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Report: Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes campaign completed in two hours
If you're expecting Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes to eat up time ahead of The Phantom Pain, you may be out of luck. In this month's issue, a Game Informer preview noted the standalone prologue's main campaign was completed in "just less than two hours." "How quickly it takes to complete the main mission and explore the camp is up to the player," the preview said, "but the extra missions give the game a little more replayability." You can find the full preview in this month's Game Informer, which goes into the side stuff available in the game's open world. That said, Ground Zeroes commands at best a $20 price tag for the downloadable Xbox 360 and PS3 version. If you want to get a physical copy on PS4 or Xbox One, you'll have to stump up $40 - we've got the full pricing details here. Longevity lovers may look to The Phantom Pain, which series creator Hideo Kojima said has a map "hundreds of times larger" than the one in Ground Zeroes. We'd rather play Ground Zeroes ourselves before commenting - who knows how good those two hours are? Every Snake and his dog will be able to do just that when the game launches on March 18. [Image: Konami]
PSA: Metal Gear Solid 5 still on for Xbox 360, PS3
Put your exclamation marks down! Despite previous-gen platform listings being absent from a recent Game Informer cover story, Konami has confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is still coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Hideo Kojima's next big title is also slated to hit Xbox One and PS4. "MGSV TPP [The Phantom Pain] will be available on both current and next gen!" a Konami representative told Joystiq. We hope that clears it up for the many readers that sent us questions and tips in the wake of Game Informer's story. The next installment of the Metal Gear story will ship in two pieces: a teaser adventure dubbed Ground Zeroes, due this March, followed by a complete sequel titled The Phantom Pain at an undetermined date. [Image: Kojima Productions]
Metal Gear Solid 5 map 'hundreds of times larger' than Ground Zeroes'
According to a Siliconera translation of a tweet by Hideo Kojima, the map for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is "hundreds of times larger" than the map being used for its prologue, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. The Ground Zeroes map also lacks real-time changes to the day and night cycle, though Kojima reportedly stated that each mission will offer different experiences. The Siliconera translation also reads that "GZ is both a prologue to the MGS5 story and, at the same time, a tutorial for a new MGS, which transitions to sneaking simulator." Are these statements hyperbole? Flat-out falsitudes? Or are they honest truth? With Kojima, you can never be sure.
MGS5: Ground Zeroes out March 18, Xbox versions include exclusive mission
Konami announced today that its Metal Gear Solid 5 introductory chapter Ground Zeroes will launch for the PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on March 18, 2014. The publisher serves up a 15-minute preview video of the Xbox One version above, showing off the first section of gameplay and detailing the differences between its included Normal and Hard difficulty modes. Konami additionally revealed that the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of Ground Zeroes will include the exclusive "Jamais Vu" mission, in which Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance star Raiden must take out a cabal of identity-stealing "body snatchers" who have occupied a U.S. Naval facility in Cuba. A trailer is after the break below. Konami previously announced that the PlayStation versions of the game will feature the exclusive "Deja Vu" mission, along with a classic Solid Snake skin.
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes plot detailed on Konami's website
Metal Gear series fans craving any morsel of story info from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes can consult Konami's website for a brief summary of what Snake will find himself up against in his latest sneaking mission. Set in 1975, Ground Zeroes directly follows up on the Vietnam War-era events of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Leading a clandestine mercenary group in the Carribean, Snake sets out on a covert mission when a cohort goes missing after a botched rescue attempt. Ground Zeroes serves as the introductory chapter to Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, and is set to launch next spring for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PS4.
Solid Snake spotted across multiple MGS5: Ground Zeroes bundles in Japan
Konami is preparing to launch several bonus-laden special editions of the Metal Gear Solid 5 prologue chapter Ground Zeroes in Japan, many of which have been infiltrated by a miniature Solid Snake. Order at your own risk: These tiny Snakes are armed. Options range from a game-only retail edition (2,980 yen, or about $30) to a 13,270 yen ($132) Konami Style version, which includes a limited-edition Metallic Snake figure. In between these two extremes is Amazon Japan's Ground Zeroes Premium Package, which bundles a copy of the game, a PlayArts Snake figure, and a Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker novelization. Bundles are available for the PlayStation 4, PS3, and Xbox 360. Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes will hit Japan next spring.
Metal Gear Solid 5 was nearly a PSP and PS3 game
Metal Gear Solid 5's prologue chapter Ground Zeroes was initially planned as a PlayStation 3 and PSP release before making the jump to multiple current and next-gen consoles, series producer Hideo Kojima revealed this week. "Honestly, I really wanted to release Ground Zeroes right after [2010's PSP release of] Peace Walker," Kojima said. "Whether on PSP or PS3. But then we had development issues, some delays with Metal Gear Rising as well. And then we learned about next generation coming, so it ended up being the way it is now." Kojima additionally notes that Ground Zeroes was split off from Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain to satisfy fan demand, as The Phantom Pain is still far from completion. "Of course it would be ideal to release Ground Zeroes and the main part of the game all together," Kojima said. "But at the same time given that this week we have the next generation of game consoles coming out, a lot of the fans wanted to play something sooner. And given that the main game is a rather big game and still in development, it will take a little bit more time to get it out. We decided to listen to the fans and put at least the prologue out there so people will get the experience." Ground Zeroes will be priced at $30 when it premieres this spring for the PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. A variety of special edition bundles are planned for retail release in Japan.
