Kojima Movie TV & Music: All The Crazy Possibilities

Hideo Kojima’s Twitter profile indicates he is an ardent fan of both film and television, which is also apparent through the prolonged cutscenes that dominate his games. The iconic game director also shows an astute love for music, posting his current song on Twitter and incorporating bands like Low Roar in Death Stranding. Kojima has such a wide range of tastes that it’s almost inevitable that he will lend his talents to a medium other than gaming. Just recently, Kojima Productions opened a studio for just that in Los Angeles, which will focus on the development of film, TV, and music. While the previous studio (Kojima Productions in Japan) will still anchor its identity to games, this new studio delves into an untapped reservoir of Kojima’s mind in which all kinds of complex and crazy ideas could flow out. Death Stranding Adjacent Project Sony has always shown interest in the film industry, even producing an original TV series for the PlayStation Network titled Powers. After two seasons, the poorly executed drama suffered cancellation, but that didn’t halt Sony’s filmmaking ventures. The company is attempting to adopt some of its most iconic exclusive games, including Uncharted and The Last of Us. With Kojima Productions now in the loop, Sony could encourage Kojima (with some cash, of course) to supply a Death Stranding project and further bolster their media library. There are several places to go with a property like Death Stranding such as exploring a previous extinction event, honing in on Clifford Unger’s backstory, or exploring Fragile’s dark history with Higgs. Whatever the case may be, Kojima will surely provide an insane storyline that will fuel both positive and negative conversations. Besides, for some, the story of Death Stranding is the least appealing aspect of the controversial game, thanks to its nonsensical, over-the-top absurdity. Conversely, others embraced deeply embedded themes like some pretentious art piece. When Kojima is honed in on storytelling and separated from interactivity, the outcome will be debatable, for some are a fan of his gameplay implementation above his storytelling prowess. A Game and Show Hybrid (New IP)But, Kojima Productions does not have to keep these two pillars of entertainment so distinct. Kojima is the perfect person to experiment with an all-new hybrid implementation of film and game. We’ve seen this strategy pop up in several places but to a limited extent, mostly in the form of choice-based media content such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Batman: Death in the Family. Another approach was the integration of real-world acting in a game’s cutscene, infamously attempted in Quantum Break.  While Kojima may attempt something similar, we don’t see him retreading mediocre trends, and, instead, trying something new and weird for the film industry. This idea is right up Kojima’s alley since he has a history of conflating real-world actions with gameplay, sometimes even making the user question reality itself. The most famous example comes from the boss fight with Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid. The telepathic villain not only reads Solid Snake’s mind but the player’s as well, analyzing your button presses and responding accordingly. He can activate the rumble effect in the remote and telepathically acknowledge the player’s favorite games (by reading their memory card). Psycho Mantis can be defeated by switching the controller’s port, breaking his telepathic grasp. This is the type of hybrid film and game concept we expect from Kojima. A new TV show or movie with a reality-interfering implementation like this could have a substantial impact on the film industry and become another iconic moment for Kojima. Norman Reedus & Crazy Cameos Looking at Kojima’s repertoire will also reveal a fascination with wonky cameos and famous actors. Specifically, in Death Stranding, Norman Reedus (from The Walking Dead), takes center stage as the soft-spoken protagonist. Kojima seems to have something of a crush on Reedus, and the actor has expressed interest in future projects. It’s almost inevitable that the motorcycle riding sweetheart will partake in Kojima’s film endeavors. Along with Reedus, Death Stranding also involved some interesting cameos like Conon O’Brian, who supplied Sam with an otter head for upgraded water maneuverability. Video game personalities like Geoff Keighley, the creator, and host of The Game Awards, and Hermen Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios, also made a shocking appearance. Any film project is vulnerable to such cameos ranging from gaming deep cuts to the most famous stars.A Documentary About Himself Since they are scarce and often covered in a public relations glaze, in-depth and genuine documentaries about the game industry are always an excellent treat. Being one of the staple names in game development, Kojima would make for an interesting deep dive, even if he has already published one book pretentiously titled The Creative Gene. Ever since Penguin Adventure in 1986, Kojima has worked on various projects across many flavors of the game industry. The personality, experience, and mind of Kojima provide ample ingredients for a feature-length documentary. Some may say Kojima is prideful, boasting in self-proclaimed artful games that expand the medium’s boundaries (remember when he said Death Stranding would initiate a new “strand” genre). Suffice it to say, Kojima seems like the ideal subject for a documentary, personality and all. Additionally, we may get more insight into the Kojima and Konami breakup that sent ripples across the game industry. Perplexing Music VideosWe all know that music videos can get extremely weird, making them a great medium for expressing unique ideas. In light of Kojima Productions’ plans to venture into music, we must prepare for the inevitable Kojima music video, which is, by the way, a medium that embraces the absurdity of the video game legend. Any music video that emerges from this will be a perplexing jumble of absurdity, and we’re all here for it. This may seem like a final joke entry, but we wouldn’t be surprised if something like this happened. Kojima has publicly expressed his love for music and shown his taste for the absurd so this occurrence isn’t all too far-fetched. Until that fateful day, Stay tuned to Gaming Instincts via Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook for more gaming news.