Yes! Goodbye!

Done.

Whoa, heavy! It's heavy!

You just keep going. With ladders.

That's right.

Why there? What an odd place
to leave a ladder.

What were they thinking?

Jump.

That one hurt!

Nearly half a century since the birth of video games.

The ideas and experiences we've absorbed from countless hours of play still live within us today.

We're here to analyze that DNA...

the very genes of gaming.

Explore genre classics and video game culture with "GAME-GENOME!"

Today we're looking at Death Stranding, which came out in 2019.

Reconnect the isolated cities.

And rebuild America!

Reconnect an apocalyptic world by making deliveries.

Death Stranding sold over five million copies worldwide,

and the courier hero established a new type of gameplay experience.

The game system also connects players all over the world in a brand new way.

Two years after its release, the pandemic put it back in the spotlight.

It is the brainchild of a man loved by gamers around the globe.

Game creator Hideo Kojima.

A creative genius who's led his industry for 35 years.

His work includes milestones like the seminal Metal Gear series of stealth games.

Kojima is both famous and widely respected by artists in various fields.

He oversaw every aspect of Death Stranding, from preproduction to the script and game design.

Today we'll explore the genetics of game development.

Welcome, Mr. Kojima.

Thank you.
It's been a while.

You've met before, right?

Yes, but not since the pandemic.

It's been over a decade, I think.

We first met at a talk for a magazine.

About being creators.

Making something is a lonely job.
It involves a lot of thinking.

What makes Mr. Kojima such
an extraordinary creator?

There's so much to say.

I'm sure.

The biggest thing is that
Kojima creates new things.

He created the stealth-action genre
with METAL GEAR SOLID.

DEATH STRANDING is about
making deliveries and connecting cities.

He finds the fun of that task,
and turns it into a game.

He keeps the bar to entry low.

And his unique comic
touches are everywhere.

I've always admired this
in his creative work.

Thank you.

DEATH STRANDING is
the ultimate delivery game.

A totally new genre.

I'm from an older generation
of game designers.

There are wonderful games coming out
regardless of what I do.

So if I'm going to make something,
it has to be unique.

I want to create totally new worlds
and introduce them to players.

That's always my goal.

The theme of Death Stranding is connection.

Let's explore further, focusing on five key phrases.

The game is set in North America, in the near future.

The landscape is a ruined waste,

and the human population has fallen to a small fraction of its previous number.

The cause of all this is a supernatural phenomenon called Death Stranding.

Something's there!

This world and the next have become linked.

Creatures from the land of the dead are appearing in our world.

They prowl around, and if you are captured by one, it explodes.

All that remains is an enormous crater.

The infrastructure of society has been almost wiped out.

The internet and other communication networks are gone.

Surviving humans crowd together in isolated underground city shelters, and the cities themselves are divided.

The only remaining lifeline is a network of couriers called 'porters.'

They risk their lives to deliver food and supplies.

Our hero, Sam, is a porter.

A legendary courier who can deliver any package.

One day, Sam is called in by an organization called Bridges that is trying to rebuild the fallen world.

They have an important delivery that only Sam can fulfill.

Sam, reconnect North America.

Connect the isolated cities.

In lieu of the internet, Bridges is setting up a system called the Chiral Network.

It transfers vast amounts of data.

But in order to do this,

Sam must physically deliver codes and complex programs to each city so they can connect.

And so, the future of humanity depends on this single porter.

Can he really reconnect the divided, isolated world?

Sam's epic journey begins.

Even all the way back to
METAL GEAR SOLID,

your games reflect
the political situation.

They're always so prescient.
That's always stood out to me.

And I love that the lead
is always alone.

They share that trait in common.

Sam is apathetic for the first half.

Yeah, he's pushed by others.

He only does it grudgingly.

I'm a porter. I don't care
about connecting cities.

Wars raged when we had the internet.

Forced connections fail.
We just repeat the cycle.

Sam's completely alone in the field.

That isolation felt very close
to the player's situation.

