I always prefer the story of people meeting/exceeding crazy expectations, like Kojima and his crew being absolutely certain that MGS2 couldn't compete with the cinematic games of its era due to expertise in using offline rendering they lacked:
"In addition, we would not be able to compete with other companies when it comes to such visuals, when you consider the difference between them and us in terms of the know-how they have acquired as well as their financial investment toward it.
With Metal Gear Solid 2, we will not try to improve the quality of all the various areas of the game’s visuals, but instead use the hardware’s capabilities to implement certain features that were previously impossible. An example would be limiting the character models to 1,500 polygons and using the extra power obtained as a result to increase the number of simultaneous on-screen enemy soldiers to several hundred. Or, we could have dead bodies remain indefinitely. Whatever the case, we will use the machine’s advanced capabilities to expand the game’s mechanics. We will use the PlayStation 2’s capabilities to strengthen Metal Gear as a game. Instead of building up its visuals, we will build up its world.
We will not pursue cinematic visuals! ↓
We will pursue a realistic world! ↓
We will use the hardware’s capabilities to create a realistic reality! "
The Grand Game Plan is well worth reading
http://ocw.metu.edu.tr/pluginfile.php/7939/mod_folder/content/0/Metal Gear Solid 2 Grand Game Plan.pdf?forcedownload=1
Of course MGS2 turned out to be a mind blowing visual extravaganza that still looks fucking incredible to this day let alone when it destroyed expectations at E3 all those years ago.