Hideo Kojima Almost Put ‘Corporate Ads’ in One of His Games to Lower the Price

gamerant.com:

For the past three and a half decades, Hideo Kojima has pushed the idea of video games as an art form, using his passion for film to fuel his work. With Death Stranding 2 rumored to be in development, as well as other projects in the works, the famed auteur is becoming more in demand and busier as the years go by. One thing that makes him stand out is the creative, and sometimes wacky, ideas that make the jump from his mind to the screen. However, not every thought he has becomes realized.

A recent tweet from the Kojima Productions founder says that the director had the idea of inserting «corporate ads» into one of his past projects. Kojima went on to say that there was a plan to turn the top half of the Nintendo DS into a means of generating revenue, with the end goal being that the adverts would help lower the game's price substantially. An additional tweet says that he had to give up on his plan after «many obstacles.» However, he then adds that such a practice is not too uncommon these days.

Kojima Productions Selling Merch With Proceeds Going to Ukraine

The game in question was the 2006 action RPGLunar Knights, which is known as Bokura no Taiyō: Django & Sabata in Japan. The title was developed by Kojima Productions and represents just one of many projects that some may be surprised to learn are attached to the famed developer. While on the subject, other games that Kojima was involved with in some form or another include overseeing the Japanese localization for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, playing a rather unknown role in the development of the rhythm game Beatmania, and having a small spoken role as an NPC in Cyberpunk 2077.

Ever creative, Kojima's ideas often tread the line between genius and bewilderment, but