Hideo Kojima was about to add an ad to an old Nintendo DS game to lower retail prices, but dropped the idea because others didn’t support it.
Talking about Lunar Knights, a Nintendo DSJ RPG released by Kojima Productions in 2007 and called our Sun in Japan. twitter (Opens in a new tab), Kojima revealed the first plan for the game. He wanted to use the top screen of the Nintendo DS to show ads to players, not gameplay.
“We have set the upper screen of our Taiyo DS version. [to] “Pseudo sun”. What I wanted to do was to display “corporate ads” on the top screen and use the revenue from those ads to lower the price of packaged products (almost free), “Kojima tweeted. ..
“I gave up because there were few supporters and many obstacles to overcome, but it’s not a rare project now.”
The final version of Lunar Knights uses the top screen of the Nintendo DS to display the game’s paraSOL weather control system. Players can see if the sun or moon is currently shining in the game world and if they are hidden in the clouds. These weather conditions determine the energy and abilities of the two main playable characters in the game.
1/2 Finally, we set the top screen of our sun version to “pseudo sun”. What I wanted to do was place “corporate ads” on the top screen and use the revenue from those ads to lower the price of packaged products (almost free).June 29, 2022
Advertising is not uncommon
Kojima has no objection to putting ads in his game. The Metal Gear Solid series has seen many examples of product placement. Restoring Naked Snake’s stamina with Metal Gear Solid 3 CalorieMate Energy Supplement is a style that mimics the real Japanese energy bar, and Metal Gear Solid 4 features numerous Apple and Sony products.
The PSP spin-off Peace Walker also included numerous tie-ups across Pepsi cans, Doritos packets, and Ax deodorants. Kojima approved product placement in the game in 2010. Tweet (Opens in a new tab): “I want to surprise users. When surprise and freshness disappear, collaboration stops. It’s different from Hollywood-style merchandising” (translated by Google).
Kojima is not the only one promoting products in games. The Battlefield 2042 included the Logitech player card shortly after launch, Alan Wake featured a significant share of the Verizon billboard, and Mario Kart 8 added a free Mercedes-Benz car in 2014.
However, Kojima’s proposed advertisement for the Knights of the Moon was significantly different. He says he wanted to include an ad to allow Konami to release the game at a much cheaper price. This is the same reason behind Amazon Kindle screensaver-style ads. This conceptually lowers the retail price of e-readers.
You need to see if Kojma is on the trend and Metal Gear Solid 6 contains a large number of product placements. If a game comes out, that’s right.
Watch the video here: Hideo Kojima wanted to include “corporate advertising” in his game
