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Team behind 'Shadow Moses' to focus on 'Metal Gear' VR museum
Shadow Moses was intended to be a Metal Gear Solid fan remake, but development came to a halt last month over copyright issues. As a result, the group behind that project, iRam Gamer, has now shifted focus to creating a virtual reality museum honoring the franchise. Called The Fan Legacy: Metal Gear Solid, its designers are quick to label the VR experience as unofficial and non-profit. Still, given how the situation with Shadow Moses played out, there's a chance Konami won't feel appreciative. If all goes according to plan, though, iRig Gamer hopes to release The Fan Legacy: Metal Gear Solid in May.
'Metal Gear Online' adds a bit of sabotage next month
Despite what you might think, Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima's unceremonious departure from publisher Konami won't affect how Metal Gear Online plays out. To wit, the company's bolstering the amount of post-release add-ons for the adversarial multiplayer suite next month as part of a "commitment" to the game's fans. A trio of new maps and a playable version of the eye-rollingly-designed sniper Quiet will be available in March for $4 in the "Cloaked in Silence" pack, while a quartet of emote packs will sell for $2 each.
Konami reportedly closes the LA studio behind 'Metal Gear Online'
In case it wasn't already evident that Konami is scaling back its video game efforts, the company just dropped a big hint. Both Eurogamer and numerous developers understand that Konami has closed the Los Angeles studio responsible for Metal Gear Online, cutting "over 20 jobs" at the same time. Reportedly, the company had already shifted MGO development to Japan shortly before Metal Gear Solid V arrived in September -- the LA crew was mostly left to provide support and dream up ideas for games that would never be made.
Playdate: We're getting weird with 'Metal Gear Solid V'
I have no idea what's going on with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's story. That has a lot to do with my only experience with the series resting squarely on playing half of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance on Xbox and nothing else. I never had an original PlayStation (Playdate regulars know that I have a history of owning the wrong console) so I didn't fawn over Metal Gear Solid and traipsing around the game's Alaskan military base the way everyone else in the late '90s did. Hell, if it weren't for our Twitch regular Chris "lXDUKEXl" Duquette's suggestion the other week, Sean Buckley and myself wouldn't even be broadcasting ousted auteur Hideo Kojima's latest for two hours today starting at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT.
'Metal Gear' creator's name deleted from 'Phantom Pain' box
Hideo Kojima revolutionized the stealth video game genre in 1987 with the release of the original Metal Gear, published by Konami. Under Kojima's leadership, the Metal Gear franchise exploded in popularity, and it gained fame as a complex, quirky and endlessly innovative series. However, recent reports suggest that Kojima and Konami will sever ties after the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in September. A new series of Phantom Pain box-art images add fuel to this claim: Konami's initial mock-ups included a credit to Kojima, but new official images show the words "A Hideo Kojima Game" have been removed from the top of the box. Plus, the logo for Kojima's studio, Kojima Productions (a subsidiary of Konami), is no longer on the front of the box.
JXE Streams: 'Metal Gear?!' We're playing the 1987 original
Can love bloom on the battlefield? Metal Gear elicits more questions like these -- from both players and its characters -- than it ever answers. In the wake of Konami's recent public relations meltdown and Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain's impending release at the end of summer, Hideo Kojima's bizarre war drama is looming large our world. Next week, Engadget will bring you some early impressions of The Phantom Pain. Today at 3:30PM ET/12:30PM PT, though, we're going to the very beginning to stream the original Metal Gear.
Nintendo to release Circle Pad Pro to US through Gamestop: February 7th for $20
That extra analog stick and three shoulder buttons -- they make all the difference and net you additional street cred in the process. Following up on its Japanese release of the Circle Pad Pro over the weekend, Nintendo has stated that it will release the accessory to the US exclusively through Gamestop on February 7th with a retail price of $20. Though still relatively unknown in American gaming circles, the Circle Pad Pro is cited as running for 480 hours on one AAA battery, which is nothing to sneeze at. Nintendo has stated that upcoming games will need to be optimized for the device but suggest that it can bring tighter controls to titles such as Resident Evil: Revelations and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Also, it makes your 3DS mildly huge. Click the break for the full PR and a quick video guide of the Circle Pad Pro's features.
