Hideo Kojima facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hideo Kojima
小島 秀夫
Kojima in 2018
Born	(1963-08-24) August 24, 1963 (age 61) Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Video game designer writer director producer
Years active	1986–present
Notable work	Metal Gear, Snatcher, Policenauts, Zone of the Enders, Death Stranding
Title	Founder of Kojima Productions Executive vice president and corporate officer of Konami Digital Entertainment (2011–2015)
Children	2
Signature

Hideo Kojima (小島 秀夫, Kojima Hideo, born August 24, 1963) is a famous Japanese video game designer. Many people see him as one of the first "auteurs" in video games. This means he has a very unique style and vision for his games.

From a young age, Kojima loved movies and books. These interests greatly shaped the games he would later create. In 1986, he joined a company called Konami. There, he directed, designed, and wrote Metal Gear (1987). This game helped create the stealth game style. It also started the Metal Gear series, which is his most well-known work.

At Konami, he also made the Zone of the Enders games. He designed and wrote Snatcher (1988) and Policenauts (1994). These were graphic adventure games known for looking like movies. In 2005, Kojima started his own studio, Kojima Productions, within Konami. He later became a vice president at Konami Digital Entertainment in 2011.

Kojima left Konami in 2015. He then restarted Kojima Productions as an independent studio. His first game after leaving Konami was Death Stranding, released in 2019.

Early Life and Dreams

Hideo Kojima was born in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, on August 24, 1963. He was the youngest of three children. His father was a pharmacist who traveled often for work. When Hideo was four, his family moved to Osaka. He said this was a big change for him. He spent a lot of time indoors, watching TV or making figurines.

In Osaka, his parents started a tradition. Every night, the family would watch a movie together. Hideo was not allowed to go to bed until the movie ended. They watched all kinds of films, including European movies, westerns, and horror.

Kojima became interested in filmmaking when a friend brought a Super 8 camera to school. They started making movies together. They even charged other kids a small fee to watch them. Once, Kojima tricked his parents into funding a trip to an island. He said he wanted to film there, but he mostly swam. On the last day, he changed the movie plot to be about zombies. He never showed that film to his parents.

When Kojima was a teenager, his family moved to Kawanishi, Hyōgo. His father passed away when Hideo was 13. This had a big impact on him and his family's finances. He went to university to study economics. But it was there that he decided to join the video game industry. He also wrote stories while studying, even for his thesis.

Career Beginnings

While still at university, Kojima first wanted to work in film production. He hoped that winning awards for his writing would lead to directing movies. Then he saw Nintendo's Famicom console. This made him think about joining the video game world. His friends were not very supportive of his choice. In the early days, there wasn't even a word for "game designer" in Japan. So, he often told people he worked for a financial company.

Kojima joined Konami's MSX computer division in 1986. He chose Konami because it was the only game company listed on the Japanese stock exchange. At first, he was disappointed. He wanted to make games for the Famicom. He felt the MSX's limited colors were too basic.

His first job was as an assistant director for Penguin Adventure. This game was a sequel to Antarctic Adventure. It added many new things like action, different levels, and even multiple endings. In 2019, a writer from Polygon said Penguin Adventure had "in-depth features" for a game made over 30 years ago. After this, Kojima started designing a game called Lost Warld. But it was too complex for the MSX and was canceled.

Metal Gear and Snatcher

Kojima was asked to take over a project called Metal Gear. The game's hardware had limits for combat. So, Kojima changed the game to focus on a prisoner escaping instead of fighting. He was inspired by the book The Great Escape.

Metal Gear came out on July 13, 1987, for the MSX2 computer in Japan. Players control a special agent named Solid Snake. He goes to a place called Outer Heaven to stop a nuclear-armed walking tank called "Metal Gear". This game is one of the first examples of the stealth game style. A different version of Metal Gear was made for the NES. Kojima openly disliked many changes in this version.

His next game was Snatcher, a graphic adventure game. It was released in Japan on November 26, 1988. Kojima wrote and directed it. He wanted the game to have six chapters, but was told to make it only two. The team wanted a third chapter, but ran out of time. So, the game ended on a cliffhanger.

