Kojima's mad zombie game idea

By Tom Bramwell Published 16 February, 2007

Die and then pay to watch.

Hideo Kojima may be busy working on a new Metal Gear Solid title for PlayStation 3, but that hasn't prevented him from floating another of his peculiar ideas. This time it's a zombie game where you pay to not play it.

"The zombie idea I have is a bit different," he says in this month's Edge. "Imagine a large town where half the inhabitants are zombies. Users would subscribe, get inside the town and get bitten.

"At that stage they become undead and can't control their character - all they can do is modify the camera angles... They'd see their character attacking humans and have to pay just to watch!" he explained.

Apparently you would have to open another account and hunt your original character down to end his suffering. Providing you didn't get bitten trying to do that.

By the sound of it Kojima isn't just making things up, either, adding that while it might take a while to get it together, he was taking the idea "very seriously".

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (53) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Kiigan #1 5 years ago

    In fairness, he wasn't talking about a game he was actually thinking about making or anything like that. Edge asked him if how he might approach a zombie game, given that he's a fan of Evil Dead 2 etc.

  • Steroyd #2 5 years ago

    o_O that's a er... wierd MMO idea...thing.

    How come there's an advert for a demo of GRAW 2 on the XBL marketplace?
    I would have thought the very people who go on this site are likely to be "aware" the day the demo is available?

    Or is my logic screwed....

  • AcidSnake #3 5 years ago

    His medication must be running out again...

    20cc of Cyclosporine! Stat!

  • BillGaitas #4 5 years ago

    genius i say ;)

  • Brogan #5 5 years ago

    sounds as much fun as watching endless codex conversations
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/07 @ 11:14

  • aine #6 5 years ago

    i'd play it. if it was free.

  • Fozzie_bear #7 5 years ago

    Why doesn't he just fuck off and make films instead?

  • Hog-lumps #8 5 years ago

    I think it would work if the aim wasn't to get bitten, but to survive as long as you can without getting bitten. Once you were, then it would be game over - but you could watch your helpless bloody rampage........... I'd agree that hunting yourself down and killing yourself would be cool though!
    Edited by 2 at 16/02/07 @ 11:13

  • bunglebonce #9 5 years ago

    Why doesn't he just fuck off and make films instead?

    I agree, but it's probably because any prospective film publisher would have seen the poor quality of scripting & OTT directing in his games, and won't take the risk on him.

  • Rirekon #10 5 years ago

    Sounds like a real-time Urban Dead (http://www.urbandead.com/) to me, but in that you get to play as a zombie if you're bitten which is ultimately more fun.
    Would probably give it a go if it ever got made, hell Dead Rising is awesome and that's single player!

    Edit; Also see http://www.exanimusth egame.com/ for a Zombie MMO currently in pre-production ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/07 @ 11:21

  • Rodster #11 5 years ago

    It's a brilliant idea that would sell 4 copies worldwide.

  • Fozzie_bear #12 5 years ago

    Why doesn't he just fuck off and make films instead?

    I agree, but it's probably because any prospective film publisher would have seen the poor quality of scripting & OTT directing in his games, and won't take the risk on him.

    Quite - yet the fact that he's hailed as some sort of visionary genius in the gaming world shows just how much growing up the industry has to do if it wants to be taken seriously.

  • Keso #13 5 years ago

    monkey tennis?

  • kaosridder #14 5 years ago

    now I understand why MGS is 90 percent cutscenes and 10 percent gameplay. Makes sense with this kind of reasoning.

  • Royal Fool #15 5 years ago

    This guy is brilliant.

  • MaskedDave #16 5 years ago

    Actually, that sounds awesome.

    As long as you don't have to pay to make new characters.

    It's basically MMO Dead Rising.

  • dirigiblebill #17 5 years ago

    @ Fozzie, bungle

    Not that I mean to intrude on your little highbrow tete-a-tete, but Kojima isn't hailed as a visionary genius simply because his games are full of cutscenes.

  • Mageme #18 5 years ago

    Interesting idea but wouldn't it be more fun if you were in control of dishing out the death in zombie form. Thought 'games' were meant to be interactive?

    Or am I missing Kojima-san's point completely, what with me not being a game genius and all....

  • Steroyd #19 5 years ago

    @Fozzie_bear

    He's hailed as a visionary genius because he has created inventive boss fights like no other.

    <a href=http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=64225&g t;And yeah he IS "fucking off" making a film. ;)</a>

    Infact it was recently announced that <a href=http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6165595.html?sid=616 5595&sid=6165595>Sony pictures is going to produce the MGS movie.</a>

  • Kiigan #20 5 years ago

    The Metal Gear Solid series has been endlessly inventive, and always interesting. I guess internet law dictates that every discussion of Kojima and his work must always boil down to idiots wheeling out their sidesplitting jokes about "90% cutscenes" etc, but really they are completely missing the point.

    Ultimately there's an audience for Kojima's games, and I'm glad that despite these days of ultra-conservative game design Kojima can still do his crazy thing. Games are so faceless, bland and charmless these days, designed by comittees - there aren't many games out there that give you a sense of the people behind it. MGS should be celebrated by people who appreciate innovative and interesting videogames.

