Kojima retiring from MGS (again); going portable, online

Hideo Kojima is retiring from Metal Gear.
Again.

There were rumblings of the series' creator jumping ship after the third (and even second?) MGS installments on a Sony console (i.e., MGS3: Snake Eater), but this time he might really do it. Kojima stated at TGS: "This fourth [Metal Gear Solid] is going to be the final one for me and Shinkawa [the art designer for the
Solid series]." Without Shinkawa handling character designs, Kojima may finally feel free to leave his main duties at the Metal Gear helm.

Of course, Mr. Kojima tried to do the same thing after the original Metal Gear on the MSX, but was compelled to return after seeing the "low quality" of its sequel, Snake's Revenge. The successful follow-up to the abysmal Snake's Revenge, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, ironically enough, was what inspired Shinkawa to join Kojima's team in the first place.

Well, we don't know how Kojima's role will evolve in the development of future Metal Gear games—or whether
the creator of Kirby will get involved
with the series somehow—but we do know that "he plans to develop more games... unique to handheld gaming machines" and that "he wants to expand MGS in the online gaming sector." The portable
Metal Gear Acid and
MGS3: Subsistence's online mode appear to be the first steps in this new direction.