Kojima Productions own Hideo Kojima has many roles in aiding developer MercurySteam in the production of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. When he's not executive producing the newest Castlevania, he's helping the team stay regular by frightening them into "shitting" themselves.
David Cox, producer on the Konami Europe side, tells Videogamer that visits from Mr. Kojima inspire a level of fear amongst the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow that no level of bowel control could possibly withstand.
"Yeah we're shitting ourselves! You got to make sure that the quality of what you deliver is very very high," Cox says of Kojima pop-ins. "You're constantly saying to yourself, is that really good enough? Is that really going to be good enough? It's funny, because sometimes you think, no, he's not going to like that and he loves it, and then other times you think, check this out, it's amazing, and he'll go, hmm don't know. It's shit. So it's swings and roundabouts."
Cox calms some of our own fears about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, noting that the game's cut scenes last no longer than 15 minutes, despite Kojima's involvement.
"Story is important but it's not the most important element in the game," he says. "The most important element in the game is the combat, the exploration, the platforming, the puzzle solving, all those kinds of things, the atmosphere, that kind of stuff. That's more important."
Agreed!
Dave Cox: When Kojima visits we sh*t ourselves [Videogamer]