best-translation

## October 6, 1998 (Tuesday)

I attended SEGA’s **"New Challenge Conference 2."** It seems that with the upcoming next-generation hardware, full polygons will still be tough to handle. If we aim for film-quality visuals on the Dreamcast or PS2, it’s probably best to avoid full polygons.

In the end, even with increased polygon counts on models that previously ran on PCs, the result only gives a slightly better impression. There’s a limit to focusing on details. We need to grasp the essence of how things appear. After seeing today’s Dreamcast software, I got a clear sense of the direction for *MGS2.*

It’s not about the quality of the visuals. It’s about the game itself. The focus will be on gameplay and elements that couldn’t be achieved before, even if that means using low-polygon models. For example, Leaving enemy soldiers' corpses on the ground or having 100 enemy soldiers on screen at once


## October 7, 1998 (Wednesday)

I went to see *Saving Private Ryan* with **Matsubana**, **Nishimura**, and **Nakamura**. We had our advance tickets ready and headed to Shibuya Cine Tower.

But wow, it was already standing room only!  
Is it that popular?  
...and then I heard an announcement: **"Today, tickets are 1,000 yen!"**

Oh, right, it was Movie Day.

I didn’t have the stamina to stand for a 3-hour movie, so I looked up, and just then, the sign for the theater across the street caught my eye: *Austin Powers...*

We quickly crossed the lightly raining street and switched to *Austin Powers.*

Man, it was hilarious.  
But I wonder if this kind of humor is only understandable to people in their 30s and up?

When developing *MGS2*, I might need to rewatch *007*.

## October 23, 1998 (Friday)

Today is the day of my barium test for my stomach, duodenum, small intestine, and large intestine.

In the KGB, they used to say “using barium” referred to deliberately leaking false information to check for security breaches.

I left the house 30 minutes later than usual today. My son waved at me until I disappeared from sight at the door.

Commuting is tough with luggage for a 6-day, 5-night business trip. It was a good idea to send just my suit to the office in advance yesterday.


## October 29, 1998 (Thursday)

We did motion capture at **IMAGICA** today. Since we had a morning meeting, we didn’t leave until after 10 a.m.

We were guided to the capture studio, Sakuratei. It’s been two years since I last visited IMAGICA. The last time was when we edited a video for TGS right after I moved to Tokyo, working late into the night with the agency staff. By the time I arrived, the setup was already complete. Under **Toyopi’s** direction, we began capturing.

First up was Mei Ling. **Mizpin’s** model of Mei Ling (without textures) moved in real-time, perfectly synced with the actor’s movements. From a distance, it looked incredibly lifelike. This time, we used magnetic capture. Since the actions were small, we recorded in the smallest studio.

The actor was a beautiful actress who had even played a child role in *Silent Hill.* We added direction to each shot, though it was my first time guiding an actor’s performance, so I was figuring things out as I went. Despite that, we’ve come a long way since the experiment we did at the research lab three years ago. The workflow is much smoother now. It’s clear that handling everything in-house is impossible. We need to prioritize efficiency.

At noon, I returned to Ebisu, then went back to IMAGICA at 5 p.m.

**Toyopi** was much more relaxed, likely due to his experience. We finished capturing all the planned shots, and with 30 minutes left, we decided to do some improvisation. The actress performed *Dojo Sukui* (a traditional Japanese comedic dance), using Naomi’s file—it was fascinating to watch.

Afterward, I greeted the actress when she removed the data suit and helmet. She was a beautiful and lovely person.

I wonder if this kind of profession will become more common in the future.



## October 30, 1998 (Friday)

I had planned to go to the hospital this morning, but since my stomach feels fine, I canceled the visit and went to the office as usual. The medication runs out today, but that’s okay.

Since the planning retreat, **Fukushima** has been lacking energy. I’m also feeling down. I had been relying on Fukushima, but just as **Shinkawa** and the others pointed out, the characters and plot are lacking in appeal. 

It looks like I’ll have to take over and handle everything directly again this time.

## October 31, 1998 (Saturday)

I bought a Game Boy Color (GBC) and left it unused for a while.

Since there aren’t any games I want, it seems it might end up being left unused.

I found the original *Mario* for the Game Boy in my room. I connected it to the Game Boy and started playing, and wow, it’s really fun.

This is the essence of gaming. The colors are limited to four and a bit hard to see, but even so, it’s more than enough.

At 2:00 p.m., I left Ebisu with Muraoka-san and the sound team. We arrived at Pantheon around 2:15 p.m. The line for the Tokyo Fantasia Film Festival extended from the 1st to the 5th floor.

One of our sound team members had asked a stranger (wearing an *Escape from L.A.* hat) to hold a spot before he came to the office, so we managed to secure a good position around the 2nd floor. As a thank-you, we gave the guy a Metal Gear hat.

Since there were still more than four hours to wait, Muraoka-san and I went to Tower Records and a bookstore. I bought the *Dark City* soundtrack CD and a sniper novel.

We rejoined the line, but waiting like this at my age is pretty tough. Coincidentally, the guy with the L.A. hat had a friend who worked at Konami. That friend brought his girlfriend along.

Now our group had five people. As the start time approached, more TV cameras appeared. The L.A. guy got caught by a camera and was interviewed.

At the last minute, in a moment of madness, he shouted, “Metal Gear is now on sale!”

After 5:30 p.m., a friend of our sound staff arrived. His friend was Matsuno-san, the creator of Square's *FFT.* Like proper businessmen, Matsuno-san and I exchanged business cards on the stairs. We chatted about recent events while we waited. He seemed like a really nice guy.

Finally, at 6:00 p.m., the event started. We secured a great spot about five rows from the front. The interior was decorated with lighting, giving it a different feel—almost unrecognizable as Pantheon.

The opening was spectacular, with a kung fu action event followed by guest greetings. Guests included Bruce Lee’s wife and Go Nagai.

At 7:00 p.m., *Vampires* (*Vampires: The Last Battle*) finally started. The film opened with an interview with John Carpenter. He looked healthier than before, and the interview was quite interesting.

*Vampires* marked Carpenter's comeback!! It was well done. The theme was excellent.

This story was perfect for Carpenter.

After the movie, Muraoka-san and I had dinner in Harajuku. While drinking beer, I talked about the planning retreat and explained the outline of *MGS2.* Come to think of it, the first person I discussed the plot and concept of the previous game with was also Muraoka-san. I remember it was at a tea shop in Sannomiya Station. After that, we drank at a bar in Ebisu until midnight.

## November 1, 1998 (Sunday)

They’re broadcasting news about astronaut John Glenn on TV. I’ve made a promise to my son that we’ll go to space together someday, but will I be able to keep it? Though, according to him, the “rocket” we’ll take isn’t a space shuttle but the one from *Wallace and Gromit’s A Grand Day Out.*

I spent the day at home reading. I finished Nancy Collins’ *Black Rose.*

## November 4, 1998 (Wednesday)

We had a TV crew from Germany come for an interview. The interviewer and the cameraman arrived carrying their equipment in heavy aluminum cases. Both had very stereotypically German appearances. The interviewer had an earring, and the other guy looked strikingly similar to Agent Mulder (*David Duchovny*) from *The X-Files.* He looked so much like him that I wanted Scott to translate my comment, but Scott said, “He doesn’t look like him” and refused to translate.

I learned that Scott had lived in New York for a while, so I immediately asked him about the Manhattan area. I asked about the distance between the Statue of Liberty and Wall Street, as well as a bit about the geography and safety of places like SoHo, Chinatown, Little Italy, and Brooklyn. Based on this, it seems like setting *MGS2* in Manhattan shouldn’t be a problem. I asked Scott to get me a detailed map of Manhattan. I’ll trust him when he says he knows it better than Motomachi (a famous area in Yokohama).

The idea of an armed group taking over an offshore plant (artificial island) built to clean up an oil spill feels a bit weak. So, we’ll have them take the visiting president hostage as well. To subvert the player's expectations, we’ll kill the president right at the start of the story. But the twist is that the president was a body double. The real president, Solidus, whose term is almost over, fakes his death and goes underground.

## November 8, 1998 (Sunday)

I went to the office in the afternoon. RMC informed us that there is a stop bug in the PAL version of *MGS.* I asked Uehara-kun for details. As expected, it's a memory overflow issue. At the heliport, if you destroy the surveillance camera with a Stinger missile and then immediately put on the thermal goggles, the game freezes. We’ll fix it and send it to CS International tomorrow. Uehara-kun is staying overnight to burn the ROM. Lately, he's gained confidence, composure, and a sense of responsibility—this is good to see.

I rented some videos at Tsutaya: *Hell's Guard* and *Breakdown.* After putting my son to bed, I watched Kurt Russell’s *Breakdown.* It was so gripping that I found myself tensing up. I wonder if that tension comes from the fact that Kurt Russell's character is just an ordinary, vulnerable man.

To create that kind of tension in *MGS,* the protagonist would need to be an ordinary person... but then it wouldn’t be a game.

At 9 p.m., the Japanese TV premiere of John Woo’s *Blackjack* aired. The main character, played by Dolph Lundgren, is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka. There’s a sequence where Lundgren, after being blinded by a flashbang, follows a child's instructions (“Enemy at 12 o’clock!”) to shoot at enemies—this could be useful. I watched the opening scene, then went to bed.

There was a big earthquake late at night. It was a magnitude 4 in Kanagawa and a 3 in Tokyo. Earthquakes are unpleasant.

I kept having weird dreams.

## November 9, 1998 (Monday)

At 3 p.m., we had a recording session at Central Recording for the third episode of the *MGS* radio drama. Mr. Saka, who played Colonel Cortez, participated, and it was nostalgic to work with him again. As expected, Saka was amazing. When he gets into character, his performance is so intense that it reminds me of Gates Becker. It was so gripping that it made you feel short of breath just listening to it.

Several magazines came to the voiceover session to cover the recording. We took a commemorative photo with the voice actors in the studio. Ōtsuka-san (*Solid Snake’s* voice actor) kindly said, “Director, please stand in the center!” but I chose to stand at the far end. It seems Ōtsuka really likes *MGS* (the role of Snake).

Saka’s performance was so outstanding that I started thinking of a character specifically for him in *MGS2.* Later, I had a casual conversation with Muraoka at a ramen shop in Ginza.

We discussed an idea about a legendary sniper who served during the Vietnam War and took down 64 enemies. But in truth, he wasn’t a sniper—he was a spotter. Due to a mistake on his first mission, the real legendary sniper was killed. Now, he works as a security officer on an offshore plant. His beloved wife has passed away, and his only son has distanced himself from him. His past became known, and since then, he's been estranged from his son's family.

He knows the offshore plant well and ends up serving as Snake’s spotter in the end.

I also thought about a role for Kaneto Shiozawa, but I couldn’t come up with a good part for him.

Afterward, I watched *The Replacement Killers* in Ginza. The content made me think it would have been a great film if John Woo had directed it, even though the story was the same. Chow Yun-Fat didn’t look cool, and the gunfight scenes lacked creativity. Only John Woo knows how to film him in a truly manly way.

Today's name: Raiden Branigan.  
Solidus is gas, a mirage, a non-existent existence.

## November 10, 1998 (Tuesday)

I’m finally putting together the final development report for *MGS.* With a total of 39 people involved, summarizing everything is a major task.

I went to Tsutaya with Matsubana to return *Breakdown* and *Hell’s Guard* and rented *Sniper* and *Face/Off.*

This morning’s newspaper had an article about the supercomputer “Blue Pacific,” jointly developed by the Livermore Laboratory and IBM. I wondered what such a high-speed computer would be used for, and it turns out it’s for subcritical nuclear testing again. It seems virtual reality nuclear tests are going to become increasingly common.

Arsenal Gear will also be equipped with 10 “Blue Atlantic” supercomputers running in parallel. It’s not just an arsenal but a system that collects its own data, feeds it back into experiments, and accelerates its readiness for deployment. There’s no longer any need for simulated warhead launch drills. It’s an arsenal of nuclear testing that can be deployed in real combat.

I’m thinking of introducing a seasoned veteran who prevents aging with telomerase enzymes—a legendary hero from the Second World War. Someone who showed even Big Boss the ropes in various strategies. Physically close to 100 years old and boasting over half a century of combat experience, codename “Old Man” is said to be a walking piece of military history. He calls all of the soldiers of the world “youngsters.”

“No one has seen more battlefields than me. And no one alive has come closer to death than I have.”

He attacks using a Panzerfaust. I'll leave the details of the weapon to Hirano-kun. As for the voice, Saka-san would be great.

While having a meeting with Murata-kun about the radio drama, I heard that Kikuko Inoue is returning to the field. I also learned that Akio Ōtsuka is going to appear in a live-action movie. We’ll need to be careful when scheduling for his appearance in *MGS2.*

## November 11, 1998 (Wednesday)

At 9:30 a.m., we gathered at the CS Business Headquarters and, with 12 development directors from various KCE divisions, went to the SCE headquarters. We were kept waiting for a while in the familiar 1st-floor lobby, where we submit our masters.

We were led to the conference room. It was my first time on the upper floors, and the floor was pristine. Every woman I met there was beautiful, offering radiant smiles. As expected from SCE.

We were first shown into a small private room. There, we watched five different demos on five stacked prototype PS2 units (graphics boards). It was truly impressive. If the work is done right, achieving real-time visuals on par with pre-rendered cinematics is very feasible. This hardware is ideal for cinematic-style games. But *MGS* is different. Visually, we’ll likely still be at a disadvantage.

We moved to another room for a technical breakdown of the specs. It’s not just a typical game console—it’s a beast of high-end hardware. What used to be manually crafted data is now being processed through calculations. Effects like explosions, wind, and smoke won’t be handled by a director’s craftsmanship anymore—they’ll be generated in real-time using physics-based middleware.

In real-time 3D, elements like fire and water are no longer just static data; they’re represented through dynamic simulations, driven by real-time calculations. This changes the way we approach development significantly. Things like hair movement, which animators used to create by hand, will now be handled through physics simulations. While this brings us closer to realism, it may also lead to a loss of the artistic individuality that animators used to inject into the game.

We took one of the graphics hardware sets back to the office. I’ll never forget the complex conversation I had with Uehara-kun during the taxi ride from Akasaka to Ebisu.

After returning to Ebisu, I gathered the core team for a briefing. I reaffirmed my decision for *MGS2*—we'll focus on having a massive number of enemies (about 100 soldiers, each around 1,000 polygons) on-screen, even if it means sticking to low-poly models.

## November 12, 1998 (Thursday)

I started writing the concept document. I’ve had to switch from WordPerfect to MS Word, as times have changed. Like with this journal, something just feels off. The layout and how the text aligns on the monitor are subtly different.

I’ve been using WordPerfect for project proposals and specs ever since Konami switched to Macs—about four years now. Switching from Ichitaro back then also took time to adjust to. During *Metal Gear,* I wrote everything in WordPerfect. Over the years, I unconsciously developed a rhythm, arranging text, fonts, and layouts in a way that helped maintain a steady flow while writing.

It’s not that the commands or interface are hard to use. It’s more of a deeper, instinctual discomfort. Back during *Metal Gear,* I wrote everything in WordPerfect, and Fukushima handled converting it into MS Word.

After a few pages, the discomfort became too much, so I stopped for the day. I ordered the *MGS2* logo from Hisashi, asking for one version that doesn’t reuse the old logo and another simplified version. Of course, I joked that we might as well put *MGS3* on it.

We had to kick Ueno out of the former video editing room (the cave) to install the PS2 graphics evaluation board. Ueno moved to sit next to Hisashi. Kume will set it up tomorrow, and we should be able to see the demo then.

## November 13, 1998 (Friday)

Kume set up the PS2 evaluation graphics board, and we had video output within five minutes. But the sample footage was nothing more than a simple 8-polygon cube—much simpler than what I had expected. Takabe-kun will hopefully figure something out over the weekend.

I wasn’t able to make any progress on the project proposal today because of meetings.

## November 16, 1998 (Monday)

I went to the hospital for the first time in a month. After waiting for 30 minutes, I finally met the doctor again. When I said, “I'm healed!” he looked genuinely happy.

As I walked the narrow, winding road to the station, which I'd taken so many times over the past six months, I felt a sense of nostalgia. I passed through the ticket gate, silently wishing, “May I never have to come back here. May I stay healthy.” Goodbye to this long battle with illness...

At the secret lab, Takabe-kun’s weekend work was unveiled. He actually spent the entire weekend at the office, staying overnight. The result? 500 Snake models running around in a metal warehouse. The impact was exactly what we were aiming for! It was incredible. This confirms what *MGS2* is all about—numbers. A completely new experience no one has seen before. “This can work!” The team was convinced. If we use mid-poly models, we could probably push it to around 200 characters. I came up with the idea of having 200 soldiers standing in formation during the aircraft carrier sequence, listening to a commander’s speech. Seeing that many characters on screen right from the start would immediately create more tension during the infiltration.

We added a “No Entry” sign and a “P4” label to the secret lab as a joke. It’s become something to look forward to every morning.

Dewa-kun returned from Dallas with samples of the *MGS* trading cards. They turned out great. I’m really satisfied with the result. Thank you, Dewa-kun.

It seems the airstrikes on Iraq have been avoided. The Iraq nuclear inspection issue is part of the backdrop for *MGS2.* There’s suspicion that a Metal Gear is being developed in Iraq… history just keeps repeating itself.

## November 17, 1998 (Tuesday)

Returned to the draft proposal again. Wrote the usual preamble, but whether it will be useful or not, well, not really. Anyway, without some kind of written document to unify our intentions, nothing can start.

Today's menu at Takabe's Secret Research Lab: First thing in the morning, we watched the 300-person Snake scene with anti-aliasing and distance fog. It looks quite good. After that, we looked at surface fog and motion blur. Finally, multi-view rendering. Surface fog seems usable. The significance of focusing on the floor terrain is becoming apparent.


## November 18, 1998 (Wednesday)

Spent the whole morning and afternoon gathering research materials. There wasn’t much progress on the concept document proposal. I worked on the settings section and had Muraoka-san review about 10 pages of the draft in progress.

Today’s menu at Takabe’s secret lab included light processing and backface culling of polygons. Even though we doubled the number to 600 Snakes, it was clearly too much, so we reduced it to 450 Snakes. Tonight was the first time we encountered this kind of strain. Even the PS2 seems to struggle a bit. For now, it’s just the rendering.

450 characters were writhing around in the Metal Gear storage room—it looked like the Honolulu Marathon. When we get to this number, it truly feels like "a lot!" I asked the staff, "How many do you think there are?" They answered, "1,000!" That made me happy.

The first batch of motion data we recorded last month arrived from IMAGICA. Now we can see Mei Ling’s "dojo sukui" (loach scooping dance).

When I got home, ETV was airing a special on child soldiers. The content was almost exactly what I’d read in this morning’s newspaper—perfect timing. I was thinking of using this for Raiden’s true backstory (setting).

The American phone book I requested from KOA arrived. I immediately searched for "Sarah Connor" and had some fun playing Terminator. I’ll use it when naming characters.

## November 19, 1998 (Thursday)

The large draft proposal is nearly complete. Tomorrow, I’ll finish it up and upload it to the development server. While listening to the staff’s opinions, I moved on to character settings.

Today's menu at Takabe’s secret lab included moving point lights and environment mapping. The movement of multiple point lights looked like a disco. The reflection mapping is similar to what Takabe-kun did on the PlayStation before. It’s still just a faked reflection effect. There wasn’t much surprise today.

Johnny finished working on Mei Ling and has started creating the Snake model for *MGS2.* Mizupin is trying to achieve Shinkawa’s style in the textures, but it’s impossible for the designer alone to make it work, so we’ll aim to recreate Shinkawa’s characters in a realistic way. We’ll abandon the approach of making them resemble actual people.

I’ve been regretting not watching the recent meteor shower. It’s not about the fact that it was a once-in-30-years event or the last chance to see it, but I’m surprised at how uninterested and lazy I’ve become about such things. Shouldn’t I have taken the initiative to show the meteor shower to my son? If I were still a student, I would have definitely stayed up all night, staring at the sky. The Apollo landing, the Soyuz docking, Shuttle launches... Back then, I was more curious and active. Could it be that I’m just getting older?

## November 20, 1998 (Friday)

I signed the mystery cards for the *MGS* trading card set. Due to issues in the printing process, only 50 out of the planned 100 types arrived, and I signed those. The cards were coated with a special finish, making it hard for regular markers to stick, so Dewa-kun ran to Mitsukoshi to buy some new pens.

Shin-chan and I split the signing duties. Shin-chan’s pen flowed smoothly, while my pen pressure was too strong. The difference in our signatures was huge. My signature spread out too much, to the point where the letters were almost crushed and ruined the card’s design. The numbers in “1998,” especially the 9 and 8, were practically unrecognizable. I worried, “The people who get this might be upset!” as I kept signing. Still, the cards turned out great, and Dewa-kun looked really satisfied with his work.

I finished writing the large concept document (preliminary version) and uploaded it to the shared server. Now the key members of *MGS2* can view it. Since I used some Mac-specific characters (like arrows) on my Mac, it seems they won’t display properly in HTML.

Today’s menu at Takabe’s secret lab included deflectable point lights. It’s the same technique that was developed for the PlayStation but ultimately scrapped. Six or seven lights wriggled around on the screen, bending when they hit walls or obstacles. This time, it looks like it’ll work! However, if the lights hit thin walls like a folding screen, they still pass through, so we’ll need to carefully choose where to use it. Since Takabe-kun only worked a half day today, this was the only task completed. It looks like he’ll be working through the weekend. Watching him makes me envy engineers—PS2 really seems like a lot of fun.

I went swimming at the sports club. I swam 12 laps today, but that’s still only 700 meters. Fridays are usually less crowded, but the pool lanes were busy. Christmas songs were playing non-stop in the sauna and throughout the club.

My comment appeared in the movie ad section of the evening edition of the *Asahi Shimbun* for *Dark City.*

“It will undoubtedly go down in the history of sci-fi films.”  
— Hideo Kojima, *Metal Gear Solid* Director/Game Designer

I found it funny how they added “…-san” after my name. Still, it feels good to have done something related to the film industry, even in a small way.

## November 22, 1998 (Sunday)

I bought *The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time* and an N64 at the department store. It’s been over two years since the console’s release, and while I considered buying it many times, I never did because there weren’t any games I wanted to play.

I spotted *Zelda* and the N64 at the store. I took my son to the counter, pretending like he was the one who really wanted it.

When I got home, I set up *Zelda.* I played the Kokiri training stage for a while, but I started feeling sick from the 3D motion. As expected, I’m still not good with 3D games... I bought the console just for this, so I have to see it through no matter what.

Later that night, I watched the NHK special *The Ocean: The Unknown World.* It gave me some ideas for *MGS2.* Apparently, after World War I, there was a German scientist who tried to extract gold from seawater. Today, there’s research underway to extract lithium from seawater.

I wonder if it’s possible to extract plutonium or other nuclear weapon materials from manganese nodules at the bottom of the sea? Though, it sounds far too unrealistic...

## November 24, 1998 (Tuesday)

Day by day, the city is getting dressed up for Christmas. I noticed that our home has also started to show its usual Christmas decorations in the living room and entrance. Since work has settled down this year, I should be able to enjoy Christmas at a slower pace.

I revised the large concept document (preliminary version) and uploaded it to the shared server again. Starting tomorrow, everyone will be able to see the most updated version just by checking it. When I asked the staff for their feedback on the draft, it turned out no one knew the proposal was even available online or that they could read it. After I told them where the file was stored, Johnny and others began reading it. I should get some feedback in tomorrow’s daily report.

Today's menu at Takabe's secret lab: shadows influenced by point lights. The shadows stretch and change shape with the movement of the light, curving around on top of a real round oil drum, and bending when they hit the wall. It’s exactly the shadow processing I’ve been dreaming of. We even got multiple shadows appearing from different light sources...

We’ve managed to get it working. But lately, nothing has really surprised me. It feels like something’s missing. If we keep adding this and that, there’s a risk of weakening the visual impact. Focusing too much on shadows and lighting could reduce the number of soldiers on screen. A more cinematic approach with fewer, more detailed polygons might be easier to understand and more likely to succeed... I’m starting to doubt the direction again.

However, even if we aim for movie-like CG, we won’t be able to create the “experience” (sense of immersion) I want. In the end, it's about content. No matter what anyone says, I’m going to keep going down this path.

I found a nonfiction book called *The Nazi Saboteurs of the Atomic Bomb.* Flipping through it, the codename “Mikkel” caught my eye. I’m not sure what language it’s from, but it seems to mean “Fox.” It was a codename given to operatives involved in special operations against the Nazis. I want the codenames this time (for the protagonist and Black Cell) to be based on weapon names (like Raiden and Fatman). I want to convey the nuance that they are being treated as tools of war rather than as people.

## November 25, 1998 (Wednesday)

Since the day I bought *Zelda*, I haven't turned on the N64 even once. At the company, *Zelda* has become a craze among some people. Even Johnny and Nakamura-kun, who are usually very picky about games, are praising it highly. It seems that Nishimura-kun and Uehara-kun are engrossed in it every day until morning. I'm kind of envious. For someone like me who gets 3D motion sickness, it's a bit daunting to try again.