Snatcher was heavily influenced by cyberpunk movies like Blade Runner. Kojima and his team treated the project like making a film or anime. Critics later noted how cinematic Kojima's games became. Snatcher did okay in Japan, but the Western version didn't sell well. However, it later gained a cult following.

In 1990, Kojima wrote a remake called SD Snatcher. This was a role-playing video game with a different art style. The characters looked "super deformed" or "chibi". This game was also only released in Japan.

Metal Gear 2 and Policenauts

Konami made a sequel to Metal Gear called Snake's Revenge without Kojima. But a colleague asked Kojima to make his own new Snake game. So, Kojima started working on Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Both games came out in 1990. Kojima's game was a success. It introduced new stealth moves like crouching, crawling, and enemies having view cones.

After a break from Snatcher, Kojima started thinking about Policenauts. He wanted it to be an adventure game. He also wanted more creative control over his games. After Metal Gear 2, he made a special tool. This tool let him decide when animations and music would play. Development for Policenauts began in 1990 and took four years.

Policenauts was released in Japan on July 29, 1994. Critics in Japan praised its high-quality animation, voice acting, and story. Later reviews also saw it as a very stylish game, clearly influenced by movies.

Metal Gear Solid and Big Success

In 1994, Kojima began planning a 3D sequel to Metal Gear 2. It was called Metal Gear Solid. It was first planned for the 3DO console, but then moved to the Sony PlayStation. Kojima and his team had to create a new game engine for 3D graphics.

A demo of the game was shown in 1996. The game was released to great praise. Many people noted its movie-like qualities and new stealth gameplay. Kojima became very famous in the video game world. He was surprised when people started recognizing him in public.

In 2001, Kojima shared details about the sequel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, for the PlayStation 2. The game's amazing graphics and physics made it highly anticipated. It was very successful and praised for its story and gameplay. The story explored many deep ideas.

Before Metal Gear Solid 2 came out, Kojima also made the Zone of the Enders game and anime series in 2001. In 2003, he made Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand for the Game Boy Advance. This game used a special sensor on the cartridge. Players had to play in sunlight to charge their in-game weapons!

Kojima at E3 2006 holding a Gameplay award for Best Story of the Year 2005

After that, Kojima designed Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for the PlayStation 2. Unlike earlier games, this one was set in a Soviet jungle during the Cold War in 1964. It focused on survival in the wilderness, camouflage, and James Bond-style spying. The game was very well-received. Kojima even said his mother played it. She took a whole year to finish it and called him when she defeated a tough character called The End.

Kojima also produced Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django in 2004. He also made Metal Gear Acid for the PlayStation Portable. This was a turn-based game that focused more on strategy than action. Its sequel, Metal Gear Acid 2, came out in 2006.

Kojima wanted his character Solid Snake to be in the game Super Smash Bros. Melee, but Nintendo said no. Later, for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the director asked Kojima to add Snake. So, Snake and a stage based on Shadow Moses Island (from Metal Gear Solid) were added.

In 2008, Kojima co-directed Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. He initially didn't plan to direct it, but decided to help the team. Kojima received a special lifetime achievement award at the MTV Game Awards 2008. He said, "I will continue to create games as long as I live."

In 2009, Kojima said he wanted to work with a Western game developer. This led to him working with MercurySteam on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. He also returned to help with two more Metal Gear games: Metal Gear Solid: Rising and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. He became more involved with Peace Walker because the team was having trouble.

Kojima during the 2011 Tokyo Game Show

At E3 2010, Kojima showed off Metal Gear Solid: Rising. He also talked about making a Metal Gear Solid game for the Nintendo 3DS. This game became a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 called Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D. In 2011, Metal Gear Solid: Rising was renamed Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Kojima was the executive producer and was happy with the final game.

On April 1, 2011, Kojima became an Executive Vice President at Konami Digital Entertainment. At E3 2011, he showed a new technology called "transfarring". This allowed players to move game data between PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. This was used in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection.