Sam's feelings change over time.

The same way we get drawn
into the world.

It felt like our connection to Sam
was all linked to that.

How did you come up with
this world and its themes?

I planned it out about five years ago.

President Trump was building a border
wall, pushing this America First idea.

The UK was leaving the EU.

You could see division
and isolation everywhere.

I meant it to be an alarm bell.

But it all became reality.

I chose to show division and isolation
because they already existed.

Bridges are the opposite
of walls like Trump's.

A wall isolates. It's defensive.

It keeps you safe but
cuts you off from others.

A bridge is the opposite.

It connects A and B.
Sam belongs to a group named Bridges.

The game builds bridges in
a divided and isolated world.

I first played it when it came out,
before the pandemic.

But I replayed it during.

And it resonated very differently
in the age of COVID-19.

The distance between us has changed.

So much that some people feel
it will never change back.

But the game felt similar.

The difficulties of making deliveries.

Delivery means connection.
It's wonderful and difficult.

Replaying the game was fascinating.

OK.

"You've received a request."

Let's go! We're off.

Sam heads out on a trip between two cities.

It's going to be a very tough journey.

The heart of the game is about overcoming obstacles along that perilous journey.

Sam is not just reconnecting the world.

He's also tasked with delivering all kinds of cargo.

Divided city residents need medicine, construction equipment, and other supplies.

Delivering those is a key part of Sam's job.

And it's not just about physical delivery.

Requests can come with onerous demands.

Sam.

There's an urgent request from the center
north of Mountain Knot City.

There's been an accident.
Someone's been badly injured.

This is a life and death matter.
There's a time limit.

An urgent request to deliver blood and equipment for transfusion.

Other times, Sam must carry very delicate machinery.

Each delivery must be carefully completed.

At last! Thanks, you're a lifeline.

After a successful delivery, the client gives you a "like" to express their gratitude.

But how to transport such important cargo?

Part of the fun of the game is that your choices here can vary widely.

First, where will you hold the cargo?

Your back can take a heavy load, but you can also pack things on your shoulders and legs.

What matters is balancing the weight against Sam's physique,

then checking to see if his stamina is up to the job.

Grenades?

Back. Yeah.

Let's see.

Looks pretty bulky.

No matter how carefully you prepare, crossing the continent is no easy feat.

Even crossing a river is hard work.

Make an error about depth...

And Sam slips, pulled away by the current.

Soaring peaks present another challenge.

Sam falls back down steep inclines.

The player has a variety of tools to tackle these tough obstacles.

A ladder will help you climb those earlier slopes.

As the story continues, the way becomes even harder, but there are also more tools at your disposal.

The rush of succeeding with a creative approach soon becomes addictive.

After overcoming countless obstacles, the player finally arrives at a city.

Will you link us to the Chiral Network?

Yeah, that okay?

Of course, we've waited years for this.

A combination of deliveries and network connections offer a new gaming experience.

The deep satisfaction of overcoming a wide array of obstacles is a key feature of Death Stranding.

Players take different approaches,
don't they?

Yes, it's an open world
to facilitate choices.

Most open-world games
actually have limits.

You're restricted to paths.

You drown after swimming
a certain distance.

Here you can choose your own path.

You just need the right gear.

The delivery requests are tough but
strangely addictive. Very satisfying.

It's wonderful to have people
celebrate your arrival.

And it's fun to get "likes."

There you are, Sam!

Thank you very much.

I argued about this with the team.

In other games, the "likes" are coins.

Oh, of course.

You save up for certain items.
It's currency, basically.

Here, they're only likes.

That's true.

Why go the extra mile for a "like"?

Before development,
I visited a real delivery firm.

I asked the staff what
they liked about deliveries.

And they said it was being
thanked by their clients.

I wanted players to feel the same.

Why choose to make a delivery game?

Once I had a job delivering
New Year cards.

I had a moped but
it was a mountainous area.

This was pre-internet
so everyone sent physical cards.

