Hideo Kojima's Philosophy of Play

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MINOR SPOILERS if you're being really, really careful for Death Stranding

Ever since Hideo Kojima re-formed his eponymous studio to create 2019's Death Stranding, one word has been a fixture for all his endevors: Ludens. But what is this word, and where does it come from? How does it provide insights into understanding not only Death Stranding, but every Kojima game? And what clues does it provide us to anticipating his work in the future? Watch this video to find out.

Read "HOMO LUDENS A STUDY OF THE PLAY-ELEMENT IN CULTURE" by Johan Huizinga, here:
http://art.yale.edu/file_columns/0000...

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"Named after one of the most prominent video game developers working under Konami, Hideo Kojima, Kojima Productions [was originally] the result of Konami merging several promising subsidiaries, one of which was Kojimas own development team who were formerly working at Konami Computer Entertainment Japan.

A big aspect of Kojima Productions birth was the workload of it's namesake. As the Vice President of KCEJ, Kojima often found himself bogged down with administrative responsibilities and buissness management of the company which enforced major restrictions upon his ability to focus upon games under his development. Taking control over his own Production company allowed Kojima to focus extensively upon the games themselves and allowing him much freedom in terms of how he approaches his work.

Technically, Kojima Productions has been a squad of designers led by Kojima ever since 1987, although it was only in 2005 that there was any official title given to the group which came about after the aforementioned merging. Although Kojima Productions is a self serving company, they still often [relied] upon Konami as a publisher.

[However] on December 16, 2015, the establishment of the company was announced along with a partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment for the development of the studio's first game. This first title is expected to release on PlayStation 4 and PC.

Reportedly many employees from Konami's, same name subsidiary Kojima Productions have joined the studio."
https://www.giantbomb.com/kojima-prod...
https://www.giantbomb.com/kojima-prod...