Report: Kojima subtly reveals PlayStation-exclusive MGS5 content
It looks like exclusive Metal Gear Solid 5 content will be coming to Sony's platforms, assuming a side-long glance at a promotional poster tweeted by series creator Hideo Kojima is anything to go on. The image in question focuses on a new Metal Gear Solid 5 promotional poster. Next to the poster stands a cardboard plaque which contains words that are barely legible due to the size of the image in Kojima's original tweet. However, if you zoom in on the text, you're able to barely make out what the thing says: Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes Prologue to Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain Takes place in 1975 after Peacewalker and nine years before the phantom pain Multiple missions and central story and side-ops missions Exclusive content for PlayStation platform Spring 2014 Videogamer came up with roughly the same interpretation of the blurry text as we just did, though we invite you all to take a crack at it for yourselves, either by visiting Kojima's tweet, or going directly to a much larger version of the image. It is currently unknown what this PlayStation-exclusive content might be. We contacted Metal Gear publisher Konami for more information, but were met with a boilerplate "no comment."
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes ends wait in spring 2014 [update]
Konami will release Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes as a standalone prologue to MGS5: Phantom Pain next spring, and both games are confirmed to be coming to Xbox One, PS4, PS3, and Xbox 360. Konami UK tells us the packaged current-gen versions will be sold at £30, while downloadable versions are priced £20 on current-gen systems, and £30 on Xbox One and PS4; it's unclear if there'll packaged next-gen versions as well. While it's yet to be confirmed, we'd say that would translate into prices below $60 in North America. It's also unknown when Phantom Pain itself will be released. The relationship between Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain has been as complicated as a Metal Gear Solid plot, but today's news brings some definite clarity to proceedings. Ground Zeroes was revealed first, then Phantom Pain cropped up after being teased as a game by fake outfit Moby Dick Studio. Once Phantom Pain was revealed to be a Metal Gear entry, it was then thought it and Ground Zeroes were part of the same game. Konami then stepped in to clarify they were two different games, and that brings us to today's resolution. In the words of series creator Hideo Kojima, then: "The advanced capabilities of the FOX Engine have allowed me to tell the new story in a new way. There will be a significant difference in what Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain brings to the series, so we want to ease players into the new open world environment and its potential. As such, Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes has been designed to introduce key elements, allowing them to fully benefit from all that the new game will offer." Update: Konami revealed the US prices for Ground Zeroes: $20 downloadable and $30 packaged on current-gen, and $30 downloadable on next-gen. Again, going by Konami's wording it seems the game will be downloadable-only on PS4 and Xbox One.
Julien Merceron joins Konami to oversee Fox Engine
Konami is betting big on Fox Engine, Kojima Productions' development suite powering the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Julien Merceron has just been brought on to oversee Fox Engine as Konami's new worldwide technology director. "He will be a key member of our talented development community and be integral to ensuring that future titles will push the limits of what can be technically achieved, while ensuring they retain Konami's famed gameplay," Konami's European president, Shinji Hirano, told GamesIndustry International in a statement. "We welcome him and his talents to the team." Merceron spent the last seven years under the Square Enix umbrella, where he served as CTO at IO Interactive, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics before ascending to the position of global technology director for Square Enix proper. Prior to joining Square Enix, Merceron also served a stint at Ubisoft as worldwide technical director throughout the late '90s.
14 minutes of MGS: Ground Zeroes gameplay, opening in English
Konami released a 14 minute gameplay video of the Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes opening, as shown by Hideo Kojima at the Tokyo Game Show - look to the 2:00 mark for a wonderful note of that. The gameplay vid follows on from the very first footage we saw back of Ground Zeroes, which is now understood to be a distinct prologue part of Metal Gear Solid 5, although details are unclear. We first saw that opening sequence in Japanese back in September 2012. One year on, we've now got it in English, complete with added full-on Sutherland. Check it out below the break.
Metal Gear Solid 5 almost ditched iconic punctuation(!)
The iconic "!" of the Metal Gear Solid series was almost dropped from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5, series creator Hideo Kojima revealed in an interview with Weekly Famitsu. Kojima considered dropping the trope to help make the game more realistic, figuring that it could be replaced thanks to modern graphics capabilities. "Considering the console specs, it would have been possible to substitute with facial expressions and gestures," Kojima said. Staff working on the game warned Kojima that removing the "!" would cause an "uproar," and Kojima opted to keep it in. In the same interview, Kojima also expressed a desire to embrace another series staple: "I want to include the cardboard box." The more things change, the more they stay the same. Unless you're Snake's voice.