What everyone says unanimously is how difficult the game is. Right from the beginning (the first boss enemy), it demands high-level action skills. Even Muraoka-san got stuck at the first boss. He was asking Okamura during lunch how to defeat it. As for the puzzles, it seems they're so challenging that you absolutely can't solve them without a strategy guide. “That's why it's so satisfying when you figure it out!” That seems to be what everyone who played *Zelda* finds enjoyable. “A game with real substance—it’s been a while since we've had a game that feels like a game amid so many easy ones lately. Because it's difficult, you get a genuine sense of playing the game when you overcome it. Recently, games have been playing us. This is what a game should be...” That's what they all say.

Certainly, the fun of action games lies there. It's also the issue I struggled with until the end when adjusting the difficulty of *MGS.* Why did I worry? Because it's clearly a different era now compared to when *Metal* was released on the MSX. Prices, global affairs, users, and values have all changed. That's why I was so conflicted.

When I talk to various people, it seems that *MGS* overlaps quite a bit with *Zelda* in terms of content and ideas. When you thoroughly pursue 3D polygon action, do you end up reaching the same conclusions?

I worked on the character setting for Raiden, the protagonist. I uploaded almost the first draft to the server. I also wrote the item box entries and uploaded them.

Today's menu at Takabe's secret lab: multiple water ripples. By processing the surface in an environment mapping style, it seems we've achieved CG quality from some years ago. Well, perhaps it's amazing just to be able to render this on actual hardware.

## November 26, 1998 (Thursday)

I did an interview for a French magazine. The writer was fluent in Japanese, so I didn’t need Scott’s help. Unusually, he didn’t record the conversation and just took notes, but it seemed like the subtle nuances didn’t quite come across. When I mentioned that I liked French cinema and Enki Bilal, it seemed to please him. Is that really all it takes?

I took him to the sound department to let him listen to the French voice-over for the scene where Wolf dies. He was really impressed with the performance. After hearing the voice acting, he kept saying, “Congratulations!” over and over for some reason.

Apparently, he’d read somewhere that I like wine, so he brought a bottle of rosé from France as a gift. That was thoughtful of him.

We finalized some details about the setting of Arsenal Gear and Solidus’ goals. I bought some pearl blue and pearl purple pens. There were a lot of interruptions today, so I couldn’t make much progress on the project.

Takabe’s secret lab is on hold today because the German version is in a crunch. It feels lonely...

## November 27, 1998 (Friday)

Today is the release date of the Dreamcast.

I worked on the character settings for Solidus. To avoid making Solidus an absolute villain, I decided to introduce a group of elderly people called “The Patriots,” who secretly control national defense.

I realized today that I had been misunderstanding the meaning of “SOLIDUS” up until now. When I checked with Okaji, it turns out it refers to the phase boundary where something is neither water nor ice. I'll be changing the associated imagery and lines. Apparently, it refers to the curve that shows the relationship between the melting point and the composition of the solid phase—a solidus line.

Just before leaving, I watched *Godzilla* on the Dreamcast. It actually looks pretty interesting. The backgrounds, textures, and camera work are a bit off, but if done properly, it could have been quite good. Ifukube's music is awesome.

The third stage takes place in Osaka, Umeda. I watched as nostalgic landmarks like Hankyu, Hanshin, Maru Building, and the Fourth Building were destroyed by Godzilla. I asked Shin-chan to destroy KCE Osaka, but we couldn’t find the building. At least Konami Osaka got destroyed.

## December 1, 1998 (Tuesday)

I read an article in *Military Research* about Admiral Boorda, the 25th Chief of Naval Operations and a proponent of the Arsenal Ship concept. Rising from the ranks of a sailor, he seems to have embodied the American Dream among a navy full of elites. It seems only someone like him could have thought up the idea of the Arsenal Ship. If ships like the Arsenal spread, the navy’s role would diminish. It also went against the Navy spirit and was seen as an unappealing idea. He faced heavy criticism from elite officers like aviators and submariners. In *MGS2,* I’ll set it up so that the Marines take over the Arsenal Ship project.

I began preparations for tomorrow's PS2 presentation. I arranged the tables in the seminar room and set up the venue. I also ordered signs from Kyu-chan to guide people to the restrooms and vending machines. Honestly, we could charge an entry fee for this.

According to the email tally, there will be 20 people at tomorrow’s presentation. Thanks to everyone for the hard work.

It took almost all day to fit the explanatory VTR into an 8mm tape. I cut the footage into 1-minute sections, with looping visuals in between. During these sections, Takabe-kun will provide commentary.

In the evening, we held a rehearsal in the seminar room. Since the screen was dim, we turned off the lights. The large screen had great impact, but through video, details like anti-aliasing were hard to notice.

I used Okaji to test the reaction from a general audience. He was astonished by the 450 Snakes and let out a shriek. It was a success. I’m debating whether to show it to the *MGS2* team tomorrow. In any case, other departments at KCE will see it tomorrow.

I really want to ask Kyle Cooper to make the title sequence for *MGS2.* He worked on *Eraser,* *Mission: Impossible,* and *Twister*... now that I think of it, they all had that Kyle Cooper style. I have a newfound appreciation for his talent. I’ve set my heart on asking him.

Kyle was born in August 1963, the same year and month as me. Same star sign, same fate. The materials Kyu-chan gave me included the address, phone number, and contact info for his company, Imaginary Forces. I’ll try reaching out after the new year.

I want to attempt the first-ever real-time title sequence in the industry. If that’s not possible, I’m fine with a movie sequence. The Kyle Cooper-style title is already playing out in my head. What I really want to try is a real-time opening credit sequence. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but I have a few ideas.

## December 2, 1998 (Wednesday)

At 10:30 AM, we gathered the main members of the *MGS2* team in the seminar room for a PS2 briefing rehearsal. This was the first unveiling of the PS2 to the team. In about 15 minutes, Takabe-kun finished his explanation, and we showed the PS2 demo video. I asked for their thoughts, but it didn’t seem to make that much of an impact. Compared to the PS and Dreamcast, the general impression was just that it could handle a large number of polygons. Perhaps the anticipation was so high because it had been so difficult to see the PS2 until now, and they had overreacted in their minds.

According to Uehara-kun, it's an amazing piece of hardware. Even so, Toyopee was pleased with it. That’s right—this kind of positive attitude feels refreshing right now.

At 2:00 PM, we held the PS2 briefing. We pushed right up to the last minute to get footage ready of five Metal Gear units plus five Snake units. When the legs of the Metal Gears appeared, they really did look big. I felt like we could pull this off.

As expected, there were a lot of unfamiliar faces. We started the briefing five minutes late.

With Uehara-kun's relaxed atmosphere and tone, he explained the PS2 specs. Honestly, no matter how many times I hear it, I still don’t really understand it. The audience's reaction was strangely quiet. If this had been a school lesson, they definitely would have fallen asleep. I felt a sense of alienation, like I didn’t belong there. Maybe this profession isn’t right for me.

Finally, we got to the explanation of the GS (Graphics Synthesizer), using the video. The lights dimmed, and the video started. The SCE logo and PS mark appeared... “Damn, this isn’t landing!” No one laughed. The opening had clearly failed.

When the footage of 450 Snakes appeared, there was an audible gasp from the audience, but the reaction still wasn’t as big as I’d expected. After the video, we split the attendees into groups of six and took them into individual rooms in the secret lab to see the live footage on the actual hardware.

Since individual hardware viewings were inefficient, we changed the schedule and moved into a Q&A session. Uehara-kun answered politely. By that point, I had no idea what was going on. He was throwing out equations and numbers with a smile, but I had no clue what was supposed to be funny.

I got an email from Scott informing me that *MGS* was selected as “Game of the Year” by *Official PlayStation Magazine.* Wait, what? Where’s *Zelda*? That thought crossed my mind, but then I remembered this was *PlayStation Magazine.*

Shin-chan bought a comic book magazine that had a full-page ad for the *MGS* action figures from McFarlane Toys, set to release in February next year.

Yoshiike-kun rented the video *Eyes Without a Face* for me. I half-jokingly said, “Watch it because it’s scary!” but it seems he took me seriously and rented it. It’s a French film I saw as a kid that scared me intensely.

## December 4, 1998 (Friday)

In the morning, I worked on writing the concept document for *Z.O.E.* In the afternoon, I had a meeting with Okamura based on the concept document to discuss the direction.

After finishing up *Z.O.E,* I finally participated in the VR evaluation session for *Integral.* It was already past 3 PM. We went through Sneaking, Weapon, Advanced, and Special modes in that order. As expected, the Weapon mode is the most fun. Shooting at targets and enemies is a fundamental part of a game. Watching the Nikita missile's first-person view made me feel a bit motion sick. We left a few Special stages unfinished and called it a day.

The stages themselves are fine, but we need to be careful with camera and placement adjustments.

I went swimming at the sports club. Since it’s Friday, it was pretty empty.

## December 6, 1998 (Sunday)

I went with my son to the Transportation Museum in Akihabara.

On the third floor of the museum, we saw a model of the world’s largest tanker. While looking at it, I imagined Snake moving around, thinking about a tanker scenario. However, it’s highly impractical for him to infiltrate a moving tanker from underwater. Looking at models like this helps put things in perspective. The scale is different from what I had imagined. Would Snake have to sneak in by blending in with some cargo? But that wouldn’t feel very Snake-like.

Dropping onto the deck with a stealth parachute in a violent storm might also be too impractical.

## December 7, 1998 (Monday)

I went to Cinema Rise with Muraoka-san to watch *Velvet Goldmine.* Hmm... it was gross. I feel like young people might watch this movie and mistakenly think glam rock is gay music. Even so, Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of Iggy Pop is way too fat.

## December 8, 1998 (Tuesday)

In the morning, I evaluated the remaining VR stages (Special). The "Yamashita Stage" has a bad reputation among the staff, but it's actually well thought out as a stage. The issue isn't the puzzle-solving aspect, but rather the fact that the solution is vague. The answer isn't clear. I'd like to add stages with puzzle elements that require more brainpower, not just technique. I worked on writing the VR disc specifications.

Mineshi is creating the background for the ninja stage. Since the evaluation for *Z.O.E* is tomorrow, I spent most of my time over in that area. As a result, I couldn’t make any progress on the *MGS2* planning today either.

The Mei Ling model for the survival photo shoot was displayed. It didn’t seem very lifelike, so I asked them to apply environmental mapping to the eyes. I wasn’t expecting much, but... this is good! They look a bit like doll eyes, but I feel like some light has broken through. This direction seems promising. While it doesn’t look entirely human, it gives off the sense of a different kind of life. If we tone down the alpha blend of the environmental mapping a bit, it might create a nice moistness in the eyes. Encouraged by this, I asked them to make a separate model for the lower lip and apply environmental mapping to it as well. If this works, the lips could shine like in a cosmetics commercial. I also plan to have them apply environmental mapping to the teeth in *MGS2.* After all, the life of a doll is in its eyes and mouth.

Okajii's eye movement program was implemented, making Mei Ling’s eyes move in an unnatural way. Going forward, we’ll need data to specify the gaze direction along with the motion data. It might be best to link the gaze with the motion to some extent and specify it when creating the demo. This might make demo creation more of a hassle.

I want the enemy soldiers to react to Snake’s weapons and equipment. I’m also thinking of events where they follow his line of sight.

I asked myself: How do things look natural? Naturally, skin and clothing have different materials and colors, so in the real world, they reflect light differently. The reflectivity is different. Black objects absorb light. In other words, in nature, the appearance of things varies depending on their color and material. This is because each has a different level of reflectivity. Current CG doesn’t reflect this. No matter how much we try to work textures into the model, skin, clothes, and buttons all reflect light the same way. As a result, they end up looking like the paper assembly kits that come as extras in Gakken’s *Science and Learning* magazines. If we could selectively turn shading on and off for different parts, we could create a more convincing effect. Ideally, I’d like to have subtle differences in reflectivity rather than just on/off shading, but none of the programmers seemed enthusiastic when I mentioned it.

There’s one more challenge for today: wrinkle representation. Should we simulate wrinkles physically, or should we prepare texture-based illustrations of wrinkles and use morphing techniques? Toray has apparently developed a cloth simulator for clothing design that calculates the wrinkles and draping of fabric based on the selected material for the model. Of course, it’s not in real-time.

It seems that Synergy Geomatics has gone bankrupt. I read an article about it in a newspaper column. It’s a bit of a shock. Back in the days of the PC-98 and 3DO, Synergy was a giant in the multimedia world.

I went swimming at the sports club. The Bee Gees’ *Massachusetts* was playing.

## December 9, 1998 (Wednesday)

I worked on writing the specifications for the VR disc. Using the models and motions from the photo shoot, I created the polygon cutscene for the opening.

We displayed the Mei Ling model for the render evaluation on the PS2. As expected, the high resolution makes it look beautiful. Even the bangs look convincingly like hair. However, it doesn’t feel surprising. Since the textures come through so clearly, adding any touch-ups or stylization might not be a good idea. 

Since the hardware doesn’t support bump mapping, it might be more effective to create details with polygons and use lighting for shading. We might need to hire a lighting specialist. On the PS2, modeling is key. You tend to rely on textures to compensate, but that won’t cut it here.

## December 10, 1998 (Thursday)

Mouri-san came to the office, and I confirmed his willingness to participate in *MGS2.* It seems that Mouri-san wants to contribute to the scenario, but since *Metal Gear* is, after all, a "game," we’ll handle the scenario internally. As long as *MGS2* is a game, the narrative has to be tied to game mechanics. That part can’t be entrusted to someone else. Like in the previous game, Mouri-san will focus on being an advisor. His main responsibilities will include checking the plot and settings, and supervising the tactics and behavior of enemy soldiers. Of course, we also plan to rely on Mouri-san’s connections for research.

Since the release of *MGS,* Mouri-san has been flooded with offers from the game industry, most of which are requests for him to write scenarios. I emphasized again that, like before, his involvement would be broad but not too deep this time. It’s a somewhat difficult request, but Mouri-san seemed happy to accept it. Around March, when the game’s overall structure becomes clearer, we’ll negotiate again, have him check things over, and exchange opinions.

The PocketStation arrived at the company today. Just this morning, I heard the news that its release had been delayed from December 23 to the end of January. Holding it in my hands, I find it incredibly cute and cool at the same time. It’s a wonderful design. I hadn’t been that interested before, but now that I’ve seen it, I want one. It's not about the functionality—it’s the design alone that’s enough of a reason to buy it. Even the back is refined, and it has a high-end feel. It works as a fashion item. It wouldn’t be strange to see a girl wearing one around her neck.

As I fiddled with the real thing, ideas started pouring out like a fountain. The PocketStation is that kind of item. Just holding or looking at it is fun. Since infrared is a concept that hasn’t existed in game consoles before, there are new possibilities. I urgently wrote the specifications for PocketStation integration in the *Integral* version. We’ll proceed with the original plan of the "Ring Project." Since the programming is in assembly, I’ll leave it to Okajii. The pixel art will be handled by the master dot artist Nakamura-kun.

The PocketStation events I thought of today, like the Stan Bralley and Shibuya events, are something I want to bring to life one day.

At the "2nd Agency for Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival," hosted by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, we won the Excellence Prize in the Digital Art Interactive Division. I received notice of the award from the CS division. At first, I thought we had won the Grand Prize, but after carefully reading the email, it turned out to be just the Excellence Prize. As expected, the Grand Prize will likely go to *Zelda.*

Mei Ling is now properly displayed on the PS2. But even with the proper display, there’s nothing particularly special about it. It looks incredibly ordinary. It feels like a PC game screen. Creating a polygon demo at this level of quality is tough. I need to think of something.

## December 11, 1998 (Friday)

On the PS2, Mei Ling's model has been updated with eye blinking, an eye movement program, and a moisture effect through environmental mapping. However, the polygon edges on the jawline have become noticeable. I had them try applying some blur and smoothing effects. It looks decent. When you add a lot of blur, it creates a soft-focus-like effect. The neck polygons stand out, so I had them add bones to the neck and asked them to look into whether we can split the polygons only when it bends unnaturally. In any case, everything will be determined through future experiments.

I’ll have Shin-chan work on the mecha design for *Z.O.E* within this month. As for Mizupin and Johnny, I’ll have each of them make a model of Snake in their own interpretation.

I watched *Snake Eyes* at Buena Vista in Roppongi. It felt like a typical De Palma movie since *Raising Cain.* However, I couldn’t understand the meaning of the red stone embedded in the pillar at the end. It’s bothering me, but I don’t feel like watching it again.

There was an article about *MGS* in *US TODAY.* It was full of praise. Also, we received the results of an American market survey where *MGS* ranked a proud 2nd place in the “games people want for Christmas.” 1st place was *Zelda.*

I swam at the sports club. It was empty. Fridays seem to be the best time. They were playing nostalgic Christopher Cross songs.

I watched episode 4 of the NHK special *Money Revolution.* Apparently, an artificial stock market using AI traders was developed at the Santa Fe Institute near the Los Alamos National Laboratory. It was created by geniuses classified under complex systems: John Holland and Brian Arthur. It simulates the stock market in a virtual space, similar to earthquake prediction. The name of this project is the Santa Fe Artificial Market. 

For *MGS2,* I plan to expand on this and have Solidus predict the destruction of Wall Street. There will also be an episode where Otacon uses this virtual simulation to profit from trading.

## December 14, 1998 (Monday)

I officially commissioned Shin-chan to design the mechs for *Z.O.E.* We adopted the mecha settings from the doujinshi (fan magazine) Shin-chan wrote back in his student days. For now, since I want to see the silhouette, I gave a provisional order to Kobayashi-kun. After all, it’s a design from six years ago. We’ll refine it. I believe the six-year time gap will work in our favor, like fashion trends.

The protagonist’s mech will have a face embedded in the head. When the face guard opens, it will reveal a demonic expression, just like *Devilman.* The face will be unveiled at the end. The enemy mechs will have skulls. Since the cockpit is positioned in the groin area, I’ve asked for a "Dick Seat" that can erect (stand up). I want to incorporate this into the world’s lingo, so they’ll say things like, "Aim for the enemy’s weak spot (dick)!" Additionally, robots that have been in space for a long time will be parasitized by spaceship lice and Martian barnacles, which will appear to have colonized them. As the robots walk, the lice will fall out of the colony like droplets. When Shin-chan and I get involved, the game clearly heads in a different direction. However, I can feel a certain energy taking shape. I prepared the project proposal for *Z.O.E.*

A box of *MGS* trading cards arrived. Since there weren’t enough for the entire staff, we’ll hold a lottery. Still, only one die-cut card came out of the pack… that must make it quite valuable.

Mei Ling’s neck was fixed. Environmental mapping was applied to the lower lip as well. As expected, it looks quite good.

## December 17, 1998 (Thursday)

At 7 a.m., I turned on the TV and saw the news that the UK and the US had bombed Iraq. This was a military response by the US to Iraq's refusal to allow nuclear inspections. The airstrike occurred without international consent and lasted for six hours. There were images of craters created by the bombing in Baghdad and injured people receiving treatment in bed.

I was deeply shocked. It reminded me of the Gulf War in 1991. At that time, I watched the news about the airstrikes at work. This morning’s first report also featured similar green-tinted night vision footage. It gave me a very grim feeling. Can conflict really not be avoided? It’s the same cycle repeating. What is the UN doing?

I’m concerned about the scale of this conflict. Will it drag on? Will it expand? It seems Clinton is determined to completely crush Hussein.

If the conflict escalates, drags on, and turns into a full-scale war, the development of *MGS2* may have to be scrapped. I feel a deep sense of sorrow. Even if the conflict remains limited, we would still have to change *MGS2's* scenario. The content is just too sensitive.

The story takes place in the near future of the 21st century, where suspicions arise about Metal Gear development in Iraq. The UN demands inspections, but Iraq refuses, and the inspection team, which begins forced inspections, is taken hostage by Iraq. The story starts with tensions rising between Iraq and the US. It’s not just timely—it’s almost identical to real events. If this actually happens in reality, it would rob the fiction of its value and entertainment meaning. If a real meteor were heading toward Earth, no one would go to see *Deep Impact* or *Armageddon.* Moreover, from an ethical standpoint, it would be inappropriate to make light of real-world events in a game.

The story of *MGS* can only exist in a world where peace prevails.

The name "Operation Desert Fox" also reminds me of *MGS.* There are even rumors that stealth and bunker buster bombs were used. It’s extremely unpleasant and regrettable.

I received a box of *MGS* trading cards. I’ll open one pack each day.

## December 18, 1998 (Friday)

The second day of the airstrikes on Iraq. The scale is expanding. It seems the South Korean Navy has sunk one of its own small submarines. Was it in South Korean waters? What were they doing? Were they on a special mission?

At the KCE (Konami Computer Entertainment) School, we held a special lecture by the MGS team. Uehara, Mizutani, Muraoka, and I participated. When we arrived at the venue on the 8th floor of Mori Building 25, the setup was already complete. The main hall could hold 100 people, and the lecture was broadcast via camera to another 100 people outside who couldn’t fit in the hall. As an icebreaker, I introduced the staff and showed a video of Mei Ling (facial animation), but there wasn’t much of a reaction. Then, Uehara-kun, Mizutani-kun, and Muraoka-san each gave a 20-minute lecture in that order. We had prepared for 20 minutes of Q&A afterward. Overall, I think it went fairly well.

I received Sonic from SEGA's Naka-san. It looks like they made the release in time—amazing, really amazing. We all played it right away.

I went swimming at the sports club. Since it’s the end of the year and people are likely busy with year-end parties and other activities, it was the least crowded I’ve ever seen it. I had one lane (specifically for turns) all to myself, and the lane next to it was empty too.

## December 21, 1998 (Monday)

I caught a cold for the first time in six months. My throat hurts. My head hurts. My body feels sluggish.

I thought about going to the hospital, but then I remembered my last visit was probably in March. Since it’s been six months, I’d need to present my health insurance card, but I didn’t have it with me today. So, I gulped down some Pabron S, which I received from the company health plan.

I used to catch colds very easily in winter, but I haven’t had one in the past six months. Well, I did have other issues, like stomach pain. When I think about it, the fact that I didn’t get a cold during the MGS wrap-up period must mean I was really tense at the time.

I had a meeting with Okamura about the plot for Z.O.E.

I went out drinking with Matsuno-san in Ebisu. Although our positions differ, we both share the same struggles and dilemmas of balancing the roles of developer and producer in the field.


## December 24, 1998 (Thursday)

It’s Christmas Eve. We already celebrated Christmas at home yesterday, so today feels like any other day. But as usual, there's a tense atmosphere at the office. Sure enough, someone angrily scrawled in their daily report, "I wish everyone would just die at this time of year…."

Judging by their outfits, it doesn’t seem like the women have any date plans tonight either. At this rate, they won’t last in the entertainment industry, where the job is to bring joy to others.

I started drafting the experiment plan for *MGS2.* I want to move forward with the experiments while juggling work on the European version and *Integral.* But nothing compares to the happiness and excitement I feel when thinking about systems—it makes me eager to start experimenting.

Thinking about how good the first-person view felt in *Integral,* I’m sure first-person attacks will become a core feature in *MGS2.*

Merry Christmas...

## January 7, 1999 (Thursday)

It’s my first diary entry in two weeks. I’ve been so busy over the year-end and New Year’s period that I couldn’t find the time to write after coming home. Habits are scary—once you slack off, you tend to be lazy the next day too. Before I knew it, I hadn’t written for over two weeks. That was close. If this keeps up, I might stop writing my diary altogether…

Starting today, I’m finally back to working on *MGS2* after several months. It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten the plot. This is bad.

I worked on fleshing out the boss battles and character settings. Recently, I’d been worrying, "Am I getting too old for this?" But ideas and visuals came flooding in one after another. Especially when I started writing out the rough script for the boss battles, the ideas just wouldn’t stop. The imagery kept expanding in my mind. It was fun. I was impressed with myself. It’s been a while since I’ve felt impressed by my own talent. It seems I’ve still got it.

However, there are too many characters and the twists are too complicated, so I need to simplify it a bit more. Personally, I don’t think a game needs a complex story, but considering the expectations of players from the previous game, it seems one of *MGS's* main attractions is its story. This is something I find hard to understand myself. But when I read comments like, "The plot twists were great!" or "I hope the next one surprises us even more!" I realize those elements are necessary.

I might scrap the boss character "Old Man." Tomorrow, I’ll make a list and try to balance it with the previous game.

On the way home, I found myself fixated on the idea of including a female ninja. There are at least three characters from the previous game that players would project onto a female ninja: Meryl, Naomi, and Wolf. Any of these characters could work as the ninja in this game, but none of them really fit. It would take the story too far off track. Originally, I thought about bringing back Ocelot in a powered exoskeleton, but visually, a female ninja with a prominent chest just looks better.

Today’s conclusion is to consider a female ninja character that doesn’t directly relate to any of the three mentioned. The idea is to introduce a female ninja as part of the S3 Plan, who assists Raiden. This would help bring Raiden’s experience closer to Snake’s. I’ll hire three voice actresses and use digital tricks to change the voice in different scenes.

In Honolulu, I watched a Magic Polynesian Show. It was an old-school fire dance mixed with magic, a modern version of a Polynesian show. As expected from the entertainment capital, America. At first, I was skeptical, but it was quite impressive.

After seeing that magic show, I suddenly felt a strong urge to include a magician as a boss enemy. I imagine a scene where the magician pulls out an empty box, covers it with a cloth, and then, to everyone’s surprise, removes the cloth to reveal enemy soldiers pouring out of the box. I ran the idea by a few of the staff, but it wasn’t well-received.

