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Kojima, Hideo

Entry updated 14 October 2019. Tagged: Author, Game.

(1963-    ) Japanese Game designer who began work on Videogames with Penguin Adventure (1986 Konami, MSX) designed by Hiroyuki Fukui, Ryouhei Shogaki, an action game in which the player must bring home a golden apple to cure an ailing penguin princess. Kojima's influence is not, however, especially noticeable in this work. The first game he actually designed was Metal Gear (1987), which may be the earliest example of a combat-based Videogame in which the gameplay depends more on avoiding enemies than on fighting them. Metal Gear was commercially successful, and most of Kojima's subsequent career has been devoted to the creation of increasingly sophisticated sequels, notably Metal Gear Solid (1998) (see Metal Gear). Kojima's other early designs include Snatcher (1988) and the similarly structured Policenauts (1994 Konami, PC98; 1995 3DO; 1996 PS1, Saturn), a graphical Adventure which was only released in Japan, set on an independent Space Habitat and reminiscent of the Anime series A.D. Police Files (1990) (see Bubblegum Crisis). More recently, he has designed Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand (2004 Konami, GBA), an innovative Vampire-hunting game in which a physical light sensor must be charged by exposure to sunlight to make the player's in-game Weapons effective, and helped create Zone of the Enders (2001 Konami, PS2; 2012 PS3, XB360) designed by Noriaki Okamura, Nobuyoshi Nishimura, Hideo Kojima, an Anime-inspired Space Opera featuring combat between human piloted Robots in a politically divided future solar system reminiscent of that shown in the television series Gundam Wing (1995-1996) (see Mobile Suit Gundam).

Kojima's designs are often characterized by an irreverent, subversive sense of humour and a metafictional desire to break the game's "fourth wall". Similarly to his contemporary, Hironobu Sakaguchi, he is much influenced by film, creating strongly cinematic visuals and including homages to favourite movies. Thematically, he has concentrated on sf and Technothrillers; his scripts often include detailed philosophical discussions of science-fictional concepts such as Memes and Nanotechnology. [NT]

Hideo Kojima

born Tokyo: 28 August 1963

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