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Hideo Kojima says Death Stranding is a reaction to 'Trump and Brexit'

S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
via some website
Kojima goes even further into the global state of affairs, referencing political issues in both the US and the UK: "President Trump right now is building a wall. Then you have Brexit, where the UK is trying to leave, there are lots of walls and people thinking only about themselves in the world." In Death Stranding, Norman Reedus' Sam Porter Bridges seeks to save the world by delivering packages to remote locations, traversing rocky terrain and fending off those attempting to steal his wares. "The era of today is about individualism," Kojima suggests in the interview - it's clear that Death Stranding is an attempt to reject that.

BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat filmed a behind-the-scenes documentary at Kojima Productions HQ during the last hours of Death Stranding's production. Kojima candidly spoke about dealing with loneliness and how that inspired him to create such a unique gaming experience, one that he believes resonates with a lot of gamers. For Kojima, gamers are lonely as well: “Even though they're having fun with others outside when they are alone and playing video games in their living room they don't feel like they fit into society or their community. So when those people play this game they realize people like them exist all over the world. Knowing that even though I'm lonely, there are other people like me makes them feel at ease, that's what I would like for them to feel when playing the game.”
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sRk6crpo6NWWx4ZRTBcJMk-1024-80.jpg
 
-Arcadia-

-Arcadia-

Banned
He’s entitled to his opinion. I don’t think he’s specifically setting out to make a globalism game, but rather one about connecting people.

Harsh truth? Not all countries are in a place good enough to make unlimited connection possible, even if I love the ideal.
 
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Phase

Phase

Member
Breakage said:
So Kojima is an open borders advocate?
It's strange how he thinks more connections can only be a good thing. A lot of the problems in the Western world today have been caused by society's increased interconnection via so-called social media.
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I think it's more-so caused by those who're afraid of the openness it creates, afraid that their lives will change too much from what they're comfortable with. It's a notion based entirely on ignorance.
 
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-Arcadia-

-Arcadia-

Banned
“Even though they're having fun with others outside when they are alone and playing video games in their living room they don't feel like they fit into society or their community. So when those people play this game they realize people like them exist all over the world. Knowing that even though I'm lonely, there are other people like me makes them feel at ease, that's what I would like for them to feel when playing the game.”
Click to expand...

This is a lovely sentiment. The exact same thing Nintendo was trying to get at with Miiverse. Also harkens back to the Souls series, although I think the goals might have been different there.

I could go for more ‘strand games’ in this sense.
 
-Arcadia-

-Arcadia-

Banned
Breakage said:
So Kojima is an open borders advocate?
It's strange how he thinks more connections can only be a good thing. A lot of the problems in the Western world today have been caused by society's increased interconnection via so-called social media.
Click to expand...

He gets into this exact issue a bit.

"We may be connected through the internet more than ever, but what's happening is that people are attacking each other because we're so connected," he tells gaming report Steffan Powell. That connection, according to Kojima, is why Death Stranding seeks to push people to think about connection.”

It would be even more interesting than I think it is, if it tackles the subject of connection as a whole, both positive and negative.
 
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DynamiteCop!

DynamiteCop!

Banned
Wow I sure want to play your already divisive "game" now, what a better way to promote unification than to throw political divisiveness into the mix by taking sides against Trump trying to protect the sovereignty our nation and Brexit trying to do the same for theirs.

A true genius folks...

snoop.png
 
mortal

mortal

Gold Member
Fushitsusha said:
shut up about politics please hideo.
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lol are you fucking serious ? You're telling Hideo Kojima to "shut up about politics"?
Hideo "the patriots" Kojima?
Hideo "Militaires Sans Frontières" Kojima?
Hideo " La-li-lu-le-lo" Kojima?
Hideo "I made a clone of Big Boss the President of the USA" Kojima?
Hideo " I made a prequel set in USSR during the Cold War" Kojima?
 