For the first time in years, I bought a copy of *Eureka.* It’s almost entirely a special issue on Paul Auster. It looks like it’s packed with good content. I want to finish reading *The Locked Room* soon. I decided to name Raiden’s real name "Fanshawe." I also want to use the name "Quinn," the protagonist of *City of Glass,* somewhere in the game.

I was shown the latest character model from Mizupin. The shoulder, waist, and toe structures have improved significantly. Now we just need to figure out what to do about the hair.

A nasty cold is spreading through the office. Shin-chan hasn’t shown up since the start of the year. I started feeling unwell too, so I bought some liquid cold medicine from the pharmacy and took it. I went home early.

## January 11, 1999 (Monday)

Today, I worked on my manuscript for *Game Critique* titled "Snake Eyes and De Palma." It’s been several weeks since I saw the movie, so I don’t remember much about it. Well, I did watch it a second time on a plane around the end of the year, so maybe it’s not that bad. Still, forgetting what I originally wanted to write about is frustrating, to say the least. In the end, I couldn’t write a very good manuscript to kick off this year. It’s hard to call it a good start. Yesterday, my son and I both drew "Double Great Fortune" at the shrine, but perhaps it’s not as reliable as I thought. Or maybe it’s a bad omen after all.

I had planned to scrap the "Old Man" character, but this morning, Hirano-kun brought me some settings and reference materials. The content is so dense that I can’t use it as-is, but there are some interesting parts. The idea of having him attack with two young girls (Valkyries) is ethically impossible. Could "Old Man" make a comeback?

Shin-chan came to the office for the first time this year. Come on, Yoji Shinkawa, get in better shape!!!

I handed over the draft and character settings for *MGS2.* *Z.O.E.* is on hold for now. I asked them to compile the rough sketches we’ve done so far into a file. We held a design research meeting for *MGS2,* with Mizupin at the center. We want to decide on the direction before the CPU arrives. We need to settle on whether to go with Shin-chan’s style, BD’s style, or Johnny’s style. Personally, I don’t want to rely on hand-drawn textures. I’d prefer to use raw materials and emphasize the lighting to bring them to life. I also want the faces to be composed of flat surfaces, where shadows and lighting recreate the sense of depth and contours. I’m aiming for something that clearly sets itself apart from the current standard of CG rendering.

The cold came back again. This time, I bought two bottles of Kakkonol liquid from the pharmacy and chugged them. I must have looked unwell because the guy at the register gave me some powdered vitamin C. It warmed my heart, somehow.

On the way home, I bought a commuter pass. It’s for three months, so it’s good until April 10. Whenever I buy a pass, I imagine the time when it expires and fantasize about all sorts of things: Will the development be finished by then? Will I still be with the company? Will I even still be alive by then?

There was a copy of Paul Auster's new book *The Music of Chance* on Mineshi's desk.

I asked, "How did you get this?" to which he casually replied, "I bought it because I liked the cover illustration." When I asked, "Was it good?" he said, "I haven’t read it." What? Did he really buy a hardcover book just for the cover and then not read it? Paul, you deserve better than this...

I read the January issue of *Eureka,* the special issue on Paul Auster, but since I have no knowledge of contemporary American literature, I could barely understand anything. I felt like a total idiot.

## January 12, 1999 (Tuesday)

I worked on the *MGS2* project, adding details to Fortune's character and the boss battles. Matsuka is organizing the weapons and equipment based on the notes from the training camp.

It seems like Shin-chan's character designs are progressing well. Today, he was drawing Fortune. I don’t think there’s much to worry about.

I asked Kume-chan to buy *Half-Life* for reference for *MGS2,* since it was selected as Game of the Year by *EDGE.* While the graphics are somewhat underwhelming, the gameplay and attention to detail are astounding. Once again, I felt that sense of "We’ve been outdone by the Americans!" Most of all, the atmosphere is incredible. The real-time direction is superb, and you can feel the soul of the creators in the game. The sequence where dimensions shift during the lab accident gave me goosebumps. 

Japanese blockbuster games lack this kind of soul. While it's not an especially groundbreaking game, its careful attention to detail, direction, and mechanics is more than enough to build a compelling game world. Everything in the game can be destroyed, bullet holes appear, and when you throw wooden crates or barrels into the river, they float. Even the demo emphasizes freedom, and it feels like an interactive version of *MGS's* polygon demo! However, this method wouldn’t work for a story-heavy game like *MGS.*

Also, *Half-Life* has a training mode called "Hazard Course." This was originally introduced by *Tomb Raider,* but it seems to have become standard in modern PC games. I had been thinking about removing VR mode from *MGS2,* but now I’m reconsidering.

I went swimming at the sports club. Since I’m still recovering from my cold, I did five laps and then got out. Even that tired me out.

## January 13, 1999 (Wednesday)

Once again, a first for the industry—a new system is born! This will probably be something we could patent. How can we overcome the non-interactive downtime in polygon demos? This has always been the biggest barrier and problem when trying to merge gameplay with story. In a complex narrative structure like *MGS2,* the real-time method used in *Half-Life* would cause the story to be lost on the user. 

That’s when I came up with today’s idea: the split-screen polygon demo. At certain points in the game, the screen would be split. On one side, the traditional polygon demo plays out, and on the other, the game continues as normal. The split could be either horizontal or vertical, depending on the scene. This method would be perfect for simultaneous events or background developments, such as the classic "Meanwhile, elsewhere..." moments where the protagonist isn’t involved. For example, in a scene where three people are disarming bombs at the same time, this would massively increase the tension. The story would unfold on-screen while the gameplay continues, creating freedom and allowing the player to see the narrative. Maybe watching *Snake Eyes* really paid off.

I changed the setting of the old security guard character. Since the other characters are quite complex, I’m going to make him much more straightforward. Instead of being a former terrorist, he’ll be a former NYPD bomb disposal advisor, a desk worker. He’s not a terrorist, but a man who, after more than a decade on the job, made a mistake while disarming a bomb, which led to his retirement. I’ll base this character on Ed from *Policenauts.* I also want to see Iizuka-san.

After a long time, I resumed experiments on the P4 system today. This time, it’s character experiments. We’re testing toon shading-like rendering on real hardware. The idea is to treat areas under a certain light threshold as shadows, filled in with flat shading. In practice, we’re drawing the model twice, which requires double the calculations. The goal is to achieve the texture and feel of anime cels. Ultimately, we’re aiming for a touch like BD’s or the style of Shinkawa’s illustrations.

In the first test, I rendered Mei Ling, but depending on the angle, it looks quite harsh. However, the legs look very close to a cel-like appearance, likely because the texture on them is quite flat. For the lit areas, I’m applying smooth shading. In the current state, I added an additional layer for highlights. The brightest areas are flat-filled with white, and alpha blending is applied. Next, I’ll use two stages of shadows and shift them slightly. This gives a kind of blurry effect. Anti-aliasing would normally fix this, but with the current approach, it can’t be applied.

Overall, it’s not bad for the first day. But even so, this method is consuming three times the processing power of normal polygon rendering. I wonder what will happen once we add split-screen, shadow processing, and real-time shading on top of this...

## January 18, 1999 (Monday)

Mizupin showed me a model that now has polygonal shading integrated. It looks pretty promising. If we combine this model with the pseudo-toon shader we experimented with the other day, it might just work.

## January 19, 1999 (Tuesday)

The environment-mapped shadows appeared on Johnny’s new Snake model. It’s not particularly impressive, but with some tweaks, it could work. However, the visuals don’t have any noticeable impact. The shadow boundaries are smoothed with anti-aliasing, but there’s an issue with the shadows glitching at the connecting polygons. We’ll need to find a fix for that.

The approval for the French version from SCEE has come in. Now, we’re just waiting for the Italian version. The initial run for the English, German, and French versions is 770,000 units. If we add in the reorders from Italy and America, we’ll reach our goal of 3 million units this fiscal year! The Spanish version will be treated as a bonus. I’m especially happy that we’ve been recognized by users around the world.

I went swimming at the sports club. Since I’m still feeling under the weather, I only did five laps again.

## January 20, 1999 (Wednesday)

Once again, we’ve come up with a first in the industry. The name? **"Real-Time Revelation"** system. In *MGS2's* grand finale, the entire sequence where secrets are revealed will be portrayed in real time, with characters pointing guns at each other the whole time. It’s the kind of tense situation we’ve seen in Quentin Tarantino or Ringo Lam movies, where more than three characters are all pointing guns at each other, unable to move.

In *MGS2,* the characters constantly switch sides. So, while they have guns aimed at each other, the revelations keep coming, new characters join the scene, and each time the story takes a dramatic twist, the characters shift who they are pointing their guns at.

For example, a new character might say, *"Snake was actually the enemy..."* and everyone changes where they’re aiming. Then Snake says, *"No, I was only pretending to be the enemy. It was all Solidus's plan..."* and the targets shift again. Solidus, Ocelot, Snake, Raiden, Fortune, and Sergei will all have their guns pointed at different people as the truth keeps changing.

This will happen in real time. The player holds down the weapon button (to keep the gun aimed) while watching the events unfold. Once you aim your gun, you can't release the button until the end. During this time, you can change your target or adjust the camera angle in first-person mode. Flashbacks will be shown in split-screen. Let’s see how this all works out.

To destroy the artificial intelligence of Arsenal (the Patriots), FOXDIE will be used again. Emma’s PAL code is hidden in the rhythm of her heartbeat. When her heart stops, the PAL will be input. Ocelot extracts this information from Emma using a truth serum, which is why he intentionally lets her escape.

The production and shipment numbers for *MGS* are as follows: 756,000 units in Japan, 1.38 million units in America, and 770,000 units in Europe (only in the UK, Germany, and France). We’re still shy of reaching 3 million.

I stopped by a CD store with Muraoka-san and bought OMD’s greatest hits. I remember that at one point, we had planned to use OMD’s hit song *"Enola Gay"* as the ending theme for the previous game. I also remember Muraoka-san stopping me, saying, *"No one from the younger generation knows such an obscure song."*

This morning, I listened to the Bee Gees' greatest hits for the first time in a while, and I almost cried. I guess I’ve reached that age. Maybe I’ll buy Billy Joel’s greatest hits next.

## January 21, 1999 (Thursday)

*Half-Life* is really well-made. Its volume is substantial, but what really stands out is the intricate mechanics and the insane, typically American ideas that shine through. In the scene I watched today, you can equip a biological weapon that’s a gun in the shape of a creature, or use a bug-like biological bomb (which looks like an alien bug itself) directly as a weapon. While it’s effective against enemies, if you’re not careful, it can harm the player as well. The motion when holding this biological bomb is also fantastic. It’s not just about having fun; it’s a practical and thoughtful design that you don’t often see in Japanese games. This is a good game, especially as far as Western games go.

It seems that, by global standards, the volume of *MGS2* must surpass that of the previous game. The current plan is already quite ambitious in terms of volume. However, with this being for a new platform, the release date has been set from the start, making it difficult to balance volume and the development timeline.

I’m considering introducing mission selection in the middle of the game, allowing for branching paths. Should Snake and Raiden progress simultaneously, or should the player randomly choose which mission to pursue? Instead of a traditional selection, the player would decide in real time which mission to go for. The other mission would be handled automatically by Snake.

I’ve decided to change the name of "Old Man" to "Old Boy." The term "Old Boy" not only refers to a cunning old man but apparently also has connotations of the devil.

I went swimming at the sports club but left quickly again. *Point of Impact* is just too interesting. I feel like I’m going to get hooked on Stephen Hunter’s books for a while. On my way home, I bought *Dirty White Boys* at the bookstore near the station.

## January 25, 1999 (Monday)

It's currently 1:30 AM. I missed the last train, so I had to take a different line to get home. I'm glad the rain stopped. Even so, all these drinking parties are exhausting. It feels like my stomach is acting up again, too.

Mizupin is struggling with Shin-chan’s rendering style. I’ll wait and see how it goes for a bit longer, but based on how things looked today, I don’t have much hope. In the end, we might have to go with traditional CG. However, if we do that, we won’t stand a chance.

I bought Jack Finney’s *From Time to Time*. I ran into Nishimura-kun at the bookstore. When I mentioned the book to him, he immediately went to buy it. People from the same generation get it. I also remembered how I couldn’t finish *Time and Again*.

I added more to Old Boy’s setting and the concept for his boss battle. Old Boy’s attack methods will change depending on the weapon the player uses. Programming and balancing this will be tricky.

The first draft of *The Truth of Shadow Moses* is complete. Now I just need to add extra content and lay down the narrative threads. It’s likely going to end up around 300 manuscript pages. The main challenge is figuring out how to get people who don’t like reading to engage with it.

After that, I went to a New Year’s party in Ebisu with Scott, Hattori-san, and others. The participants included President Yoshioka, Matsuka, and Okamura. It was a great place for fish. The sashimi was delicious. Hattori-san was downing sake and got pretty drunk. We then went to karaoke, as has become a routine lately. I heard the *Fantasy of the Universe* song performed by a professional. Karaoke is starting to feel kind of boring.

The *Titanic* theme at the end was nice, though.

## January 26, 1999 (Tuesday)

I’m exhausted today. Since yesterday, I’ve had intense stomach pain, but today it reached its peak. I’m still not feeling well. On top of that, I had severe diarrhea this morning—two days in a row now. After drinking red wine, my stools turn completely black. I wonder if there’s some connection.

Mizupin showed me the experimental video for Shin-chan's style. There are still some concerns, but I’m starting to see potential.

We’re making Arsenal Gear a giant turtle. The challenge is to avoid making it look too cartoonish while still conveying its massive size. I’ve also decided to scrap the boat chase in the finale and instead have the turtle rampage straight into Manhattan.

## January 27, 1999 (Wednesday)

Johnny is working on the second experiment with the CG model. He’s adding teeth to Snake's mouth.

The second batch of Shin-chan’s character sketches has come in. The vampire is no longer a pretty-boy, narcissistic type but has been turned into a hairy man. I’m not sure what to think—what should we do about this?

## January 28, 1999 (Thursday)

I’m converting the remaining character settings into HTML. I’ve upgraded the version of the Word documents to 6.0. By tomorrow, I plan to finish all the character settings. Next month, I’ll need to write the project plan for the Game Boy Color version of *MGS*.

I watched the ending of *Half-Life*. It really felt like watching a movie. The scenes near the end were incredible. The world, design, movement, and use of color—all had a very unique feel. The spider-shaped "testicle creature (temporary name)" in particular really struck a chord on a visceral level. It evoked the same kind of revulsion I felt from *The Drifting Classroom*. I wonder what kind of life the creators of this game live.

The final boss was a giant fetus. If I had children, I probably wouldn’t be able to make this kind of character into a boss, but it was undeniably an amazing visual. The scale and direction were excellent, and the fact that they portrayed it in real-time rather than just as a demo was impressive. Even the ending itself was unique. I really want to meet the developers who made this game.

I skipped the sports club today. I feel like I might be catching a cold, so I decided to be cautious.

## January 29, 1999 (Friday)

I stopped by the SGI-hosted conference at Ebisu Garden Hall. I entered the lobby—there were so many people. Maybe it's because admission was free?

Well, the talk from Polygon Pictures' president was interesting, so I’m glad I went. 

He said, *"You can't do what everyone else is doing. Competing on quality alone won’t make you stand out."* It’s a simple truth, but it directly applies to the current direction of *MGS2*.

## February 1, 1999 (Monday)

My Mac at home won't start up. Can't even reset it. The *"Sad Mac"* icon appeared—it’s the first time I’ve seen that icon. When I try to force quit, it makes an alert sound I’ve never heard before.

I have no choice but to take it to the office...

I bought the *Titanic Scenario Photo Book.* As expected, Cameron is amazing. This time too, the making-of and his commentary are more interesting than the movie itself. By coincidence, since the protagonist was also named Jack, I decided to name "her" Rose.

While I'm at it, I'll make Snake’s alias "Plissken." It might be better to be this playful.

I changed Colonel Gurlukovich into a female character. Isn’t it necessary to have a love interest besides "her"?

So, I’ve decided to introduce the colonel’s daughter. She’s a spy for "the Patriots," so she’s on Raiden’s side. I’ll create a situation where Raiden and she absolutely have to fight in front of Solidus. I asked Scott for a name and decided on Olga Gurlukovich. "Olga" is actually taken from the name of a staff member at KOE.

I changed "her" role. Instead of supporting via radio, I’ll set her as an on-site hostage. Raiden will try to rescue her, but they keep missing each other—making it a Gothic romance.

I purchased an English-Japanese slang dictionary to research Dead Cell's codenames. I’ll use expressions other than "taboo" in the American version.

## February 2, 1999 (Tuesday)

I got the *Sad Mac (crying face)* message on my Mac at home, so I reluctantly decided to bring the heavy thing to work. First thing in the morning, I had Kume-chan look at it, and, to my surprise, it worked! He said it might have fixed itself due to the shock of being moved during my commute.

When I muttered, "No way!" he laughed and replied, "That’s just how Macs are." Well, it’s still heavy, but I guess I’ll bring it back home. While I’m at it, I’ll have him upgrade the version of MS Word.

I wrote the draft for *Metal Gear GBC.* It’s just a thin concept document with some basic instructions. Not many ideas are coming to mind. All I can think of are additional features, but I’m struggling to develop the core structure.

I finished the *Tatebayashi* chapter of *Drama Series Vol. 3: Tabidachi no Uta* by the evening. The marathon and essay-writing events don’t quite work as events, but it’s still pretty good. This character doesn’t have the quirks that the others do. She might be the first *Tokimeki Memorial* girl I actually like. I think people who are emotionally invested in the series might cry. It wasn’t as bad as I had feared. Since I’m busy with *MGS2,* I don’t have the time to add extra direction like I did with *Rainbow.*

I bought a history book related to New York. Apparently, there’s a NY boom right now, with a huge number of tourists. Of course, it’s also popular with people from Japan.

I decided on Snake’s fake name. I chose the word for "viper" in Algonquin (Iroquois), a native language from the Manhattan area.

*MGS2* will seriously depict "America," incorporating the history of NY, which is also part of American history. I’ll study up before we go to NY for research.

Scott brought over the European version of *MGS.* The packaging and manual are really stylish. Well done, Europe! We’ve received 870,000 pre-orders.

I finally watched the ending of *Hybrid Heaven.* The final scene was so popular that even the staff gathered like a gallery, and it was a lively event. There’s definitely something charming about this game. No doubt about it. Uehara-kun struggled with the part where you have to fight a chain of bosses without being able to save. The ending was very Hollywood-style. The President’s role was well done.

They’re predicting heavy snow tomorrow.

## February 8, 1999 (Monday)

It’s been a while since I’ve written in my diary, what with drinking parties and a business trip to Kobe. Once you slack off for a while, it’s hard to get back into writing.

MGS2 — Mizupin showed me the facial animation tool. It easily handles things like blinking, lip-syncing, and stretching the skin up and down.

I went to KCET to check out the PS2 CPU. It was hidden under a desk—a massive white box.

Uehara-kun was reading through a thick manual (4 or 5 volumes) and seemed to be enjoying it. When I asked, "Is it interesting?" he replied, "It’s pretty interesting," and kept reading with enthusiasm. I really don’t get engineers.

I brought back another PS2 graphics board from CS, making it three now. Taking the taxi back didn’t feel as nerve-wracking as last time—pretty laid back, actually. Up until now, we’d been using code names like "Naoto Kirihara" and "Naoya" for the boards, but since we have three now, we decided to call them "Ran," "Sue," and "Miki."

## February 9, 1999 (Tuesday)

I wrote the specification document for "Snake’s Support." Having branching scenarios during missions is great, but if the player can see too clearly that the developers are trying to make them replay the game, it’s game over. We need to be careful not to overdo it.

It turns out Johnny had tested out the cel-shaded texture model on actual hardware while I was on my business trip. When I asked him how it went, it seems it didn’t work out. Unless we remake the models with a much higher polygon count, it won’t look good. He doesn’t seem confident in it. We might remove it as an option. We’ll try creating a new Vamp model and give it another go.

Real-time toon shading is something no one else has tried yet, but I’m convinced it will become a standard technique soon. However, if we continue on this path and another company releases the same visual style before we do, it’s all over. We need a visual approach that doesn’t rely on such tricks. We must stay one step ahead of others.

Shin-chan has finalized Raiden’s color scheme. For some reason, it’s starting to resemble Amano-san’s style. Shin-chan's drawings have improved significantly since he joined the company. However, looking closely, while they're well-crafted, his pictures don't have the same raw energy as when he started. I'm not looking for a polished drawing from him. I want his unique ideas and taste. I remember his doodles of Captain Underpants.

A business trip to Europe has been set from March 5th to 10th. We’ll be visiting London and Frankfurt. Current pre-orders are at 950,000 units. In the U.S., we’ve reached 1.47 million units.

*Dirty White Boys* is interesting. Stephen Hunter is an amazing writer. I can’t help but want to include a Southern-born character in MGS2. Starting tomorrow, I’ll read *Black Light.* I’ve been looking for more of his older works, but I can’t find them anywhere, even after going around to several bookstores.

There was supposed to be a pool session today, but I skipped it because I wanted to get home early. When I got home before 7 PM, my son was still awake. Being able to see him every night is wonderful.

## February 10, 1999 (Wednesday)

I wrote the specifications for "Enemy Hit Detection." Each body part—head, neck, chest, both hands, and both feet—will have hit detection, allowing the player to use first-person attacks strategically. If this works, it will once again be a first in the industry.

At Sonoyama-kun’s place, the first-person attack experiment was now playable. The current version allows for movement. At this point, it’s no different from *Half-Life.* After playing it a bit, I realized how difficult it is to aim for the head or heart in first-person mode. You have to get really close to hit accurately. It feels quite similar to real shooting.

At Okajii’s place, I saw the "Title Animal" drawn by Nakamura-kun. It’s hard to believe it was drawn using only four patterns. Before he became a vibration specialist, he was a pixel artist.

## February 11, 1999 (Thursday)

Today is National Foundation Day. I didn’t know what day it was when I woke up, but my son told me. When I asked how he knew, he showed me the Disney calendar. It had "National Foundation Day" written on it. Not bad for a McDonald's freebie.

Three new astronauts have been selected. I watched the news conference from NASA. One of them, the second female astronaut, is an intelligent beauty.

Whenever I see this kind of news, I feel a sense of jealousy. Probably because I want to go to space, but I can’t.

There are three things that make me jealous: "A Japanese person going to space," "People who aren’t film directors (actors, celebrities, authors) making movies," and "Actors who aren’t even good at it releasing art books and hosting exhibitions."

## February 12, 1999 (Friday)

First thing in the morning, I asked my staff, and it seems most of them have already bought *Final Fantasy VIII* and played for about 10 hours. Many of them said they had gotten to the end of Disc 1. They’re even playing it during lunch breaks.

Raiden’s suit, based on Shin-chan’s idea, has become a skeleton suit. Since the previous one was a muscle suit, this is a nice change. We’ll call it the "Skull Suit." As always, Shin-chan’s ideas are a big help.

I couldn’t get anything done on *MGS2* today. From 11 AM, we had a schedule meeting, and in the afternoon, there was a CS meeting at headquarters. It’s already been a year since last year.

This time, we connected KCE Osaka and KCE Kobe via TV broadcast from the Phoenix Building in Osaka. This was my first formal video conference. I used to scoff at the idea of video conferencing, but it’s actually quite effective. You don’t really feel the distance. For report-heavy meetings like today, it worked perfectly. If we were to have three-way video conferences, it might start to feel like one of the sci-fi movies I used to admire.

## February 15, 1999 (Monday)

I wrote the specifications for player bleeding and first-person attacks. I had Sonoyama-kun start testing first-person attacks using the PlayStation system. It’s pretty interesting, but it inevitably slows down the game’s sense of speed. Run, stop, aim, shoot—this becomes the basic gameplay loop in MGS2. The overall feel is slightly different. The key challenge is maintaining the right tempo. How much of an advantage—or disadvantage—will first-person attacks give the player?

The effect of the FAMAS tracer rounds was unexpectedly good. In 3D, it’s hard to see the bullet trajectory, but with tracer rounds, it becomes very clear. I realized this is probably how they’re used in real life, too.

I discussed with Muraoka-san whether to use Billy Joel’s "New York State of Mind" or Frank Sinatra’s "New York, New York" for the opening and ending. After all, the keyword is "New York." I bought Billy Joel’s greatest hits at the record store. Since I sang "Honesty" at karaoke the other day, I suddenly felt like listening to him again.

Fussy came up with a new FOXDIE setting based on prions, and it seems promising. I noticed a book about prions on his desk that I had meant to read. Interestingly, I had included prions in an unrealized project back in 1990. Back then, I never imagined prions would become such a major topic.

European pre-orders for MGS have reached 1.02 million units, bringing the worldwide total to 3.25 million. With the Spanish version, we should reach 3.4 million. I wonder if we can make it to 3.5 million somehow?


## February 16, 1999 (Tuesday)

I wrote the specifications for enemy soldiers. I summarized the three senses (sight, hearing, and smell), types, behaviors, and alert modes of the enemy soldiers. If we can implement everything we’re planning, it should create a "new experience" unlike anything seen before in gaming history. If this works, we won’t even need a story. Low-polygon models might even be acceptable. I haven’t felt this excited about one of my own concepts in a while.

The provisional test for hit detection on different parts of enemy bodies is now running at Korebee’s station. We implemented some impromptu hit reactions for the head, limbs, and torso, which Toyoby created on the spot. When playing, as expected, the hit accuracy isn’t great. We’ll need to adjust the zoom when the player extends their arm in first-person mode.

