authorial quality in them.”

“It ended up being more like a puzzle action game.”