Konami defends inflated MGS4 bundle cost
The folks at Konami have been trolling the forums again, kids, and this time they're fighting back. Reps from the game-maker have issued a statement on the company forum addressing the furor over the inflated cost of the forthcoming, limited edition Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle. According to Konami, the bumped up price ($600 for a 40GB version of the PS3, plus Dual Shock controller and MGS4 game) is due to the special material used to create the gunmetal gray system and controller casing. The company seems to take issue with the fact that some are calling it simply a "paint job," and points out that the run of units is only 10,000, and the package also includes a version of the game with an extra disc of additional content. To put it another way: this is the deal of a lifetime![Via Wired]
Metal Gear Retrospective: Part Two sneaks into the PS1 era
The second installment of the Metal Gear Retrospective from the masters of recollection over at GameTrailers recently dropped, bringing with it a flood of joyous, espionage-flavored memories from our youth. The games featured in this edition are centered around Kojima's only exploit on Sony's seminal home console, Metal Gear Solid -- that includes the GameCube remake, and the bizarre VR Missions standalone game. Pull up a chair, plug the controller into the second port, and let the warm waves of nostalgia wash over you as you relive the events that transpired at Shadow Moses.
Metal Gear Online beta gameplay footage for the uncoded masses
We're guessing that you missed your chance to grab an entry code for the Metal Gear Online beta, or you'd probably be too busy spending your Saturday afternoon brushing up on your CQC to read our humble gaming news site. Well, wipe away those tears of regret, little one, and we'll make you a deal -- check out this radical gameplay footage from the beta (including a very satisfying conclusion involving a dude launcher) to slake your thirst for Kojima's sneaky-creepy multiplayer outing, and we'll take you out for Chuck E. Cheese's. Sure, it won't do much to dull your regret, but you'll be too busy wondering why this restaurant elected to have a rat for a mascot to worry about all the online stealth action you're missing out on.
Konami replacing botched Metal Gear Online beta codes
Fans of Kojima's genre-defining stealth action series only have to wait two more days until Konami flings wide the floodgates of the Metal Gear Online beta, giving North Americans with a pre-order bonus access code fourteen days to hide in cardboard boxes or perform questionable chiropractic procedures to their heart's content. Unfortunately, there are a number of Snakes-in-training who dropped a Lincoln to secure an incomplete beta code, due to a printing error at Konami HQ.Konami Support requests that those that are missing digits shoot them an email with the partial code and a return email address so that they can respond with a functioning code. With less than 48 hours until the beta launch, we suggest they step on it -- with the rising costs of torches and pitchforks, we're not sure the gaming populous could afford another Halo 3 beta delay debacle.[Via PS3F]
PS3 Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle at SonyStyle, no pre-order in sight
Sony, you tease! You go and finally put the 80 GB PS3 / Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle up at SonyStyle, complete with a SKU and price point, but you're not taking pre-orders? We just get to look at the thing? Can we touch it? Just for a second? We won't tell. Anyway, as expected, the PS3 / MGS4 bundle will be available in June at $499.99 complete with a DUALSHOCK3 wireless controller. Let's hope that "notify me" button says "add to cart" some time soon.[Thanks, David]
Europe will get MGO beta too
According to Eurogamer, Konami has told them that a European Metal Gear Online beta will be announced "shortly." This is excellent news for Europeans, especially for the lot of you trying to sneak onto the Japanese beta sign-up but keep getting locked out. Naughty. In any case, you can stop the nail-biting anxiety now. Also, cancel that planned trip down to the pub -- the one you usually reserve for occasional grumblings on being left in the dark again.While Euros await the chance to pounce on a sign-up, North Americans are sitting at home with paranoia for the past few weeks safeguarding their beta access codes from potential intruders. We're keeping it under lock and key, and behind a sawed-off shotgun. See, getting things early isn't always that much of a slick deal.
MGS4 pre-order DVDs shipping with MGO beta keys, beta to begin April 21
Those who are truly anticipating the further adventures of the now mustachioed, raisin-wrinkled Solid Snake have no doubt hesitantly slid a five-dollar bill across the counter of their nearest brick-and-mortar, trying not to meet the crisp, judgmental eyes of Abraham Lincoln as they fulfill the reservation fee for Metal Gear Solid 4. Well, at least your shame before The Great Emancipator wasn't endured in vain -- copies of Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2, complete with beta access keys for Metal Gear Online, are currently shipping to retailers to be distributed to loyal pre-orderers.The DVD includes backstory on the major characters in the Metal Gear franchise, as well as a few trailers for MGS4, but the real treasure in this early bird bonus is the access code which will allow you to download the MGO beta on April 17, and play the fourquel's online counterpart from April 21 until May 5 -- at which point bleary-eyed FOXHOUND fanatics will emerge from their houses to an unfamiliar world; one where cowbots don't roam the streets, and neck-snapping is almost universally frowned upon.