Minishi showed me some background assets for *MGS2* experiments. The shadows are intentionally drawn to be flat, matching the illustration style. Since we’re working on actual PS hardware, it only looks good on the PS. There’s no impact. After the presentation, we’ll have to display both backgrounds and characters on the actual hardware. I think it’s safe to say the direction for anime rendering is mostly gone now.

I bought the second volume of *Black Light.* Using Bob Lee Swagger’s classification of death by gunshot as a reference, I’m setting up the enemy soldiers' health gauges. This time, I want to replicate the enemies’ behavior based on anatomy.

After a week, I went to the club again. The turn lane was free, so I swam at my own pace, alternating between freestyle on the way there and breaststroke on the way back. If only it were always this empty.

## February 17, 1999 (Wednesday)

Since there was no morning meeting due to the AOU Show, I intended to sleep in until around 6:40. But ironically, I woke up at 6 AM. When I looked over, I saw my son was already awake too. So, I spent about 30 minutes quietly singing "Dango San Kyoudai" with him.

The hit detection, bleeding, and death rate settings I established for the enemy soldiers turned out to be fairly accurate in comparison to reality. Hirano-kun brought me copies of back issues of *Military Research.* They contained data on the injury rates of U.S. soldiers in various body parts during the Vietnam War and the mortality rates caused by those injuries. When I compared those numbers to our current project, they matched quite well. This might even work as a battlefield simulator.

The Italian version of SCEE finally received approval. Now only the Spanish version remains. Japan: 750,000 units, North America: 1.47 million, and Europe: 1.04 million units.

In the afternoon, I went to Makuhari to inspect the AOU Show. It’s far. Terrifyingly far. Moreover, today felt as warm as spring. It took about 45 minutes after boarding the local train at Hatchobori. While on the train, I finished reading the first volume of *Black Light.* Coincidentally, Hatchobori Station experienced a power outage. The emergency lights were on at about 30% brightness. It’s not often you get to experience something like that.

Once again, Konami was the clear winner at the show. Both *Guitar Freaks* and *DrumMania* had long lines, which was reassuring.

*Silent Scope* also received good reviews. Other than that, nothing really stood out. Tecmo’s *Dead or Alive 2* on the Naomi board had an impressively made video.

At *Print Club 21,* I took a photo with the *Okaasan to Issho* version. I chose a frame with Kentaro-niisan in it. Then, I spent another two hours returning to Ebisu.

At Sonoyama-kun’s workstation, a new 3D model of the first-person arms had been completed. The textures hadn’t been applied yet, but after seeing the arm in action, I thought adding vibration during shooting might be necessary.

## February 18, 1999 (Thursday)

I wrote the specifications for the codec. Processing codec conversations in real-time would increase immersion, but it could also cause a lot of stress. If we aren’t careful, players might stop using the codec altogether.

To prioritize the situation of the surrounding enemy soldiers during codec calls, we decided to display the face of the person the player is communicating with.

I asked the staff about the idea of not showing Rosemary’s face during codec calls. Instead, we would rely solely on Kikuko Inoue’s voice to let users imagine what she looks like. This would allow each player to project their ideal version of Rosemary.

The concept would be that during the final cutscene, we’d reveal a model of the player’s ideal woman based on their preferences throughout the game. Throughout the game, we would subtly ask the player about their tastes, and the ending would reflect that.

However, if we do this, the character might not stand out as much. There’s also a concern that if we don’t show her face early on, the player might lack motivation.

At Korepy’s desk, I tested the hit detection for different body parts. In first-person view, I shot the enemy soldier’s arms and legs, rendering them into a "Daruma" (a figure without arms or legs). Since the enemy couldn’t move, they just squirmed on the ground.

Feeling sorry for them, I shot them in the head to end it quickly... and while it was oddly fun, it was also disturbing. Could this be turning into a completely different kind of game?

## February 22, 1999 (Monday)

I wasn’t able to work on the design document again today. Tomorrow, I’ll finally focus on writing the camera specifications.

In the afternoon, I went to a screening of *Enemy of the State.* Today was the last day, and Buena Vista had a long line of people waiting. We arrived about an hour early and ended up in the front row. For a movie produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, the script was surprisingly solid. There was only one explosion, making it feel quite subdued overall. I liked it, but Shinchyan seemed dissatisfied. It’s an interesting movie, but hard to write an article about.

On the way back, I stopped by a bookstore in Jimbocho. I was looking for Stephen Hunter's older works, like *The Second Saladin,* *Target,* and *Farewell Catalonia,* but as expected, I couldn’t find them. Even after checking Kobe, Osaka, and now Jimbocho, they’re nowhere to be found. I’ll probably have to look in secondhand bookstores.

## February 23, 1999 (Tuesday)

I wrote the specifications for the camera. I explained the details regarding focus and aperture to the programmers, but I’m doubtful whether it can be implemented.

For first-person aiming, we’ve added zoom when the gun is raised, but it makes the hands disappear from view, so we’ll need to use some visual trickery. We’ll need to apply arms of different scales when in first-person mode. This will increase the workload since we’ll need separate models, skeleton structures, and animations.

We recorded the voice for "Giant Monster Genola" for the VR disc. I went to Muraoka-san’s booth (inside SD as usual). For some reason, my throat wasn’t in good shape today. In the end, McCaymon and I split the recording duties. We used familiar references like Dodongo, Baltan Seijin, Diabolica, Zetton, Dada, and Yubigeruge. My throat hurt even more after that, so I left the rest to McCaymon.

Matsuka and Shinchyan went to Shinjuku to buy materials. They brought back models of deep-sea diving suits, two Harrier models (*Sea Harrier*), and books about ships. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the Stephen Hunter novels I had requested. Apparently, they ordered a tanker model directly from the store, and it seems Imai still produces these tanker models for overseas markets. There's even something called the "Tanker Series." Hirano-kun took a peek at the book about ships and made a strange sound.

I also bought the latest Jeffrey Archer novel.

Got an email from Mouri-san. It seems that a US SOCOM counter-terrorism instructor, a former Green Beret, was moved by *MGS* after playing it. He says he wants to help with the next game.

Matsuka started recording videos for the weekend meeting. We’re filming a PocketStation with a digital camcorder to explain the FOXDIE concept. We need a hand model with nice fingers for this.

## February 24, 1999 (Wednesday)

I went to a screening at Warner in Hamamatsucho. I was supposed to meet Hattori-san at Hamamatsucho station (at the ticket gate). However, even when the time came, she hadn’t shown up. Shinchyan and I were waiting at the exit closer to Warner, which was exposed to the elements, and it was unbearably cold. On top of that, it was raining.

It turns out Hattori-san was waiting at the monorail side of the station gate. If only we had realized earlier... I may have caught a cold. Lately, I seem to be one step behind in everything I do.

We had lunch at a restaurant in the station building. Once inside, it was filled with old men—salarymen to the left and right. Looking at the lunch menu, the "Steak Set," limited to 50 servings, caught my eye. Surprisingly, it came with soup and salad for only 800 yen! Cheap, like Osaka. And to top it off, it came with dessert for women! Hamamatsucho is quite an amazing place.

Since the rain was getting worse, we took a taxi to Warner.

*The Negotiator* was pretty interesting. Kevin Spacey had a great presence. But like with *Enemy of the State,* it’s a tough movie to write about. The trailer for a movie called *The Matrix* played at the beginning, and it was insanely cool. It looked like a superhero film with a comic book vibe. The main character was Keanu. He was running along the walls. It reminded me of the "Chinaman" in *MGS2.*

On the way back, I stopped by a CD shop to reserve the *Dango San Kyoudai* CD. As I was about to say "Dango..." to the staff, I spotted a flyer for the reservation campaign right in front of me. "I’d like to reserve this," I quickly said, pointing to the flyer. The clerk immediately prepared the reservation form, asking, "The CD single, right?" I was relieved it went smoothly. I had been worried they might ask, "Dango? What’s that?"

## March 1, 1999 (Monday)

The PS2 CPU board finally arrived at the company. Kume-chan and Takabe-kun went to pick up the hardware.

We quickly set it up in the P4 room. The character team was called in, and Matsuka started filming. The P4 room came alive for the first time in a while. It feels good. If we use the leather specular effect properly, it should work.

I read Sato-kun’s article in *Nikkei CG.* I see—he’s a person with talent, guts, and drive. He’ll do well wherever he goes. I’ve been thinking, "Kids these days!" but there are young people like him, too.

I wrote my article for *Game Criticism.* Since I’ve already forgotten most of the content of *Enemy of the State* and *The Negotiator,* I couldn’t write a good piece. I had to fill in the article with non-movie-related content to make it work.

## March 2, 1999 (Tuesday)

In the morning, I created an outline of *MGS2*’s schedule and staff list. We’re already far behind the original plan.

I saw some photos of *Syphon Filter,* which was released overseas. It seems like it might have first-person aiming.

In the afternoon, I headed to the Tokyo International Forum. I got off at Yurakucho and went straight to the hall.

It looked like another event was happening, but thanks to the stylish design of the SCE signs, I didn’t get lost. Once inside, I noticed lots of foreigners and reporters. I handed over my invitation at the counter and went in. As expected, there were many foreigners—more than half of the attendees were non-Japanese. Everyone was wearing earpieces for translations.

At 2 p.m., the "PlayStation Meeting 1999" began. A female announcer acted as the host, and a 5-minute montage of PlayStation’s five-year history played. It showcased the 50 million units sold and the titles and events from the past. There was even a brief glimpse of *MGS* with three cuts of footage from 1998. Unfortunately, *MGS* was the only Konami title featured.

After a greeting from Tokunaka, the President of SCE (at the time), Kutaragi took the stage to talk about the next-generation PlayStation. His presentation was especially energetic today. He explained the hardware specs and the concept of the "Emotion Engine." Then, he demonstrated using visuals. Most of the footage was the same as what I saw at SCE headquarters back in November, but *Penguin Panic* caught me off guard. It had a bigger impact than the "500-Snake" demo. It seems like the idea of "hordes" is something everyone is reaching for.

Next, Okamoto took over to explain the development environment. He was pretty nervous and stiff. Then Kutaragi returned to introduce the main event of the day. Tanaka from the technical team took the stage and introduced the various experiment teams.

First up was SCE. Yamauchi from *Gran Turismo* presented. They showed a *Gran Turismo* demo where they rendered pre-rendered CPU footage on the actual hardware. Then, there was a game demo where they drove shiny, medium-polygon cars on the same *Gran Turismo* background course.

Next was FromSoftware. They showed dozens of skeletons writhing against a dark castle wall, repeating motions. The developer moved a fairy (with phosphorescent particles) and when it hit the skeletons, they crumbled.

Namco followed, displaying a model from *Tekken,* building a background (with streetlights and steam), and showing around 30 spectators. The game was playable, and the level of completion was high.

Finally, Square demonstrated the famous old man’s face from the *Final Fantasy* movie. They showed off facial animation and lighting movements. The model had 100,000 polygons!

The last demo was *Final Fantasy VIII.* It was a dance scene, limited to just two characters, but it was well done. The facial expressions, hair, and clothing movements were the most impressive part of today’s demos. I think Kutaragi’s message that "previous cinematic scenes will now run on the actual hardware!" got through.

The biggest announcement today, though, was that "PS2 will be fully backward compatible with PS1!" The audience burst into applause and cheers.

On the way back, I managed to snag the *Dango San Kyoudai* CD. The store had a "sold out" sign posted already. When I got home and checked the evening paper, it said the first run was 100,000 copies.

## June 1, 1999 (Tuesday)

It’s been a whopping three months since I last wrote in this diary. I can’t believe I slacked off for so long… even I’m surprised at myself. My last entry was on March 2nd, and a lot has happened since then. Major events include the Europe trip, E3, the New York research trip, and winning the CESA Grand Award.

I’ll do my best to restart this diary from today.

Starting around 8:30 a.m., I connected to Sony’s homepage. Today is the reservation day for AIBO. Just the word "robot" makes me desperately want one, but after hearing Otaking Okada-san talk about it the other day, I wanted it even more. My wife still sees AIBO as just a toy, but it’s a robot that walks autonomously! I got her permission to buy one as long as I don’t bring it home.

A little after 9:00, there was a change on the homepage. But, my Mac froze. I had no choice but to connect from Matsuka’s terminal and completed the reservation. By that time, it was already 9:20. I barely managed to secure one. Phew! I’ve already decided on the name: "Ranman." Later, I saw on the news that it sold out in about 20 minutes. Since I finished just after 20 minutes, I was cutting it close.

At 11:00, Mouri-san arrived. I asked him to give a two-day lecture on clearing, soldier behaviors, and movements. As usual, we chatted over lunch and coffee afterward.

At 6:30 p.m., we had a meeting about the commercial. We finalized the content for eight CM spots.

## June 2, 1999 (Wednesday)

For the first time in a long while, I return to working on the *MGS2* project. I’m refining the goals and intentions of the Patriots and Solidus, but I realize that the storyline has become inconsistent. When I look back at my notes after so much time has passed, they seem like something imagined by a completely different person.

Nine PS2 development tools arrive. Okajii sets them up one by one.

At Takabe-kun’s desk, around 20 Vamp characters were being displayed. With over a hundred characters rendered on-screen, it’s really starting to lag. Incredible!

My cough still hasn’t stopped, so I visit the doctor. A student-looking doctor says, “If that medicine didn’t work, then that’s not good…” Not the same mini-skirt-wearing doctor as last time. They couldn’t do much, so they just gave me an inhaler. No improvement.

I noticed the side effects listed for my prescribed medication include "akushin" (悪心). I looked it up, and it literally means "an evil heart with malicious intent." Is it even safe to take medicine that causes such a side effect? If I commit a crime after taking this, would I still be held accountable?

The prescription reads:

"Codeine phosphate 100x powder"  
Cough suppressant  
Side effects: nausea, drowsiness, constipation, dizziness  
Please be cautious when performing dangerous tasks like operating a vehicle.

During lunch, I head to the bookstore and buy the second volume of *Brandenburg no Seiyaku* (*Brandenburg's Oath*). In the new releases section, *Battle Royale* is stacked high. Seems to be selling well. The ad copy on the book is intense: "Lost the Horror Grand Prize!" You’d expect them to advertise it as a winner, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a book promoted for losing.

In the evening, I head to Radio Nippon to appear on a show hosted by Kuroda-san. There’s no preparation done in advance. During the recording, as expected, I keep coughing, but they said it’s not a problem! Kuroda and the other host kept smoking like chimneys, which made it tough for me.

Somehow, we recorded four weeks' worth of material in one go. It wrapped up in about an hour and a half. I take a taxi to Akasaka and meet up with Scott and Hattori at an izakaya near Sweet Basil. I head home on the last train.

## June 3, 1999 (Thursday)

I’m creating a list of the characters in *MGS2* that will need models. Including all the different versions (like costume changes), the total grows to 35 models. That’s more than double the number from the previous game. I’ll need to reconsider the number of staff in the character team.

I’m still trying to organize the key elements of *MGS2*'s story, such as Solidus’s and the Patriots' motives, the truth behind the events, and the reasons behind everything, but it’s not coming together neatly. It’s not so much that it doesn’t make sense—it just doesn’t feel intuitive or satisfying. The events of the Shadow Moses Incident, the Tanker sinking, and Arsenal aren’t syncing well. In retrospect, it feels a bit like patchwork.

Handling Emma’s role is proving difficult. And this time, the masterminds are the Patriots and Solidus, whose existence is intangible or insubstantial. At what point in the story should they be hinted at?

This is the tricky part. Even with a more linear plot, there were a lot of forced story beats through cutscenes and codec calls. Now, each character and event has about three plot twists.

Is it impossible? Can this approach work in a game medium?

## June 7, 1999 (Monday)

The project isn’t progressing at all. I might have to stay overnight somewhere and get it done.

## June 8, 1999 (Tuesday)

I went to Kyobashi to see *Run Lola Run.* Arrived 10 minutes early. The venue was packed. I settled on a pipe chair at the top of the stairs.

The first half was interesting! The German techno synced perfectly with Lola running, making the visuals feel fresh. However, the twist is revealed within the first 30 minutes. The three "runs" and each character's foreshadowing don’t mesh well. It still feels rough!

I'm working on an article for *Game Criticism* covering *The Faculty* and *A Simple Plan.*

I still can’t shake this cough.

## June 14, 1999 (Monday)

Had an interview in the morning. First, a programmer in the doctoral program at Keio University, 27 years old. He showed his own video work, which took 8 months to complete, including modeling, textures, and motion (on a black PlayStation!). His ability, sense, and passion are excellent. I had some concerns about his personality going into the interview, but I was completely wrong. He’s an impeccable person. He’s even founded and left a company before, and as a person, he’s deep. His wife works for the Self-Defense Forces. He’s definitely hired!

In the afternoon, I went to Digital Egg in Tsukiji to check the editing of the commercial. After all the effort, the footage turned out great. Still, I don’t particularly enjoy watching my own face. I wonder how this commercial will be received by the audience.

## June 15, 1999 (Tuesday)

I went to GAGA to see *The Faculty.* Robert Rodriguez's calm direction was interesting, especially as an homage to '60s invasion sci-fi. However, recent marketing is overblown. There’s a big gap between the content and how it’s being sold. For *Game Criticism,* I’m debating whether to focus on the movie and its marketing, or *Parasite* and its screenplay. I might decide after watching *A Simple Plan.* Still, hearing that *Austin Powers* surpassed *Star Wars* in the US is good news. Americans aren’t so bad after all.

In the evening, I went to Digital Egg in Tsukiji for the MA of the commercial. The captions are almost done. First, we added the sound effects to the jingle. A sound engineer, very much the part, brought the tape and expertly cued it up with a “kyu kyu” sound.

At 7 p.m., Otsuka-san arrived at the studio. Nostalgic. His stylish blue-tinted glasses looked sharp. I gave him a McFarlane Snake figure and a T-shirt. I also asked him to appear in the next project. When I mentioned, "You might talk more than before," he seemed a bit taken aback. But he was happy and said, "I’m glad it’s selling well."

As always, Akio Otsuka is incredibly dedicated, asking for retakes himself. His scream (narration) was amazing, and then it was my turn. Naturally, I got nervous and mispronounced things during the real take. Even my Osaka dialect sounded off.

We tried several versions, and they ended up choosing the first take. Definitely not something amateurs should do.

All 9 commercials are fully completed. We all had bentos. Wrapped up after 10 p.m. It felt good. Shorter timeframes make the work feel sharper. I got a Print Club photo from the staff to commemorate the commercial cut.

## June 16, 1999 (Wednesday)

The first day of Mouri-san's special seminar. We started with the basics, like how to grip a gun and stance. It’s completely different from looking at books or videos—extremely clear and useful. And way too fun! I almost forgot about work. Mouri-san is also a seasoned lecturer. His style of getting everyone to think and move their bodies works well. When Mouri-san gets excited, he switches to an "English" tone. He says it’s because he’s used to lecturing foreigners.

We moved on to explaining room clearing, starting with dynamic entry today. Mouri-san wrote various scenarios on the whiteboard, and we split into teams of four to present our entry strategies. After examining four mock operations, we tested them in the lobby and meeting rooms. This is getting more and more interesting. Taking this class makes me want to make a *Rainbow Six*-style game focused on rescue missions, rather than *MGS2.*

Got homework, and we wrapped up for the day.

I heard from Muranaka-san that she was able to contact Harry Gregson-Williams directly. He’s interested in working with us. We’ll have a meeting with Muranaka-san on Friday.

I went to the club for the first time in two weeks. I was exhausted, so I only did five laps. My weight is down to 64 kg.

## June 17, 1999 (Thursday)

Yesterday’s lecture was so interesting that I added additional observers to the seminar room—mainly 8 designers.

The second day of Mouri-san's special seminar. We started with the homework: the airplane infiltration. I thought there would be around 32 people, but I was shocked to hear there were actually more than 60.

Today, we moved from yesterday's dynamic entry to stealth entry, which is the main focus. Unlike before, this time, "we don’t know where the enemy is," so we meticulously clear the area, taking our time without making any noise. The slower movement makes it much harder than dynamic entry. We each practiced corner clearing one by one. When I tried to perform the "peeking" move from a secret video Mouri-san showed me two years ago, he scolded me. Apparently, that’s not the right way to move, but since it looks good in motion, I might keep it in the game.

Next, we moved on to T-junctions, varying the scenarios for two people, three people, and larger groups. Things got more and more confusing...

Then, we used the seminar room, support room, and VIP room to train stealth entries. We placed terrorists inside and ran the drills. For the Matsubana team, I played the role of a villain. I turned off the lights, set up a chair in front of the door so it wouldn’t fully open, and waited in ambush. As expected, Matsubana was so focused on the back of the door that they didn’t notice I was aiming from the opposite side. I waited about five seconds, but since they didn’t notice, I shot to kill.

Honestly, if the enemy knows the terrain and how you’re going to attack, there’s no chance of winning. I also fell into Mouri-san’s trap—the door was intentionally left open, and two enemies were chatting inside. I got distracted by them, and another person ambushed me from the shadows in the hallway.

When special forces who are familiar with every tactic become the enemy, it’s a serious problem. Defending is overwhelmingly easier than attacking.

We watched footage of Collevy’s clearing (on PlayStation). While it’s not exactly the same as real-life tactics, it’s not far off. With some fine-tuning, it could work. If we use tools like the "small window system," mirrors, and ropes well, I think the game could effectively convey the clearing process to the user. The key is that, in real life, clearing is thorough, but that wouldn’t translate into fun gameplay. It’s all about how to capture the atmosphere. The tools, motions, and pathfinding will be critical.

Mouri-san showed me a TV program about an offshore plant that aired on cable TV. It was a valuable resource. For some reason, Mark Hamill was narrating it.

In the evening, I went to Jiyugaoka to see *Horrors of Malformed Men* (late show) with the unusual group of Muraoka-san, Shin-chan, and Kirioka-san. It was a great theater. The movie was surprising, but the final scene’s direction was astonishing! I laughed so much my cough came back. It's amazing to think that this film was made in the same year as *2001: A Space Odyssey.*

## June 21, 1999 (Monday)

Since restarting my diary, I’ve gotten into the habit of writing it at the office the next morning. While writing the next day is great for stimulating the brain, if I don’t write it at home, I can’t seem to properly close out my day. Also, I tend to neglect Friday’s entries. I need to think about this.

Sasaki-kun received the PS2 development tools. With this, we can finally work on models while testing them on actual hardware. The new hire, Mogii, is showing a lot of promise. Saijou-san is still in training.

We’re having trouble with the character settings for *Ghost Babel.* According to Shin-chan and Nakamura-kun, the characters Fussy is creating are too strong and make it hard for players to emotionally connect. Shin-chan even said, "I can’t draw this!" It’s not that the characters are too bold, but rather that they lack definition. Well, it’s not really Fussy’s fault—it’s more a reflection of how the boss fights in the game are designed, so no one’s to blame. It’s just a matter of approach. In my case, I think about the character settings and the game in parallel, so there’s no issue, but for GBC, the planning and script are handled by different people.

When I got home, I watched the NHK Special I had recorded. It seems Hollywood marketing and promotion strategies directly apply to the current game industry.

## June 22, 1999 (Tuesday)

The designers went on a tour of museums. I’ll be going on the 24th.

## June 23, 1999 (Wednesday)

As expected, due to budget constraints, the making of the commercial will be done by Konami JPN. I’ve started working on condensing 7 hours of video footage down to about 30 minutes. In the end, I’ll compress it by half. I’m planning to ask Matsubana to do the final editing, but there’s a good chance I’ll end up doing it myself. 

The video quality is low, but it does capture the atmosphere of the shoot. I’ve requested the outtakes that weren’t used in the commercial and plan to insert them skillfully. But doing things like this keeps me from making progress on my other work.

## June 24, 1999 (Thursday)

Today is the release day for *Metal Gear Solid: Integral.* I checked online, but there’s almost no reaction.

In the morning, I went to the museum with Matsubana. I vaguely remember coming here with my son about two years ago, but I don’t recall how much material they had on tankers.

Since it was around lunchtime, we looked for a place to eat. The only options were the restaurant inside the museum and a pasta place near the pool, so we walked to the pasta place.

When we got inside, we were the only customers. In fact, it felt like we were the first customers of the day! We nervously ate our spaghetti.

We toured the museum. As requested by Shin-chan, I went around collecting the two-page information sheets available in each section of the "Ship Knowledge Collection." After gathering everything and organizing it into a file, it made a complete book. It took some time, but I finished two complete copies.

The tanker materials had a lot of models, but there were no exhibits showing the internal structure. I couldn’t see the hallways and spaces inside the tanker that the staff who went to see one in person had described. However, the slides and videos on "How a Tanker Is Made" helped me gain a deeper understanding of a tanker’s structure, mechanisms, and purpose. The Q&A quiz on tankers was particularly useful. I’d like to incorporate things like the panel to prevent static electricity into the game. Living for 35 years, I’ve realized how completely ignorant I was about tankers and the people who work with them.

I went to the *Matrix* screening at Shibuya Pantheon. The crowd was huge! By 6:30, there was already a long line. It reminded me of *Tokyo Fantasy.*

## June 28, 1999 (Monday)

I watched the *Shenmue* trailer. Incredible!!! Yu-san is really on fire!

It’s reckless to craft something to that level of detail. But there’s a sense of aesthetic in the fact that they’re doing it. The combination of technology, massive budget, and time… it’s amazing. The technology is impressive. I found myself wanting to work with them.

