Watch Hideo Kojima cut a man's finger off in this TV cameo

Image credit: Amazon Studios

Hideo Kojima is known as the creator of Metal Gear Solid and now Death Stranding, but he also has a reputation as a game developer who really wants to make movies. Kojima's love of film and TV is well-documented and apparent in all his games, especially Death Stranding, which features big-name actors like Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen. So I suppose it's no surprise Kojima himself recently appeared in the Amazon Prime original series Too Old to Die Young by way of a cameo - presumably at the invitation of the show's director, Nicolas Winding Refn, whose likeness is also used in Death Stranding. 

*Minor Too Old to Die Young spoilers ahead* 

Too Old to Die Young is a cop drama which forces deputy Martin Jones (played by Miles Teller) to consort with the criminal underworld - the Cartel, Yakuza, and the like. Kojima's cameo is related to the Yakuza, and it's pretty great. As Polygon reported, Kojima appears in a scene in episode four, "The Tower". Not unlike protagonist Martin Jones, Kojima spends most of the scene watching the Yakuza rough up some poor guy. He's just chilling, in all black, in straight-up Ozzy Osbourne sunglasses - indoors, in a dark-lit room, I'll point out. Peak Kojima. Right at the end, Kojima gets up, pulls out a katana, and chops the man's finger off. If you don't mind a bit of finger-chopping, you can watch the scene below: 

There are no subtitles on this clip, but I gather the now-nine-fingered man owed the Yakuza something or other, and this was how they chose to collect. You know, by getting Hideo Kojima to chop off his finger. I mean, sure, yeah, that would deter me from short-changing the Yakuza. 

Death Stranding also features filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, but only as a *check notes* skin puppet.  

Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

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