Direct quote 1999
“I feel like the video game industry right now is in its last year of elementary school. Everyone is aware that next year will be the start of a new experience with middle school, but no one has figured out what school it will be or what it will look like.”
What it documents
In 1999 Kojima suggested the video game industry was in its last year of elementary school: everyone knows the next year will be the start of middle school, but no one has yet figured out which school it will be or what it will look like. He proposed that through games people might someday transcend boundaries such as race or religion, since otakus have no nationality, and said he and Matsuno could spend three hours listing film titles, completely absorbed.
Source
shmuplations.com; Matsuno × Kojima conversation (1999), unofficial English translation. View source ↗
“Through games, we may one day transcend boundaries like race, religion, and so on. Otakus have no nationality after all. (laughs)”