this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2025
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Hideo Kojima explains why few Japanese actors appear in his games | VGC (www.videogameschronicle.com)
submitted 17 hours ago by kid2908@slrpnk.net to c/games@sh.itjust.works
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[–] PeteWheeler@lemmy.world 13 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

Honestly, with how Kojima left Konami in the middle of the production of mgs5, pretty sure Kojima just wanted to make something other than a mgs game. With mgs5, he made one of the best stealth simulators hands down. But, it felt the least like a 'mgs' game, especially a 'snake' game. I could definitely feel death stranding vibes from it though.

That's my guess why he ditched David in mgs5.

Pretty sure he was just sick of only making the same games over and over. Especially after he made 4 since it is obvious to me that he put everything he had into finishing the story of mgs.

He was itching to make death stranding for a long time imo.

[–] Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world 11 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

He wanted out for a long time, IIRC as early as MGS 2. 4 was originally planned to end with Snake and Otacon being captured and executed for terrorism to put the final nail in the franchise's coffin, with Kojima only dropping the idea after his entire writing staff protested.

I think you hit the nail on the head with his dissatisfaction being why 5 felt so different. It barely feels like a Metal Gear game even if the stealth is at its all-time best, but you can definitely see some proto-Death Stranding DNA in it in retrospect. He was clearly experimenting with new gameplay ideas, which might explain why the game went so far over budget and ended up unfinished.

[–] dontbelievethis@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Wasn't it that he ditched David because

Tap for spoilerIt is not snake?

[–] PeteWheeler@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

You could make that argument, but I dont buy it.

I think the real official reason is because Kojima wanted an actor, not just a voice actor, for motion capture.

Also Kojima secretly just wants to be a movie director.

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 52 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Is it because he's a westaboo?

"We record with other actors in a studio in Los Angeles, so it’s a bit of a problem if they don’t have native-level English skills", he said.

Yep.

[–] Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world 30 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (2 children)

Remember when he got rid of David Hayter, the iconic long-time voice actor of Snake, main character of his most popular series, just so he could replace him with some Hollywood actor doing a generic gruff guy impression? Then said actor ended up being so expensive that there was barely any dialogue... in a Metal Gear game?

[–] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 11 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I would buy it if the excuse was they wanted an actor that could do voice as well as motion capture, and maybe David Hayter wasn’t cut to do both at the same time. In some promo it sounded like they wanted someone who could do both. In the age of motion capture, it’s going to be jarring to record voice lines in a booth separately. Particularly if multiple actors interact with each other in a scene.

But no. There was barely any interesting acting at all from Snake. Most of the acting was carried by the other characters, while Snake was just grunting doing nothing in particular.

I’d rather take MGS4 Snake any day.

[–] Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

The motion capture excuse would also hold more water if they didn't go for an actor only two years younger than David Hayter.

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

You do know there's a reason for that voice difference in MGSV right?

[–] callouscomic@lemm.ee 12 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

Except that Ground Zeroes exists and also Episode 46 of Phantom Pain. This would actually have made sense if ...

Tap for spoilerHayter were involved to voice Naked Snake for his parts and then if Sutherland had only voiced Venom Snake.

But that didn't happen. No, Hideo and Konami were just idiots about it starting with Ground Zeroes.

[–] Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world 5 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Tap for spoilerAnd it would have worked perfectly with Hayter as both parts. He's a voice actor; he can do a second voice of Ishmael pretending to be someone else. As for Venom sounding the same, well, hypnosis/mind control and plastic surgery are basically magic in this universe anyway (see Decoy Octopus, Liquid Ocelot, or hell just Ocelot in this same game).

Though that'd be torpedoed by Kojima's feud with Konami over crediting and its result of every scene in MGS5 listing (spoiling) its participants with a credit byline. In that case the intro could have used a different voice for Ishmael, and then the forced replay later that shows what actually happened could switch to Hayter.

[–] Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world 8 points 15 hours ago

I do, but I also know he'd been trying to get rid of Hayter for a while by then even though he was the voice of Snake, so the excuse rings hollow.

[–] lath@lemmy.world 17 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

But also

Asians, and not just Japanese people, are known for their beautiful, smooth skin, so it ends up looking like CG.

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 11 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

It's a video game. It's all CG.

[–] kubica@fedia.io 14 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I think the next quote explains it better:

On the other hand, it’s easier to bring out the details in older people or people with lots of freckles. I’ve tried to use Japanese people in the past, but it’s hard to make them look like their real-life counterparts. However, this time I used new technology, and I’m quite satisfied with the results. Well, I’d like to do even better next time.

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 33 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

He should get tips from the Yakuza team

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 11 hours ago

That tip basically boils down to:

Use Japanese face models / voice actors who've been smoking for 20 years, rofl.

[–] teft@lemmy.world 6 points 10 hours ago

Or sucker punch. The cast of ghost of tsushima looks identical to their voice actors.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 5 points 14 hours ago

It's normal for CG artists to do their best to make their work look like real life and not CG, though. Death Stranding is clearly attempting to look as realistic as they can manage

[–] altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 15 hours ago

I wonder if talent agencies have something to do with that. SEGA had long postponed Judgment PC release because they put a popular TV show star as an MC and their agency insisted it shouldn't leave closed consoles' systems because his likeness can be used to do obscene (or just unapproved\unpaid) things via mods.