Feature: What Did We Learn from Hideo Kojima's Sony Tech Tour?

For the past week and a bit, Metal Gear maker Hideo Kojima has been touring the world with PlayStation 4 system architect Mark Cerny. The uber-intelligent twosome – who must surely have a combined IQ nearing the 300s – have been hitting the headquarters of practically all PlayStation studios, checking out everything from game engines to motion capture facilities. But now that the very public voyage has concluded, is there anything that we can learn from the expedition? Let's first recap the outing in its entirety.

Around the Worldwide Studios in ten or so days

19th January: Mark Cerny joins Twitter to announce his jaunt with Hideo Kojima. The greatest double-act since The Chuckle Brothers make their first stop at Sony's futuristic Visual Arts Studio Group in San Diego, checking out the motion capture methods used on The Last of Us and The Order: 1886.

20th January: The duo fly to Seattle to meet with the team at Sucker Punch, where they reminisce over forgotten Nintendo 64 exclusive Rocket Robot on Wheels. Kojima has a brief existential crisis over his facial hair, prompting 34,825 people to vote in favour of him keeping his beard.

21st January: Cerny and Kojima travel to Oregon in order to suck in some fresh air before sitting through a 276 slide presentation from Sony Bend. The team's known to be working on Unreal Engine 4, so it may have shared some valuable intel on the engine with the new Kojima Productions.

22nd January: The pair head to SCEA's main headquarters in San Mateo, where Cerny enjoys cocktails with president Shawn Layden while Kojima poses in front of a Kratos statue. The SCEA music group present the Metal Gear man with a variety of vinyl records based upon first-party games.

25th January: Cerny and Kojima spend the weekend travelling to London, before heading to SCEE's main office near Oxford Street to try out some of London Studio's PlayStation VR titles. They then travel to Guildford to meet with Media Molecule for a disgusting haggis lunch.

26th January: The twosome travel to Amsterdam to hang out with Guerrilla Games and do a quick signing session. The evening involves a night out with the swaggest man in games, managing director Hermen Hulst, and everyone wakes up the next day with a sore head.

27th January: No time for rest, though, as Cerny and Kojima head straight to Paris to meet with Quantic Dream – the only second-party studio on their hit list. In addition to posing for pictures with David Cage, the Metal Gear maker is reunited with Teppei Takehana, who worked on Metal Gear Solid 4.

So, what did we learn from the trip?

Number One: Sony probably wanted to give Kojima a taste of the culture at its studios around the world. Having worked under the seemingly iron fist of Konami for many years, it appears that the platform holder was eager to show the auteur what life is like elsewhere – especially now that Kojima Productions is working on an exclusive game for the PS4.

Number Two: Sony's studios all seem really, really cool. It's rare that we get an insight into first-party developers like this, but getting a glimpse inside all of PlayStation's teams has illustrated how they all have their own identity – despite being part of the same family. For example, Media Molecule's quirky communal dining room contrasts the edginess of Guerrilla Games' industrial working space – and both reflect the type of games that they make.

Number Three: Sony probably treats Quantic Dream like they're a first-party team. It's interesting that David Cage's Parisian developer was the only independent dev that Cerny and Kojima visited. Obviously the company has created some pretty mind-blowing tech, but given Cage's appearance at the PS4's announcement event as well, it's probably safe to assume that the Parisian firm's considered part of the family internally.

Number Four: Sony likely hopes to sign Kojima up long-term. It's still early days yet, and we have no idea whether Kojima Productions' new IP will even be any good, but there's a strong chance that the Japanese giant greenlit this trip in the hopes of helping convince Kojima that he should commit his future to Sony.

Number Five: We want to go on a road-trip with Kojima and Cerny. Seriously, who wouldn't want to be a fly on the wall when these two get together? What do they talk about over dinner? And what were the top topics of discussion during a drunken night out with Hermen Hulst in Amsterdam?

Have you enjoyed following Kojima and Cerny's tour on Twitter? Have you learned anything from the trip? Write some fan fiction in the comments section below.