They were so important.

It's an annual catch-up, with
family photos and everything.

I was just a temp, but those cards
"had" to be delivered.

People were waiting for them.
There were stray dogs en route.

The bike would slide out from
under me on snowy slopes.

That experience is at
the heart of this game.

That makes total sense.

It's a simple task but
there's so much more to it.

People's thanks and the pleasure
of bringing people closer.

If people are waiting for you,
you have a duty to go.

You receive their thanks and
satisfaction in exchange.

I feel games often skip over
that part.

Another part of the game is that each delivery client is facing their own unique circumstances.

A side character named The Elder expresses some of Kojima's deeper thoughts.

It's a game about connection.
That means taking responsibility.

Like marriage, or children.

When you make a connection,
you have to be ready for it.

Once you connect to The Elder,
well, I won't spoil it.

But you must maintain that link.

What?

I don't know all the details.

Can I give spoilers?

The Elder is old and needs supplies.

Think of how COVID-19
isolated the elderly.

They needed water and food.
Sam brings both those things.

It's voluntary.

But some people don't visit.

If you go regularly, he's doing well.

But maybe you get caught up
in the story and forget to visit.

If you go and check up later...

He's gone.

He might be dead in my game.

Maybe. How long since you visited?

You get an e-mail before he passes.

It felt like such a Kojima touch.
What a great little detail.

Most people would never
think that deeply.

Every detail is insanely well
thought out.

That's amazing.

I love it.

But I have to ask,
is there a secret theme?

I was going to make a game
about ropes, not deliveries.

Humans began by walking upright.

Our brains developed,
and we came up with tools.

Our first tool was a stick.

It keeps things away. It's defensive.

Kind of like guns today.

The next tool was ropes.

You can tie up what you love
and keep it close by.

The stick and the rope are
the foundation of modern society.

Ropes connect the world online.

Yet in 35 years, every game has been
about hitting with sticks.

So I turned to "connection" through
deliveries. Ropes.

Opposable thumbs are what shaped
civilization today.

It's a grip, a handshake. A rope.

Touching others, releasing oxytocin.

And these?

They're sticks.

Our hands can be used for both.

Sticks, ropes, and "likes."

Of course!

Sam crosses the vast landscape alone to make his deliveries.

But the game system has a tangible representation of the theme of connection.

It's called the 'Social Strand System.'

Let's take a look.

Take this scene, where Sam must cross a river to make a delivery.

The player must check the water depth constantly so as not to drown.

But doing this every time is frankly exhausting.

However, adding a new region to the network brings changes to the area.

The game is played online and links to a real-world server that updates local map information.

So, what's changed?

Head out of the shelter, and...

There's a bridge over that river that was such a pain to cross.

It was built by other players in the world working together to collect construction materials.

Then it was shared with others online.

You can "like" helpful items from others, and they will see those likes when they play the game.

Of course you can also set up your own items to share.

A rope for getting down a vertical cliff face.

This is bound to help someone.

In this way, unseen players help each other, and their indirect connections help them through the game.

So although each player is alone, they are never lonely.

You stand in this huge world,
feeling all alone.

It's such a rush
to find a bridge or a bike.

You know someone is helping you.
The system helped me so often.

All these amazing constructs
are so helpful.

I wanted to spam the "like" function!

Instead of building a bridge,
I wait until one is complete.

- You wait to give your "like."
- I love building things.

I enjoy it so much that
I don't do the story missions.

How did you come up with this system?

In real life, there are hiking trails.

And they use logs like stairs.

Climbing is exhausting.
You can't do another 10 minutes.

But imagine how hard it was to build!

When you get higher, there's a hut.

It sells pricey drinks.

Pricey because someone carried it
up that path.

We feel grateful, right?

I wanted to reflect that in the game.

Even if you have no friends,
there are roads outside.

Somebody built them.

They build stores.
Staff them. You're not alone.

We're all part of society.

We often play video games on our own.

But there's so many others
just like us around the world.

