Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is the expanded edition of the 2019 game coming only to the PlayStation 5, which Sony recently showed more of during its most recent State of Play. And while “Director’s Cut” in gaming tends to be shorthand for some sort of enhanced version, Hideo Kojima said he isn’t into the phrasing.
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In the game, it is not what was cut, but what was additionally produced that was included. Delector's Plus? So, in my opinion, I don't like to call "director's cut".— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) July 12, 2021
He briefly explained his thoughts in the above Twitter thread. To him, a “cut” implies that the content was originally not totally under the director’s control. This is particularly common in films for a litany of reasons. These edits can also be shorter or longer.
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But games are different. Death Stranding: Director’s Cut comes with a whole host of new content including racing, new equipment, more boss fights, and more. Many other director’s cuts are in the same camp as in they always add to a game, which is different from film where it isn’t always a given. He even calls out this difference, saying that it was about “not what was cut, but what was additionally produced.”
This, in addition to Kojima seemingly having control over what went in the original game, is why he isn’t into the semantics of the title. He also gave the loose suggestion of “Delector’s Plus” as an alternative, but “delector” isn’t in the English dictionary so it’s a little unclear exactly what Kojima meant.
According to The Guardian, the idea of a director’s cut started in films around the 1970s and has only gained prominence since. Games have just picked up lingo, but haven’t quite meant it in the same way. Sony’s upcoming Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is similar to Death Stranding‘s, as it is a PS5 upgrade to a PS4 game with more content, so the title may have been a Sony decision. Non-Sony games have adapted this naming scheme in the past including Deadly Premonition, Jazzpunk, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Resident Evil, and more. And given since these all added or remixed content instead of an alternate take on it that was previously undoable, Kojima’s point may have some merit.
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