New Metal Gear Online screens, now with lots of English
The public beta test for Metal Gear Online will be coming next month for those who pre-ordered Metal Gear Solid 4. In order to prepare all you MGS fans out there for the upcoming frag-fest, we suggest you have a look at these new screens, courtesy of Gamersyde. Things look like they're coming along smoothly, and the scores of English text only means we're getting closer and closer to those fateful beta days.In the meantime, we suggest you start thinking of your special Metal Gear code name fast before someone else snatches it up. If you're having trouble finding the right name, we suggest you use this old friend of ours: Metal Gear name generator. This blogger's MGS code name is "Contageous Mandrill." Meh. What's yours?
Sony teases us with hot super-limited-edition MGS4 wireless headphones
If Metal Gear Solid 4 truly is the last game in the series (please please no), it's going to have gotten quite a send-off: a limited-edition gunmetal PS3 in Japan, a new $499 PS3 bundle in the rest of the world, the North American launch of the DualShock 3, and, uh, some wireless headphones. Well, not just any wireless headphones: a limited-edition run of Sony's hot 7.1-channel MDR-DS7000s, with different artwork on each can. Sadly, it doesn't look like these are going to be all that easy to get -- only 30 will be randomly handed out to those buying MGS4 bundles from the Japanese Konami store from now until June 1. Better get clicking, Sparky.[Via Gemaga; thanks J]
MGS movie producer targets possible writer/director
Film adaptations of video games are fickle mistresses. You don't need us to tell you that most of the ones that make it into theatres are horrid, while the ones with some potential usually get canned before seeing the light of day. Most of us would probably fit the Metal Gear Solid movie into that latter category -- after all, it's been nearly two years since the initial announcement of the film, and details have been sparse at best. That is, until a recent red carpet interview with the film's producer, Michael De Luca, dropped a Metal Gear REX-sized bomb on the entertainment industry.Okay, we're exaggerating bit -- all he did was state his interest in getting Kurt Wimmer to write and possibly direct the film. Wimmer's primary writing/directing credit is the 2002 quazi-cult classic "Equilibrium", whose 35% aggregate rating on Rotten Tomatoes doesn't exactly fill us with confidence -- unless compared to the works of a particularly infamous game-to-movie adapter, whose 4% career average reminds us that Columbia Pictures could do much, much worse.
Rumor: MGS4 leaked release date? [Update]
Over at the NeoGAF forums, a member posted a supposed Metal Gear Solid 4 advertisement from Famitsu magazine. In the ad, it clearly states a release date that reads "2008.06.12". It's most likely this date is for June 12; however, other members have confirmed this magazine scan is a fake. Despite being proven an ad that doesn't even appear in the Famitsu issue in question, this rumor does pique our interests as anything MGS-related would. A release date for June 12 does sound reasonable, since MGS4 shouldn't miss its Q2 2008 schedule. So while fake, it's a fair estimate for a release. Just don't get your hopes up if you see this ad floating around elsewhere.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!][Update: This isn't real. Sorry, folks. It's a confirmed Photoshop job, as stated in the NeoGAF forum.]
Dojo update: Shadow Moses Island
There just might be a new level to topple our current favorite from Smash Bros. Melee, Hyrule. Not only is this stage a wonderful piece of nostalgia, it is also fairly functional and includes a feature we wish more stages had: nowhere to fall to your death. Seriously, we hate ourselves some plunging to doom. Oh, and occasionally a Metal Gear will appear. Rock!Click on through to check out some videos aside from the ones featured this morning, including one where Snake talks about him and Samus taking their clothes off. "!" indeed.%Gallery-6869%%Gallery-3347%
Snake discusses Mario, how Yoshi tastes
We can't get enough of Snake. We admit, we have the biggest crush on the guy, going so far as to sketch his name in our notebook over and over again (we also draw a lot of unicorns). And when it was announced that he was joining the roster in Smash Bros. Brawl, we nearly wet our pants. When we learned that David Hayter would be voicing the spy again, we then wet our pants. Check past the break for another video of Snake and Otacon discussing what Yoshi's gender is, as well as what he tastes like.