Later that year, he said he was working on new projects. One was a radio show sequel to Snatcher, called Sdatcher. He also announced a new adventure game visual novel with other directors.

Last Konami Games and Leaving

Around 2012, Kojima showed interest in making a Silent Hill game. He tweeted about using his new Fox Engine for it. He said a Silent Hill game could focus on graphics and presentation to be scary. Konami later asked him to make one.

In an interview, Kojima said he was "a scaredy-cat" when it came to horror movies. But he believed someone easily scared could make a truly horrifying game. In August 2014, a playable demo called P.T. was released. It revealed a new Silent Hill game called Silent Hills was being directed by Kojima and film director Guillermo del Toro. However, in April 2015, the demo was removed, and the game was canceled.

At the 2013 Game Developers Conference, Kojima showed Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. He said this would be his final Metal Gear game. It was preceded by Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes in 2014, which was a shorter prologue. In March 2015, reports said Kojima would leave Konami after The Phantom Pain. Konami later removed his name from the series' marketing.

At The Game Awards 2015, Metal Gear Solid V won awards. But Kojima was reportedly not allowed to attend by Konami. In February 2016, Metal Gear Solid V won another award. In July 2015, Kojima's voice actor friend said Konami had closed Kojima Productions.

Independent Studio and New Games

On December 16, 2015, Kojima announced that Kojima Productions would be an independent studio again. They partnered with Sony Computer Entertainment. His first new game would be only for PlayStation 4. At E3 2016, Kojima revealed the game's title: Death Stranding. The trailer featured actor Norman Reedus, who Kojima had worked with on the canceled Silent Hills.

Kojima during the 2017 Brasil Game Show

Kojima started his own YouTube channel in 2016. There, he and a film critic discuss their favorite movies. Starting in 2017, Kojima also wrote for Rolling Stone magazine. He often talked about new movies and how they related to his own work.

Death Stranding was released on November 8, 2019. It received good reviews and sold well. It won many awards, including "Best Game Direction" at The Game Awards 2019. In November 2019, Kojima told BBC Newsbeat that Kojima Productions would start making films in the future. He believes movies, TV shows, and games will compete in the same space because of streaming.

In June 2022, Kojima and Microsoft announced a new game. Kojima Productions would work with Xbox Game Studios using Microsoft's cloud technology. Norman Reedus also confirmed that a sequel to Death Stranding had started.

In 2022, Kojima began a podcast for Spotify called Hideo Kojima presents Brain Structure. He talks about his game development history and his interests in books, music, and movies.

At The Game Awards 2022, Kojima officially revealed the sequel to Death Stranding. It was called Death Stranding 2 (working title). Reedus, Léa Seydoux, and Troy Baker would return. New cast members included Elle Fanning and Shioli Kutsuna.

At The Game Awards 2023, Kojima and director Jordan Peele announced a new game called OD. It will be published by Xbox Game Studios. The game stars Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier.

On December 14, 2023, Kojima and film studio A24 announced a live-action movie based on Death Stranding. On January 31, 2024, Kojima announced he is working on a new action-espionage game after Death Stranding 2.

Influences and Ideas

Kojima has said that The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983) and Super Mario Bros. (1985) inspired him to make games. Portopia Serial Murder Case was a murder mystery game. Kojima said it showed him that games could tell deep stories. He learned that games could have "mystery, a 3D dungeon, humor, and a proper background." This game influenced his early works like Metal Gear and Snatcher.

Kojima's love for movies is clear in his games. He often pays tribute to films through his stories and characters. For example, Snatcher is inspired by many science fiction films from the 1980s. These include Blade Runner, Akira, and The Terminator.

Many characters and ideas in his games come from movies. Solid Snake's codename comes from Snake Plissken in Escape from New York. Snake's real name, Dave, is from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The stealth idea in Metal Gear was inspired by The Great Escape. The James Bond movies also had a big impact on the Metal Gear series. Kojima also said Planet of the Apes films influenced Metal Gear's anti-war themes.

He also gets ideas from anime. His early games, especially Snatcher, were influenced by cyberpunk anime like Akira. He said his Zone of the Enders series was inspired by mecha anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion. The giant robots in Metal Gear also came from mecha anime.

