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Hideo Kojima gives Conan O’Brien a job in Death Stranding in Japan【Video】

Oona McGee Oct 25, 2019
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A behind-the-scenes look at the making of this year’s most highly anticipated video game.

American late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien piqued the interest of the international gaming community in September last year, when it was revealed that he’d visited the office of Hideo Kojima during his trip to Japan.

▼ “Reunited with Conan O’Brien. He came to visit Kojima Productions. He also signed our customary message board. Conan and I are the same age.”

コナン・オブライエンさんと再会。コジプロに訪問していただきました。恒例のメッセージボードにもサイン。コナンさんとは同い歳です👍🌈🦀🐟🐋 pic.twitter.com/b7WXM0uKvd

— 小島秀夫 (@Kojima_Hideo) September 7, 2018

At the time, the reason for the visit, and what went on behind closed doors, was never revealed, although everyone knew it probably had something to do Kojima’s highly anticipated Death Stranding video game, the first release since the Metal Gear Solid director’s acrimonious split with publisher Konami in 2015.

▼ Joining them for the meeting was Aaron Bleyaert, who appears with Conan on his “Clueless Gamer” segments.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Aaron Bleyaert (@aaronbleyaert)

The hashtags #DeathStranding #Videogames #EPIC #OMG in Bleyhart’s Instagram post above all pointed to a major exclusive, and it was clear that O’Brien was equally thrilled with the meeting, as the message he penned on the Kojima Productions signboard read: “Can I have a job here?”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Carol Brobst (@ambrosianfiberartsonetsy)

As it turns out, it looks like Kojima did actually give O’Brien a job, as this new clip from O’Brien’s Conan show finally reveals what went on during that mysterious visit to Kojima Productions over a year ago.

Take a look at the video below:

The clip above takes us into the world of Kojima Productions, giving us a glimpse into what it’s like to work with one of the world’s top video game directors. After walking past Ludens, the company’s astronaut icon, O’Brien enters the office of the internationally lauded video game genius, which is a bit like going to heaven and meeting the god of gaming.

O’Brien is then invited into Kojima’s personal office, where he gets a close-up look at the 56-year-old’s toy collection.

▼ No, Conan, that’s not a vibrator, it’s Ultraman’s transformation tool.

As they sit down to watch a trailer for Death Stranding, Conan looks shocked after the very first scene — where an incredibly lifelike baby sucks its thumb inside a pod — prompting O’Brien to ask, “What is wrong with you?”

It’s a question that was asked by U.S. customs earlier this year when they stopped Kojima to ask him why he was bringing a life-size replica of that very baby pod into the country. This weird and wonderful creative thinking is what fans love about Kojima, though, and after watching the rest of the trailer, which features the game’s protagonist, played by Norman Reedus, and a scene with Guillermo del Toro‘s character, Kojima casually asks, “So, Conan, do you want to be in the game?”

O’Brien doesn’t need to be asked twice, and so they head off to the 3-D scanner room, where a collection of cameras records his expressions for 3-D rendering.

▼ Kojima is not convinced, however, that O’Brien is the “great masculine hero” he thinks he is.

At the end of the video, we see the result of Conan’s 3-D capture, which has him appearing in the game with the lines:

“That hood was threaded by the hand of my cosplay partner. Wear it and you too can ride the river rapids without fear. Unless you’re afraid of looking too sexy…rawrrr. Really? Still nothing?”

With the game still shrouded in mystery, we’ll have to wait to see if O’Brien’s cameo was just a comedy bit for his late-night talk show or if he really does appear in the final cut of the game. Thankfully, though, the wait is almost over, as Death Stranding is set to be released for the PlayStation 4 on 8 November.

After seeing Kojima’s colleague wearing a Wyld Stallyns T-shirt in the clip, hot on the heels of Keanu Reeves’ visit to Kojima Productions just last month, we’re now curious to see whether the star of Bill and Ted and Cyberpunk 2077 will also be popping up somewhere in Death Stranding. That would be truly breathtaking.

Source: YouTube/Team Coco
Featured image: YouTube/Team Coco
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