We already know what Hideo Kojima thinks about nuclear disarmament. Now, on to the next pressing issue: subs vs dubs.

It looks like Kojima's recent announcement that the Japanese localized version of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will feature voiceovers by the Metal Gear Solid cast has resulted in some chatter about subtitling and dubbing. Kojima chimed in on the issue at his Twitter yesterday with: "For both dubbing and subtitles, the question is if it's 'a dubbing done with love' or 'a subtitling done with love'. So, you can't simply say if one is good or bad."

It looks like Kojima is taking the middle ground on this particular issue!

Continued Kojima in the same Tweet (have I said before that Japanese Tweets are totally packed with info?): "If you understood the original language, there would be no need for this. However, as the first step in understanding a different culture, subtitles or dubbing are effective. I believe they're necessary in order to get started with the different cultures of the world."

Regardless of his neutral response, Kojima seems to have much gratitude for past dubbing work. Wrote Kojima yesterday, "When I was young, I was still able to watch movies and TV programs from around the world because of the work of the voice actors and Japanese version production staff. The movies and programs of the world expanded the horizons for me, a normal Japanese person. Because of this, my feelings about dubbing cannot be expressed in words."

I'm not totally sure what Kojima was replying to with these Tweets, as he didn't Retweet or reply to anyone in particular. However, in prior Tweets, Kojima had a few exchanges with his followers about localization issues with the new Castlevania game.

Asked by multiple followers about the possibility of including both English and Japanese voiceovers in the game, he replied that this will be dependent on storage space.

Voice recording for the English version of Castlevania is already complete, Kojima Tweeted. Because of this, Kojima Productions is using a particular technique for the recording process. I'm not sure how to translate the technical term Kojima used for the recording process ("外画録り"), but it means they record the voices first and then do the lip synching later. According to Kojima, this is opposite of the approach they normally take for the Metal Gear Solid games, which are recorded first in Japanese. Kojima Productions has experts in this technique working on the localization, and Kojima feels he's learning a lot.

Kojima has been mentioning "voice recording" sessions in his Tweets over the past few weeks. It looks like these may have been with regards to Castlevania. Today, he posted an image of Tomokazu Sugita (voice of Miller in Peace Walker) apparently in utter shock at one of his Castlevania lines:

(Sugita is to the left. In the right image, Kojima standing in front of the recording room.)

Finally, although not related to voice acting, someone asked Kojima if Konami will be giving the Japanese version of Lords of Shadow a limited edition version, similar to what's being readied for the overseas release. Kojima would only respond that they'll think about it.