“Personally, I thought that Snatcher was not a success.”
Kojima recounts the prehistory of Policenauts (1994): in the technological research department they were not making a product but a system engine for adventure games. He wanted to make Policenauts and presented that tool that anyone could use to build an adventure, but nobody wanted to use it. With Snatcher already on CD-ROM the industry turned toward audio, and Policenauts—originally planned as text only—was ultimately decided for CD-ROM with sounds and voice-overs on the NEC PC-9821, compatible with CD and really expensive. Kojima says that decision was not his to make; he was not yet a producer, and personally he thought Snatcher was not a success. Knowing he needed someone from the audio industry, he went to Aoni Production, which was a big name at the time; on a business trip he spoke with Mr. Furuichi for about four hours (Furuichi later became president of the company). Kojima and Furuichi worked together on the casting, and the recording took about two weeks; it was not a solo recording session, as he brought everyone together at once.
“this department was not actually making a product, but was making a system engine for an adventure game. […] But I wanted to make police knots and presented this tool that anyone could use to make an adventure game. But obviously, no one wanted to use it. […] Policenauts was originally planned as text only, but we decided to have sounds and voice overs all on a CD-ROM. […] I went to Aoni Production since it was a big name at the time. […] I visited him on a business trip, and we talked for like four hours. So I worked with Mr. Furuichi on the casting, and that's how we made Policenauts. I think we did the recording session for like two weeks.”