Video-gaming legends stepping into the world of VR is always a popular topic, and they don’t come much bigger than Hideo Kojima, the mind behind the long running and fabulously successful Metal Gear franchise.

Metal Gear Solid is one of those gaming franchises that seems to have been around since the dawn of gaming, something that generations pass on to the next. It first appeared on the doomed Sony computing platform MSX back in 1987. But of course, it shot to worldwide attention once it appeared in 1998, on the then state of the art Sony PlayStation games console – the first of a new wave of 3D, polygon rendered titles which would redefine the world of games.

metal-gear4Metal Gear carved out a sub genre in the new 3D era, stealth action gaming, and has garnered consistently excellent critical attention and an army of loyal fans ever since.

Hideo Kojima has been in charge of directing the series since it’s inception and is, by now, almost completely synonymous with it. So it’s interesting to see this icon of gaming from the past and the present stepping into what could represent gaming of the future.

Kojima, joined by his long time collaborator, MGS artist Yoji Shinkawa, headed to the Tokyo Game Show and whilst there “Wanted to try VR experience” as he puts it. So, here he and ‘Yoji’ are getting their hands on the newly re-christened Playstation VR and Oculus’ Crescent Bay prototype along with their new Oculus Touch controllers.

And of course, once you’ve seen these images, you can’t help but wonder what the mastermind behind one of the greatest ever video game franchises might create in virtual reality.

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Paul James
Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.