A Video Game Auteur's Quest for Connection

“That's why I added this indirect online connection in the game — so that people will feel it's alright, it's okay. You're relieved that you're not alone. You see other people's footprints and think it's not just me here.”

According to Vulture, Kojima edits his own trailers for his games, a task typically handled by ad agencies.

“I wanted to start very slowly, so that the world looks beautiful, but you kind of feel odd. There's something broken here.”

“The ghosts in the game — maybe my parents are one of them, seeing me in this world. I wanted to have that kind of metaphor, that within you, you're connected to the people that passed away.”

“I thought, I'll tell her once I've become a little successful. I didn't want her to worry.”

“my father pushing me out on the ocean on a boat. It was so frightening. I still go into the ocean, and I dive from time to time, but I get really frightened about these big waves and big ocean animals.”

“I knew what the fans wanted. A big game, up-to-date visuals, something that would surprise even the movie people”

“Travis [Bickle] was the same as me in a way. I'm Japanese; I thought every American guy never even felt solitude. So this was new to me. When I saw Taxi Driver, I was surprised but I empathized. I felt relieved.”

“I felt lonely when I was talking to my friends because they couldn't understand. I wanted to go home … and turn on the lights because I was frightened. I had so many friends at school, but was lonely. I didn't tell anyone. I thought I was sick.”

At the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, Kojima suggested that prospective game developers watch two films a day.

“would start from zero”