Kojima thinks about how to tell stories in games. He said that using cut scenes with special camera angles and effects can make players feel strong emotions. He also thinks about whether games should have multiple storylines. He wonders if a single, strong story makes players feel more deeply.

In 2000, Kojima listed his favorite games. These included Another World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Super Mario Bros.. He said A Link to the Past was his favorite game by Shigeru Miyamoto.

In 2019, Kojima published a book of essays in Japan. It was about how pop culture influenced his work. The book was later released in English as The Creative Gene: How Books, Movies, and Music Inspired the Creator of Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid.

Kojima's work has also influenced people in the film industry. Screenwriter David Hayter, who voiced Solid Snake, said he learned from Kojima about telling stories without giving all the answers. Actors like Mads Mikkelsen and Léa Seydoux have been in Death Stranding. Director Guillermo del Toro is also a big fan of Kojima.

In 2020, Kojima was a judge for the Virtual Reality section of the 77th Venice International Film Festival.

Legacy and Impact

Kojima is known for his big influence on the video game industry. Metal Gear was the first major stealth game. This genre became very popular after Metal Gear Solid. Kojima also helped bring movie-like techniques into video games. Eurogamer called Metal Gear Solid the "first modern video game."

Many game developers have said Kojima's work influenced them. These include creators of games like Splinter Cell, Far Cry 2, Uncharted, and The Last of Us. Kojima has also influenced people outside of games, like novelist Project Itoh and filmmaker Jordan Peele.

Themes in His Games

Kojima has often explored ideas in his games years before they became big topics in the real world. For example, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty came out in 2001. At first, some critics found its plot confusing. But later, people realized it predicted many cultural issues of the 2010s. It talked about things like censorship and manipulation. Some even linked it to real-world events like the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

In Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015), a special bacteria called Wolbachia is used to stop fictional "vocal cord parasites." At the time, using Wolbachia to control diseases like malaria and dengue was mostly just an idea. But by 2019, using Wolbachia became a very effective way to fight mosquito-related epidemics in many countries.

Kojima's Death Stranding (2019) shows a world where people live alone in cities and shelters. They can't go outside much because of dangerous conditions. People called "porters" risk their lives to deliver supplies. Many journalists noticed similarities between this game and the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The game focused on themes of isolation, loneliness, and people being divided.

Personal Life

Kojima keeps his personal life private. He is married and has at least two sons. He also has at least one brother. His father passed away when Kojima was thirteen. His mother died in early 2017.

Awards and Honors

Newsweek magazine named Kojima one of the top ten people of 2002. In 2008, Next-Gen put him seventh on their list of "Hot 100 Developers."

In 2009, IGN ranked him sixth among the top game creators of all time. He received the first Lifetime Achievement Award for a game designer at the 2008 MTV Game Awards. He also got a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Game Developers Conference. In 2014, UNESCO's Bradford City of Film gave him an award for his amazing directing and storytelling in video games.

In December 2015, Kojima was invited to accept an award for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. But he was reportedly stopped from attending by Konami. In February 2016, Kojima received the AIAS Hall of Fame Award. In December 2016, he was able to attend The Game Awards 2016 and accepted the Industry Icon Award.

On October 12, 2017, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Brasil Game Show. In 2020, Kojima was named a BAFTA Fellowship. This made him the second Japanese person to get this award for video game work.

Kojima has directed four games that received a perfect score of 40 from the Japanese magazine Famitsu. These games are Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Death Stranding. He has also been involved with three games nominated for D.I.C.E. Award for Game of the Year.

On January 20, 2022, Kojima received an Industry Legend Award from the Arab Game Awards. On March 15, 2022, Kojima announced he received the 72nd Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts from Japan.

Works

Games

Canceled Games

Actor Roles

Video Games

Film and TV

Other

Images for kids

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  Kojima in 2018

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  Kojima at E3 2006

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  Kojima during the 2011 Tokyo Game Show

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  Kojima during the 2017 Brasil Game Show

See also

In Spanish: Hideo Kojima para niños