Kojima Would Make a Zero-G Game on the ISS, Says He Has No Other Skills

Ever wondered what Hideo Kojima would do if he traded his office for outer space? The Metal Gear Solid creator has a plan, and it involves making a game. On the Koji10 podcast, he revealed that if he ever got the chance to leave Earth, he'd spend his time up there designing a game specifically for zero gravity.

"Before going to the Moon, Mars, or Venus, I'd like to get above the atmosphere and see Earth," Kojima said. "That's the first thing. Then I'd like to experience weightlessness." But there's a catch: he gets travel sick. "I might get space sick, though. I get motion sick easily. Swings made me throw up as a kid, even though I was on the gymnastics team." So floating around might be a challenge, but that hasn't stopped him from dreaming.

Beyond just sightseeing, Kojima wants to try atmospheric re-entry and eat while floating without gravity. Then he gets to the real pitch: "I'd also like to make a game to play in zero gravity. You can turn upside down. So the controls would have to change. Send me to the ISS, and I'll make it there over six months before coming home." The International Space Station is partly controlled by Japan's space agency, JAXA, so it almost sounds like a formal proposal.

Kojima admits he doesn't know exactly what the game would be, but he's confident he'd figure it out on the station. "I'd spend some time up there looking at Earth, think 'I'm bored,' then I'd ask myself what kind of game I'd want to play," he explained. "You can't know until you've lived in space. You can't figure it out on Earth. I'd think about what might be fun or useful. And the controls would be different, too. You might be upside down."

His plan doesn't stop at one trip. "I'd work out the gameplay and the controls. Then I'd come back to Earth, make the game, and go up again," he mused. "I'd take a second trip." That makes sense given the limited resources and mobility on the ISS. He'd need to return to properly develop and test the game before launching it.

While Kojima is currently leading OD and Physint, he wouldn't mind contributing to space exploration in other ways. But he's realistic about his skill set. "I'd like to go for another purpose, but I don't have any other skills," he finished. So games it is. Maybe someone can get some astronauts in for body scans to sweeten the deal.

Would you play a Kojima game designed for zero gravity? What do you think he'd come up with? Let us know in the comments!