    As for this particular news item, it was just a funny off-the-cuff comment in response to a direct Edge question - the sort of thing you often read in interviews with game designers. I'm not sure exactly why it deserves some of the vitriol in these comments (eg. "Why doesn't he fuck off and make films instead";). Nutcases.

  • Lebowski #21 5 years ago

    A MMO Dead Rising game would be the best game ever. If worked out correctly the threat / zombie population could grow as the user base increased. And players, after being bitten and zombified, would have to kill X-number of 'humans' to return to human form themselves.

  • yupyup #22 5 years ago

    Maybe games as medium have a long way to come, but at least Kojima tries to bring intelligent storytelling to games. Granted it doesn't always marry well with the game but personally I think the MGS series is utterly fantastic. Quality production values, excellent voice acting, interesting stories and, most importantly, a fun game.

    To people who berate 'codex' and tell him to fuck off make films, how about not playing? Stop feeling threatened by something you don't have the patience/intelligence to follow :D
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/07 @ 14:30

  • ED209 #23 5 years ago

    Since the dawn of time it's been obvious that a MMO zombie game would be a good idea. However if it was released we would all cocoon ourselves in sealed tanks connected to games console and never see the light of day again (that's how they got all those bodies in that there Matrix, watch closely and you'll see Keanu has Urban Dead running on his PC).

    To summarise, zombie MMO = good for fun, bad for humanity.
    And that is why beardy bastard devs only release fucking wizards, elves and gobshites MMOs.

  • spongebob #24 5 years ago

    I hate zombies. They're boring and annoying.

  • ED209 #25 5 years ago

    well yrr crr gr frrr yrrrsggg! IMHgggggg

  • bunglebonce #26 5 years ago

    Stop feel threatened by something you don't have the patience/intelligence to follow :D

    Ouch.

  • kangarootoo #27 5 years ago

    "Stop feel threatened by something you don't have the patience/intelligence to follow"

    I had to double check to see if that was aimed at people criticising the MGS plotlines.

    Being bored shitless by cheesy waffle has nothing to with intelligence. As for having the patience to sit through boring stuff, its hardly a competition.

  • chirou #28 5 years ago

    "I'm not sure exactly why it deserves some of the vitriol in these comments (eg. "Why doesn't he fuck off and make films instead";). Nutcases."

    They're mostly the same people who slag off Kojima at every opportunity, yet pray that MGS4 will come to the 360. In other words, fanboys.
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/07 @ 14:10

  • Tyronne #29 5 years ago

    if I wanted to pay to watch brainless creatures walk around aimlessly and attack anything that moved, I would go down on the bus into Chelmsford high street on a Friday/Saturday night and watch all the drunken twats attack each other.

  • dirigiblebill #30 5 years ago

    @ kangarootoo

    Yes, but MGS =/= "Being bored shitless by cheesy waffle"

    (...though there's definitely an element of this) :)

    I quite enjoy MGS plotlines. They're so utterly preposterous you can't help loving them in the end. Better than bloody Tom Clancy any day of the week.

  • Brogan #31 5 years ago

    "if I wanted to pay to watch brainless creatures walk around aimlessly and attack anything that moved, I would go down on the bus into Chelmsford high street on a Friday/Saturday night and watch all the drunken twats attack each other"

    yeah i don't know why we let any cint from braintree into our fair town either

  • kangarootoo #32 5 years ago

    "Better than bloody Tom Clancy any day of the week"

    I quite agree (I bet TC was gutted when Georgia had a peaceful revolution).

  • gizmo #33 5 years ago

    Years ago my girlfriend happened to catch a couple of codex conversations whilst I was playing MGS...

    And to think I'd previously been trying to convince that playing games wasn't immature :o

    Bust the cringeometer that one.

  • dirigiblebill #34 5 years ago

    When I was an ickle oik of an A-level student my mum walked in on me playing/watching MGS. Mum's general impression of gaming up to that point had been things going 'boing' and lots of gold coins.
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/07 @ 15:26

  • Skeletor #35 5 years ago

    What's so innovative about Kojima's idea? Hunting the zombie you first created? Sounds like another standard zombieshooter with a little twist...maybe Kojima-san should play a little bit of "Stubbs the Zombie" - not the greatest game in the world but funny as hell...and innovative in a strange way:-)
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/07 @ 16:09

  • Skeletor #36 5 years ago

    ...and oh yeah, nearly forgot. This is how you pull off a zombie game:
    http://www.l4d.com/

  • bunglebonce #37 5 years ago

    They're mostly the same people who slag off Kojima at every opportunity, yet pray that MGS4 will come to the 360. In other words, fanboys.

    Please, don't make such generalisations. You sound like one yourself with accusations like that.

  • bunglebonce #38 5 years ago

    They're mostly the same people who slag off Kojima at every opportunity, yet pray that MGS4 will come to the 360. In other words, fanboys.