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MrRogers

MrRogers

Member
Japanese virtue signaling is hilarious considering their 99% homogenous land is literally impentrable by the laws they have created and the most extreme of antimmigrant policies. My home country of Canada allows 300,000 legal immigrants in a year, of which 90% are of non-european origin.. every single year. If those numbers arrived in Japan for just 3 years, Kojima would be wearing a MJGA hat and praising Kayne, while developing a new tower defense border wall simulator.
 
Weiji

Weiji

Banned
Phase said:
I think it's more-so caused by those who're afraid of the openness it creates, afraid that their lives will change too much from what they're comfortable with. It's a notion based entirely on ignorance.
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You remind me of that scene in life of Brian:

Phase - “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself!”

Me - “And an increase in rape”

Phase - “Well ya that too”

Me - “And terrorism of course”

Phase - “Well of course that goes without saying!”

Me - “And cost of social programs for the poor.”

Phase - “Well I mean who likes the poor and the elderly anyway?”

Phase - “Right, so to re-cap there’s nothing to fear except fear, rape, terrorism, and the end of the social safety net.”

Me - “Right!”

Me - “And grenade attacks”

Phase - “Oh bugger off!”
 
MiyazakiHatesKojima

MiyazakiHatesKojima

Banned
-Arcadia- said:
He’s entitled to his opinion. I don’t think he’s specifically setting out to make a globalism game, but rather one about connecting people.

Harsh truth? Not all countries are in a place good enough to make unlimited connection possible, even if I love the ideal.

It’s just a shame that if anyone ever tried to make a game about that, they’d be run out of the industry. Artistic expression only runs one way.
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Thank you.

Kojima has his heart in a very good place with this game. It seems the low scores reflect more on the wretched hearts of the reviewers which didn't take the beautiful and positive message of DS very well.

I think I'll be playing this game Day 1 to build bridges with NeoGAF members on the OT thread 💗
 
Petrae

Petrae

Member
Kojima’s shit has always skewed toward the political. Sadly, politics have become so divisive over the last decade that having them represented in video games at all these days makes me want to avoid the games that have them.

I consider video games my one solace from life’s constant barrage of bullshit. Inserting politics in them now means that it’s no longer an escape.
 
HeresJohnny

HeresJohnny

Member
He's always had politics in his games, he's just on the wrong side this time. He comes from one of the most insular societies in the world, with essentially a wall of ocean surrounding his country. Hideo should explain how the term "gaijin" originated and what it means, and how fucking inclusive that is to other cultures and societal walls too, while he's at it. :/
 
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Fushitsusha

Fushitsusha

Banned
Somnium said:
lol are you fucking serious ? You're telling Hideo Kojima to "shut up about politics"?
Hideo "the patriots" Kojima?
Hideo "Militaires Sans Frontières" Kojima?
Hideo " La-li-lu-le-lo" Kojima?
Hideo "I made a clone of Big Boss the President of the USA" Kojima?
Hideo " I made a prequel set in USSR during the Cold War" Kojima?
Click to expand...
not comparable.
 
-Arcadia-

-Arcadia-

Banned
MiyazakiHatesKojima said:
Thank you.

Kojima has his heart in a very good place with this game. It seems the low scores reflect more on the wretched hearts of the reviewers which didn't take the beautiful and positive message of DS very well.

I think I'll be playing this game Day 1 to build bridges with NeoGAF members on the OT thread 💗
Click to expand...

:messenger_tears_of_joy:

You’re welcome. I just think Kojima’s perspective here, agree or disagree. is a bit more nuanced and interesting than developer #163528283 piling propaganda in their game, top to bottom.

We haven’t seen anything like that Death Stranding, and I think it deserves more credit than it’s getting in this thread. The article itself also alludes to a more nuanced portrayal.

I hope I can play Day 1 too. The most fascinating game of the year, undoubtedly, and sharing it with others feels so tonally pitch perfect.
 
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