Hideo Kojima has no plans to license Fox Engine
Don't expect the engine behind the next Metal Gear Solid sequel to power any other games in the near future. Despite earlier comments in which Kojima stated that the Fox Engine could potentially be used for a Silent Hill entry, or perhaps a first-person shooter, the designer now believes that the engine would require a massive amount of work before it might be found in games other than Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. "Right now it's a bit too difficult," Kojima told Gamasutra. "While, yes, the engine has been shared around internally at Konami, a lot of maintenance will be involved if we're to get the Fox Engine in a workable enough state to license it. At the moment there are no plans to license it to schools or other organizations." Continuing, Kojima adds that he and Konami are willing to meet with potential Fox Engine licensees, but that open licensing of the engine is "off the table for now."
Konami unveils LA studio, 'instrumental' to Metal Gear Solid games
Konami opened a new, Los Angeles-based branch of Kojima Productions today, expanding the sphere of mad scientist/game developer Hideo Kojima's influence to the shores of North America. The new studio, appropriately named Kojima Productions Los Angeles, will be "instrumental" to the development of a variety of games, but mostly the Metal Gear Solid series. "Los Angeles is ground zero for the best studios, facilities and world-class talent, we are leaning on these local resources to build an incredible team to create gaming experiences that are just as compelling as any film or television show," Kojima said. Kojima Productions LA will also be in charge of Metal Gear Solid 5's online multiplayer. Kojima recently told Joystiq during a MGS5 preview that he wants the Japan-based branch and LA-based branch to "kind of compete, but kinda co-operate and work together to form the true form of Kojima Productions." Kojima declined to say if said "true form" will be a giant robot dinosaur.
Metal Gear dev video shows transition from actress to shirtless character
This dev video for Metal Gear Solid 5 shows the impressive conversion of actress Stefanie Joosten from human being into Quiet. More impressive is how the tech removes her clothes and hopefully applies plenty of sunblock with a high SPF.
Evolving Snake for the open world in Metal Gear Solid 5
Last night, Konami invited press to Kojima Productions Los Angeles where components of Metal Gear Solid 5 are currently under development. As part of the introduction to the freshly opened studio, MGS creator Hideo Kojima presented what the publisher dubbed as the first live, in-game demo of Ground Zeroes, the so-called prologue chapter to the next Metal Gear. The demo began with a familiar setting, expanding on a gameplay demo first revealed in September 2012. In the demo - which Kojima noted was designed specifically for the event - Big Boss infiltrates a stronghold in the middle of a torrential downpour. Powered by the developer's new Fox Engine, the detail on display in the Metal Gear Solid 5 demo we were shown was staggering. Rain drops collide with characters, cloth and tarps realistically move along with the temperamental conditions around them, lights and shadows look outstanding. The entire demo appears to be running on early next-gen hardware; however, Hideo Kojima said that what we were seeing - which looked identical to the September 2012 reveal, available to watch after the break - was running on PCs that represent the power offered by the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Kojima confirms Metal Gear Solid 5 for PlayStation 4
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is in development for the PlayStation 4, series director Hideo Kojima confirmed in response to fan questions on Twitter. Kojima assures that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of The Phantom Pain are still in the works. Metal Gear Solid 5 was announced for the Xbox One during Microsoft's E3 press briefing yesterday.%Gallery-191281%
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain announced for Xbox One [Update: trailer!]
Konami announced at Microsoft's E3 press conference today that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will debut for the Xbox One alongside previously announced ports for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Promising "tactical espionage redefined," Metal Gear Solid 5 boasts a new open-world take on the series, offering up real-time weather and multiple transportation options. The game also includes a dynamic CQC system. The Phantom Pain's storyline, at least partially, seems to revolve around rescuing Kaz Miller, a character originally featured in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Konami did not reveal whether The Phantom Pain is exclusive to Xbox One, or if a release is planned for other platforms. Update: Microsoft's Major Nelson confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 5 is not exclusive to the Xbox One.
Kiefer Sutherland is the voice of Snake in Metal Gear Solid 5 [Update]
Kiefer Sutherland will provide the voice for Metal Gear Solid 5's iteration of covert espionage action hero Big Boss, previously known as Naked Snake, Konami has just announced during its pre-E3 livestream. This isn't the first time Sutherland's name has popped up in related to Metal Gear – a trailer presented during this year's GDC sparked debate when a very Sutherlandish voice was heard emanating from Snake's bandaged hospital companion, Ishmael. Whether Sutherland is the voice actor for both characters, and what implications that may have for the game's story, remains to be seen. The British/Canadian actor is perhaps best known for his time as Jack Bauer in the action/drama television series 24, but we prefer to think of him as the voice of Bosco in 2010's live-action Marmaduke adaptation. Update: Konami's presentation has been embedded in full after the break – Metal Gear-oriented proceedings begin around the 10-minute mark.
Konami pre-E3 show gives the scoop on MGS5, Castlevania on June 6
Konami's third annual pre-E3 show is penciled in for June 6 at 1 p.m. ET, streaming live online via Konami's events site, on Gamespot and via the Xbox Live Gamespot app. For the second year in a row, Konami will show off a new trailer for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, which was announced during last year's pre-E3 briefing. Konami also plans to show off some behind-the-scenes footage of the next Pro Evolution Soccer game, and will have "new announcements" from Kojima Productions. Kojima recently made a splash with the Joakim Mogren marketing campaign for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Surely nothing will be able to compete with that.