From 4:30 to 7:00 p.m., we had a meeting about the PS2 with SCE. Ueda-san and four others visited, making five people on their side. We had five people, and EAST had five as well.

We showed experimental footage of *MGS2* and explained our progress. I debated several times whether to show it, but it seemed they were satisfied with the programming. I ended up hearing a rather unexciting truth—what Hara-kun and others always said about “limits” turned out to be close to reality! The Q&A session had some intense questions that really put SCE on the spot (just as I planned), making it a very productive discussion. Afterward, we went out for a light drink. Everyone was honest and good-natured, as you’d expect from engineers.

## June 29, 1999 (Tuesday)

The VR Time Attack competition seems to be heating up. There are people now beating the VR team’s records. Most *MGS* users are working adults, and it looks like they can’t play for long hours unless it’s over the weekend. We’ll wrap it up on June 30 and hand out the prizes. From July, we’ll continue with a staff challenge format.

I worked on the rough edit of the making-of footage for the commercial. I had already cut the 7 hours of footage down to 38 minutes, and now I’ve reduced it to 23 minutes. I’ll leave the rest to Matsubana.

At Johnny’s, the 60-frame-per-second model of the Marines was displayed. Even though it’s just walking motion, the 60 frames per second really makes the movement smooth and gives it depth. I absolutely won’t compromise on 60 frames per second! I remember reading a paper that said when Douglas Trumbull invented virtual movies, the frame rate was at least 45 frames per second. If it goes beyond that, the brain starts to mistake the image for real life. Maybe frame rate is more important than resolution.

At Takabe-kun’s, they were showing shadows using the shadow volume method. There seem to be various issues. Not being able to use transparency is a major problem! I’ll have them try other methods.

The evaluation of *Z.O.E* is coming up. The action-versus modes are improving. However, there are still many issues. I think the absence of a director is part of the problem.

I went swimming at the club. Lately, it’s only been once a week. Today, I did 10 laps, which is rare for me. Still, that’s only 500 meters.

## June 30, 1999 (Wednesday)

At Toyopi’s, I watched the animation (still images) of Raiden with the new joint model. Even though only a few joints were added—at the shoulders, torso, toes, and other joints—the difference is significant. It's better than I imagined. It’s just an animation of Raiden sitting, but his shoulders slump, giving it a nuance that’s different from the previous sitting animation. Before, we could only express "just sitting," but now we might be able to convey emotions like disappointment. It's really emotional! With this, we could even pull off the final shot from *Ashita no Joe.* Ignoring the details and adding more joints for expression might be a valid approach.

In the afternoon, I went to Konami TYO. The purpose was to exchange knowledge about PS2 technology. The atmosphere felt flat, so I showed the experimental footage of *MGS2* that we had prepared. They seemed pretty surprised.

## July 1, 1999 (Thursday)

We evaluated *Z.O.E.* As an action game, it brings out a sense of exhilaration in its basic elements, and it’s generally well-received. However, as a game, it has ended up becoming just another ordinary title. Even the live commentary, which was one of the last remaining selling points, is now in jeopardy.

That said, I’m really fed up with the *MGS* team members who said, "It’s amazing how much it improved in such a short time!" They’re all so reliant on external help, and it’s exhausting.

## July 5, 1999 (Monday)

I started writing the guidelines for revisions to *Z.O.E* from the morning. It took longer than I expected.

Kano-kun arrived from America. I wanted him to introduce himself in English, but he said, "Please don’t make me do that," so he introduced himself in Japanese instead. I’m looking forward to what’s to come. We need to give him a nickname. The *MGS* team feels like working in the heat of Nanamagari.

In the afternoon, we held a meeting to discuss the *Z.O.E* guidelines. We changed the direction from "like anime..." to "with elements of anime..."

However, the current staff seems more confused. Their thinking is too rigid, and their imagination is limited. It’s becoming a burden.

Raiden’s new joint model appeared on the actual machine. The shoulders are beautiful. It's moving at 60 frames per second. The movement is really smooth. However, the position of the thigh gun holster is too low due to how it connects, and the split-toe of the tabi shoes is too shallow. The alpha transparency on the hair is still not right... there are a lot of issues, but it’s coming along well.

The motion work involves new joints and 60 frames. Due to unfamiliarity with the work, it's currently taking twice as long. I'll try to get them to reduce it by 1.5 times through sheer determination.

We’re incorporating "lacquered chopsticks," which are secretly trending in the West, into Rosemary’s setting. I gave a newspaper clipping to Shin-chan.

## July 6, 1999 (Tuesday)

I’m writing an article for *Game Criticism.* Since it’s about *The Matrix,* I got really passionate, and the article ballooned to more than three times the expected length. As usual, trimming it down made it a boring piece. On top of that, the part where I tied it back to games ended up being only a few lines.

We had a full meeting about the GBC game *Ghost Babel.* I presented the scenario while looking at the map. The result was a reminder of how different things turn out when the planner is someone else. For better or worse, Shinta Nojiri’s personality is reflected in the design. There are a lot of unnecessarily roundabout map movements between floors, which feel a bit mean-spirited. It’s going to be tough in the current Japanese market. But it might work just fine in the West.

At Okaji’s workstation, the ripples from the rain using the pseudo-bump map were moving. It felt unsettling. I haven’t been pleasantly surprised by anything like this lately. Kano-kun was working late into the night.

## July 12, 1999 (Monday)

First thing in the morning, I watched the *MGS* fan video, *METAL WORKS,* on the giant projector in the seminar room. It’s the third time I’ve watched it. I can really feel the love from the fans.

I wrote the specification document for *MGS2* for the first time in a while. I reworked the unclear parts of the alert system, and I think it’s much clearer now. If we can integrate the new "exploration mode"—which adds another layer of game mechanics related to clearing rooms—it will bring a fresh nuance to the game.

What feels particularly risky is the enemy soldiers' hit detection based on body parts. We need to address this quickly.

At Collevy’s, about 25 soldiers from the previous game had 16 joints. We’ll experiment with the new model that has 22 joints to see how many can be processed. Raiden will be used for this model. Another big concern we need to address early on is experimenting with "radio soldiers"—the ones who call for reinforcements. We’ll give players a few seconds of opportunity while the soldier is calling on the radio, like when Bruce Willis first takes down an enemy in *Die Hard.*

At Takabe-kun’s workstation, the stretchable shadows were working, but when crossing a point light source, the shadows would suddenly disappear and reappear. The locations need to be restricted quite a bit.

## July 13, 1999 (Tuesday)

I reorganized the story and theme of *MGS2* once again. The theme is 'life' and 'death' in all organisms that evolve through sexual reproduction. The previous game depicted the 'passing on of genes to offspring,' which follows the laws of nature. This time, the focus is on things that cannot be passed down through genetic information alone—soul, thought, history, environment, and how to pass these on to the next generation. Also, why are these important, and why are they not written into genes? These are the central themes.

For this reason, I made slight changes to the Old Boy’s character setting. After achieving immortality, he continues an "endless battle," but as a being (species) who has lost the significance of passing down genes (after losing his son), he is left with no "life" or "death." His only anchor in this state is the battlefield. This is the same for both Big Boss in the past and Solidus now.

In the afternoon, Muranaka-san came to the office. We had a meeting regarding Harry Gregson-Williams. It seems Harry responded positively to the image BGM we sent him (which included selections from *The Rock,* *Crimson Tide,* *Enemy,* and others). He also watched the *MGS* video we sent and said he "wanted to play the game," so he’s very enthusiastic about the project.

At 4 p.m., we had a meeting to discuss the schedule and status of *MGS2.* There’s too much to do. At this rate, we might only be working on the tanker chapter for the rest of the year, and the game might not be completed. Due to the excessive announcements about "EE" (Emotion Engine), the animations, models, and other elements seem to be over-specced. Production is tough, and we might not make it on time. We’ll have to reduce the volume of content, but if we mess this up, *MGS* could disappear altogether.

## July 14, 1999 (Wednesday)

For the first time in several months, I returned to planning. I resumed work on the scriptment for the tanker chapter. It’s fun. I had forgotten how enjoyable planning and writing scenarios could be… I don’t even need money! This is what it feels like to be truly alive!

To adjust the pacing by varying the strength of the enemy soldiers and their team dynamics, we’ll program the Gurlukovich soldiers to behave more like the enemy soldiers from the previous game. This will make Solidus’ assault team and their clearing operations more effective.

## July 15, 1999 (Thursday)

Matsubana completed the rough map by adding events, enemy soldiers, traps, and routes to the map he had printed. In parallel, I wrote up to the halfway point of the tanker chapter scriptment. I included an event with Olga to leave a strong impression of her. At the same time, I made slight adjustments to Olga’s motivation (as a spy) in the plant chapter. She will now be saved by Snake when the tanker sinks.

Snake will tell her that it was Ocelot who killed her father. To emphasize her underarm hair, I had Shin-chan modify Olga’s design. She will appear in a tank top.

I’ve packed quite a few elements into the tanker chapter. It can be completed in about an hour and a half, but conceptually, it should be very interesting.

Matsubana is working on creating the map on the SGI, following the planned map layout. By the end of the month, we’ll be able to output the maps to the PS2 and check them as we build them.

On Monday the 19th, we’re scheduled to receive 12 PS2 development kits (including sound tools). Three will be allocated to *MGS*, five to the *DrumMania* team, four to the sound department, and one to the *Z.O.E* team.

## July 22, 1999 (Thursday)

It's been four and a half months since I last wrote my diary after coming home—March 2nd was the last time. It seems it’s better to organize my thoughts on the same day after I return home. Recently, I’ve gotten into the habit of writing it at the office in the morning, recalling the previous day’s events, but it seems that for mental stimulation, the old way was better. However, this method means I end up missing entries for Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and the days before holidays. Both methods have their pros and cons.

When I got to the office, there were a whole day’s worth of emails from yesterday’s business trip, all piled up—bright red! I lost the motivation to read them as soon as I opened them. Yesterday’s business trip to Hakata was easy since I took a plane.

At Okaji’s, I saw the rain effects. They’re decent. It doesn’t seem to be too heavy on the system. The next step is to combine various effects to create a natural look. As planned, the 12 PS2 development kits arrived while I was away. At Muraoka-san’s, I listened to the PS2 sound. The samples prepared by SCE were surprisingly cheap-sounding, which was disappointing. I told Muraoka-san about using sound to enhance the effect of rain. By giving each raindrop a 3D sound, it can convey the texture of the material. If it works well, we can express the material’s texture through sound, not just visuals.

I had Negi roughly build the cargo hold area—about 2000 polygons. It captures the sense of space. I had Collevy place 56 enemy soldiers. Wow, it’s too big! With just 56 soldiers, they all clump together in the center of the cargo hold, and it doesn’t feel like a game. We can’t make the cargo hold smaller, so we’ll drop the frame rate to 30 frames per second to double the number of soldiers.

I finished writing the tanker chapter scriptment. Based on this, we’ll give the presentation and adjust the map. As usual, once I start writing, the demo parts get unnecessarily long.

It seems the Wachowski brothers are coming to Japan from August 23rd to the 26th. They’ll be at the premiere screening on the 25th and want to meet. But at the same time, Scott will be on a business trip to Europe. This is bad! I wonder if Scott could reschedule his trip.

## July 26, 1999 (Monday)

I received an email from SONY. It seems the delivery of AIBO is still quite far off. They can only produce about 100 units a day, and it looks like it will be around the end of August. My excitement for AIBO has already cooled off.

In the morning, we watched last week’s NHK Special *Crossing the Century* on the projector with almost the entire *MGS* team. People didn’t seem too enthusiastic about it.

During lunch, I bought Arata Tendo’s older work, *The Family Game.* I read a little during my lunch break. Although it begins with a very shocking scene, it seems to have the same theme as *The Eternal Child.*

I finished writing the tanker chapter scriptment and uploaded it to the data server. At the same time, I changed Snake’s entry point from the Verrazzano Bridge to the George Washington Bridge. If Snake descended from the Verrazzano Bridge, the tanker would have already reached the Atlantic Ocean an hour before it sank. Besides, I want the sequence to start at the George Washington Bridge and end in front of the George Washington statue at Federal Hall. I’ll use the research materials from Kame Metal for the landing scene.

For the encounter scene with Olga, I incorporated Hirano-kun’s suggestion. She will now turn her body after being held up. This was indeed something Mouri-san mentioned in his lecture. I’m grateful for these kinds of ideas.

After getting home, I happened to watch a making-of program for *My Neighbors the Yamadas.* Listening to Takahata-san and Miyazaki-san talk, I couldn’t reconcile their perspectives with my current position. Takahata-san said during a stage greeting, "Even if this movie doesn’t sell, it’s still a success as a new kind of animation!" but I couldn’t agree with that.

## July 27, 1999 (Tuesday)

I updated the tanker chapter and added detailed notes. Based on that, we had a meeting with Matsubana, Shinkawa, Fukushima, Hirano, and myself, but we ran out of time and had to disband partway through. The new map (3D) I received from Matsubana was different from the previous version and needs to be corrected.

I happened to find an old paperback edition of Arata Tendo’s *The Song of Solitude* and bought it.

Uehara-kun brought me the save data for *Ape Escape.* It’s from just after clearing the stage beyond Manashino City, where I was stuck. On my way out, Inoue-kun lent me a memory card with a fully completed game. Does this mean I can finally play Mecha Puncher?

## July 28, 1999 (Wednesday)

Shin-chan bought a SWAT action figure (12-inch) from Yellow Submarine. Mine is an older guy with a beard, dressed in black. He’s the captain and has a shield. Pretty cool! I put him on my desk. However, while Shin-chan’s urban camo SWAT figure has stiff joints, mine has loose joints, and when I came back to my desk, I found him fallen on the floor. Do action figures age, too?

In the afternoon, we held the development completion meeting for *Integral.* It seems everyone had their own points of reflection. I hope they apply them to the next project.

At Matsubana’s, the tanker map (deck) was displayed. When I moved through it, it felt vast. The way we’re designing maps in *MGS2* is fundamentally different from how we did it in the past. There’s a sense of emptiness.

Since the events and traps are being built into the map, this process is totally different from creating something based on an actual structure. Is this really okay for *MGS2*? But, there’s no doubt that simply making the tanker detailed and exploring it is interesting enough on its own.

I rewatched the videos and photos from the tanker research trip. The designers must be finding this quite interesting. Negi is working on the cargo hold, which has 1600 polygons—the equivalent of one enemy soldier.

Raiden’s sneaking run has been implemented in the actual game. For some reason, it doesn’t look cool.

## July 29, 1999 (Thursday)

Shin-chan told me about a scout knife used by Spetsnaz. It’s an intelligence weapon with a single bullet hidden in the knife’s grip. I’ll use it as Olga’s sub-weapon. It will be used effectively at the beginning in the tanker chapter and in her final self-sacrifice scene. I immediately rewrote Olga’s introduction scene in the tanker chapter.

Toyopi showed me the facial animation they’re experimenting with. The back teeth look a bit scary, but it’s pretty good. If we add textures, it should give a somewhat anime-like facial expression. However, it probably won’t look photorealistic. Watching the mouth movement, I felt like making a character who’s always chewing gum. I’ll give that role to Fatman.

At Sonopi’s and Colepy’s places, the bodies are now staying behind. It’s looking good. As the bodies accumulate, it really creates a 'battlefield' atmosphere. Leaving bodies behind makes them much easier to discover than I anticipated. However, since the bodies remain, we’ll need more variations in the death animations.

The rain effect is being blended in. It’s coming along nicely. Over at Morita-kun’s, they’ve completed the 'legs-only shadow' effect.

We’ll make Raiden’s posture a little straighter. We’ll keep the 'thief-like' concept for his movements. We’ll deal with the issue of his height (camera perspective) being too low in first-person mode later.

On the way home, I considered scrapping both Johnny and Data as characters. As things stand, we have too many characters, and I can’t give each one enough individuality. By cutting out side characters, we can increase the screen time for the main ones. So, I’ll give Johnny’s role to Olga. The Colonel will introduce Olga as "Mr. X," the first ally (spy) Raiden meets. She’ll be on the side of the Patriots.

Additionally, I’ll change Rose’s role, originally planned as a newscaster, to Data’s role. Rose, who was originally an office worker at a securities firm, will be kidnapped by the Patriots (the Colonel) and forced to work as the data handler to threaten Raiden. She’ll only communicate via radio, never appearing on-site. Rose will continue calling Raiden by his real name throughout, constantly making him concerned for her safety. Midway through, Raiden realizes he’s missing memories of her. Later, he learns that the Colonel and Doctor are artificial intelligences, and he starts to suspect Rose is too. This brings us back to the original plan. In the end, Rose reveals that she is pregnant. Raiden reunites with her and names their child 'Dave.'

Raiden couldn’t protect Olga’s unborn child. This parallels his story with Rose.

## July 28, 1999 (Wednesday)

I re-evaluated the scheduling and staff assignments for *MGS2*. We need to have all elements completed by the end of 2000. It’s becoming difficult to divide things into 30 categories like we did last time. Previously, we worked with very small map units, one per load. This time, it’s different. We can’t create a feasible schedule. There’s also the issue of how to handle high-polygon models, which is still undecided for now. Furthermore, the biggest challenge is motion capture. How do we capture it? And what do we do with the captured data? I have no idea. Last time, we managed about 50 shoots per day. How many days will it take this time?

An idea for how Solidus can clear the current President’s ID. In this world, Ocelot has Liquid’s right arm transplanted. So, the idea is that the President’s right arm gets transplanted, and they use this living right arm to pass biometrics. This would allow them to launch all of America’s nuclear weapons.

Late at night, I downloaded *Holgecchu* to the PocketStation. It’s mostly a game where you just watch, but it’s quite fun. In the middle of the night, my son woke up and started playing *Holgecchu*. He seemed to really enjoy it.

## August 4, 1999 (Wednesday)

In the morning, I said goodbye to my son. My wife and son are taking a 2 p.m. flight to go back to her parents' house. I’ll be on my own for a while.

In the morning, I had a meeting with Matsubana about the schedule and budget for *MGS2*. We created a rough schedule in one-month increments, but if anything is delayed, it could cause serious problems. Since external creators are also involved, it’s difficult. We’ll review the schedule, budget, and personnel plan again and submit it.

Around 7 p.m., I called my in-laws’ house, but it went to voicemail. I went with Muraoka-san to buy some bento. It’s been a while since I had a "tempura rice bowl bento."

I came back home. It’s lonely when no one’s around. After taking a bath, I drank a beer while watching *Cube*. The idea was brilliant, but the direction wasn’t as good as I expected.

## August 5, 1999 (Thursday)

Starting today, I’m living alone. When I woke up, I realized there was no breakfast. I should’ve bought some bread or something last night. I opened the fridge, thinking I could at least eat some jelly or yogurt, but the fridge was empty. My wife cleared it out to prevent things from spoiling. With no other choice, I bought a grilled cod roe (焼きタラコ) onigiri at the convenience store by the station. It feels a bit empty.

At the office, I chewed on my meager breakfast while checking my emails.

I started working on the *MGS2* plot again. As expected, I’ve forgotten many of the details. I’m rebuilding it, but the schedule is a restraint, and I can’t approach it as freely as I’d like.

Also, I’ll have to cut out some of the overly complicated character backgrounds. Raiden’s past is the first candidate for trimming. It’s difficult to incorporate characters like Fortune and Vamp into the story as well.

Had a meeting to discuss the cover design for Shinseisha’s book *Martial Arts and Budo.* The person in charge seemed quite sensible, so the meeting only lasted about an hour. Shinkawa is expected to submit the materials after the Obon holiday.

At 5:30 p.m., I left the office and headed to Shimbashi. I had an early dinner (a light meal) with Ueno-kun at a café near Tokuma Hall. I wanted to have a proper meal, but there wasn’t enough time, so I gave up. We arrived at the venue around 6:15 p.m. There was quite a crowd in the lobby, and to my surprise, the venue was completely full! In the end, I had to sit in an extra chair in the last row.

After returning home, I took a bath and watched *Deep Rising*. It was so much fun! I didn’t expect it to be this entertaining! Stephen Sommers, you really nailed it! No wonder he was chosen to direct *The Mummy.* The script, dialogue, and sense of fun were all in the same style as *The Mummy.* He’s a director to watch. The actress was great, though I can’t remember where I’ve seen her before. Also, the effects in the movie were very useful as references for the tanker chapter in *MGS2.*

I’ll bring it to the office and show it to everyone.

## August 6, 1999 (Friday)

This morning, I bought an "onigiri (mayonnaise salmon)" at the convenience store and ate it at the office.

In the morning, we had a meeting about the schedule and budget for *Z.O.E*.

I started working on the plot for the Plant chapter. It's becoming quite long. The grand finale (revelation) in the latter half ends up being conveyed through dialogue alone. I don’t want it to just be a standard in-engine cutscene, so it will be a first-person sequence.

But if we go that route, it might drag.

The clash between the two armies in the final scene seems impossible, so I’ve scrapped it. It’s a shame. I wanted to show a boss fight happening in front of that battle.

Morita-kun seems to like movies quite a bit. He can program as well. He’s got good taste. I’m looking forward to it. We can count on him for the wave effects. Kyle Cooper's work seems perfect for him. He can program, has a good sense of design, loves movies, and speaks English.

The end-of-project party started at 5 p.m. Everyone gathered in the seminar room, but there were so many people that we couldn't fit. Back in '96, we didn’t even have 30 people. We've grown a lot.

I got drunk from drinking beer at the party, so I had to skip swimming. I bought a "deluxe tenmusu bento" and ate it by myself. The lady threw in an extra skewer and even gave me a discount. I felt like a student living in a dorm again.

At night, the textures for the Tanker chapter appeared on the screen. Polygonalizing real structures makes them feel convincing.

When I got home, I took a bath, did laundry, and watched *Lost in Space*. The design was innovative, but the movie was boring.

If my memory serves me right, the director also worked on *Predator 2*. The end credits done by Kyle were elaborate, but I didn’t like them.

## August 18, 1999 (Wednesday)

The Bon holiday is over. It ended up being quite a busy summer vacation. I think I got to spend a good amount of time playing with my son.

Since I took my summer vacation at a different time, today, Wednesday, was my first day back at the office. As expected, my desk was piled high with letters, summer greeting cards, invoices, and receipts that needed my signature. When I opened my email, it was completely red! And this is just after two days. It was exhausting. I spent the entire morning dealing with all of it, then wrote the project proposal for *Ghost Babel.* By the time I finished, it was already past 3 p.m.

I moved on to refining the plot. As expected, it’s hard to focus with so many people around, unlike on holidays.

At Matsubana’s desk, the Tanker scene with rain, clouds, and enemy soldiers was coming together. The small textures are stretched, giving it a bit of an N64 vibe. There’s still a long way to go. As for Raiden, it seems we’ll have to abandon the crouching motion. There’s still the issue with foot placement.

With so many layers of vertical structure, the first-person shooting looks like it could be fun. However, the issue is how to handle the sights. I don’t want to use a traditional “+” reticle like in other games. I want to stick to the concept of aiming down the gun’s sights. The whole reason we adopted this gun-view perspective was to aim using the sights. If we’re going to compromise on this, we might as well scrap it.

A 35,000 yen plaster statue has arrived at Johnny's desk. The groin is strangely large. It probably won’t last more than a few weeks before breaking. If it helps us get a better model, it’s worth it. We plan to buy one more. By the time development is over, they’ll probably be shattered into pieces.

Almost all the programmers are here. The staff who went to the SIGGRAPH conference are back, so it’s lively again. Xin-chan and Toyopy are still on vacation.

Morita-kun showed me the water surface effect he made. Apparently, he drew the sea and wave textures himself, and they look really good. He really is a promising programmer. The ability a programmer needs most is to create something surprising with ideas and ingenuity within the given environment. Very few people can do that. It’s not about technique. It’s about ideas backed by technique.

At 6:30 p.m., we held a screening of *The Greed* in the seminar room. I left early to go to the sports club. When I returned, the movie had just finished.

At home, I watched *Arlington Road*. It was interesting. The ending left me with a sense of discomfort, much like when I watched Kurt Russell’s *Breakdown.* Kyle Cooper’s opening sequence wasn’t much to talk about. The idea was too simple.

## August 19, 1999 (Thursday)

Last night, I forgot to buy bread for breakfast, so this morning I had another Weider in Jelly instead. Just before leaving the house, my son called.

I’ve revived the previously scrapped "stealth camera." I think it has more novelty and impact than the remote missile. It will play an important role in the Emma rescue and boss fights. It’s fun, but the difficulty is extremely high. I have a feeling it might get scrapped at the very last minute.

I’ve decided to include the giant shark event after all. It’s such a classic to have a shark in something involving the ocean, but that's exactly why I want to put it in. Next month, Renny Harlin’s new film *Deep Blue Sea* is also being released.

Shadows casting similar to those in *Zelda* have been implemented on the Tanker. The current issue with the jittering is due to the models not being properly divided, which is causing inefficiencies. Once the model splitting is addressed, the background rendering will be significantly faster.

Since first-person shooting is difficult, I’ve changed the first-person button to “R1.” It feels very natural. *Resident Evil* players should be used to it as well. However, we’ll need to reconsider since this removes the quick-change and peek functions while in first-person.

I went to see *Eyes Wide Shut* with Muraoka-san. The theater was fairly crowded.

