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How Death Stranding Subverts a Common Gameplay Mechanic

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

There once was an explosion within a trailer that ignited a thousand online debates. There once was an explosion within a trailer that confused the hell out of us. The next explosion is brief details about how Death Stranding will play and how the game subverts a very common gameplay mechanic – death itself. 

In a recent interview with IGN.com Hideo Kojima detailed the place that protagonist Sam visits after the large explosion in the latest trailer for Death Stranding is actually a sort of purgatory.  In this world of beaches and water Sam will explore purgatory in a first-person perspective until it is time for him to return to his body. We don’t know how this dimensional travel is possible (is it the babies?? I bet it’s the babies!) but we do know it is due to a “special ability” that Sam possess. 

Kojima contrasted this mechanic with the arcades of the past, where death was a means to suck another quarter from the player: 

“Games started over 40 years ago with arcades. When the player dies, it’s game over. You continue, and time goes back to before you die. You can die as many times as you want, but you always go back to a little bit before you die. That was a mechanic made specifically for putting in coins, and it hasn’t changed since then.”

Aside from digitized versions of Norman Reedus, Guillermo Del Toro, and Mads Mikkelsen, the spotlight has been fixed on the various babies we’ve seen in each of the three trailers. During the interview with IGN, Hideo Kojima confirmed that the baby that washes up on the shores in trailer 1, the baby held by Del Toro in trailer 2 and the baby pointing finger guns in Reedus’ esophagus are one in the same. We also now know that the babies will tie into the purgatory mechanic somehow.’ 

Still no definitive answers about the mysteries of Death Stranding but certainly now we have a lot more pieces of the puzzles. We know that the game takes place in the near future and that the rapid aging rain and the monsters that attacked the corpse disposal crew are common knowledge. We know a little bit more about the babies. We also know that gameplay will be split between third-person open world action while Sam is alive and that death does not mean “game over” but will affect the overall game world. 

Perhaps we will see actually Death Stranding gameplay at next June’s E3 or perhaps Kojima will make a surprise appearance at GDC 2018, like he did at GDC 2013 to promote The Phantom Pain. Rumor has it that Death Stranding is currently targeting a Q4 2018 release window, so the hype should just keep building. 

Oh and all of our internet theories about the baby being a clone of Sam, Mads being the real protagonist or Del Toro being the game’s villain? Kojima eats that shit up and loves every second of it. 

“I think it’s fun, I really think it’s fun. It’s one of the unique things about games, that you can start having fun with people before you release the game. There are things I intentionally put there so that I can start this back and forth process with players, because I think it’s fun for everyone.” 

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Hideo Kojima and Konami: “You Ever Dance with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight?”

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Kenny Keelan

Seems only fitting that this article be titled with an older movie reference to Tim Burton’s Batman, honestly, as it seems Hideo Kojima and Konami have had the same kind of symbiotic and rather tumultuous relationship in the past as Konami was the one company that would give Kojima a chance back in the 80’s and, now, with the post-Metal Gear Solid V dramatics, they will be the ones to finally see him go and make something of himself elsewhere. While there’s word that Kojima is under an NDA about his departure from Konami, there is plenty of speculation as to why he is not longer with the company, most of that speculation following the line of thought that Konami is the new video game company that’s easy to hate and point fingers at, somewhat relieving Electronic Arts of that position. While there’s a lot of truth to what’s being spouted among the common gaming community, I think that things are quite a bit more simpler than people give the situation credit for and I find that Kojima may have had just as much a hand in how things ended up as Konami did.

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Kojima: “I will still make big games”

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima remains intent on making “big games” in the wake of his departure from Konami, a task that he feels is his “role in this world.”Kojimas eyes so intesnse

In a new interview with the New Yorker, Kojima revealed he considered taking a year-long trip to a deserted island after leaving Konami under reportedly less-than-amicable terms. He has decided to keep making games after sharing the plan with an unnamed ” Hollywood friend” who suggested he instead keep working.

“Hearing that affirmed to me that my role in this world is to keep on making big games for as long as I can,” Kojima said. “That is the mission I’ve been given in life.”

Despite this, Kojima suggested earlier this week that the first project from his new studio, Kojima Productions, could be “smaller-scale.” Following whatever that first game turns out to be, the studio “could consider movies, animations, anything.” I think this is a good thing honestly, lets let him get his legs under him as an independent studio find and work with good talent, and then we can ask for another epic.  In the new interview, Kojima seemed to be happy with the flexibility that being independent provides.

“When working in big companies, especially Japanese companies, every little thing has to be approved beforehand, and you need paperwork to do anything, Now that I’m independent, I can do what I want with much more speed. I don’t need to invest time in unnecessary presentations. I shoulder the risk.” this idea fascinates me, Japanese business culture is very structured and rigid, but will Kojima’s new studio be more fluid and flexible, or will he ultimately fall back on the ways of traditional Japanese style development?

