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Collect the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Limited Edition
The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection adds much fancier in-game visuals to what were once PS2 and PSP games. And now Konami is adding some cosmetic enhancements to the packaging, as well, at least for those willing to splash out a little more. The HD Collection will be available in a Limited Edition, with new box art by series artist Yoji Shinkawa and an exclusive art book. No pricing details have been announced -- but, then, no pricing details for the standard retail or downloadable versions have been announced either. So whatever the standard one costs, this one will cost a little more than that.%Gallery-135332%
Bluepoint Games offers insight into MGS, Ico, God of War remake process
At one point, God of War, Ico, and Metal Gear Solid games were all being made in the same location ... in Austin, Texas. Well, remade, anyway. Bluepoint Games, the company behind the God of War, Ico/Shadow of the Colossus, and Metal Gear Solid HD Collections, recently explained elements of its process to Edge. According to company president Andy O'Neil, Bluepoint reverse engineers the games, rather than collecting the original source files and recompiling. "The problem with source asset drops is that you don't know if it's the final shipped data," O'Neil said. "People will go and make last-minute changes." Of course, Bluepoint is careful to keep the games running as-is, even when that keeps bugs found in the original versions. Some bugs were fixed for the PAL Shadow of the Colossus update --- "But it was a deliberate decision: this can break the game," O'Neil explained. "But we won't change anything without talking to the original developers."
Risk: Metal Gear Solid sneaking out sometime soon
Metal Gear Solid and the board game Risk are fusing in some intricate collaboration that we'd fully explain to you, but it would require a 90-minute cut scene. Here's the basic premise of Risk: Metal Gear Solid: players control one of five Private Military Companies vying for global dominance, by using a variation of the Risk 2008 rules update. The game board consists of the standard six zones and 42 territories, along with an Outer Haven battleship addition. There are also 275 custom plastic pieces representing the five PMCs, neutral armies and cities; 8 Boss Cards, 40 Drebin's Cards, 42 Territory Cards and 8 Rewards that can be earned. The board game will be available exclusively through USAopoly.com, beginning "presale" on October 3 for $50. No official launch date has been given. In the meantime, you can always play Risk: Halo Wars.
Transfarring coming to US version MGS HD [update]
Update: According to Konami's Twitter feed, Transfarring is coming to the US PS3 version of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. Original story: The coming PS3 HD edition of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was supposed to include Hideo Kojima's cloud-saving gem, Transfarring, to share game saves between the PSP and PS3 -- notice the past tense "was supposed to." Transfarring will only be available in Japan when Peace Walker releases in November, according to Konami's information packet from TGS 2011. Kojima had previously said Transfarring would be available for every Kojima Productions release in the future, although to be fair, he didn't say where it would be available. Even if Kojima only releases it for himself and he spends the remainder of his days Transfarring, alone, that's still technically available. It's also kind of rude. We've contacted Konami for clarification. [Thanks, Marc!]
MGS HD Collection coming to Japan on November 23
So much for a stealthy infiltration to retail: Konami has announced that the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is slated for a Japanese launch of November 23 (as reported by Japanese games blog Game Jouhou). Word came during Konami's stage show event during TGS 2011 today -- err, that may be tomorrow. We're still not sure how the whole time thing works over there. Outside of launch window, Konami revealed the game would have a special feature allowing players to view select scenes in either traditional full frame (4:3) or in the now-norm widescreen mode (16:9). Additionally, the PS3 version will come with a download voucher for the original Metal Gear Solid on PSN. An Xbox 360 incentive is currently being decided. Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is slated to launch in North America "this winter." %Gallery-133973%
Metal Gear Solid HD, Uncharted 3 themed DualShocks coming to Japan [update]
Sony is releasing two new DualShock 3 color schemes in Japan, in honor of two upcoming games. For the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker HD Edition, SCEJ has an "Urban Camouflage" model. Uncharted 3 gets a tan/brown DualShock with a print of Drake's ring. They both fit the theme of their games and all, but they're not nearly as amusing as the baseball DualShock. Japanese PS3 owners will be able to execute an on-site procurement of the Metal Gear controller by itself on November 17, for ¥5,500 ($71). The Uncharted 3 controller is bundled with the game, and will be available November 2 for ¥9,980 ($129). Update: The "urban camo" controller will be released in North America this November, as Shacknews reported last month. It's not being billed as a Metal Gear tie-in here.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD will have online co-op through PSN and Xbox Live
The HD version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker offers nice bonuses beyond sharper graphics and dual analog controls. Today, Hideo Kojima announced that Peace Walker will feature online co-op (or CO-OPS, as it's known in-game) on Xbox 360 and PS3 via infrastructure mode. It is possible to play the PSP version online, but to do so requires Sony's "adhocParty" app, and a connection to a PS3 that is using a wired internet connection. This version will be as simple as it is with any other Xbox Live/PSN game. And, Kojima confirmed, it'll run in 60 frames per second even with 4 players. While you grudgingly admit that you want to buy the games again, now in the HD collection, here's a little perspective: Peace Walker is being sold separately in Japan, but it's just one part of a bundle here.
Konami dishes out MGS Snake Eater HD footage at Gamescom
There isn't much to say about Konami's Gamescom walkthrough of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater from the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. Those who have played before will see their fond memories upgraded in HD, while those who haven't are in for a treat with a remastered version of a Konami classic.
