Metal Gear Solid's historical footage was a headache for Kojima

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It was a slog for Kojima and company

Metal Gear Solid
(Image credit: Konami)

Putting live action historical footage in Metal Gear Solid was surprisingly difficult for Hideo Kojima and company.

Over the past weekend, Kojima took to Twitter to share a few new details about the original Metal Gear Solid. As reported by SiliconEra, Kojima revealed that putting historical footage in the stealth-action game was a tough deal, chiefly because he just didn't have the contacts necessary to make licensing negotiation easy.

It turns out Kojima approached Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, and requested the use of live-action materials for use in Metal Gear Solid. Kojima now claims negotiations went far slower than he initially anticipated because he didn't have the contacts or know-how to procure the footage.

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Kojima has now revealed it took him several years to agree a licensing deal with NHK, on top of learning how to edit and insert the footage into Metal Gear Solid. After these events, you'd forgive Kojima for swearing off using historical footage again, but the developer would use live-action footage again in Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3.

From a technical standpoint, as SiliconEra points out, it would've made perfect sense for Kojima to slot live action footage into Metal Gear Solid, as the original PlayStation could play condensed movie files. There really weren't any technical barriers holding Kojima back - it was simply a matter of access.

As we've seen over the past year, licensing surrounding historical footage can be a tricky business. Konami announced in late 2021 that Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 would be pulled from digital storefronts over licensing issues surrounding the use of historical footage. Although the publisher announced earlier this year it was working to get both games back on digital storefronts, licensing remains an obvious ongoing issue with historical footage.

Meanwhile, new reports of a fully remastered Metal Gear Solid trilogy emerged over the last week, the latest in a long line of claims of a revival for the series. 

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.