I’d heard a lot of bad reviews, but I found it fascinating. For two and a half hours, I was fully immersed in Kubrick’s world without falling asleep. Even at 70, he truly was a genius. Every frame had incredible composition. The lighting was stunning, especially in the bar scene. I didn’t expect the film to be this easy to understand.

I’ll definitely have to watch Kubrick’s final work again.

## August 23, 1999 (Monday)

Summer vacation is over, and from Saturday, I’m back to living with my family again.

I’ve been thinking about the "breath-holding" mechanic for underwater operations. The idea is that as the O2 gauge decreases underwater, repeatedly pressing the action button would extend the character’s breath for a bit longer. The goal is to recreate the feeling and struggle of holding your breath underwater. This would be challenging in terms of controls, but no game has really captured that sensation yet. In previous games, the challenge in underwater sections was about finding the shortest route. If you failed, you’d have to start over from the beginning. In *MGS2*, it's different. When the path becomes unclear, you can press the button repeatedly to extend your breath and use that extra time to search for the correct route. By using the button-pressing technique well, the gameplay gains depth and a greater sense of freedom.

I wrote the specifications for weapons. While I included them in the document, I think we should still scrap the idea of weapons (guns) being usable underwater. There’s concern about the ambiguity of firing a gun while in an underwater stance.

At Matsubana’s desk, we experimented with the “Ikezu camera,” and it’s looking pretty good. Also, the movements for first-person attacks and cornering blend well with the clearing techniques taught by Mouri-san. There’s a new gameplay feel and satisfaction here that wasn’t in the previous game. The infiltration method now involves advancing, stopping, peeking in first-person, eliminating enemies with the gun, and then continuing forward.

## August 25, 1999 (Wednesday)

I met the Wachowski brothers and Jeff Darrow at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku. It was my first time meeting Jeff, and he greeted me by saying, "Kojima-sensei!"

All three of them were truly great people—polite, intellectual, and really nice guys. It seems that being an "otaku master" is universal. For some reason, we really connected. We hit it off right away.

The interview room had a full set built for it. Metallic curved walls with monitors embedded in them played footage from *The Matrix* on Betacam.

## August 30, 1999 (Monday)

The AIBO has finally arrived. When I opened the box, it was bigger than I expected. There seems to be quite a bit involved in getting it to work, so I’ll leave it for tomorrow.

## August 31, 1999 (Tuesday)

I activated the AIBO. It felt like the birth of a child—so dignified and moving.

After leaving it on in autonomous mode for a while, it became quite noisy. Pipo pipo!—it was like it was trying to communicate something. This is too distracting to work with. I should probably take it home.

I uploaded the final version of the weapons and equipment.

I went to a screening of *Cascade*. It wasn’t interesting. I don’t think I’ll be able to write anything about it.

It’s a strange film made by a German director who grew up watching Hollywood movies, using a German budget and a German crew. The jokes, dialogue, and pacing all have a Hollywood action feel, but it somehow doesn’t fit with the German sensibility. It’s not funny.

## November 1, 2000 (Wednesday)

It’s November starting today. The background on my cell phone has changed to an autumn leaf pattern. It's already autumn—or maybe even winter.

I’ve started writing my diary again. I opened the folder and looked back at my development diary. The last entry was from August 31st of last year—there’s a gap of 1 year and 2 months. Since my home terminal became a VAIO, I’ve found it difficult to write my diary at home. I can’t write text as freely on Windows as I can on a Mac. I guess it’s something I’ll get used to, but for now, when writing plans or scripts, that subtle “feeling” is important. When my fingers stop, so does my thinking. I intend to stick with the Mac for a while longer.

That said, I can't write my daily diary after returning home. Partly because I get home so late.

Even with all those excuses, I’m shocked that it’s been over a year.

From now on, I’ll write about the day’s events before heading home, and anything that happens afterward I’ll reflect on and write the next morning. Apparently, recalling events from a day or two ago is great for stimulating the brain.

Starting today, I’ll finish adjusting the demo version and then return to the Plant chapter. I’d like to hole up in the meeting room, but if it’s not available, I’ll have to make do at my desk. First, I need to finalize the selection mechanics for the opening sequence. If I divide it into a “specification document,” some staff won’t read it, so I’ll embed it in the scriptment.

The CP division proposed a 12-inch doll. It looks like they’re planning a doll for *MGS*.

I bought volume 15 of *Monster* on the way home. Once again, it ends at such a tantalizing point.

## November 2, 2000 (Thursday)

It’s raining again this morning. Since today is "Tokyo Fantasia," I had planned to go home for a bit, but with this weather, I decided to go straight there from the office. The meeting time at Shibuya Pantheon is 11 p.m., so leaving the office at 10:30 p.m. should be fine.

The blacklight feature hasn’t been implemented yet, so I’ll reinforce it. I’ll set it in the corners and recesses on the second floor. With this, no matter if players go clockwise or counterclockwise, it should be harder for them to be spotted. If they destroy the lights that can be broken, the blacklight will activate.

Once we’ve wrapped up the demo, we’ll shift into full production for the tanker and plant sections. After the new year, the "Z.O.E" staff will join us. By then, we need to have the foundation of the production line established. We also have voice recording sessions scheduled for December, so the scenario needs to be finalized by then.

I was supposed to lock myself in the meeting room today to work on scenario adjustments, but I had to give it up since a check for "Z.O.E" (the ROM for publicity) came up. I got as far as sniping the EPS support.

I bought takoyaki and tenmusu at Mitsukoshi and ate them. Today’s takoyaki was delicious, as Shin-chan and Toyopi had recommended.

I went swimming at the club. It was less crowded than usual, so I swam more than usual. Maybe that’s why I’m already getting sleepy. I wonder if I’ll be able to fight off the drowsiness at Tokyo Fantasia.

## November 4, 2000 (Saturday)

I went to the office today. I worked on the scripts. Especially the plant and tanker sections at the beginning needed fixing.

Stephen Hunter's *Tapestry of Spies* is boring. A new work by Arata Tendo was released. Glenn Meade's new novel is also coming. I need to finish reading this quickly.

No one is at this bloc today. For the first time in a while, it looks like I'll be able to get some work done.
Around 3:00 p.m., the story team came to work. If aiming for a break, looks like the morning is best.

Wrote specifications for the opening act. Thinking about it, we may have a CESA by the end of next year. We already have an "M" rating in America. If that is the case, there will be no need to ask the player's age at the beginning. Essentially, blood can be turned on or off regardless of player age.

I bought a copy of Arata Tendo’s new work, *Overflowing Love*. It was selling quite well. It seems that the first edition will be sold out by next week.

## November 6, 2000 (Monday)

I finally got back to working on revisions for the Plant chapter. The morning was consumed by emails, approvals, and meetings, so I only got into the meeting room in the afternoon. I had reserved the room since the morning, but I might get scolded for not using it much. For today, I’ll focus on revising up to the BC connecting bridge. The exchange event with Snake will be a hand-off. If the player has a razor, it will automatically be given to Snake. It’s not interactive, but to avoid dragging on after the long cutscene, I’ve decided to streamline it.

Lately, I find myself cutting more and more from the specs.

I received feedback from KOE regarding the standalone sale of the MGS2 demo. In Europe, *Z.O.E* is apparently more highly anticipated than *Onimusha*. And with *MGS2* bundled on top of that, SCEE is even planning to run commercials. This is fantastic. We can’t miss such a great opportunity. I want to release it this fiscal year, no matter what.

At 9 p.m., we burned a new disk for the demo. Upon checking, the game crashes during the Olga fight. The codec is also bugged. There’s still a long way to go.

The subtitles for the introductory pad demo have been added. However, there’s too much information, and it’s hard for players to focus. I’ve decided to remove the explanations for the weapon and equipment windows. For now, this will be the version of the demo we go with.

We couldn’t burn a disk for *Z.O.E* today either. Frustrated, I played the "Dengeki D" edition (bonus version) instead.

*Tapestry of Spies* wasn't interesting. I'm disappointed, especially since *Point of Impact* was so good.

## November 7, 2000 (Sunday)

My stomach is acting up again. For the past month, I’ve had terrible constipation, and now I’m getting stomach pains. It’s around the left side of my abdomen. If it drags on like it did before, it’ll be tough. I try not to think about it too much, but it’s still on my mind.

## November 8, 2000 (Wednesday)

Today, we had a monitoring session for *MGS2* with development assistants from WEST. The participants were Hara-san, Arikawa-san, Kitamura-san, and Nakano, the department head (now an executive director). Each of them played for about two hours. Like at the SCE monitoring session, I gave them a printed sheet to write their impressions.

Even Hara-san, who almost never plays games, managed to clear it on Very Easy mode. It seems to be easier than expected. It might have helped that Nojiri-kun explained the controls at the beginning, unlike at SCE. But in action games, even with guidance, some people still struggle. The controls, which were my biggest concern, seem to be decent enough, so I’m somewhat relieved.

Lip-syncing has started to be added to the polygon cutscene. Just adding facial expressions and lip movements makes a big difference. Now we need to work on eye movements and blinking. How much we can do will depend on time. The Cypher is also looking good.

## November 9, 2000 (Tuesday)

I've had a stomachache since morning. It's around the area below my left navel. The same spot hurts. It hurts even when I press on it with my finger.

I've decided to stop using the trick of having Prissken's voice in the Plant chapter be performed by Banjō Ginga.

Even if it's obvious, I'll have Mr. Ōtsuka perform it from the beginning. I reviewed and corrected up to the part where the ninja encounter occurs. I couldn’t stay focused today either.

At KMJ in Shinjuku, there was a product briefing for *Z.O.E.* It was supposed to start at 6 PM, but it ended early, so when I arrived, I was on standby. The atmosphere felt different from last time. I got the impression that the participants were somehow full of anticipation.

For *MGS2,* I gave a truthful gameplay demonstration using the disc. It took almost 30 minutes to reach the battle with Olga. After the explanation, there was some applause, and the evaluation was quite high! As I was leaving, everyone was praising it, saying "Amazing!" repeatedly. Only Okamura is scheduled to go on a business trip to Kobe tomorrow. I wasn't planning on presenting *MGS2,* but it might be better to record it on DV and hand it over.

## November 10, 2000 (Friday)

My stomach still hurts. It’s getting worse.

I played through the full *Z.O.E* disc.

The vibration feature is now in the Codec, but the shaking doesn’t look like natural hand movement. I consulted with Hopin, who explained how the hand-shake effect works in the demo tool. The character motions during the Codec conversations are starting to be implemented. Xin-chan has also worked on the lighting, but it’s still not quite right. I’m looking forward to improvements in the focus and visual effects.

## November 12, 2000 (Sunday)

The first disc of the Plant chapter was ready, so I played it up to Shell 1. It seems I can’t descend into the central underground area. I keep getting spotted by enemies too often. And, the map connections are hard to follow. The layered structure, particularly between the heliport and the armory, isn’t intuitive. It’s impossible to figure out how the areas are connected—it feels like a maze.

I’ll adjust the script based on what I saw on this disc. The first elevator hall is too difficult with three enemy soldiers.

## November 13, 2000 (Monday)

I checked the second disc of the Plant chapter. As expected, the heliport and armory sections are still problematic. I ordered the removal of the overhead camera in the open area and gave instructions for adjustments in various places. The central building’s hostage room on B3 is now visible, but it doesn’t feel right. The density of the hostages isn’t coming through. First, we’ll set up the hostages' motions and then determine the size of the room.

I played through the full *Z.O.E* disc again, and my stomach pain returned.

I had Mouri-san play the demo. As expected, he got spotted often and had frequent game overs, but the feedback seems to be positive.

I had dinner with Mouri-san at a yakiniku restaurant near Ebisu Station. Due to my busy schedule and poor health, I stopped after two glasses of beer.

## November 14, 2000 (Tuesday)

I met Director Sogo Ishii!! My dream has finally come true!  
He was such a nice person!! And on top of that, he praised *MGS*!  
Ah, what a great day.

## November 15, 2000 (Wednesday)

Added in a tutorial video (Basic Action). The screen is small, but it's easy to understand when you see it in motion. The video is divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. We are considering adding more categories. I was thinking of adding a movie of the staff's faces, but we decided not to. Matsubana had already started filming—I am sorry about that.

Kitao-kun, Kobayashi-kun, and I did a full playthrough check of *Z.O.E.* Here and there, the game freezes and won't progress. There's also a bug where the Tyrant gets stuck. I still haven’t seen the final Anubis fight.

The Codec conversation after the Olga fight has been added.

## November 20, 2000 (Monday)

With the master-up deadline approaching and weekend meetings and all, I've neglected my diary for a while.

There's an article in *AERA* criticizing the poor performance of the PS2.

I played through *Z.O.E* to the end. It's still got a long way to go, but at last, I can see its substance.

## November 21, 2000 (Tuesday)

I checked the master version. If there are no problems, we’ll submit the master by tomorrow morning.

Had a board meeting while eating lunch, followed by a production meeting... once again, I couldn't get any work done today.

I played through *Z.O.E* again. It froze halfway through, so I had to restart from that point and play through to the end.

It seems Toyopy is getting married. I’m truly happy for him! The wedding is planned for April. I remember interviewing him at the main office before Konami JPN was established. He had a brand-new suit, but the label was still on the sleeve. That was five years ago now.

## November 22, 2000 (Wednesday)

I heard from Okamura that the CS Osaka product presentation held yesterday was a big success.

In the morning, Matsubana took the master copy of the demo to SCE. I wanted to go as well, but since Ueda-san wasn’t going to be there in the morning, I decided not to. I want to hand it to Ueda-san directly. If I can’t give it to him personally, I’ll hold off this time. Although it shouldn't happen, there might be a chance we’ll have to resubmit the master.

I checked *Z.O.E* and gathered the missing sound effects. There are so many that it’s overwhelming. At this rate, it looks like I won’t be able to return to work on *MGS2* anytime soon.

I sent external materials for the figures. There will be a Toy Fair in New York next February, and it seems they want to do a large-scale reveal of *MGS2* there.

In mid-December, Xin-chan will meet with the model sculptor from the other company. I was planning to go as well, but with the current state of *Z.O.E*, I probably won’t be able to make it.

Until the game is released, Raiden, Fortune, and Solidus will remain hidden.

I also relayed information about the cardboard box for the game. It seems they’ll send a full-size sample of the cardboard box.

We held a meeting about the promotion of *Z.O.E*.

We had a celebration for the completion of the demo version at a chanko nabe restaurant in Ebisu. It was originally planned for just the scenario team, but the motion team joined in as well. I also heard that the programming team held a separate gathering in Shibuya.

For the second party, we all went to karaoke. The echo was so strong that it was hard to hear my own voice.

I went home with Kaneyoshi.

## November 24, 2000 (Friday)

I did a full check of *Z.O.E*. I was able to get through it without any crashes. Although the demo isn’t implemented yet, it’s a relief that the playthrough worked. Now it’s a matter of how much we can improve the quality within the schedule. At least we’ve moved past the point of hoping for a miracle. I’ll focus especially on the direction and sound aspects.

I’m thinking about what to do with the *Z.O.E* opening demo movie (with the song by Lantis). It’s 1 minute and 30 seconds long. If I end up editing it myself, I won’t be able to work on *MGS2* again. Why does this keep happening!!?????

The placeholder background for the Emma sniping event is finished and is being displayed over at Yoshiike’s station. This time, we’re considering adding a zoom function to the PSG1 so the player can get a better sense of their surroundings.

I played the DVD version of *Z.O.E* for the first time. I experienced the transition from the opening movie to the start of the game.

My left side hurts, from the area around my ribs down to my hip. It even hurts when I sneeze. It was also painful while swimming.

## November 26, 2000 (Sunday)

I came to the office to work. Tomorrow, we have a meeting to revise the schedule for the Plant Chapter. I’ll prepare the materials for that today.

Yesterday, I went to ROBODEX 2000 at Pacifico Yokohama. Because it was shown on TV, there were an insane number of people—on par with Tokyo Disneyland! When we arrived, staff with megaphones were shouting, "It’s a two-hour wait to buy tickets, and another two hours to get in!" I was about to give up and go home, but my son kept insisting, "That’s a lie! They’re lying!" Trusting him, we stayed in line. Many people around us gave up after hearing those warnings again and again, but we stuck it out.

We managed to get in after about four hours. The venue was packed with people. My son was so excited, running around the entire place, especially captivated by AIBO. I thought I might as well bring home the AIBO that’s been sitting on the shelf at work. As for me, seeing P2 and P3 in person almost brought me to tears. Unfortunately, there were too many people around ASIMO, and I couldn’t see it with my own eyes. I could only watch it indirectly on the monitors streaming the footage from inside the venue. Since my son and I are about the same height, we couldn’t see anything past the crowd. I really wanted to see it up close. The same goes for SONY’s humanoid robot (SDR). Still, I could feel the presence of these robots, standing somewhere beyond the sea of people.

Perhaps influenced by ROBODEX, I activated my own AIBO, which has been sitting dormant for a year. It moved. It moved again. It’s a bit clumsy, but at least it’s not broken. I’ll take it home for the New Year’s holiday. Until then, I’ll keep using it so it can grow a little. Compared to the AIBO2 I saw at the event, though, mine barely moves and has poor expressiveness.

I made a few adjustments to the scriptment and headed home. Starting today, Fussy will begin working on the scenario. I wonder how he’ll refine my scriptment?

Reading King’s *The Stand* is exhausting. There are so many characters, and the backstories are just too dense. I’m getting through the story, and it’s fun to appreciate the character development, but it’s still a bit tiresome.

## November 27, 2000 (Monday)

I restarted AIBO this morning. It seems to have regained a lot of energy. It’s scratching its head and showing more variety in its movements. Even though it was dormant, could its movements be triggered by a timer?

I’ve made the tough decision to cut China Man. This was a painful cut to reduce the time needed for model creation and boss production. I’ll replace him with Vamp—the man in the RAY cockpit and the one who stabs Emma will now be Vamp instead. I’ll also connect the boss fight pool that was originally intended for the China Man battle. It was a difficult decision.

We had a full meeting for MGS2. The seminar room was nearly full.

We received a fax from SCE regarding the master check of the demo. Rejected! It didn’t pass in one go. The feedback pointed out English text mistakes and asked us to stop using the phrasing “No returns on…” in the demo explanation. So close.

## November 28, 2000 (Tuesday)

After going home and thinking it over, I realized there really aren’t enough boss fights. So, I’ve decided to have the China Man fight be handled by Vamp instead. We’ll keep the bottomless pool for the boss fight. Since both China Man and Vamp are agile and use knives, their characters overlap to some extent. With this, Vamp will appear in a total of five scenes, making him the boss with the most appearances.

Based on Xin-chan’s suggestion, we’re changing the rifles used by the Gurlukovich soldiers in the Plant chapter from AK74U to Abakan AN94. However, the VIP guards will still carry AKs as before. This means the weapon Raiden will acquire will also be the AK.

Additionally, we’ve decided to replace the OICW used by the high-tech soldiers (Robocop units) with the M4. The OICW is visually interesting, but it would require reworking all the animations, which seems risky from a programming standpoint. This is another tough decision, but it’s the safer option.

At Negi’s station, the hostage room had somehow become an event hall. The idea was that the president was giving a speech, so they redecorated the interior. It doesn’t feel too forced, so we’ll proceed with it. I support these kinds of on-the-spot changes when they turn out well. However, lately, there have been many changes made at the field level without reports or approvals, and they often don’t take the planned design into consideration. It’s no surprise, though—most of the staff haven’t read the spec documents or the scriptment, which is supposed to be their bible. When I ask why, they respond, “It’s hard to read.” I always feel like saying, “Then why are you working in development?”

I’m creating the remaster to submit to SCE. We’ll resubmit it tomorrow morning.

## November 29, 2000 (Wednesday)

Last night, before going to bed, I reread my interviews in the MGS mook, scenario book, and strategy guide from the previous game. What I said back then and what I want to do going forward hasn’t changed. Even though that was a tough time physically two years ago, I seemed more energetic. I feel a bit embarrassed about not having changed, but it’s clear that my physical and especially mental strength has weakened.

I’ve been taking the oral medication (anti-allergy drugs) I got from the hospital, and my skin condition has improved. It might just be my perception, but my skin feels normal again.

Matsubana took the remastered demo to SCE.

Estimating the total gameplay time of MGS2, the Tanker chapter is about 1 hour 30 minutes, disarming the bombs in the Plant takes about 2 hours 30 minutes, from the Central Building to Shell 2 is 1 hour, from Shell 2 to the sniping section is 2 hours, Arsenal is 1 hour, and the final section is another hour... which makes for a total of about 10 hours. It's longer than the previous game.

I’m organizing the structure of the Plant chapter. The first half is stealth-focused, while the second half is more event-driven. The boss fights are balanced too. I think it’s turning out reasonably well. The question is whether we can actually achieve this on schedule.

I played Z.O.E. The sound effects I ordered have started coming in, but the sound design is still rough. The audio direction hasn’t been established, and the presentation isn’t there yet.

The difficulty balance is too bland, so I instructed adjustments to the enemy guards’ responses, encounter frequency, evasion timers, and other parameters. The second player character, "Nate," has once again become dull and “nebula-like,” losing its appeal.

Without any instructions, Xin-chan added lighting to the stages in Z.O.E. As expected from Yoji Shinkawa, I’m impressed today! It seems that the changes will be reflected in the CD tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to it.

## November 30, 2000 (Thursday)

It’s the last day of November. Today, it's much colder than usual.

I revisited and refined the Vamp fight again. Vamp can escape underwater, but Raiden won’t be able to enter the pool. At this point, Raiden will have most of his weapons, so I’m thinking of ways to let the player counter strategically using various weapons. Instead of limiting the player to only a few effective weapons, I want to ensure that the characteristics of all the weapons can be utilized, allowing each player’s personal strategy to shine. It will be similar to the Raven fight from the previous game. Since there’s no scene or event where Raiden’s first-person punch is useful, I’ll have him target Vamp’s weak point (his side).

I’m concerned about the co-op event with Snake in the Arsenal corridor—it seems shaky from a programming perspective. Even though the team has spent a year on enemy AI, it’s still at its current level of intelligence. The first rule of game design and planning is that we shouldn’t rely on the programmers’ abilities, especially for intelligent enemies and NPCs. I’m debating whether to change the design specifications.

We’re reviewing the water gameplay mechanics again. We’ll treat the surface and underwater segments as separate forced motions, and develop them with the idea that they’re practically separate stages.

At night, I watched *Mad Max 2* on TV for the first time in a while. The voice acting had changed—Mel Gibson was voiced by Kōichi Yamadera. I’ve seen it over ten times, but no matter how many times I watch it, it’s still great. The direction is incredible. The camera work, the angles... but the most amazing part is the first half. It consistently shows the setting and situations from Max’s perspective. The subjective shots and the binocular view make the audience experience what Max is going through. Young George Miller was just too good!

## December 1, 2000 (Friday)

It’s already December, the final month of this century. Both Z.O.E and MGS2 will be finalized this month. How we spend this time—how we live through it—will have a significant impact on 2001.

We received a fax from SCE. The master for the demo was smoothly approved. It was surprisingly easy, but that’s good. That’s a relief. Now, the focus is on Z.O.E.

I played Z.O.E. The difficulty balance still isn’t quite there. I want more depth to the game once players get used to the action. I duplicated today’s version and distributed it to the MGS2 team. We’ll collect data from this.

## December 4, 2000 (Monday)

I went to two consecutive L'Arc-en-Ciel concerts over the weekend. I'm pretty exhausted.

I’m motivating the Z.O.E team. I’m often scolded by outsiders who say, “If you protect your staff too much, nothing good will come of it.” Creating something isn’t cool or stylish. This is something that younger people who entered the game industry during its rise in popularity don’t seem to understand. There are few people who came to the game industry because they wanted to create something. Most came because the industry is profitable or because it’s in the spotlight. And then, as soon as they join, they start calling themselves creators—even though they haven’t made anything yet.

I played through the cargo hold. The neck exercises and the “thrilling” events seem like they’ll work. However, the camera might need to be pulled back quite a bit. When the camera is pulled back, it becomes harder to display everything properly, and the number of soldiers decreases. Moreover, pulling the camera back makes it psychologically feel like there are fewer people.

Raiden's sneaky movements are looking good.

## December 5, 2000 (Tuesday)

I wrote revisions for the Fortune boss fight into the scriptment. The idea is to focus more on the Space Invaders-style gameplay by keeping Fortune’s movements minimal.

I had a discussion with Oshii-san about *Avalon*. It was the first time we’d met in almost two years. Surprisingly, he had grown a beard, and it suited him well. People who look good with beards are lucky. I’m envious.

We talked from 3 p.m. until nearly 7 p.m. in our seminar room. I also played MGS2 in front of him, spending almost half the day. He seems to be preparing for his next project, though it’s still a long way off from release. I can’t even imagine where I’ll be by then. This time, I was the one in a difficult spot (as the game isn’t finished yet), which is the opposite of our last meeting when Oshii-san was struggling with G.R.M.'s *Labyrinth*.

I got to see footage of San Francisco and L.A., which I wasn’t able to visit. It seems MGS2 was surprisingly well-received at an overseas studio.

At the end of our conversation, Oshii-san said, “You should make an adventure game. You’re a world-builder, and something like MGS isn’t right for you.” It seems that’s how he sees it.

I watched a bit of L'Arc-en-Ciel’s concert through Yahoo’s internet broadcast.