It encourages us.

Do you get that from music too?

"Dancing on the Inside"
came out in 2020.

You can cover it, or dance to it.

The pandemic had us stuck inside,
so why not connect through it?

And Japanese listeners did that.

And so did folks abroad.
Around the world.

The early pandemic was
such a tough time.

But we were all linked online.
We could feel connected.

I think that's a first
in our species' history.

We're all supporting one another.

While we go through something awful.

And total strangers helped
and supported one another.

I felt so encouraged.

DEATH STRANDING felt like that too,
playing it during the pandemic.

An overarching theme of connection.

In their half-century of existence, what roles have video games played?

And where do Death Stranding's indirect connections fit into that history?

As the editor of a popular gaming magazine for many years,

Hayashi Katsuhiko helped us trace the changes in connections forged by gaming.

The dawn of video games really began all the way back in the 1970s.

At the time they were naturally very expensive.

People went to arcades to play, and only a handful would have pricey game consoles they could play at home.

It was usual for people to play games alone,

or perhaps against another person who would be physically with you.

That's our starting point.

If you were playing "Space Invaders" and a friend with you was watching,

they may offer suggestions on how to get past a particular problem.

That was probably the earliest form of connection.

A major turning point came in 1983 with the rise of Nintendo.

Gaming at home was the newest trend.

Kids would visit a friend's house after school,

enjoying drinks and snacks while passing around the controller.

Buying a single game was a major expense.

They were valuable so everyone would help each other to the end, whatever the genre.

That meant swapping tips.

It led to people vying against friends who were talented gamers.

But the core joy in sharing the same time and space and playing together hasn't changed.

In the 90s, the spatial connections forged by gaming grew even wider.

The popular trend became a new genre of arcade games.

Competitive martial arts games, that people could play together, were particularly popular.

Street Fighter 2 is probably the best known.

The consoles would be placed opposite one another, and you'd play your opponent and win or lose.

If you looked across, you could see your opponent - usually somebody you didn't know.

But, you competed in the same physical space.

Over the course of many visits, you might get to know one another, and strike up a friendship.

It was a new type of communication and connection.

It was a way to expand your circle of friends.

This was less common, but you could also connect over a network by plugging cables into mobile handsets.

Pokemon is the best example of this.

Players swap Pokemon, or battle each other.

You could also physically link to someone in the same room

by using a network cable to compete against each other directly.

All of that happened in the 1990s.

From 2000 onwards, gaming incorporated internet technology.

Player connection could move beyond physical proximity.

As internet speeds became faster, it was possible to develop MMORPGs where lots of people

could gather in the same virtual space in real-time for adventures.

It was a new way to enjoy gaming with others, and it really took off from this point onwards.

These were much bigger groups of people than were previously possible.

There would be strategies and a leader, with each person understanding which role they played.

The catharsis of working together and defeating a massive challenge was extraordinary.

At the same time, competitive games also took off.

Instead of going to an arcade to play martial arts games,

you could have the same experience in your own home by connecting to the internet.

It was possible to play people in other countries.

It was much easier to take part.

And you also see a culture develop of watching people play these games.

Admiring the skills of top gamers.

Cheering them on from the sidelines.

This was the beginning of e-sports, which has now evolved so far that it's being considered for the Olympic Games.

It truly is a sport.

Top players are celebrated and honored for their skill.

And they can win prizes as well.

Crowds of fans watch in real-time, sharing the same excitement and tension.

That's another similarity to traditional sport.

The internet made real-time cooperative and competitive gaming possible.

It's also a key tool for communication.

There's also ways to enjoy connection through avatars.

The game Animal Crossing lets people develop then show off their own private islands.

You can invite friends and hang out together in a virtual space.

That style of communication became very big because it could be showcased through social media.

I think that kind of human connection is only going to keep growing through games.

Then in 2019, Death Stranding offered this possibility of 'indirect connections.'

Hayashi analyzes the potential of this new approach.

