Metal Gear Solid art director says he focused on characters’ backsides, “especially the butts”

The Metal Gear Solid series is filled with iconic and memorable character designs. That’s in part thanks to Yoji Shinkawa, Japanese artist and art director for the series. Shinkawa’s role required him to design all sorts of people and mechs, but according to a recently resurfaced interview, there’s one surprising area he focused on the most:

So, if you were ever wondering why Solid Snake was quite so shapely, you can attribute that to Yoji Shinkawa.

This tidbit comes from a 2003 interview in Hyper Playstation 2 Magazine which has just been rediscovered. The entire thing has been translated and shared online via Shmupulations. It features plenty more insights from Shinkawa, as well as Square Enix’s Tetsuya Nomura (though perhaps none quite so revelatory as the thing about the butts). Click here to read the full piece.