We still don’t know that much about Hideo Kojima’s upcoming new game Death Stranding, but I think we can all agree that it’s pretty bloody weird, with its naked Norman Reedus, creepy Mads Mikkelson, and characters that carry babies around in jars.
Obviously, the US Customs Officers that recently had a run-in with Kojima haven’t heard or seen anything of Death Stranding, because they were pretty keen to know why, upon arrival in the US for San Diego Comic-Con, the Metal Gear Solid creator was attempting to enter the country with a lifelike prop of…. a baby in a jar.
Gamerant reports that Kojima was quietly pulled to one side by Customs Officers when they spotted the unusual addition to his luggage, and quite rightly asked what on Earth it was. Naturally, I wasn’t there, but I’m going to assume the conversation went a little like this:
Customs: “Excuse me sir, can you please explain why you have a baby in a jar on your person?”
Kojima: “It’s not a real baby, officer, but a prop for my new game Death Stranding which is a totally brand new genre called action/strand (social strand system).”
Customs: “I see. And what exactly is a… social strand system?”
Kojima: “I’m honestly not sure, but it sounds clever.”
Customs: “You’re sure it’s not just a stealth game? Because I mean, it sounds like a stealth game.”
Kojima: “Nope, definitely action/strand. Have you met my best friend Normal Reedus, by the way?”
And then they let him go. Again, I can only guess how the conservation actually went, but we do know that Kojima made it past Customs to attend San Diego Comic-Con, where he revealed all kinds of interesting tidbits regarding Death Stranding, including the bombshell that Keanu Reeves was nearly cast in the game.
Now, getting through US Customs can be a uniquely intense experience at the best of the times, but carrying a pod baby around is just asking for trouble. I once got held up explaining what my (at the time relatively new) Nintendo Switch was, so I know they really don’t take any chances.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.