hideo kojima
Latest
Kojima clarifies the 'ogre' in 'Project Ogre'
Slowly but surely, sparse details regarding Hideo Kojima's "Project Ogre" begin to coalesce in the dark, nebulous void of unannounced games. We already know that Project Ogre will be an open world game with 100-plus hours of content, and that it will be a "very subdued experience," but what that experience actually is has remained a mystery.We have learned, however, that Kojima's use of the word "Ogre" in the project's codename is literal, rather than figurative, and that the game will deal with actual ogres in some capacity, according to a tweet translated by Andriasang. It's also interesting to note that the Japanese word for ogre, "oni," can also be translated to mean "devil" or "demon," so we may end up with one of those rather than an actual ogre. Our prediction is that this whole thing turns out to be a licensed Urusei Yatsura dating game.
Next Metal Gear Solid targeted for 'high-end consoles' and PC
Joystiq can exclusively reveal that the next Metal Gear Solid will feature intense zero-gravity chess, cybernetic nano-crocodiles, mirror universe machinations and a trash-compactor escape scene that will serve both as Star Wars homage and finger-wagging sermon on humanity's crushing impact on the environment. Well, provided the Joystiq staff are hired to work on the game.Kojima Productions has unveiled an extensive list of available jobs, hinged on evolving the in-development Fox Engine and, more importantly, bringing the next game in the Byzantine franchise to life. According to the page introduction, Hideo Kojima and co. are on the hunt for engineers, artists, designers and a brand manager to handle "the latest Metal Gear Solid targeted for high-end consoles and PC."If you think you can bolster the Fox Engine with new rendering tech, create "fantastic game content," or cultivate MGS "as a global mega-hit franchise in all regions," you should swing by the Game Developers Conference Career Pavilion between March 6 and March 9 and make yourself known.We might nudge you out of the way as we deliver our own game concept, which we're tentatively calling "Metal 6ear Solid: Sublimation Synthesis." Don't you just love the sound of that, Kojima?
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection has Vita-exclusive touch knifing
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for Vita won't just be a straight port of the PS3/Xbox collection (of upscaled ports). Hideo Kojima revealed that the portable release will have at least some Vita-exclusive features, including Vita-specific control tweaks."You can slice enemy's throat with knife if you flick the touch pad behind," he said, referring to the throat-slitting maneuver in Metal Gear Solid 3. The "touch pad behind" is of course the Vita's rear touch pad. You can also move left and right on the rear touch pad to stretch in first-person view. Of course, these aren't just a neat bonus -- as MGS2 and 3 used all of the PS2's control options, including analog buttons and the L3/R3 buttons, some changes had to be made in the transition.Kojima shared a couple of photos of MGS3's title screen and HD Collection menu screen on Vita, taken while sitting in a recording studio. Why was Hideo Kojima in a recording studio? Because actor Ginga Banjou was recording new lines for the game -- as Major Zero explaining the Vita controls.
Zone of the Enders HD opening snapshots, care of Kojima
Zone of the Enders HD is receiving a new animated opening from Gundam studio Sunrise. On a recent check of the footage, Hideo Kojima decided to tweet out some stills from the production. As Siliconera notes, Kojima captured the Vic Viper, Jehuty and Ardjet.
The Metal Gear Solid snakeskin 3DS is not to be eaten
Despite its subtitle, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater should not encourage you to consume the snakeskin-embossed Nintendo 3DS coming out alongside the game in Japan. For starters, the device is a piece of electronics, and on top of that it's a rare, cool-looking limited edition 3DS. Konami has yet to give the 3DS a full reveal, but the above image was teased via Hideo Kojima's Twitter account, like most things MGS these days. We'll keep an eye out for any other images slithering onto the internet before the game launches on March 8.
Kojima the producer open to MGS remake, Kojima the creator not so much
Konami's recent Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is an odd product for shipping without anything called "Metal Gear Solid HD" in the box. One part of series creator Hideo Kojima views the omission as a call to be answered, while another is eager to spend less time in the past. "There are a lot of people wanting remakes of the original, and as producer I want to answer those calls," Kojima tells Official PlayStation Magazine. "But as a creator I'm not very interested in going back. If we were to do it, it would have to be a total remake – the only thing that would be the same would be the story. If it happened at some point I would stay as a producer, but would have to hand off most of the actual creating." We've heard of Metal Gear Solid's seemingly inevitable continuation before, and of Kojima's wearying dance between director and producer. The first Metal Gear Solid is satisfactory in being "the game I wanted to make," says Kojima, who sounds like he'd rather not meddle and make it once more -- never mind that it's already been redone in MGS: Twin Snakes with the help of Silicon Knights and Nintendo. "If you bring the gameplay up to modern standards, then you lose a bit of the original game. It was a game made for a certain era – not just the story, but the controls and everything about it reflect that era in which the game was made." That's right. Back in the day, there wasn't enough visual fidelity to tell whose footprints those were -- and we liked it.
