“The hard parts are kind of like drugs. You begin to feel like you can't live without them.”
Kojima described development as a marathon: when there is nothing and you cannot see the goal it is extremely difficult; around 75% you get a second wind, but just before the finish the hardest work awaits — the debugging, with the date already set and quality to guarantee. Yet if the game is released successfully and people love it, you forget all the bad times — it becomes very addictive. His summary was that the fun part is everything and the hard part is also everything; he said the hard parts become like a drug, making you feel you cannot live without them. He added that the first game makes or breaks a person: with even a modest success you can see and climb the next steps, while falling very low at the outset makes recovery extremely difficult.
“It's like a marathon. When there's nothing there and you can't see the goal, it's so difficult. […] right before you reach your goal, you have to deal with debugging. […] once the game is finished, if it succeeds and everyone loves it, you end up forgetting all the hard times. It's really addictive. […] whether or not your first game sells well or gets good reviews will ultimately make or break the person.”