Hideo Kojima is one of gaming's most recognizable icons, as he is the creator of the stealth series Metal Gear and head of Kojima Productions. With the recent teasing of Kojima'supcoming game projects, the 58-year-old developer is releasing "Hideo Kojima's Radioverse" through Audible as a more personal way for Kojima fans to learn about his work and potentially see what is coming in the future.
This announcement comes as a mix of good and bad news for interested fans. The reveal of a first-hand Kojima podcast with comments and discussions from the man himself seems to be a logical step forward for the innovative developer, but the podcast itself is currently only available in Japanese for Japanese Audible users. It is yet to be seen if international releases of "Hideo Kojima's Radioverse" are in the pipeline, but already the podcast is generating interest in the output of Kojima Productions.
Kojima Talks 'Auteur' Creativity and Movie Influences
The first episode of the Radioverse podcast touches on topics like movies and games in an intriguing discussion with Otsuichi, one of the hosts from 2BRO (兄者弟者), a Japanese game streaming group that boasts over three million subscribers on YouTube. Throughout, Kojima mentioned the reasoning behind each game he creates, with each Metal Gear Solid game being based around a one word theme, such as "Gene" or "Scene". Death Stranding, while not a Metal Gear game, followed this trend with the word "Strand" to symbolize the importance of connections made between worlds, people, characters, and so forth. Other famous details about Kojima's own experiences in game development include the usage of LEGO sets to create a 3D visualization for the first Metal Gear Solid games, mentioned in previous interviews.
Hideo Kojima has been in the world of video game development since 1986, but his initial desire was to enter film production. This may not be a surprise to players, as long cutscenes are a staple of Kojima's games. In previous interviews, Kojima has made it clear that a lot of movies have influenced the production of games like Metal Gear Solid, such as the protagonist's codename used in "Escape From New York". This has led to Kojima being labeled with the filmmaking term 'auteur' as a result of his relative freedom and experimentation with blending film and games in his work.
Kojima Podcasts: Past, Present, and Future
This isn't the first time Kojima has used podcasts to discuss his work. As noted by some fans, Radioverse is like a spiritual successor to "Hideraji" which was another radio style podcast helmed by Kojima. At the time, it featured plenty of voice actors and other staff members discussing Metal Gear games that were in development such as MGS4, Peace Walker and MGS5. Seeing it develop into something more appealing to movie and game lovers has been a successful decision so far, but the lack of accessibility for international fans is currently a sticking point. Now that the focus has moved way from the games and towards Hideo plus his guests, listeners are treated to hour-long discussions on film and the game industry that allow for a deeper insight into the man behind games that pioneered the stealth action genre.
Despite a cautious start for the Radioverse podcast as Kojima branches out into somewhat unfamiliar territory, the prestige of Kojima and his guests has attracted lots of listeners to the podcast already. Fans are fervently listening out for any information that could clarify rumors about future Kojima Productions projects that may be underway, and as more episodes are released over time, listeners will be able to delve deeper into the mind of Hideo Kojima to gain a greater understanding of what goes into his projects.
