Hideo Kojima, a legend in the video game industry, although he has created countless classic games, rarely plays them. He often visits art museums in Tokyo with his son on weekends, and particularly likes the museums near Ueno Park. He said: “Just one painting can make him feel connected across time with ancient artworks and mummies. This feeling is exactly the theme he wanted to express in “Death Stranding”:between people, even with those who have passed away。
When he saw the installation “clinamen” by artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot in Paris, he was not only moved by the work, but also observed people taking selfies in front of the work. He laughed and said that this may not be the original intention of the artist, but it was this difference in observation behavior that made him think that “players will always have unexpected behaviors.” This isOne of the core elements of game design。
Kojima is regarded as an “author” in the gaming industry because his works are not only inspired by games, but also influenced by movies, literature, music and art. His works are often unique, avant-garde, and even controversial. “Death Stranding” has received polarizing reviews. He has long expected this and is even happy to see it happen.
He often shares his movie-watching experiences on X (formerly Twitter) and takes selfies with various celebrities, such as Chalamet, Pattinson, Al Pacino, etc. He laughed constantly during the Zoom interview. Although he looked like a serious director, he looked like an excited movie fan when talking about the movie.
When he was young, he dreamed of becoming a director. After his father passed away early, he became more determined to pursue this path, but the film industry was too difficult to enter. He joined KONAMI, initially as a company that rented jukeboxes, and later started making games.
In 1987, he launched the revolutionaryMetal Gear“, becoming a pioneer of stealth games; the following year, the cyberpunk-style “Snatcher” was produced, but it was not completed due to technical limitations. Until 1998, “Metal Gear” was released on the PlayStation and combined cinematic narrative with complex gameplay. It sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and changed the gaming industry.
In 2015, he parted ways with Konami. The exact reason is unknown, but the relationship was described as “unhappy”. Konami launches “Metal Gear V” and discontinued the horror game “P.T.” he was developing. Although it is only a trial version, due to its innovative design, a console with it installed can sell for $800 on eBay.
After leaving Konami, he took out loans from several banks to start a business, but it failed. When he was desperate, two unknown fans helped him solve the problem. The fan who worked at Mitsubishi FUJ Bank helped him solve all the financial problems, and one of the fans helped him solve the company address problem. Hideo Kojima was quite moved. , mentioned those two fans many times in interviews. Finally, he founded Kojima Productions, whose slogan is “From Sapiens to Ludens”, which means the evolution from “Human Beings” to “Beings Who Play”. Continue to produce high-quality, unique-style works.
At Sony’s E3 conference in 2016, Hideo Kojima returned to players’ attention after independence with his concept trailers of “Knights of Ludens” and “Death Stranding”. In 2019, he won the Best Director Award and Best Performance multiple options at TGA.
Hideo Kojima replied:“From the moment they trust me, I have to shoulder their expectations. This is no longer my thing. If I fail, my employees will fail with me. So I need to succeed. This is a very risky industry. If you fail once in Hollywood, it means your career is basically over, and it is the same for us. If you let the players down, you will not be forgiven. So I need to be in good shape at all times. There are so many young people following my path, and I need to leave more footprints on the road so that more people can explore.”
“Although I am 56 years old, I am still taking risks because of my dreams. Dreams are fragile and you are destined to realize it. But once you realize it, the dream is over. For me, my dream is like the sun, if it is too close, it will be burned. So reaching the sun is like a paradox, so I can’t do it, but this is my dream.”
A destination that will never be reached. The sun is so bright that I can always see it, and as long as I live I will never reach it. Specifically, how close I am to the sun in the end is the greatest joy in my life. So I want to encourage young people to have big, unrealistic dreams. “