Kojima shows off Fox Engine faces, the nightmares won't stop coming
Hideo Kojima recently Tweeted a few images of -- AH! Oh, sorry. We've been just a little jumpy since we saw this recent Tweet from Hideo Kojima, which shows off the facial rendering system of his studio's new Fox Engine, without any calming context whatsoever. Alongside the images, Kojima mentioned that the man depicted is a "killed character." That's fortunate, because we don't really want anything with a face this horrifying to be alive. Check out a pair of larger, even more soul-rattling images from the Fox facial system after the break, followed immediately by an image of our reaction to these scary-ass countenances.
Konami media roundup: Silent Hill and so many Metal Gears
Konami's media offerings at Gamescom include a new look at the upcoming Silent Hill: Downpour. After the break, you'll find a gallery full of new screens that are creepy, dark, atmospheric, and dark. Konami also included new screenshots of all three updated games in the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. You can really tell the difference between the graphical capabilities of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 when both have been amplified! There's also new media for Metal Gear Solid 3D, Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights, and more. Oh, and keep an eye out for a surprise guest appearance by Megadeth!
MGS HD collection includes MGS3 'Subsistence' worldwide, MGS1 code in Japan
Hideo Kojima, comfortable in his natural habitat (Twitter) provided details of two regional versions of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. In Japan, the collection does not include Peace Walker, but does have a download code for the first Metal Gear Solid. The "overseas version" (meaning the one we get) doesn't include the download, but incorporates the HD version of Peace Walker. In both regional variants, the HD version of Metal Gear Solid 3 is based on the "Subsistence" re-release, which means it has optional, user-controllable camera angles. That version also comes with the emulated MSX versions of Metal Gear 1 and 2, adding two more games to the collection! Kojima also said that the Metal Gear Solid 2 HD release would be based on "subsistence," by which he must have meant "Substance." He wasn't clear on whether the basis was the PS2 or Xbox version -- a distinction that seems minor until you learn that the PS2 version had a skateboarding minigame that we need in HD. Finally, Kojima tweeted an image of the trophy icons for MGS2 and 3, which you can see after the break.
Metal Gear Solid HD collection will run at 60FPS
There's nothing quite like a butter-smooth frame rate, is there? Fans should be happy to learn that the upcoming Metal Gear Solid HD Collection will indeed run at a slick 60 frames per second. After sharing images of the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker remake, Hideo Kojima tweeted, "60 frames per second in HD... it's the best! Say peace!" Kojima Productions' Jiroo Tsubuyaki also confirmed the frame rate in a different tweet. As Andriasang notes, Peace Walker marks the final game in the collection to benefit from a doubled frame rate. Kojima already confirmed the same for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater -- and Metal Gear Solid 2, it turns out, always ran at sixty frames per second, even on the PlayStation 2. We suppose that explains Raiden's ... uh ... smoothness.
Now you too can watch the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD E3 demo
Anxious to get your first glimpse at Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD? Well, here's your chance -- just try not to be too harsh on the person Konami has playing the game. We're not sure this individual gets the whole "stealth" thing.
Kojima using 'Transfarring' cloud data for all future games
Hideo Kojima said during a recent Kojima Productions podcast that the cloud data sharing system he created from dragonscales, Old Snake's mustache trimmings and cardboard boxes -- "Transfarring" -- will be available for every title his studio releases in the future. That means all of its games going forward, including the Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders re-releases, Metal Gear Solid Rising and the new Fox Engine game, will all presumably provide some connection between the PS3 and PS Vita. Does this mean a version of Metal Gear Solid Rising for the PS Vita? We'll have to wait and see. More importantly, perhaps, we're wondering how long it will take for someone to tell Kojima that cloud saving has been around for a while -- just so he can stop using that very silly name.
Metal Gear and Zone of the Enders collections will be downloadable
The KojiPro special E3 site reveals one tantalizing piece of information about the Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders collections: they'll be available for transfar directly from Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN. So if you feel bad about having another boxed copy of Metal Gear Solid 3 in your house after buying both the standard and Subsistence versions ... at least you won't have another box this time. The Metal Gear Solid set is due in November; ZOE follows sometime in 2012. The website also has plenty of other information about the collections. Think you know it all? Have you heard Hideo Kojima tell you about it? Have you seen an awkward hug between Kojima and 8-4's Mark MacDonald? Then you haven't transfarred everything about it. You can find that video, along with entirely too many words about transfarring, comparison screens between the PSP and HD Peace Walker, and the SD and HD MGS2, here.
Konami reveals Metal Gear Solid, Zone of the Enders, Silent Hill HD remakes
The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection will feature MGS 2, MGS 3: Snake Eater and MGS: Peace Walker -- strangely, the original Metal Gear Solid is absent. Why not just touch up Twin Snakes? Regardless, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection will be available on the PS3 and Xbox and support 1080p graphics and, on the PS3, a neat 'Transfarring' feature where you can transfer your Peace Walker game save from your PSP to your PS3. As for Zone of the Enders HD Collection, it's a collection of Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders 2, natch. Little beyond its existence was given, outside of a tentative 2012 launch window. It'll also be available on both the PS3 and Xbox 360, with the former version supporting the new Transfarring feature -- though in what way we're still trying to get clarification on. Update: Our own Mike Schramm is on-hand at the Konami event in LA and asked for clarification on the Transfarring feature in ZOE HD. "Wait for future announcements," a Konami representative replied. Looks like we'll have to wait for that clarification! The Silent Hill Collection will feature only Silent Hill 2 and 3, touched up in HD. No exact consoles were mentioned.
