Unlike last year, like I was traveling all over the world, this year…

“I thought that I could never recover. I felt like I might not ever be able to create a game again.”

Kojima recalled that twenty-five years earlier he had incorporated a story and a message into video games when both were regarded as unnecessary. With the rise of mobile games used to kill time, he saw Minagawa’s literary activity at age eighty-two as the baton to receive. He promised to continue as he is even after turning eighty and to instill his memes into video games.

“I received the 72nd Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts from the Agency of Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. Thank you very much. I have been creating games for 36 years.”

“People saying things like, I think Kojima has about three more games left in him. And I'm like, no, don't say that.”

“I will not retire. I will continue to create games as long as I live.”