Hideo Kojima said something. And we truly should not be surprised anymore as offshore. Here has always been something unnatural and a really different thinker behind Metal Gear and Death Stranding. But this…this one is a bombshell. Kojima sent the media flurry and talking when he said he wanted to scan a ghost. For real. An actual ghost. Camera it into his game, OD for real, then get an award for accomplishing it. You know he would.
The announcement came via Twitter, a fitting medium for off-the-wall corporate news these days, and the reaction was…a wild mixture of people going, “This guy’s a genius,” to “He has finally lost it.” So is basically the averaged Kojima experience. Another user, Art, perfectly summarized it by saying Kojima is “Two parts genius, one part retard. Wouldn’t have it any other way.” And you know what? He’s right and that’s why we love the guy.
So now let’s try to break it down. What on earth does it mean to “scan a ghost?” You know, tech-wise. Do they mean some kind of specialized ghost scanner? Do they drag out a fancy camera to some haunted house? Another player, Dillian, highlighted the remotely logical problem with that: “Bros gonna have to catch one first.” Which, fair enough. How do you scan something that, you know, isn’t there? Or do you? I’m only stating this because it’s Kojima. If anyone could ever come up with metaphysical tech for digitizing a spirit, Kojima would probably be the guy. LightShadowOnyx added, “Kojima will find a way to do it and it be the most Kojima ghost in the most Kojima way possible.” And, hell, probably so. Probably, the ghost would have some really lengthy, unnecessarily complicated backstory involving nanomachines and the afterlife, in some kinds of convoluted manner.
Again, this whole thing sounds like Black Mirror, someone said, Intisar Ahmad. Consider the entire process. Kojima magically descended upon spooky mansion with his full team of developers. “Yea yea yea I’m sorry for how you were persecuted in the 1700s and now have to roam the halls of this building,” joked Kirbeeez. To get ghosts to T-pose for a video game is just…peak Kojima. The absurdity is almost begging to be seen.
And then we have the whole ‘award’ thing? That’s just the cherry on the cake. Attic Michael had a great point: “I mean hell yeah he should win an award for it. If he manages to scan a real ghost, then he solved the biggest question in the history of mankind lol.” He’s not really talking about the Game Award here. If Kojima proves ghosts are real by way of video game development, he’ll win the Nobel Prize. Totally never saw that career twist coming.
Then there are just those who aren’t buying the idea and just roll their eyes to it. Others, skeptical if ghosts exist outright, went to Shahzaib, shouting, “Too bad ghosts aren’t real!” But Chriss_m kept wondering, “Are we just tweeting out jokes as if they were factual statements now?” And, well, not all that far removed from Kojima news himself. The razor-thin line between Kojima’s eccentric sincerity and an elaborate joke is still under debate.
This is where magic happens. Ghosts notwithstanding, OD is back in everyone’s lips now. There is very little known about the game except for it being partnered with Microsoft and said to be an unusual horror. That he would want to scan an actual ghost for it is the exact kind of out-there nutty aspiration that gets the crowd either excited or curious. As Scott Lowe wisely remarked: “It’s important to have goals.” And Kojima’s never boring ones.
So what does this mean for OD? Well, judging by that, it’s going to be pretty weird. And that’s only a good thing. What the industry really needs are visionaries who do not hesitate to say the things that are meant to be kept quiet-even if the quiet thing is, “I want to capture a spectral entity on film.” Boundary-pushing thoughts bring landmark experiences. To put it plainly, B1gDaddyMarv said, “This is just crazy enough to work!” You know there is an argument to be made for that. Crazy works in Kojima’s favor most times.
The ghost’s eventual presence in OD’s special thanks is still up in the air. The kind of fun we will have getting to that, however, is a sure thing. So look out for Kojima Productions throwing bankrolls to pay for ectoplasm or conducting seances. The minute that comes to pass, the whole world is going to love it.
