Hideo Kojima is a videogame auteur, famous for creating the Metal Gear series as well as Death Stranding. He is quite a singular voice and his games wear their influences on their sleeves, from Snake in Metal Gear being an homage to Snake Plissken from John Carpenter's Escape From New York to the Diamond Dogs being a link to David Bowie's alter ego to even more esoteric references from various pop culture influences. To have a series of short essays that has the man talk about his influences as well as they became a formative part of his oeuvre is fascinating.

I have only played a few of Kojima's games but he casts a long shadow so I know a lot more about the man and his works than I normally would any other creative in my area of interest, even if only peripherally.

What you get here is a series is well written, eloquent essays which act as short form reviews about what makes the work so fascinating and formative. A lot of these pieces were written in the wake of the 3/11 earthquakes that devastated Japan so are rather wistful and timestamped but the main themes Kojima covers remain ever potent. There are many pieces but I particularly enjoyed his thought on these few:
- Woman of the Dunes by Kobo Abe, which I read in my teens and found strangely compelling, had me thinking about what we value in freedom.
- Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan makes it sound like an impressive sci-fi with a intriguing central puzzle-box murder mystery which I have placed on my 'Wish' list.
- The Drifting Classroom by Kazuo Umezz is a Lord of the Flies type book where an earthquake separates a school from the mainland. Teachers and students break into factions as the social bonds that bind us snap. Kojima compares this dystopian vision with what occured on 3/11.
- Columbo: Publish or Perish was a novelisation of an episode from the first season of the show. Young teen Kojima picked it up on the way home from tutoring and it was the book that ignited his passion for reading.
- 2001 Nights by Yukinobu Hoshino attracted Kojima as it was a hard sci-fi manga that made him feel brave and strong. I own and have read the comic run and loved it.
- Blade Runner was a formative film for Kojima and is one of his top 10 films. He saw it as a teen and it blew his mind. When there was a re-release in cinemas to celebrate its 30th anniversary he felt ecstatic to be surrounded by fellow fans.
- Space Battleship Yamato was a revelation in Japan at the time and when the movie was released on the day of Kojima's father's funeral, he saw it in memory of him (not on that day, I mean that would be a bit wrong probably).
- His favourite film is 2001: A Space Odyssey and his favourite band is Joy Division.

What I found surprising is that he does not mention John Carpenter or Escape From New York... an oversight, surely.

Overall, I enjoyed the book as it offered a fascinating look behind the curtain, now I'd like to see a similar book by Swery (creator of Deadly Premonition) and Suda 51 (Grasshopper Manufacture). I don't really fancy one about Ken Levine though as I think I've got his influences figured- Ayn Rand. Called it!

Anyway, my reading pile of shame has just become a lot bigger but that's no bad thing when what I am reading is so thought-provoking.

LINK: Japan: My Journey to the East

LINK- Blood, Sweat and Pixels- Book Review

LINK- The Offworld Collection- Book Review

LINK- Shadow of the Colossus- Book Review

LINK: Manga Exhibition at the British Museum

LINK- The Midnight Library and the Idea That You Can’t Go Home Again

LINK- The Transportive Nature of Objects (And the Power of Mini Consoles)

LINK- My One True Gaming Constant in Life- Nintendo