In a recent conversation with SSENSE, Hideo Kojima, the renowned game creator, shared some provocative thoughts amidst the usual discussions. The Metal Gear visionary, whose interview was accompanied by images of him in Minecraft-inspired outfits, stated, “Those developing military-themed video games often lack real-world understanding of firearms. They might not even know how to disassemble or fire a gun,” he said. He then added that he does know those things “because I’ve been doing this training as well, and I learned so many ways to kill people as well.”
That’s quite a claim from someone who enjoys dressing up in unusual costumes. While I, myself, am no expert marksman (unless a single attempt at a shooting range during a 2012 event counts), I could devise numerous creative ways to neutralize my adversaries, many of which are more inventive than Hanna Barbera cartoons. To prove my point, here’s a brief list of my own methods:
- Prepare a luxurious, warm bath for my opponent in a copper tub situated atop a high hill, beneath a towering tree adorned with iron filings, all during a thunderstorm.
- Confront my target face-to-face, inviting them to “step outside” while we’re both aboard a space station.
- Infiltrate my target’s online history, revealing their secret passions for everything they publicly denounce on social media.
- Subtly replace my target’s headphones with meticulously painted Black Widow spiders.
- Construct a domino chain stretching for a mile, with each domino progressively larger than the last.
- Paint miniature scenes of tranquil blue skies inside my target’s flight goggles.
- Position a strategically placed guillotine just beyond a fence with a hole labeled “free hat.”
- Create a digitally altered image depicting my target playing patty-cake with the spouse of the local crime boss.
- Challenge my target to a friendly, unranked competition of “who can drink the most nail polish,” and generously let them begin.
- Resort to the conventional approach: shooting them with a gun. It can’t be that difficult, right? Just remember which end emits the bang and await the button prompt.
The interview also contained another interesting piece of information. Kojima mentioned that he found the large amount of trailers at this year’s Summer Game Fest to be somewhat uninspired, which presumably didn’t include the trailer for his own forthcoming title, Death Stranding 2.
He commented that many of the showcased games had similar visuals and systems, “and a lot of people enjoy this, I understand, but it is important to put something really new in there for the industry.” Because Sony hasn’t yet released Death Stranding 2 on PC, I’m unable to say whether it’s truly new, but I would wager that it probably lacks an elaborate domino-based assassination mechanic.