Skip to main content

Conan O’Brien ascends from Clueless Gamer to cameo in Death Stranding video game

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Conan O’Brien is no stranger to video games, having hosted his Clueless Gamer series for years as part of his talk show. Now, things are getting kicked up a notch, as O’Brien has been made into a character that makes a cameo in Hideo Kojima’s long-in-development Death Stranding.

The revelation came in a new video highlight on Conan, O’Brien’s TBS show, where O’Brien was given the chance to meet with Kojima. After accessing the building via a Costco card and viewing Kojima’s toy collection, Conan blurred out the entirety of the office, including Kojima himself, with the sole exception of a coat rack.

Conan was appropriately weirded out by one trailer’s depiction of a baby living inside someone’s stomach, but that didn’t stop his enthusiasm when Kojima asked if he wanted to be made a character in Death Stranding. The results are a little bit terrifying, as the Decima engine used by Kojima Productions is incredibly realistic, but Conan brings his signature humor to his role as a “Prepper.” He will also give you a “Sea Otter Suit” in the game, according to Kojima.

Conan O'Brien appears as a prepper “The Wondering MC” in DS. You get “Sea Otter Suit” when you get connected with him. With this suit, you’ll be able to swim easily in the river, you won’t be drifted away! BB would be happy as well. ????????????☔️????????????????????✋???????? pic.twitter.com/nIsw5JS5t0

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) October 24, 2019

O’Brien is far from the only celebrity to make an appearance in Death Stranding. He’s joined by fellow Prepper Geoff Keighley of The Game Awards, as well as directors Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn. Also appearing in the game’s main cast are film actors Mads Mikkelsen, Norman Reedus, Margaret Qualley, and Lea Seydoux.

Conan was clearly confused by what he’s seen in Death Stranding so far, and he can join the club. Each trailer and gameplay demonstration for the game has only made us question what Kojima is actually doing even more, though the most recent footage has begun to paint a slightly clearer picture of the moment-to-moment gameplay. We’re sure there are still dozens of unexpected surprises waiting for us, because it would not be a Hideo Kojima game otherwise.

Death Stranding is due to release exclusively for PlayStation 4 on November 8. It is the first release from the revived Kojima Productions following the developer’s much-publicized split with former employe,r Konami, which also resulted in the cancellation of Silent Hills. It is his first completed project outside the Metal Gear series in nearly a decade.

Editors' Recommendations

Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Volgarr the Viking 2 will take you back to your Ghosts ‘n Goblins days
A viking slashes a tree in Volgarr the Viking 2.

Developer Digital Eclipse is working on a surprising project: Volgarr the Viking 2. The 2D retro sequel will launch on August 6 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The news is an out of left field reveal. The first Volgarr the Viking game released in 2013 and was made as an ode to 1080s classics like Ghosts 'n Goblins. Despite being a small release, it sold over 1 million copies over the past decade. As revealed during today's Guerrilla Collective stream, the series is coming back with a new sequel by Digital Eclipse, the team behind this year's Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story.

Read more
3 Days of Play PS Plus games to try this weekend (June 7-9)
Key art for Streets of Rage 4.

June 2024 is shaping up to be a pretty great month for PlayStation players. Not only are we coming off an entertaining State of Play showcase, but a new Days of Play initiative surrounding all the video game showcases this month is bringing a lot of new PS Plus additions with it. Many of those games hit PS Plus this week, and three in particular stand out to us.

For owners of Sony's oft-neglected PlayStation VR2, the first game is one of its rare exclusives that take full advantage of the headset's eye-tracking by seeing how often players blink. The next is a new PS Plus Essential game that's a revival of Sega's classic beat-'em-up series for the modern gaming era. Finally, the last title is an atmospheric and eerie fishing game that should entice fans of Lovecraftian horror.
Before Your Eyes

Read more
3 first-party Xbox Game Pass games to try this weekend (June 7-9)
Gears 5 Kait Hero Close Up

Microsoft will hold an Xbox Games Showcase and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct. this Sunday. These shows will provide a much better idea of what to expect from Xbox over the course of the next year or two. That's really needed right now, as Microsoft has struggled to keep online discussions around Xbox positive as it went multiplatform with some games, laid off thousands of developers, and outright shut down the developers of Hi-Fi Rush and Redfall. Based on leaks and my personal expectations for the showcase, there are three games you can play on Xbox Game Pass this weekend to prepare for the event.

The first is the latest first-person shooter in a long-running series by id Software that might be getting a medieval-set spinoff. After that, we have the fifth entry in a sci-fi Xbox series that still looks fantastic on Xbox Series X/S even though it came out in 2019. Finally, you can prepare for Avowed with the latest RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, a satirical sci-fi game where player choice is critical.
Doom Eternal

Read more