What's amazing about the connections in Death Stranding is that they completely eliminate any element of meanness.

It doesn't allow for that at all.

Thank you!

The whole thing is designed to be positive.

And it's all at a comfortable distance.

You don't know who the other players are, and there's no real-time element.

There are time gaps.

The result is you feel the presence of others, but not breathing down your neck.

You get no indication of identity.

There's no voice chatting with other players.

Yet you can still share with others, they're a tangible presence in the game.

That feels enormously prescient of Kojima.

After all, Death Stranding must have begun development in 2015 or 16.

It would have been a long-term project.

Today, we're seeing more discussion of how anonymity can fuel attacks and bad behavior.

But I don't think that was so much the case back then.

People hadn't really zeroed in on this kind of harassment.

Yet, Death Stranding looked ahead and saw these issues.

It provided a new way for players to communicate.

It's phenomenal.

Gaming has a long history, but I think this might become a turning point.

It's a concrete example of how we can shape the development of communication.

At the very least, it's a clear suggestion of new potential.

Death Stranding points the way to new types of connection through gaming.

But it also examines the pros and cons of connection, including its difficulties.

Let's take a closer look.

People oppose Sam's journey across the continent for a variety of reasons.

MULEs are one such opponent.

They're an armed group who suffer from 'Delivery Dependence Syndrome.'

Once dedicated porters who supported the divided world,

now, they only find meaning in hoarding cargo.

They are obsessed with the cargo held by couriers.

Be careful, Sam.

They've spotted your cargo.
You should move on.

Once they spot Sam carrying something, they deploy vehicles and weapons to try and take it from him.

The only options when spotted by MULEs are to escape, or battle in a bid to protect your cargo.

Porters are vital.
They were once good people.

But we discover they're addicted to it.

Such a characteristic twist.

If you approach deliveries like
a robot you'll get addicted.

There has to be a goal, and emotion.

Make a delivery, and feel joy.

If you lose that, it becomes
all about the motions.

They're not evil people.

You understand even bad guys are people.

They have personality, a backstory.

Your opponents are never
100% irredeemably evil.

Even bad guys have their good moments.

Other dangerous foes attempt to stop Sam on his journey.

The Homo Demens are a terrorist group dedicated to separatism.

They're diametrically opposed to Sam's goal of reforging the country.

They believe that nations, religions, and our former connections are what rob people of their freedom.

Their leader has the ability to call monsters from the dead world.

He uses them to attack Sam, in an attempt to stop Sam from reconnecting the world.

He looks hungry!

See if you can escape
without being eaten.

Sam must bravely face down these repeated attacks.

After nations and organizations fell, the Demens realized they had been confined by those structures.

Are they completely wrong?

This game isn't really about
who's right or wrong.

It's easy to dismiss extremists as evil.

But we come to see that
their motivations have merit.

We don't want a homogenized world.
There should be diverse opinions.

What's fascinating to me is you spoke
of making a game about ropes.

Yet the game has guns.
There are combat items.

But there are consequences if you kill
an opponent, a MULE or Demens member.

They go "necro," which is a huge pain.
It's easier not to kill them.

Some games run on moral frameworks
where killing is bad.

Others don't include weapons.

Here, you have weapons and
you can kill, but it's a total pain.

You're a genius to come up with that.

Yes, ropes are not enough on their own.

The Chiral Network contains
vast amounts of data.

Locals must share
their information too.

The nation or company
gains access to that data.

Look at the history of connections.
Take the Silk Road.

It connected almost all of Asia.
It brought us so much.

Including religions and drugs.

So what happens once
the network is connected?

Maybe your privacy is at risk.

It's an exchange.
You have to give something up.

So which do you choose?
If you opt out, are you a Demens?

Connection comes with pros and cons.

How do you find a balance?
What do you choose?

If we're all connected
there's the risk of homogeneity.

That is a genuine danger.

Anyway, the in-game network deals
with vast amounts of data.

What does that really mean for us?

Maybe a frightening uniformity.

