Fans really want what Hideo Kojima calls his "most experimental game" - but he already made it over 20 years ago on the GBA

Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand
(Image credit: Konami)

Hideo Kojima has taken to social media with comments about his "most experimental game," and in the process has revealed that a whole lot of his fans don't actually know his back catalog very well.

"It seems I have been acknowledged by creating games that go against the current of the times, such as 'hide-and-seek' games where you sneak into a building without being detected by the enemy, or 'delivery games' where you enjoy moving around in an open world," Kojima said on Twitter, obviously referring to Metal Gear and Death Stranding. His next reference, however, was not quite as obvious for many commenters.

"For me, the most experimental game was 'defeating vampires outside your house' using actual sunlight around you. It was met with fierce opposition from the staff and even within the company," Kojima said. "In that sense, 'OD' is just as different."

It seems a lot of people want Kojima to make that vampire game. "The vampire game idea sounds solid though," one commenter said. "The answer is yes. We need the vampire game," another responded. "A Kojima Vampire game sounds kinda interesting," yet another noted. "Isn't that Alan Wake?" someone asked. "Make the vampire game Kojima-san I promise you we will buy it," another fan begged.

I - alongside about a million other commenters under that post - am here to tell you that Kojima did design and produce that vampire game way back in 2003, under the name Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand. This isometric action game for GBA had a sunlight sensor built into the cartridge, so you had to literally go outside to charge up your in-game weapon with real-life sunlight. It's certainly not the cinematic experience Kojima would eventually be known for, but it sure fits with his interest in bizarre game mechanics.

Hideo Kojima's OD being "just as different" as Boktai is particularly interesting. I can't imagine we'll be hooking up sunlight sensors to our consoles anytime soon, but it looks like that experimental spirit is never quite going away.

Recently, Hideo Kojima said it’s going to be a "tough year" with Death Stranding 2, OD, and more on the go. 

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

Read more
Death Stranding
Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid lead Hideo Kojima once said "everything I make ends up feeling somewhat like a movie" because he'd "grown up with them"
Metal Gear
Hideo Kojima was told "games don't need stories" early in his career, so he read 300 books while making a single game to prove them wrong
Hideo Kojima
Hideo Kojima was ready to quit the "passive-aggressive resistance" Konami before he even made Metal Gear: "Do I have to start beating people up?"
Hideo Kojima side by side with I Saw The TV Glow
Hideo Kojima has just given his seal of approval to one of 2024's best but most underseen horror movies
Coen looking over the village at night during the trailer for The Blood of Dawnwalker.
The Blood of Dawnwalker is already showing its Witcher 3 roots, but it also reminds me of my favorite underrated vampire RPG
Metal Gear
In 1997, Hideo Kojima said the "one thing" he wanted to avoid in Metal Gear Solid was "tedious" cutscenes with characters "blabbering at each other for 4 or 5 minutes"
Latest in Action
Beyond the Ice Palace 2
After 37 years, this Commodore 64 classic returns with a new Metroidvania sequel that gives serious old-school Castlevania vibes
Fortnite's Lara croft skin in front of a building
Fortnite has had Tomb Raider's Lara Croft locked away in battle pass exclusivity jail for almost 4 years, but she's reportedly getting a new skin very soon
The Last of Us 2
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann sounds like he's contemplating the end of his career: "When is it time to stop?"
Screenshot of Neil in Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says he chose Death Stranding 2's Solid Snake lookalike because he needed an actor who "would surpass" Mads Mikkelsen
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
Latest in News
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing Astarion, a pale male elf with short curly white hair and red eyes, looking over his shoulder with a smirk on his face
Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor comes face to face with what might just be the best merch to come of the RPG yet – a 5-foot Funko Pop figure of his character
Drop
New horror movie starring White Lotus and Yellowstone actors gets a great Rotten Tomatoes score as early reactions call it the "perfect date night movie"
Lois and Peter in Family Guy season 23
After 11 years, Family Guy suddenly brings back a deep-cut character for season 23
Key art for Katamari Damacy Rolling LIVE showing the Prince rolling a Katamari as the King of All Cosmos sits at a livestreaming setup.
The first all-new Katamari Damacy game in almost 8 years is trapped in Apple Arcade jail, and I can only hope it follows in Hello Kitty Island Adventure's footsteps to eventually escape
No Rest for the Wicked
Ori and the Blind Forest developer is now "fully independent" after "months of negotiation" with what remained of its gutted publisher
The cast of Thunderbolts
Marvel fans are revealing who they'd like to see added to the Thunderbolts lineup, from Moon Knight to a major Hulk villain