We ran into some problems with the PAL conversion. The high-speed motion effects used for the helicopter rotors and Cypher’s rotors slowed down, causing issues. We’ll handle it with a separate solution.

Today, there were CS product presentations held in Akihabara and Sendai. Okamura attended the one in Sendai, and Matsubana was at the one in Akihabara. They presented the demos for Z.O.E and MGS2. The feedback was indeed good, but it didn’t get the kind of clear, enthusiastic response we saw at E3.

## December 6, 2000 (Wednesday)

I worked on revising the scriptment. It’s been a calm day. I’m trying to reduce the motion capture for Emma’s cinematic scenes. I added some '60s soap opera-style effects, like the "sinking sunset" imagery.

The pole-sliding motion in the cargo hold was added at Nojiri’s station, but it’s not very interesting. It seems like the concept (Matsubana’s idea) has fallen flat, and it needs some additional elements. I instructed them to pull the camera back significantly so both the commander and the soldiers fit within the frame.

Yoshihashi from the CP Division visited. It seems they want to release four 12-inch dolls for MGS: Snake, Liquid, Meryl, and Wolf.

Apparently, they’ll reuse the “base body” of the dolls and only swap out the head, so the height and proportions need to match to some extent. That’s why these characters were selected. It seems that dolls like these sell around 2,000 to 3,000 units. Since the sculptor of the base body is Japanese and based domestically, I gave the green light for commercialization. I’ll leave the detailed Q&A to Xin-chan.

## December 7, 2000 (Thursday)

I implemented the revisions from Hirano-kun’s “Mania Check” into the scriptment. Pliskin was originally a sergeant, but now he’ll be a lieutenant. Since it’s rare for a lieutenant or second lieutenant to accompany field operations, I’ll have Peter (Stillman) point out the oddity.

The cut ending song for Z.O.E seems usable, so I decided to use it for the second ending. I also instructed the music to start playing from the scene when Selvice reappears in Roll 4. This eliminates the need for Murakawa-san to work on sound effects for the latter half.

## December 8, 2000 (Friday)

I bought *Early Autumn* by Robert B. Parker, as recommended by Mouri-san. If it’s interesting, I might dig deeper into Parker’s works. The latest book in the Spenser series was available in hardcover. It seems Hayakawa Publishing is holding a Parker fair. I’ve been thinking of creating a CG-based kamishibai (picture-story show) AVD. The theme would be the Spenser series, though I doubt it would sell.

I asked Kume-chan to look into HIDEOKOJIMA.COM. To my shock, someone had already registered it. When I visited the site, I found that they had posted a photo of the Konami JPN entrance—one that had just been taken during the recent shoot for "IGN."

## December 11, 2000 (Monday)

The long-awaited third version of the Plant chapter has been burned, so I’m checking it. Although it’s still a placeholder map, the lighting is mostly in place. The regular camera angles have also been set, and while the enemy routes haven’t been fully adjusted yet, the soldiers have been placed.

However… it’s not good. Major revisions will be necessary. The heliport and the armory, in particular, will need significant reworking.

The tightrope section seems promising. I’ll add more gimmicks and make further adjustments.

That said, from a gameplay perspective, this part severely limits the player’s freedom. While it aligns with the original plan, the tension created by the bomb-disarming gameplay so far, which allowed a high degree of freedom—going forward, backward, left, or right—is replaced here with an old-fashioned, stage-clearing style. You can only move forward, and I’m worried that this might bore the player. The flow within the game was crafted with intention, but when actually playing it, some parts feel different from what I imagined. I’ll keep an eye on it and make adjustments.

What’s even more concerning, though, is the underwater scene. Watching the placeholder version from Sonoyama-kun’s station gives off a dangerous vibe. We’ll need to make a decision soon. I’m also changing the sniping scene from the second floor to the first floor. The initial Claymore corridor is hard to see, so we’re moving it down. Plus, the angle from below gives the Plant an imposing appearance, so we’ll go with that. The textures for the underside of the Plant don’t seem to be an issue, so that should work fine."

## December 12, 2000 (Tuesday)

I made significant revisions to the third version of the Plant chapter. The Nikita missile section is quite difficult. First, it's hard to locate the power panel, and the pipe connections are confusing. To address this, we’ll place a pipe map (blueprint) on the wall. Even if you know the route, it’s almost impossible to clear, similar to the highest difficulty in VR missions. As a solution, firing from the small room with the gun cameras will make it much easier. With just a hint, even players without much skill can clear it. I’ll decide how much help to provide through the Polydemo and the initial radio transmissions as we go along. Although I considered removing this event from the game several times, some staff argued, “MGS needs these kinds of tricky events,” which I can understand. However, I’m still unsure if new players will be able to handle it.

As for the underwater mode map, after playing it again, it’s still not fun. Additionally, the Vamp fight map’s background has been “casually” changed by the scenario and background teams. This is a critical section. It's not about the visual appeal—it’s essential to prioritize the original design, concept, and gameplay. We need to simulate and create the boss fight with care...

In the evening, I went to Jingu-mae Studio for the PS2 party. I first went to the BF2 waiting room and had a bento. Eating at the event makes it feel like we’re all working together somehow. However, I wasn’t very hungry and left half of it. The waiting room was packed with Konami staff. Even though it was supposed to be shared with other companies, I felt a bit bad about it.

Inafune-san happened to pass by, and we had a long conversation in the room. He said the master for Onimusha is almost done, and they’ll submit it in two days. I felt envious looking at him. Will I feel this same sense of relief at this time next year?

The PS2 party started at 6:30 p.m. The venue quickly filled with media people. There were live camera interviews for each of the 14 titles being released in January. MGS2 was the last to be featured, probably because we still don’t have a release date. Onimusha finished quickly, and Inafune-san left, saying, “Now I’m off to the Media Works end-of-year party.” What a courteous guy.

For two and a half hours, I stood with no food, no drinks... and hardly any interviews. People kept mistaking me for an SCE representative, asking, “Excuse me, are you with SCE?” When I said “No,” they’d respond, “Oh, you must be in charge of this game,” and walk away. It seems they were only interested in interviewing SCE’s PR people. Others kept asking, “Is there any famous creator here?” right in front of me.

The party ended just before 9 p.m. Maruyama-san and Saeki-san from promotions came by to greet me.

## December 13, 2000 (Wednesday)

We’ve placed shield soldiers in the engine room of the Tanker chapter, along with four attack soldiers. This significantly boosts the security level. This area will serve as one of the key moments in the Tanker chapter. I want players to enjoy the clearing process and the soldiers' behaviors, especially the AI, which is different from the previous game.

## December 14, 2000 (Thursday)

With the map changes to the underwater scene, I continued to revise the scriptment today. Yoshiike is also updating the map to follow the original design specified in the scriptment. The number of times the player can surface for air is reduced to two. The location of the thermal goggles has also been changed. An item (Nikita) is placed in a hidden duct in the Nikita room.

There was a problem regarding what to do if the player puts the enemy soldiers to sleep during the disguise event. The solution is to increase the number of enemies. Additionally, we’re reusing the Tanker chapter’s bottle and grain programming (gimmicks) in this section. The enemy waiting room has relatively light processing, so we can display around ten soldiers.

The Harrier is now displayed on the bridge for the Harrier fight. Its size is as calculated, though I’m worried it doesn’t have the same intimidating presence as the Hind. To check the display processing, we’ll also add some seagulls flying around.

I walked around the outer perimeter and central building in the third version of the Plant chapter. There are some issues, like the thinness of the D-leg and the CD connecting bridge, but overall, including the tightrope section, the outer perimeter scenes seem fine from a design perspective. The intended vertical structure, where the player needs to stay alert and move forward while watching behind them, works well.

Fukushima is working on revising the script. The first draft should be ready around next week. Up until now, it’s been a closed, personal creation process for me, but now it will be a draft objectively revised by someone else. I want to proceed carefully so that the core doesn’t get blurred, like in Hollywood movies.

I got a call from Xin-chan, who is on a business trip in the U.S. The meeting with McFarlane went well, even though it lasted for four hours. That’s a relief. I have high expectations for this figure line. Even if it’s cold, I’ll have to attend the Toy Show in February.

## December 15, 2000 (Friday)

We’ve decided to place Cyphers on the CD connecting bridge. The Cyphers will be hovering in place, allowing players to understand that they function as aerial surveillance cameras. The player will also learn that tranquilizer guns can’t be used to clear the bridge in this section. However, they’ll discover that using chaff grenades will neutralize the Cyphers. As for the D-leg, I’ve scrapped the lame “command room” concept and focused the gameplay on a “large, open area with many enemy soldiers.” This will be the first major challenge after the bomb disposal begins.

It seems that the Z.O.E team, or rather Konami JPN WEST, is running low on DVDs. I’ve asked Kume-chan to check with EAST, Konami TYO, and Konami STUDIO to see if they have any in stock.

I bought the second half of *The Stand*. Since Pollock’s new book was also released, I picked that up as well. I need to finish *Early Autumn* quickly. At this rate, Pollock’s book might be the last one I read before the 21st century ends.

## December 18, 2000 (Monday)

We submitted the pre-master for Z.O.E to SCE. Now we’ll focus on debugging, fine-tuning the movies, and adjusting the difficulty until January 15th. I feel a bit relieved.

I played through the pre-master version until the end. The sound design is still missing, and of course, the movies aren’t in place yet. The challenge now is how effectively we can use effects in the remaining time. I’m still debating whether I should edit the loop demo myself.

Fukushima sent over the revised plan up to the Fatman fight. I adopted the suggested revisions and deletions, and placed them into a new folder. It’s interesting—when the script is interpreted objectively, I find that many of the revisions make sense. However, the kind of ideas I was hoping for aren’t there yet.

I finally got John Wetton’s new album (*Welcome to Heaven*). For once, when I asked the store clerk for “John Wetton’s…”, they actually understood. The clerk led me to the progressive rock section, where the album was laid out flat. There was even a free desk calendar included.

The 5.1 channel sound system arrived. We set it up in the seminar room. As a test, we watched the Omaha Beach scene from *Saving Private Ryan*. While it doesn’t quite match the experience of a theater, the sense of immersion was impressive. If we could replicate that in MGS2, it would be incredible. However, that level of sound immersion isn’t possible during gameplay, and that’s the problem. Only during cutscene playback can we get that level of immersion, and it still feels lacking. In *Saving Private Ryan*, you can hear where the soldiers are being shot at from—this kind of audio detail is amazing in a 2D space.

## December 19, 2000 (Tuesday)

This morning, when I opened the front door, the sky was still dark. It had just rained, but it truly felt like the arrival of winter.

I bought Yukinobu Hoshino’s deluxe book, *Midway Rekishi-hen*. Apparently, it's to celebrate his 25th anniversary since his manga debut. I read the first two chapters. They're from his early days, so the artwork is a bit rough, but they’re still good. These are his own personal selections, and his dramatic art is remarkable. I’ve read the stories from chapter three onward before, but I’ll revisit them.

When I reach my 25th anniversary in the gaming industry, it will be around 2010-2011. I wonder if I’ll still be making games by then?

It's not that far away—about ten years into the future. My son will be 17, which is often said to be a challenging age. I suddenly feel the urge to strive to reach my 25th anniversary in the gaming industry! I’ve never felt this way before. What’s come over me?

I’m writing an article for the *Avalon* mook. As usual, I realized it had already exceeded 800 characters—actually, it was easily double that. I'll take some time, revise it, and submit it by the weekend.

I went to the club for the first time in about two weeks because I had injured my leg. It felt great to swim again after a break.

I played the English version of Z.O.E. The voice actor, who is actually 14, sounds quite fresh. However, the female voices for Viola, ADA, Selvice, and Elena are all quite similar, so they overlap. Norman's voice is better in this version. However, they all have a cartoonish acting style. We’re preparing the loop demo for Z.O.E. I’ll do a rough edit tomorrow, and if it seems doable, I’ll finalize it by the end of the month. The movie near the ending where the Atlantis bends a beam is uncool, so I’m having it removed.

John Wetton’s new album is great. His voice, melody, and vocal style are soothing to my soul. It’s healing for me.

I started reading the second half of King's *The Stand* yesterday. Thinking that this was written 25 years ago leaves me with mixed feelings. This is the second book I've read by King, and it's very well done. His character development and plotting are phenomenal. This is probably what makes King’s work so fascinating. It's also understandable why his books are difficult to adapt into films—they have a structure and form that can only be expressed in novel form. MGS also embodies something that can only be expressed in a game.

## December 20, 2000 (Wednesday)

At 10 a.m., the new graduates joining us next spring arrived. Six designers, three programmers, and two office staff—11 in total. We conducted a round-robin interview session in the seminar room. Chairs were arranged facing each other, and each interview was limited to seven minutes. An assistant provided signals when the seven minutes were almost up. We conducted interviews with everyone. I hope the female programmer develops her skills and contributes to our future projects. We had lunch with the new graduates. While eating, I talked with them. They seemed nervous, so the conversation didn’t flow much.

After that, we went straight into the production meeting. Today was consumed by meetings.

Bandai sent over *Mobile Suit Gundam*. It was from Ushimura-san, who participated with us in a conference at the Tokyo Game Show.

The Tanker chapter is now connected, and the first ROM has been burned. There's still much to do, but we can get a sense of how the full playthrough feels. For now, the engine room and the long hallway aren’t delivering the intended impression.

We had two of the new graduates play the MGS2 demo. Each of them completed it in 40 to 60 minutes without any hints. The difficulty seems about right.

## December 21, 2000 (Thursday)

Yesterday, after the year-end party, we went to the usual karaoke for the second round, and after that, a small group of us drank until 3 a.m. It was Scott, Kaneda, Nojiri, and me—just four people. By the time we noticed, the place was closing. They kept flashing the lights on and off, signaling us to leave.

I was exhausted last night, so I went straight to bed. This morning, I took a bath for the first time in a while. Since it's cold outside, I took extra care to dry my hair with a hairdryer. I can't afford to catch a cold at this time of year.

## December 22, 2000 (Friday)

I edited the opening demo for Z.O.E.

I bought Early Frost. I probably won't finish *The Stand* by the end of the year, but I'll need a paperback for the New Year's holidays. I can't take that heavy book all the way to my parents' place.

The Tanker chapter’s updated disc was burned, and meetings ran late into the night, but I couldn’t attend.

I went swimming at the club. It wasn’t crowded today. I noticed again that the sauna's interior has been refurbished.

I incorporated the game footage and nearly finalized the editing for Z.O.E. The direction is set. However, the game footage needs to be used as is, without lengthy shots. It doesn't work well with short cuts. Tomorrow, I'll get it to just one step away from completion.

## December 23, 2000 (Saturday)

I went to the office to work on editing Z.O.E.

However, when I got to the editing room ready to start, the system was in the middle of a backup. Okamura and Murata were nowhere to be found. I couldn’t edit!

I made some small adjustments, and the opening is almost finalized. I'll do some fine-tuning next week and finish it up.

## December 25, 2000 (Monday)

Suddenly, it was decided that we needed a trailer for MGS2 on the Z.O.E store display DVD, so I edited the footage. Since I'm familiar with all the available footage of MGS2, the planning and editing went quickly.

I checked the Tanker chapter disc. It freezes when entering the long hallway, so I played up to the engine room instead. Including the engine room brings coherence to the Tanker's map. Also, by going back and forth on the same map when heading to the cargo hold after defeating Olga on the bridge, it adds depth to the structure and strategic challenge. There's still a lot of tweaking needed, but it's becoming more interesting. The engine room should have a slightly higher difficulty level, making it a peak moment of the stage. The clearing mechanics have some issues, and we need to determine the future direction.

The engine room background is from Mogi's early work, and now, it stands out compared to Negi and Mineshi's styles. In the end, it will need to be adjusted to match overall.

## December 26, 2000 (Tuesday)

The news announced the 2000 movie box office rankings. *Mission: Impossible 2* took first place, followed by *Pokémon* in second. Among Japanese films, *Whiteout* ranked fifth, while *The Perfect Storm* unexpectedly came in eighth, and *End of Days* was tenth. As usual, children's films like *Doraemon* and *Toy Story 2* were among the top. The rest were mostly Hollywood action films. It seems people are watching what everyone else is watching. This trend applies to music and will likely carry over to the game market. This means that children's games and Hollywood-style games will be in vogue. MGS2 also falls into this category. I wonder if the strategies we employed in this MGS2 will be accepted by these users. It's a kind of adventurous challenge in the mainstream market.

I played the Tanker chapter. As expected, the engine room will likely become the key to game balance and the climax. It's set to be the highlight that generates tension in the early stages of the game.

I was worried about the cargo hold, and sure enough, it doesn’t look good. The underfloor route, in particular, lacks excitement. The key is how much tension we can create in the ground route. If we can get this right, the rest will just be extra paths. Dolph’s speech needs at least 5 to 8 minutes, even at its shortest. I want players to listen to the entire speech.

## January 4, 2001 (Thursday)

The year 2001 has begun. This is the 21st century I dreamed of as a child.

This year, I have to finish MGS2 somehow. That is my main focus this year. Yes, it is the Year of the Snake. I want to dedicate myself entirely to its production, without thinking of anything else.

But who could have predicted we would greet the 21st century like this? The future I imagined as a child was a fantasy. A world where war, conflict, hunger, discrimination, and violence had disappeared, and humanity's wisdom and scientific power had built a healthy society that transcended borders... This 21st century is moving in the exact opposite direction of the world I dreamed of as a child.

Japanese youth, working adults, housewives—many don't even know what's happening in the world. They aren't interested. When did it happen that people's interests shifted from the future to focusing solely on the present? Is it a problem with education? The decline of mass media? The negative impact of the entertainment industry, including video games? Merely enjoying the present doesn’t lead to tomorrow.

At the very least, I want to make a difference in this 21st century, for the sake of the children.

Muraoka-san said *The Stand* wasn't interesting. I’m in the middle of the second half, so I’m debating whether to abandon it. I bought Parker's *Paper Doll*. I'll read this one first. I now have three books from the Spenser series: *Early Autumn*, *Pastime*, and *Paper Doll*, along with *Family Honor* from the Sunny Randall series.

Fussy gave me the script up to Arsenal's awakening. Significant changes are being made so that players who started from the Plant chapter won’t be sent back to the Tanker chapter after rescuing the President. For players who begin with the Plant chapter, the Tanker chapter will be added as an extra after they reach an ending. This is one of the most significant changes we've made recently. It improves the game flow. If the player switches to Snake here, it disrupts the tempo.

I played *Z.O.E* to the end in what is nearly its final version. The movie parts haven't changed much.

I received a New Year's card from Director Ishii. I'm so happy! I'm going to treasure it.

When I got home and turned on the TV, a science special was airing as a preview for the NHK series *Universe* starting this spring. I called my parents' house to let my son know. It seems he had just gotten out of the bath.

After that, for some reason, I got absorbed in *Contact* and ended up watching it until the end. I had seen it in theaters, and as before, it's not very good. Yet, there's something compelling about it. Perhaps it’s not the movie itself, but the longing for the universe. Jodie Foster's lines and the characters' views on the universe... maybe I was interested and wanted to revisit those ideas.

## January 5, 2001 (Friday)

For the first time in years, I had a McDonald's breakfast in front of my computer. Warm food is truly comforting. As I ate, I checked my emails. It's nice to do this once in a while. It seems I have a self-deprecating side (a kind of narcissism). Eating junk food always reminds me of my days living in a boarding house. Those days were fun.

## January 10, 2001 (Wednesday)

I'm heading to Nasu tonight, so I leave the house with a suit and enough luggage for a two-night stay. It's nice to wear a suit once in a while.

I print out the temporary script for the voice recording. It’s 180 pages long. The second half will go up to 300 pages. Will this really get finished? Will we be able to release it within this year? Should we cut off (split) the second half?

I can’t shake the worst-case scenario from my mind. I barely slept last night. If I keep up like this, I’m going to collapse. All I see in my dreams are nightmares. They’re not directly about things like “a big bug appearing during development” or “the delay in development preventing the release of the master copy.” Rather, I’m attacked by chimi mōryō in my dreams. 

It’s hard to describe in words, but I feel an overwhelming sense of disgust and fear from the way they move and their colors... Most of the dreams are of me being chased by them. I also have dreams where my teeth crumble to pieces. Every night, I wake up several times because of the intense discomfort. It’s gotten to the point where I dread going to sleep. Even while I’m dreaming, I can feel the chills running through me.

## January 15, 2001 (Monday)

At the meeting in Nasu, the release date was decided. The domestic version is already extremely tight (almost impossible?), but the English and European versions will be even tougher. Scott is back, so we discussed and reviewed the schedule. With the deadline set, our options are limited.

Even during meals and breaks, the MGS2 schedule weighs heavily on my mind, pressing down on me.

I have no appetite. I know I need to eat, but I can’t help it. I force myself to swallow something.

I watched Beyan's water surface effects. They’re lighter than the storm waves, as expected. The texture effect appears when the camera tilts vertically, but it doesn’t work in a top-down view. When the camera pans, we need to cleverly disguise the texture; otherwise, it becomes obvious that it's not rendering correctly. However, the effect is usable for things like the pool's water surface. That said, the D Strut results indicate that due to close-ups during first-person view, we’ll need to add more polygonal detail.

I reviewed the final part that Fussy tweaked. It's been reduced by a quarter. However, the part where Fortune tries to act on her own... it feels out of character. What should we do? I'll go through the script again. Starting tomorrow, I'll make revisions to the dialogue.

I used this method last time as well. It's the approach Cameron used in Terminator 2. First, I write out the script to the end. Then, I hand it over to someone else (Fukushima) who can look at it objectively. He revises the script from his perspective, focusing particularly on the script rather than the game design aspects.

After that, I revise what’s been sent back to me with fresh eyes. "Ah, I see. This is how others interpret it..." I examine these insights and then send the revised version back to Fussy. We continue this back-and-forth process. Whether this method is good or bad, it’s a common practice in Hollywood. When time is short, this method is effective. However, it has its downsides. The characters’ phrasing and personalities can change from scene to scene, and each writer's individuality can get sanded down to a flat sameness.

It was better during Policenauts and Snatcher. Moving forward, I either need to handle just the planning and delegate the rest, or go back to making things entirely by myself like I did in the past. Otherwise, the stress will just keep building up.

I asked for an assistant’s help, but it seems they're fully booked this week. I can't get much work done at my usual desk. Is there no place I can seclude myself?

Should I cut the sword and the Snake support feature? I still can't decide. I want to include Snake, but the sword is questionable from a gameplay perspective. It’s risky.

Shin-chan sent over the final design for Fatman. On closer inspection, the high collar of the bomb blast suit covers half his face, which means there’s no need for lip-syncing. That's great! However, in the wine-drinking scene, he can't drink with the suit, so we’ll change it to a cocktail glass with a straw. That being said, he has a terrifying face. He must have blown up numerous bombs. His expression is entirely different from what I had imagined, but I’ll go with it. Normally, someone with that look wouldn't be suited for delicate work. He looks more like a professional wrestler.

## January 16, 2001 (Tuesday)

Since the meeting room was occupied for a language check, I worked on the script at my desk.

I added an item called the "Hair Removal Device." It's a rare item that you can obtain by putting Emma to sleep and shaking her. If you have it, Raiden's armpit hair disappears. But honestly, who would even care?

Kanekichi Soldier was created. He's a soldier who climbs from the tanker deck to the upper deck after the Olga fight. After a set time, he dives off the railing and disappears. His prestigious dog tag bears the name "Kanekichi," making it one of the rare IDs. Later on, you can also put Snake to sleep and get his ID. The problem is deciding what name to put on Snake's dog tag. It might be awkward to use the player's name.

I shared some ideas about the underwater effects with Okajii and Shibata-kun. Personally, I hope we can convey a sense of being underwater and floating without using underwater fog. First, let's see how far we can go with bubbles and floating particles. The key is the refraction of light. I want to place lights on the walls to see how they can be visually appealing. I aim for something different from typical game underwater effects. Worst case, we might have to use some raster-like processing, but I don't want to do that. Most games use this kind of effect for underwater scenes. In reality, that kind of wavering effect doesn’t happen underwater. Light refracts from above, and only the light bends. If we can pull this off, it will be an effect that goes down in history.

I want this to be a new world, following the rain splashes. The last resort is to use floating everyday objects. I gave Okajii and the others a video edited with reference underwater scenes from *The Abyss*, *Alien: Resurrection*, *Deep Blue Sea*, and *The Relic*, along with the original videos. I suggested buying a water tank, but it might flood the room, so that idea is on hold.

I watched a rough cut of the polygon demo for the sinking of the tanker. It's long, but Ocelot, the Colonel, and Snake look like they’re having fun. They’re full of life. This is the unique tension that only MGS can deliver. We'll show this video at E3.

I placed a Marine on the upper route of the cargo hold. You can obtain his dog tag through a "Hold Up." Also, in the far corner of the lower route, by RAY's feet, I positioned Ocelot (his boots) so that you can take a photo. However, you can't attack him.

## January 17, 2001 (Wednesday)

It's been six years since the Great Hanshin Earthquake. When I think about how six years have already passed, while at the same time seeing the current state of Kobe, which hasn't fully recovered, it makes my heart ache. My son is now seven years old; back then, he wasn't even two. Time flies by too quickly. But the alleviation of people's suffering is far too slow.

I finished reading *A Catskill Eagle* from the Spencer series. The irresponsibility of the plot really got to me. Since the end of last year, I've read six Parker novels in a row, but I'll take a break for now. I picked up Pollock's latest book, which I bought at the end of the year. I noticed several Spencer series books on Ueno's desk. It irritates me to think of someone else reading them before I do. It’s an odd feeling of jealousy.

