Kojima's been speaking at San Diego Comic Con and giving out more info about the logo of his production company. Not the game to be clear, just that logo.
Speaking through a translator on an IGN stream Kojima explained how the character (he's adamant has nothing to do with the game) came to be.
Here's the first design Kojima describes as "too battle orientated. The idea was the space suit, so I call it an EVA suit, a suit for extra vehicular activity. I wanted something that looked more like a blend of this EVA suit and armour so I took the concept and kept evolving it".
As Kojima explains it, an early problem came from designs that looked "too much like a robot". He wanted "to make it clear there’s a human in it". Those designs lead to a concept Kojima liked: "somewhere between a space suit and a medieval helmet. I really wanted it to look like something that looked cool".
Accessories were hard to pin down, Kojima explains. "He had a sword but we deicide it was’t a good idea". Eventually, Ludens ended up with what "looked like a spear but when he puts it in the ground it’s a flag that is waving the Kojima Productions logo".
As for the face? Everyone had decided it was Walking Dead star Norman Reedus as Ludens. Especially after his involvement in Kojima's canned Silent Hills reboot (and eventual trailer debut). However, this is apparently not the case. Kojima says the face was originally made from 3D data of his own head, created from a trip to Sony San Diego in January. That was used to render Ludens but as Kojima explains, "is it got really creepy so I asked them to modify it a little bit".
I'm not sure if I believe that given that it looks exactly like Norman Reedus. If you want a closer look though then check out the new logo trailer for Kojima Productions.
Seen something newsworthy? Tell us!
