If you haven't heard, Hideo Kojima has now officially left Konami and has started a new, independent development company. In an interview with IGN today, Kojima expressed some new information about his team, his vision and his plans to some of the folks at IGN. Here's the lowdown --

The interview focuses on two of the three main members of the newly founded Kojima Productions. Mr. Kojima will act as the director, Yoji Shinkawa as the art director, and Ken Imaizumi as the producer. The interview only includes the former two.

Mr. Kojima said that he wants to start small, just working on one game. He said this game will be an "edgy" new IP. He added, "I want to create something that’s what people expect, but at the same time will have something new that people haven’t seen before." This will be the first of many projects, however, that may not just be games. Kojima said that once he has established Kojima Productions as a game developer, he would like to work on movies or anime as well.

Speaking about some of his future projects, Kojima said that he is still interested in working with Guillermo Del Toro, who he was supposed to work with on Silent Hills, the highly anticipated horror game that was cancelled by Konami. He said that he does not know whether it will be a game, movie or something else, but Del Toro is certainly on his list.

Kojima's main goal, though, is quality. Both he and his art director, Yoji Shinkawa said that they want to work with more "agility" and that this will allow them to create games that they and their fans can be proud of. “We’ll be able to do things that are more edgy, preserving the quality we’ve had so far, while at the same time finding new challenges and exploring new areas,” said Kojima. Shinkawa spoke about his own goals, adding “One thing that’s different is I want to accept challenges and do things I wasn’t able to do before. I want to expand, on a personal level, the things I can do.”

The engine that Kojima and his team will use has yet to be determined. He said that they will have to do research before decided whether to use an existing engine or starting a new one from the ground up.

One thing the company has decided on, though, is its new logo. Kojima Productions has abandoned the classic fox for a skull wrapped in something that resembles both a knight's helmet and an astronaut's. He means for the helmet to represent the new realms he wants to take people. The skull inside, he says, represents the people that make and play games. Put together, it means, "with new technology and a pioneer spirit, we’ll deliver play to a new world."

In a final statement to his fans, Kojima said, "I’ve been in this industry for 30 years. I turned 52 this year. I’m getting to a new start and I am very confident. I’ll keep creating games until the day I die. Rest assured I’m making more games, something more fun, something you haven’t seen, and it would be great if I could count on the fans to support me in this."

So now we know about and can look forward to the next game from Kojima Productions.