Hideo Kojima has revealed one of his biggest inspirations to go into the gaming industry, suggesting Kojima Productions may not have existed without Super Mario Bros. The founder of Kojima Productions has cemented himself as one of the most iconic figures in gaming, first achieving worldwide popularity as the creator of the Metal Gear franchise. Kojima would become known for his grand and existential storytelling, following up his work on Metal Gear by founding his own eponymous studio and creating Death Stranding. Now, Hideo Kojima’s influences as a developer date back to one of gaming’s most beloved properties.
Since Mario Bros. hit arcades in the 1980s, the platformer series has become one of the most recognizable pop culture franchises in the world. It reached new heights with the release of Super Mario Bros. on the NES, which established Nintendo as a home console powerhouse. Mario’s legacy has also served as an inspiration for game developers around the world.
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Hideo Kojima Was Inspired to Create Games By Mario
During a recent interview with Wired, Hideo Kojima spoke about some of his biggest influences as a game developer. Kojima shared his personal inspiration after playing Super Mario Bros., suggesting that the game was a major reason he decided to go into game development. Kojima shared some amusing anecdotes of his first experiences with the game, claiming to have “skipped school” while attending college to play the game. Kojima hailed Super Mario Bros. as being the first example to the developer that video games “could one day surpass movies” in their ability to tell stories, despite the simplistic story of the original Super Mario Bros game.
Super Mario Bros. and Nintendo were far from the only major inspirations Hideo Kojima referenced throughout the interview. When asked about film directors, Kojima shared a bevy of prolific directors that influenced his own style, including Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, and John Carpenter, among several others. Hideo Kojima revealed his favorite movie in the interview as well, claiming 2001: A Space Odyssey to be the “perfect movie” and a masterful blend of “scientific and philosophical.” Hideo Kojima even discussed what movies he would most like to adapt into a video game, citing Predator: Badlands and Last Samurai Standing as having “video game plots.”
Hideo Kojima’s Legacy Continues to Grow With Each New Project
Hideo Kojima’s tenure in the gaming industry has seen the creator build a star-studded legacy with plenty of accolades. The recent 2025 Game Awards saw Death Stranding 2: On the Beach tied for the second-most nominations at the show, standing as a finalist in seven different categories. While Death Stranding 2 did not capture any awards, the game was named as a finalist for the coveted “Game of the Year” award, ultimately losing to Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The original Death Stranding would also capture the award for “Best Game Direction” in 2019.
While Kojima Productions’ most recent release has seen plenty of praise, the developer is far from finished with more on the way. Hideo Kojima officially revealed OD in 2023 as a new horror game being published by Xbox Game Studios, with popular comedy and horror writer Jordan Peele co-writing on the game. Kojima has also been teasing his long-awaited return to the action-espionage genre, with Physint being developed alongside Sony and Columbia Pictures. Hideo Kojima looks to cement his status as one of gaming’s most prolific creators even more with his upcoming projects, and fans can thank a little platformer that changed the gaming world.