    Please, don't make such generalisations. You sound like one yourself with accusations like that.

  • ~magicool~ #39 5 years ago

    Fucking hate kojima, fucking sony brown nose.

  • The-Bodybuilder #40 5 years ago

    >"They're mostly the same people who slag off Kojima at every opportunity, yet pray that MGS4 will come to the 360. In other words, fanboys. "

    No. They are the same supra-pessemistic posters who post in EVERY SINGLE BLOODY COMMENTS THREAD to slag ANY game/gamer/developer/website/someone
    just to be EG "cool". Kojima just happened to walk into the firing line.

    Didn't you know being a negative bastard is the cool thing to be here in EG?

  • SeesThroughAll #41 5 years ago

    MGS games are great. This zombie... thing... well... it's shit.

  • The-Bodybuilder #42 5 years ago

    So what you like about the MGS series (I'll be first in line), but MGS 1 is a CLASSIC.

    MGS 2 on the other hand.......

  • Drakron #43 5 years ago

    People that complain about the cutscenes being too long just means they have ADS ... in short they are americans.

  • smelly #44 5 years ago

    "People that complain about the cutscenes being too long just means they have ADS "

    Or maybe they've bought a game.. to erm.. play..

    if they wanted to watch something (As opposed to interact with it), they'd watch tv, or a film or something.

  • bdc #45 5 years ago

    Gonna have to hop on the 'Kojima is average talent' bandwagon here. People seem to brown-nose him so much around here it's not funny.

  • dirigiblebill #46 5 years ago

    Who would you brown-nose personally then bdc?

  • Steroyd #47 5 years ago

    I do feel it has areas in which it could improve i.e. AI, realism, controls, combat, but the same could be said of any game.

    I'm sorry what?

    That would be bottom of the list of things that needed improving, the Ai was practically perfect as it is, hell if the Ai was the exact same in MGS4 i wouldn't mind at all.
    Animation could do with a little work though.
    And MGS isn't about realism that's what Splinter Cell is for.

  • SeesThroughAll #48 5 years ago

    And MGS isn't about realism that's what Splinter Cell is for.

    Amen, brother.

  • dirigiblebill #49 5 years ago

    A re-invention of the control system is in order, I reckon. Certain elements- wall-hugging, leaping out from a corner to shoot- got broke when they moved from corridor stealth to the more open jungle environments.

    Also how about a RE4 shoulder cam? Seems to be a popular choice these days.

    I'd love it if Snake could climb like that bloke from Assassin's Creed, too.

  • SomaticSense #50 5 years ago

    "They'd see their character attacking humans and have to pay just to watch!"

    Did he digress and suddenly start talking about MGS 5?

  • Ryze #51 5 years ago

    azmol01

    +1 about the damn cutscenes.

    If I pay £30 for a game (MGS2 in 2002), I don't expect an anime with some gameplay in between scenes.

    That would be worth about £15 - £20 ie, a DVD movie with extra features.

    Only issue is... No pause, no rewind, no fast-forward, no ability to watch previously viewed cutscenes over again. FOOLISH.

    So, if I sit down to play the game, but only have 30 mins or so to spare - I have to sit through an entire cutscene and a load of text talk just to have an idea what I'm supposed to do next. FOOLISH.

    Turn a game into a DVD movie, but without DVD controls. FOOLISH.

    But the boss battles and style are nice, so the thing needs improvement.

    I heard that 3 Subsistence is decent, and I'd like to like the game, but it's nowhere to be found! FOOLISH!

  • dirigiblebill #52 5 years ago

    Bitch away about Kojima's fondness for cutscenes and overwrought dialogue, but don't let it blind you to the fact that you get a hell of a lot of gameplay goodness in the bargain...

  • dadrester #53 5 years ago

    Me. I'm a fan of the <a href="http://uploads.u ngrounded.net/content.php?id=297383&name=297383_MetalGearAwe some.swf&title=Metal%20Gear%20Awesome&date=1171774800&qualit y=b&uj=0&w=550&h=400">MGS</A> series.

    About his Zombie idea... It makes sense from a design perspective actually. Kojima has always said he wanted to make a game where once you die you have to re-buy the game in order to play again. If it were not a subscription based MMO, but rather generated its revenue from 'micro-transactions' he could easily do this without seeming too ridiculous. i mean if you payed £15 - £20 for the game but had to pay an extra 50p each time your character died in order to create another, and the gameplay was structured so that it was your only ever really your own fault if you were killed, it could work quite well.
    If players could control the zombies (of which there would always be more) then the balance of gameplay is shifted completely towards the undead, meaning that players in control of zombies can (even with a more limited list of resources/ moves etc) easily act in a way that means gameplay can't be structured as easily.
    Obviously this is all hearsay and conjecture, since it was a bit of an idea rather some grand design of his but i think it's fair to say to those that don't don't like his games aren't forced to play them, and those that really find him talentless and think he should "go make movies" should try their hand at game design to see if they can come up with better!
    Edited by 1 at 19/02/07 @ 04:40