Viz Media announces that it is planning to launch Hideo Kojima’s collection of essays discussing the influences behind its legendary video games.
Hideo Kojima is one of the most influential people in gaming history, with his titles Metal Gear Solid and Snatcher starting to inspire the launch of games until today. The Japanese game designer has won many lifetime awards and is one of the first game authoring directors.
Hideo Kojima made his debut as a video game director in the late 1980s with titles like Metal Gear and Snatcher, however, it was not until 1997 Metal Gear Solid that Kojima has established itself as one of the industry’s greatest creative minds. The game was praised for its remarkable cinematic qualities, which were considered ahead of its time and still influence games today. Kojima continued to work for Konami until 2015, when he left the studio after the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and the cancellation of Silent hills.
With the legendary game designer still a leading force in the industry today, through titles like Death Stranding, Kojima has been asked several times over the decades about his main inspirations for his work in video games, and now, thanks to Viz Media, his collection of revealing essays will be launched in English later this year.
Announcement: Hideo Kojima, creator of Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid, explores the influences and inspirations that shape his work. The creative gene comes out of the fall of 2021. pic.twitter.com/VKL6yXtK79
– VIZ (@VIZMedia) February 19, 2021
The creative gene: how books, films and music inspired the creator of Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid (known as The Gifted Gene and My Lovable Memes in Japan) is a collection of essays published by Hideo Kojima originally in Japan in 2019, in which the director discusses the inspirations behind his work. The book also features a discussion between Kojima and actor / musician Gen Hoshino, whose track “POP Virus” appeared in Death Stranding.
The description of the book says “Since he was a child, Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima was a voracious consumer of films, music and books. They sparked their passion for stories and narratives, and the results can be seen in their iconic and innovative video games. Now head of independent studio Kojima Productions, Kojima’s enthusiasm for entertainment media has never abated. This collection of essays explores some of the inspirations behind one of the titans of the video game industry and offers an exclusive view of one of the most brilliant minds in pop culture. “
Kojima fans will know that the designer is not ashamed of his love of cinema, as he is constantly sharing the films he is enjoying on his social media accounts, in addition to joining actors like Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen, and even even film directors like Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn. Hideo Kojima even partnered with some of his favorite musicians, like CHVRCHES and Bring Me The Horizon, to produce an album for the release of Death Stranding.
Although this collection of essays was written during the development of Death Stranding, it is possible that the book contains tips for future projects circulating at Kojima Productions, as Kojima has been known to cling to ideas for years before including them in his games. The book will be released on October 12th.
Death Stranding is now available for PC and PlayStation 4.