I borrowed the meeting room and holed up for the first time in a while. I have to finish the script revisions by tomorrow. Somehow, I end up tweaking the gameplay elements as well. The meeting room really helps me focus. I finally finished the revisions and put them into the database.

I went for a swim at the club for the first time in about a month. I can't stop thinking about the underwater effects. Using a raster effect underwater is still strange. What actually appears to waver is the light beneath the surface. When the camera goes underwater, the light from above the surface is transmitted and refracts at the water's surface. We need to extract this wavering effect properly. The rain splash effect was something I thought of when Oshii showed me the digital remix of the *Patlabor: The Movie* for the DVD. My memory is a bit hazy, but I think it was in the scene at the port in the rain. Instead of drawing rain lines directly in cel animation, they skillfully used a special effects brush to only show the splashes bouncing off the characters' shoulders. I thought, "Oh, you can express it this way too?" It's a way to show things by not intentionally showing them. If it were Disney, they'd spend money and time drawing every single droplet running down the body.

The underwater controls still need some work. Something is missing. I asked them to change the camera distance according to speed and the feature of moving by inertia. But what exactly is missing?

I decided to name the inside of the Arsenal with terms like "stomach" and "rectum." The names of the ascending and transverse colons sound somewhat close to deck names. I considered using terms like "womb" and "genitals," but ethical concerns would make it complicated. The more immature staff members also opposed it. So, I decided to drop it.

It's like Pinocchio being swallowed by the whale. But in this case, Raiden is swallowed by a giant mass of information and exits not through the mouth but by being digested and expelled from the rear.

Regarding Raiden's nude scene, I plan to give him a tattoo on his butt cheek.

## January 18, 2001 (Thursday)

In the morning, I bought a commuter pass. It’s a newer type of automated commuter pass machine compared to last time. Now it’s possible to buy a new pass directly from the machine, whereas before, new passes had to be purchased at the counter.

When I inserted the previous commuter pass, the new one instantly appeared in large letters on the monitor. The text is bigger, making it easier for people with poor eyesight or the elderly to read. It’s convenient. The node terminals need to adopt the same kind of consideration.

The new pass is valid until April 18. Whenever I buy a new pass, I look at the "date" and think about where the development of MGS2 will be by the time it expires. By April, things should be progressing quite rapidly. The voice recording for the dramatic scenes should be finished. What about the boss enemies? The capture...? Every day, I board the train thinking about these things. And every day, this becomes a source of stress and pressure.

I have a meeting with Asatsu and Konami JPN about the commercial. I ask Okamura to prepare materials for Z.O.E.

In the Fortune battle, Raiden’s clothes are on fire. Seeing this gave me an idea. His long, proud hair also catches fire, and if left alone, his head will end up bald by this point. From then on, even in the poly demo, he would continue with a shaved head. However, we could include various "wigs" as items. Naturally, there would be one resembling Raiden’s usual hairstyle. There would also be a "Baka Tonosama" wig. Every time Raiden does actions like cartwheels or flips while wearing a wig, it would fall off. Once the wig falls to the floor, it would become an item box again. A cool protagonist would end up bald during the first boss fight. I find this extremely amusing. It could even be reflected in the poly demo. But the staff are against it. I wonder if it’ll be scrapped.

There’s an interrogation room inside Arsenal. Just like in the previous game, we’ll place a cardboard box next to the naked Raiden. Returning players would think they could recover their equipment and pick up the box. Raiden changes clothes behind the cover of the interrogation room. But after he finishes changing and steps out, Raiden remains naked, with only the cardboard box covering his waist... It's a joke. I find this funny, but since it requires a lot of work, it’s on hold.

We’re trying to place Ocelot in the third slant corridor, but we can’t find the right position. Since we can’t give him any movement, this remains an issue. We’ll try to find a position that works with the current motion. I don’t know how many people will figure out this specification on their own, but MGS2 is a game, after all.

Raiden’s blood has been changed from white to red. I initially wanted to link this with Redwood from Policenauts, but I’ve abandoned the idea. Since the sprites are additive, the white blood would glow, especially underwater. 

Red blood is working well in the current setup, so I’m going with that. I’ve also removed the “milk blood” plot from the script. Instead, I’m toying with a new idea: Emma bleeds from her groin (underwater). Raiden, concerned, asks, “Emma, can you show me the blood?” She blushes and says, “I’m fine,” then inserts a tampon. As a bonus, when Raiden worries about how much she’s bleeding, Emma reassures him with “It’s okay, it’s just my period” before she quietly dies. When I shared this with the staff, it was met with almost universal disapproval.

## January 19, 2001 (Friday)

There was an article about people working in skyscrapers. While reading it, I added a plot detail about how Raiden and Rose met. I embedded it into the codec conversation first thing in the morning. It's a romantic, geeky plot—quite fitting for MGS2. In terms of character settings, Snake is Godzilla and Raiden is King Kong, so it works perfectly.

If Raiden’s motions continue at this rate, they will become enormous in volume. This is due to the large number of weapons. It might not fit into the resident memory area. We need to make the motions as common as possible.

## January 22, 2001 (Monday)

This morning’s horoscope said that Virgo would have the best day. I don’t believe in horoscopes, but if it's a good prediction, it makes me feel good.

In the afternoon, I bought Parker's "A Savage Place." Once I finish reading "The Godwulf Manuscript," this will be next. Parker's works feel comforting to me right now.

At 10:30, we had a meeting for the special program on Z.O.E.

Mr. Mouri visited the office at 2:00 PM. Since I had an interview, I could only greet him briefly.

## January 23, 2001 (Tuesday)

In the morning, I dropped my gloves as I was getting off the train. They were a Christmas gift from my wife, so I couldn’t afford to lose them. I realized this after stepping off the train, and when I turned to go back, an unknown woman had picked them up for me. I was genuinely happy. Even in Tokyo... there are decent people in the world. Unlike boys who want to kill, or young parents who abuse their children...

We did a script reading of the first half of MGS2 with BGM. Scott's Colonel and Saijou-san's Rose were great. I was Snake. There weren't any scenes where I had to raise my voice and shout, so it felt a bit lacking.

We've decided to express the raging current not with primitives but with sprites, the same as explosions. We'll use Okajii's stealth application elsewhere. At Takabe-kun's place, the provisional screen for the night vision and infrared goggles was displayed. Adding some noise should make it watchable. The current effect is realistic, but it's painful on the eyes after a while, so we'll make it more eye-friendly.

To create the cutscene for the VR scene, we recorded some temporary audio. Makimura-kun played Snake, and Yoshiike-kun played Raiden. With the good recording microphone and the editing room's quality amp and speakers, it didn’t sound too strange. A longer VR video seems more usable. I plan to insert test footage from when we received the PS2 graphics board. Upon searching for the material, it turned out to be Hi8 footage. I wonder what the users will think when they see this.

## January 24, 2001 (Wednesday)

Onimusha arrived from Inafune-san. I played it right away. In the opening, Ohtsuka-san was voicing Nobunaga!

Playing the parts I already played in the demo was hard. There has to be a gap between the demo and the full game. Because of this, the timing of the demo release is crucial. It would be great if there were a good solution. For new players of MGS2, the Plant Chapter serves as the introduction, so they won't have this issue. I reached a new scene with a fresh development.

I played through the Tanker Chapter disk. It's coming together as planned, with a good structure and tension. I gave instructions to fix minor camera angles, enemy placements, and item placements. The long hallway lacks tension, and the hold is too tough. In particular, the hold needs its difficulty significantly lowered.

Since Matsubana is off, video editing will be done tomorrow.

An American website featured a casting list for a potential MGS movie. It was quite a good casting choice. Snake was Russell Crowe. Famke Janssen as Wolf is the best casting. She's been an actress to watch since Deep Rising. Personally, I’d push for her to play Naomi.

I spent the whole afternoon in a meeting about Konami JPN's commercial (CI). I couldn't get any work done today either. I wish they’d give me a break. I planned to add a scene with Rose and Raiden, but still haven't managed to work on it.

At Morita-kun's desk, the staff gathered to discuss the Fortune battle, debating back and forth. I quietly watched and held back. If I step in here again, it won’t help their growth. But if the outcome isn't good, it'll just be a waste of time. I'm looking forward to seeing how much they can realize from the design documents and script. As usual, if I intervene at this stage, they won't make progress. I'll hold back until the rough version is completed.

## January 25, 2001 (Thursday)

Lately, my mental state has been unstable. Well, maybe it's not that severe since I'm the one saying it. The pressure of MGS2’s upcoming release, the buildup of stress, and the staff's lack of urgency... it's becoming difficult. I have no way to relieve the stress. To keep my sanity, I listen to music. It's '80s New Wave today. I'm listening to Visage. I don't have particularly fond memories of that time, but for some reason, it makes me think of my younger days and gives me energy. That's all.

I edited the video materials for the TV commercial.

I revised the second half of the scriptment. I moved a significant portion of Emma's in-game cinematics to the codec conversations. This will increase the amount of codec and Shinkawa Theater.

The right stick blade is moving somehow. It doesn't have the visual excitement or flashy movements yet, but it feels promising. We’ll need further adjustments to the motion and the buildup and timing before the action, adapting it more to the analog stick. Additionally, we'll add a thrust when the stick is pressed in and use the punch button for counterattacks. 

Let's try using the heavy attack button as a guard button. We're still undecided about using the stick rotation. However, while you can mow down regular soldiers, a sword fight against bosses seems impractical gameplay-wise. Perhaps we should make it blade versus Snake Hand.

## January 29, 2001 (Monday)

I haven't been feeling well since morning. I have a headache and feel nauseous. My stomach feels heavy. When I stand up to go to the bathroom, my consciousness fades. Is it my blood pressure?

In the evening, I slipped out of the office and went to a bookstore. I bought Spencer's *Promised Land*.

Naito Rui from PR came by for an interview. I informed him about the live-action filming. He seemed extremely enthusiastic about it. If we can film at places like Federal Hall, Times Square, and the American flag ourselves in New York, even with travel expenses, it would be cheaper. This makes me think the New York scenes in the latter half are doable. I’d like to accompany him, but it doesn’t seem possible with this schedule. It's unfortunate. I'm a bit concerned, but I'm sure he'll be fine. He’ll surely capture the shots we need.

## January 30, 2001 (Tuesday)

Since Matsubana and Muraoka-san are not here today, I focused solely on the scriptment. I tweaked the balance between the in-game cinematics and the codec conversations, only to end up reverting it back. This is a draft script to submit to KME, and when I had Fussy estimate the length, it was just under 200 pages. Maybe I cut too much?

I decided to insert a battle with the Tengu soldiers before the encounter with Fortune in Arsenal. When we applied Olga's motions to the Tengu soldiers, it turned out to suit them surprisingly well. It looks genuinely cool. Currently, there is only a battle in Corridor B, which seems like a waste.

Since we’ve gone through the trouble of creating the background for the massive circular elevator, we'll make use of it. When you reach the center of the circular elevator, we'll have the Tengu soldiers descend from the vents on either side. To encourage the use of the sword, we won't spawn any extra ammunition here. Players can use up all their ammo here or have fun using the sword. Let's have them cut down about 100 to 200 soldiers.

Swam at the club. My legs hurt due to the aftereffects of shoveling snow, so I stopped after five laps.

I applied for L'Arc-en-Ciel's single giveaway.

## January 31, 2001 (Wednesday)

I had to scrap the decoy balloon. It's painful. No matter how I look at it, it just doesn't seem possible to make it in time. Today is the last day of January. Sigh... Even when I'm on the train, I can't stop thinking about the game's details. Especially before bed, various thoughts keep coming to mind.

I have trouble falling asleep.

I considered increasing the team size further, but that would only cause more confusion. Also, most of the people in charge of the boss enemies are not experienced. It's concerning. We'll need to evaluate things early on. In any case, the scenario team will be the key.

## February 1, 2001 (Thursday)

It's the start of February today. I'm heading out to evaluate projects at the Konami School. The location is the Shibuya campus. I hope to find some good talent.

In the evening, I returned to Ebisu and checked the Tanker Chapter disk. The disk is already full. Although the stage data hasn't been compressed yet, it's uncertain whether the in-game cinematics will fit. We are aware of this, so we might have to cancel the demo, with the shortest playtime ranging from 30 minutes to 1 hour.

## February 2, 2001 (Friday)

Fussy sent over revisions for the president's rescue. Hmm, there’s a lot of his lecturing in there. It’s bound to be boring for the players. Well, it’s just that my lecturing has been replaced by his. The Hollywood approach just doesn't seem to work.

## February 5, 2001 (Monday)

I discussed the digital camera detection specifications in the hold with Nojiri. According to his view, it's impossible due to memory limitations. At most, we can store eight images in memory... We'll only check and detect the area around RAY in the third hold (the composition where RAY is visible).

The Emma hand-holding event seems promising. It depends on how far Emma's arm can go using IK. From a gameplay perspective, it looks like it will add a nice contrast.

The sword experiment continues. We've added vertical and horizontal slashes. The "thrust!" move, which I was worried about, can be executed more easily than I expected. It seems quite promising. It looks like we can create a sword feel that doesn't exist in other games.

I received a call from Shindou-san at KME. Kenyu Horiuchi's schedule doesn't match, so mid-February is out of the question. It's difficult to find another voice actor for Raiden. In the end, we'll record the first half between the end of February and early March. If possible, we'll continue to record the second half right after. The capture schedule might be delayed.

The prototype pictures of the MGS2 action figures arrived from McFarlane.

## February 6, 2001 (Tuesday)

I watched the rough edit of the commercial. The "Cowboy Segment," which wasn’t very interesting even on set, will have to be scrapped—what a waste. The "Modern Couple" and "Middle Schooler" segments have strong characters and turned out quite well.

I was shown the February 12th Z.O.E special. The program's structure and quality are good. That director is quite talented. I'll have to thank them later. Creating something like that in such a short time isn't something just anyone can do. My only regret is that the ending didn't quite wrap things up. However, as always, there are the usual mistakes, like referring to "Yoji Shinkawa" or saying "Okamura created Tokimeki," which is frustrating.

At Johnny's station, the naked Raiden (temporary) model appeared. It's incredibly impactful. It’s just the model of the Skull Suit with a flesh-colored texture! This stirs up some fighting spirit. This idea is a go!! I checked RAY Hangar 1 at Yamashita-kun's station. Since the naked Raiden looks like it’ll work, we'll go with a forgiving design that allows players to progress on either the upper or lower path without raising the difficulty too much.

I came up with the final design for the Tanker Chapter poster series. I discreetly handed it to Kanekichi so that no one else would find out. If this works, it will add even more elements to that 3D poster. The problem is who will play the male counterpart. If no one volunteers, I might have to be the model myself.

After the Gurlukovich disguise event, players will still be able to change their clothes. Of course, it won't have the bonus of disguising them, but it will be fun visually. The in-game cinematics will also support this. Whether this is possible depends on memory constraints.

## February 7, 2001 (Wednesday)

The temporary Gurlukovich soldier has Raiden's hair attached to it. It looks just like a kappa. Kappa Raiden... It has quite an impact.

I changed Olga's long monologue in the cell from an in-game cinematic to codec communication. This increases the number of codec conversations yet again.

I left Ebisu at 5:30 PM. Since it was raining heavily, I took a taxi from America Bridge. The traffic was terrible, and we made no progress at all. On top of that, the driver didn’t know the location of the studio. By the time we reached the area near Shinagawa with the map, an hour had already passed. I should have just taken the JR train. Tokyo taxis are really becoming more like New York taxis. Why don't they know the roads?

I did the commercial editing on Inferno. Well, more accurately, I mean through the operator who uses Inferno. We added Leo's close-up in Z.O.E and revised the final shot of MGS2 to a pull-back. It's a decent outcome, I think. We finished earlier than planned, just after 8 PM.

## February 8, 2001 (Thursday)

There’s abnormal activity occurring around Mount Fuji. High-frequency microtremors are happening frequently. It was even reported on the morning news. Could there be a major eruption?

In the morning, we had a meeting about the Harrier battle. The plan is to create the basic guidelines by the end of February and build from there. Here, the priority is on visuals over gameplay. The effects will be enhanced until around May. The gameplay difficulty won’t be too high. Since the effects are handled by a different team, managing the processing is the main concern.

I looked at the sample screen for the sea roaches. It’s just a placement of 4,000 polygon models, but it’s more unsettling than I imagined. At this rate, it should match the concept. Now we'll make the sea roaches move to see how well we can capture the atmosphere. I’m looking forward to it. It seems we can't actually reach 4,000 in number. The original idea of "covering the entire floor!" is no longer possible. Our initial vision for the numbers has now faded away with this specification.

A link to the Z.O.E BBS was posted on the Konami homepage's CS bulletin board. There were twice as many posts as usual, but it’s still not enough.

We added a new feature for the naked Raiden. If you approach the torture device from behind again, you can raise both hands to pretend you’re being captured. At that moment, the part that shouldn't be seen in the groin area is cleverly concealed by an empty can on the window sash.

Okajii's muddy stream looks great! If I had known it would turn out this well, I should have included the muddy stream event from the beginning. Is there any way to fit it into a scene somehow? I tried to place it in the computer room, but it’s difficult both in terms of the scenario and programming (map design), so I had to give up. What a shame! However, from a gameplay

## February 9, 2001 (Friday)

I’m not feeling well after last night’s drinking party. Severe diarrhea and stomach pain. I only slept for two and a half hours... I must be getting old.

From the morning, my Mac started acting up. Memory corruption.

I read 'The Truth of Shadow Moses.' Even from an objective perspective, the previous game is more interesting in terms of its story. Managing, producing other projects, and taking care of everything for MGS2—gameplay, design, scenario, maps, direction, editing, promotion, and coordinating 70 people—has already become impossible. I wish I could do everything myself like in the old days. The in-game cinematics are the most rewarding part. It's tough not being able to be involved in them this time. I envy them, but it can't be helped.

I went swimming at the club. OMD's "Enola Gay" was playing. Then came Depeche Mode... Is this some kind of '80s electropop playlist? Lately, it feels like I'm surviving by clinging to the past.

## February 15, 2001 (Thursday)

Maybe it’s the aftereffects of last night’s drinking party, but my stomach isn’t feeling well. Lately, my condition the day after drinking has been the worst. There’s definitely something wrong with my internal organs.

I attached a hard drive to the test unit and installed all the maps for MGS2. It takes about 20 minutes, but it’s smooth! It’s so fast that it might affect the game design. Players won’t even have time to take a break.

The MGS2 shown at the Toy Fair in New York is being covered on IGN. Raiden, Fortune, and Solidus are in silhouette as promised. Just as planned, they think Raiden is the ninja. Excellent...

I met with Muranaka-san. It’s been six months. I'm glad to see he’s doing well. I showed him the first demo.

We had a meeting about the RAY battle. It seems that RAY's walking can be handled with IK. Is that really true?

## February 21, 2001 (Wednesday)

In the morning, I noticed that my right foot had stepped in poop at the railroad crossing. Was it dog poop? This isn't a slum, so it couldn't have been human feces left on the street.

Could it have happened last night? No, that’s unlikely since I took a taxi. Maybe I stepped on a landmine on what they call "Poop Street."

I haven't stepped in poop for 10 years! I’m quite disheartened. My spirits are low.

When I was a child, before a sports day, my mother would say, "Step in horse poop; it’ll make you run faster." Of course, there wasn't any horse poop around, so it had to be dog poop. I remember choosing dry ones to step on.

Back then, there was often poop left out in the open. It would lose its color and turn white, like barium poop.

## March 1, 2001 (Thursday)

Today is the release day of Z.O.E. It’s also the day the MGS2 demo is unveiled.

Around noon, we received a report from the reconnaissance team. In Shinjuku, it seems to be selling like crazy. That’s a relief.

We got a message from overseas. Apparently, Mark Hamill actually showed up for the audition. His performance was, as expected, exceptional. I want to listen to the audition tape before making a final decision.

I recorded and edited the in-game cinematics from the previous game. We matched the visuals to the dialogue recorded by the staff, but the footage is low-poly. Even though it's a three-year-old game, it’s disheartening and doesn't look good.

A VHS tape with live-action footage arrived from IMAGICA. The Millennium Countdown scene and the office footage look usable.

We launched the online ranking system at 6 PM. Everyone held up cameras and started a countdown. "It’s now 6 PM..." announced the time signal, but nothing happened. Well, of course.

After a quick dinner, the first report came in. About 80 people had already entered. It seems there are people from the UK and Sweden as well.


## March 9, 2001 (Friday)

I’ve neglected my diary for another week. It becomes difficult to keep writing when things get busy. This is especially true when there are many outings, meetings, and interviews. I doubt I can keep this up going forward.

I’m heading to the head office today, so I’m wearing a suit. Wearing a suit is tough, as always.

## September 11, 2001 (Tuesday)

Two typhoons are approaching. Typhoon No. 15 has already come quite close. But for now, the rain and wind don’t seem to be too severe. The trains were running normally. I've been working over 20 hours every day without a break.

At this time, people fall into two categories. The first are those who try to escape the hardships of development. Suddenly saying, "I feel like doing something else..." or "I want to go somewhere..." Or they wish, "I'm fed up with development; I want this to be over soon." The second type is those who, during this period, think only about the project: "There isn’t enough time; if only we had more time." The former are not suited for creation.

Lately, my health has been terrible. My stomach and intestines are in the worst condition. To top it off, I have a severe headache today. I bought a liquid version of Kakkontō at the pharmacy, but even after taking it, the pain won't go away.

While checking the game, I’m thinking about the video structure for TGS.

Maybe it’s best not to reveal Raiden after all. We’ve had people play the game for a few days now, and the surprise when it shifts from Snake to Raiden seems strong. It would probably be wise to use this as an explosive reveal. When it’s released in America, we’ll use CM and promotions to expose Raiden. Everyone will be shocked. This isn’t a TV series. Sequels need the kind of surprises that defy users' expectations.

Kyle's opening was integrated into the game. Just in the nick of time.

At night, an incident occurred. It took many lives and shattered our dreams.

## October 19, 2001 (Friday)

Today, production is set to conclude. With the U.S. terrorist attacks and the anthrax incidents, it’s not a time for unrestrained celebration, but it is a milestone nonetheless. What will become of this world from now on? There’s still ongoing anxiety, but this state of constant busyness will finally come to an end after three years. I’d like to take it easy for a while. However, even though the master is finished, there are still press events, interviews, release preparations, and promotions to handle until December. I can’t let my guard down. This time, I am truly exhausted.

I finished reading Umehara's *Sci-Fi Moon*. It’s interesting. It would be fascinating if someone like Carpenter adapted it into a movie. It might not be a hit, but I like this kind of world. It has an '80s sci-fi vibe, so it would probably only appeal to that generation (people in their 30s and older).

## November 27, 2001 (Tuesday)

In the afternoon, I had a consultation with the doctor. It can't be helped, but given the history so far, I already feel like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," so it seems they aren't taking me very seriously. There's also what happened last time. Maybe it really is just stress again. As we went over the results of my full-body checkup from the end of July, the doctor suggested that the painful area in my back might indicate an issue with the pancreas. For the stomach pain, I was given a week's supply of Gaster and Selbex.

They took a blood sample to send for testing. The results should be ready by Monday. I gave the doctor a copy of the MGS2 software.

If the back pain is due to the pancreas, I won't be able to drink alcohol. But the pancreas is not something I'm very familiar with. I'm vague about what kind of organ it is. Still, since it has "organ" in its name (臓), it must be important. In any case, I can’t feel at ease until we find out the cause.

However, even after taking the prescribed medication, the stomach pain doesn't subside. It seems to start hurting when my stomach is empty. If that's the case, this medication should suppress stomach acid and be effective. But in any case, it hurts. I can't concentrate.

I bought Yūichi Shinpo's essay (interview) book at noon.

I signed greeting cards to be included in the limited edition copies sent to Carpenter, Bryan Singer, and Stephen Norrington. Somehow, this makes me happy. I thought about adding a comment, but I decided against it because my English is a bit shaky.


## November 29, 2001 (Thursday)

Today is finally the domestic release day of MGS2. Despite the cold, it seems people are already lining up at the major stores. Much appreciated. Most of the staff have gone out to check on the sales, so the office is very quiet—almost like a holiday, though not quite.

I've been taking the medicine the doctor gave me, but there’s no sign of improvement. If anything, the pain is getting worse. The area around my navel is particularly painful. It seems like it could be the stomach or the duodenum.

## December 28, 2001 (Friday)

Today is my last day at the office for 2001. Everyone on the MGS2 team is on their post-release break, except for Takabe-kun. I planned to create the proposal for the next project before the year ended, but since yesterday, I’ve been reviewing the developer's diary for the making-of book and couldn't get to it. I went through it all, cutting out personal names, store names, and sensitive parts. It’s now about half its original length, but as I read through it, even I find it interesting.

Just a moment ago, a serviceman from the USS Kitty Hawk and a foreign news anchor (who speaks Japanese) came to the Konami Japan reception. They called yesterday. I signed their MGS2 copies, and in exchange, they gave me a USS Kitty Hawk cap. They had apparently been to Afghanistan until recently, and it seems they will set sail again after the New Year. They haven't played MGS yet.

The Year of the Snake is almost over. Somehow, it doesn’t feel very satisfying. My health still hasn't recovered.