[1][2][3] Appraised as an "auteur" and a prominent figure in the video game industry,[4][1] Kojima wrote the book The Gifted Gene and My Lovable Memes as a collection of essays detailing his inspirations.

"[4] Kojima also discusses his routine for visiting bookstores during his free time, conveying that exploring the various works of literature helps him "become better at finding encounters that are meaningful to me, and I further hone my sensibilities.

[1][8] Kojima also avowed his desire to become an astronaut, but relinquished his dream to settle on game design due to the limits of Japan's developing space program during his childhood.

Club, Sam Barsanti considered the media discussed in Kojima's essays as tangential subjects that ultimately reflected larger ideas prevalent in his life.

[10] He also noted a similar pattern with the essay on TV shows Bewitched, Little House on the Prairie and anime Shin Chan exploring how the death of his father influenced his values on family.

[10] Cameron Kunzelman of Paste magazine stated that the book shows Kojima "constantly reflecting his own experiences with media through what was happening in both his personal life and the broader context of Japanese culture".

Discussing him as a creator whose developed aesthetic tastes aided in his ability to direct games, he elaborates that Kojima's inspirations in his work demonstrate the "philosophy of creation, in which the individual person is always a kind of cultural nexus who mixes influences and produces new things".

[10][12] Rich Stanton of PC Gamer related the book's themes of loneliness, regret and isolationism to Death Stranding, also connecting the game with Kojima's essay on Taxi Driver.

[10][11][15] Barsanti noted that The Creative Gene extensively focuses on the idea of memes, with Kojima's discussions on the media he enjoys conveying how information influences the upbringing of individuals.

[10][11][13] Polis found that aspects of her life related to the multitude of media that Kojima enjoyed, observing that they shared a common interest in authors such as Agatha Christie, Miyuki Miyabe and Kazuo Umezz.

[12] Remarking that readers would recognize how particular works of media inspired ideas in Kojima's games, Kunzelman viewed the book as an edifying way to grasp one's influences.