It seems that at least for new Kojima is quite content to even have the right to say what ever he wants as he said regarding Konami as a company  “When I was in a company, my personal statements could be taken as the overall direction of the company, as such, I couldn’t say just anything.”

Konami has said they intend to keep making Metal Gear games, so it’s unclear if Kojima was commenting directly on his former employer, but this shift is brought up by the New Yorker, which then quotes Kojima as saying, “If you’re only focused on the profits immediately in front of you, the times will leave you behind. It becomes impossible to catch up again.”

Sony announced earlier this week that it’s partnering with Kojima Productions on its first game. That title will debut on PlayStation 4 before later being released for PC.

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Hideo Kojima Has Left Konami and Kojima Productions

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Hideo Kojima, whom has leant his name to Kojima productions, has left Koonami, and his self named studio. This will come as no surprise to most people, after he was asked to step away from his last project (Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain) due to time and budget concerns. A source whom spoke with the New Yorker said a ceremony took place at Kojima studios for his departure, about 100 people attended, and that there was a “rather cheerful but also emotional goodbye.” the source, who wished to remain unnamed, said that he did not see Konami’s president, Hideki Hayakawa, or its C.E.O., Sadaaki Kaneyoshi, at the party, but some of Kojima’s colleagues from other studios showed up to pay their respects, as did many of the people who worked on his most recent directorial project, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.  The story also reports that Kojima has signed a non-compete which expires in December, after which perhaps we will see something new out of the legendary director.

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Kojimas name has become synonymous with the cinematic story telling of the Metal Gear franchise which he created and has been at the head of development since its first installment. For those unfamiliar with Metal Gear, it spans several games, over a period of more than 50 in game years, and has an expansive world and cast whom appear in each game. The latest installment featured an open world map, player created bases, and hundreds of in game item variations. Kojima’s importance to both Konami and the gaming world can not be understated, his name stands with the likes of Miyamoto in the pantheon of great creators.

Unfortunately for those who follow this sort of thing, this move will come as no surprise. Kojima was asked to step away from the latest metal gear installment after production ran long and expensive. Konami wanted the game released, Kojima wanted the game to be feature complete, and it set the studio head and his company at odds.  I for one hope he goes out on his own, perhaps runs a crowd funding initive and builds what he wants to build rather than being confined to studios budgets and time schedule.

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Metal Gear Online 3 – First Impressions

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Kenny Keelan

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is now complete with the addition of its Metal Gear Online feature, the third of its kind in the franchise and it has never felt better. Like previous renditions, this version of MGO uses the engine of the game you have been playing alongside it for so long and turned the scenario on its head. You’re given a series of basic scenarios and it’s up to you to be the best damn infiltrator you can be.

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Metal Gear Solid V Fan Trailer Done Like 80s Movie Trailer

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Kenny Keelan

Did you see IGN’s cheese fest of what Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain would look like if it were done using clips of pre-existing 80s movies? Did you like it? No, me neither. Yes, we get it, Solid Snake was based on the main protagonist of Escape from L.A. Kojima pulled a lot of influence from old-school action movies that he liked. Anyone who’s a big fan of Metal Gear is pretty familiar with that.

There’s someone out there, though, in YouTube land that pulled it off properly by making it look like a trailer straight out of the beginning of another movie’s VHS tape. It’s pretty grand, you should definitely check it out:

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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Review

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Kenny Keelan

Writer’s Note: There’s a lot of sensitive content here. There’s going to be spoilers, though I will warn in advance. I’m not really going to be holding anything back here. This game has a lot of mature content and it needs to be discussed so this is what I’m doing. Last but not least, I reviewed this using a Day One Edition PlayStation 4 copy of the game.

Well, holy shit guys, I’ve finally done it. I’ve completed the story content and a majority of the side content of The Phantom Pain. I knew this game was going to be one for the history books and it most certainly is. There’s not a quick way to explain this game. You could try but no matter how, you’d fall short every time. There is no easy way to classify this game, whether you like it or not: in spite of the things that may have fallen short or risen high about this game, in spite of what you would say about it, you have to admit one thing… it made you feel something. Games don’t often do that. And it’s more than petty things, too: it’s not the kind of stuff fanboys argue about or the casuals complain about. It’s the kind of stuff you keep around with you forever. This is one of those games that will earmark this generation of gaming, guaranteed. This is one of those things that I felt was missing, almost entirely, from the last generation: a game or series of games that changed your life as a gamer. Things had been changing for a while now and we got one last swan song from a company that had been drowning in its own misdeeds for years, now.
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New Metal Gear Solid Rising Image Surfaces

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

Metal Gear Rising

Platinum Game’s entry into the Metal Gear franchise, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, will feature the first public playable demo of the game on the show floor. A brand new image of protagonist Raiden, snapped from a demo station at the convention, shows the Cyber Ninja decked out in some badass armor complete with futuristic visor.

Revengeance is due for release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on February 19th 2013 in North America and Feb 21st 2013 in Japan.

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