In just one week, Metal Gear fans will get to experience the next chapter in the Metal Gear Solid saga. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes – a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – launches on March 18 for PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360. Before the launch, Sony invited the series’ creator – Hideo Kojima – to talk about the game and the PS4.

As has been demonstrated multiple times already, Ground Zeroes is probably the biggest departure for Metal Gear Solid yet. No more will players be confined to Big Shell, the jungles of Russia or the deck of Arsenal Gear. Ground Zeroes takes place in an open world where stealth is but one of the many options available to players as they attempt to clear missions.

As for the PS4 hardware itself, Kojima seems especially interested in the Share button. Due to Ground Zeroes’ open nature, he wants players to share their gameplay strategies with others. He says that 100 players presents 100 different strategies and he hopes the Share button brings those to the forefront.

Perhaps the most interesting thing Kojima has to say in the interview isn’t about Metal Gear Solid V or the PS4, but rather about gaming in general. He says game consoles used to be solitary experiences that only experienced vertical evolution as they became more powerful. With the Internet, however, game consoles can now experience horizontal evolution as players become aware of each other through the Internet and can share the experience of games together.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes launches on PS4 next week and comes with an exclusive mission for those who buy the PS3 or PS4 version.

Image via sonyplaystation/YouTube