I see, yes.

So some people are opposed to it.

But without that connection,
they might die.

Players should see both sides.

Then ponder those ideas after playing.

I hope they'll talk about it
with friends.

One of the biggest threats of the Death Stranding phenomenon are the BTs, or Beached Things.

Souls that should have passed on to the next world remain connected to this world, and wander like ghosts.

Because they're spirits, ordinary people can't see them.

If a living person is caught by a BT, the conflict between life and death causes a huge explosion.

These explosions turned countless cities of the world into smoking craters.

Naturally, Sam comes across BTs on his travels.

So before he sets out, he's given a piece of equipment by his colleagues.

A Bridge Baby, or BB.

It's not an ordinary infant.

The fetus was removed from its brain-dead mother.

Strictly speaking, it hasn't been born.

Because it's still connected to its mother on the other side, it's very sensitive to BTs.

Placed inside a womb-like container, BB connects to Sam and tells him when BTs are nearby.

By linking the system to sensors, the players get a brief flash of the BTs' location.

It's almost impossible to tackle BTs without BB's help.

The key is to dodge the BTs during their brief visibility, and move forward carefully.

But in areas with lots of BTs, Sam will often get spotted regardless.

If they catch him, he'll be swept miles away, and his cargo damaged.

Even if Sam escapes, BB will be extremely stressed and unable to use its abilities.

It slowly recovers as Sam soothes it.

This paired journey fosters a deep emotional connection with the player.

Parent-child bonds are very strong.

Mother and baby, linked by
the umbilical cord.

I wanted players to carry
that symbolic connection.

Sam is a man, but he's connected
to BB on his travels.

Neither alive nor dead.
A bridge between the two.

I see.

BB's babbling was so soothing.

The little laughs!

From the controller.

Right here.

It startled me!

I figured it was BB and rocked it.

I loved how the sensor spun
as you move the controller.

It felt like a very Kojima design.

You soothe with the controller.

The team hated that decision.

Really?

- It's hard work.
- I guess so.

But then I'd look over
and they were all grinning.

- A change of heart.
- Thank goodness.

Where did the idea for
the BTs come from?

I think of them as spirits. Souls.

They tried to cross over but couldn't.
So they return.

That kind of idea.

Both my parents have passed.
I feel they still watch over me.

Very similar to BTs.

They're not scary. They're invisible
and we share a connection.

That was part of the inspiration.

It's such a thought-provoking game.

There's so much in common
with modern society.

Inter-personal communication.
Isolation and distance.

Some coincidental links with
our pandemic experiences.

I do have one question.

The concept of a game centered
around deliveries is very new.

But the first thing we see
is a rope and ladder.

Well spotted!

And that's straight out of
Donkey Kong!

Then we ride a bike,
like a racing game.

Then action sequences where
we climb over things.

Stealth and shooter elements
in the fight with Cliff.

In boss battles, more shooting games.

- Perspective changes.
- A top-down view.

And the fight with Higgs.

It's a beatdown.

Health bars appear on the screen.
It's like a fighting game.

I felt like you were covering
high points of videogame history.

- That's exactly right.
- Really?

Because you were building a new genre?

Or a reflection on your own history?

All old games were in 2D.

Before sandboxes or 3D visuals.

Why not enjoy that again
in an open-world setting?

You discovered the hidden theme
of DEATH STRANDING!

That's amazing.

I'm blown away by the gameplay,
the history behind it. Everything.

It has a lot to say
but it's also really fun.

It's an extraordinary game.

When you hear online game,
you assume it's a group activity.

Here you fight alone.
But with the support of others.

That combination felt very new to me.

And I got a huge kick out of
those connections.

Think of letters, or phone calls.
Before the internet.

You didn't see faces, so thinking of
others was the key to communication.

Nobody had smartphones.

Letters took time to arrive.

Phone calls were voice only.

Invisible communication.

That's going back maybe 30 years.

Reliving those human connections
points us forward.

Even during a pandemic.