When it comes to cars, looks aren’t always everything. You could have a Porsche 911, one of the sleekest looking cars around, but if it were to have the engine of Smart Car nobody would take your Porsche seriously. This same kind of philosophy applies to video games, where a game can have a robust story and great characters, but if the game engine is broken then who’s going to bother playing the game?
Hideo Kojima hopes to avoid that sort of a problem with his Fox Engine, which has been under development since the release of Metal Gear Solid 4. It was going to be used for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, but “…a lot happened along the way and instead it is being made with the engine they have at Platinum Games.” Instead, it looks as if the Fox Engine will be used for the next Metal Gear Solid game, whenever it’s finally announced.
Kojima also made sure to note that “(p)roduction studios in Japan are nearly extinct, a fact that we have recognized for nearly 10 years, and although the Fox Engine is not finished we are ready to show what it can do… on August 30th in Japan to be more specific.” While it’s sad that he seems to have such a fatalistic view of Japanese production studios, I’ll say this much, he seems pretty confident about his Fox Engine. While it might not fix the industry in Japan, it might give it a much needed shot in the arm.