Kojima's Project Ogre takes place in an open world
"Rather than making something cinematic, [I plan to] make something very free," Hideo Kojima told CNN of his new game, "Project Ogre." He went on to describe the game as set in an open world, in which players are free to explore. CNN reports that Kojima expects players to be able to find content even after 100 hours. This open-world design is, of course, a change from the Metal Gear Solid series, which gives players a lot of choice in how they want to approach situations -- in a strictly prescribed series. Do you want to walk by those guards quietly, or tranquilize them, or throw down a Playboy magazine to distract them, or just kill them with a grenade? However you do it, you likely have to. Kojima didn't outright say the images he recently released on Twitter, of a Fox Engine title, were of this particular game. He has continued teasing the engine on Twitter, where today he posted an image of an "original system" for creating avatars. Above: programmer "Lionel" and his avatar, made in about an hour of fiddling.
Hideo Kojima gets his Revengeance with Metal Gear Rising
Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima and Platinum Games producer Atsushi Inaba took the stage at Konami's offices here in Los Angeles earlier this week for a mea culpa of sorts: Kojima now admits that Metal Gear Solid Rising, though it may have looked nice in the trailer back at E3 2010, just wasn't working. "In the summer of 2010, the team made a presentation for me," he recounted through a translator, "and I realized the game design still wasn't there yet." The team's vision was split between stealth and action, the idea of "cut everything" worked technically but made for gameplay that was too open-ended, and the game just wasn't fun, says Kojima. "As the young staff said to me, they wanted a good game that just felt good moving around, and we would never get that, so I decided to cancel the project." "But still, we had a lot of things" that could still be used, says Kojima. "Motion capture, a lot of good story, the view of the world inside the game, and I wanted to use that somehow. I wanted Rising to be born again, so that's when I decided to contact Platinum Games."%Gallery-141553%
Kojima's 'Project Ogre' will be different, but not anytime soon
There's an unusually high concentration of Metal Gear(?!) buzzing around the industry right now: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is upscaling its way through living rooms the world over, while Metal Gear Solid Rising's production continues, once again under the watchful eye of series progenitor Hideo Kojima. Metal Gear Solid 5 is even closer to being a thing now, but what about Kojima's other other baby, Project Ogre? "I can't really say too much about that project yet, but it's a very subdued experience," Kojima said during an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine UK. "It's a little bit different to what I've done up until now. On the surface it will look similar, but once you get into it, it will be a different experience." Announcements like this always get our blood pumping. Metal Gear set in medieval times? Zone of the Ogres? Whatever Project Ogre is, we at least know that it's a long way off: "The Ogre project is going to take a lot of time, so I want to produce some other things on the side, like I'm doing with Rising." Oh! Dude. Policenaogres. Think about it, Kojima.
Kojima on MGS5: 'We'll probably have to make it at some point'
Last week, we reported that an Official PlayStation Magazine article revealed concrete plans for Metal Gear Solid 5, with Hideo Kojima at the helm. New quotes have emerged from the magazine that make the news seem a bit less ... solid. Rather than boldly announcing that MGS 5 is happening, Kojima told the magazine that "I think we'll probably have to make it at some point, but what that will be, we have no idea." And rather than taking on the director job right away Kojima is, as ever, trying to free himself from Metal Gear. "As far as my involvement in the project is concerned, [it] probably won't be as much as it was with MGS1 - maybe I can do just one stage!" he said. Kojima told OPM that if he has other Kojima Productions staff make a game from the start, he won't have to step in to preserve his vision. So the announcement no longer specifies a definite Metal Gear Solid 5, and no longer confirms Kojima directing it. We'll just have to go back to assuming both of those things.
Tactical Espionage Announcement: Kojima working on Metal Gear Solid 5
Though this may not be a surprise worthy of even a single exclamation point, it's welcome news to fans of cardboard camouflage, fateful fistfights, and delicious, convenient Calorie Mates. There's going to be a Metal Gear Solid 5. And, despite his constant efforts to extricate himself from the series, Hideo Kojima is going to be in charge of it -- though it's currently unclear whether that will be in a higher-level production capacity or as director. The news comes out of the latest Official PlayStation Magazine UK, which finds a place for Hideo right on the cover. In the issue, Kojima discusses Metal Gear Solid Rising, his plans for this newly announced (but highly expected) sequel, and a new project called "Project Ogre." Whatever it is, we're sure it's not a new Snatcher game.
Deja Review: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. If you've never played a Metal Gear Solid game before, the slogan "tactical espionage action" probably doesn't evoke memories of baffling sci-fi plots, ludicrous boss fights and the occasional bit of fourth wall humor. For the rest of us, Metal Gear Solid stands as one of the strangest and most iconic franchises of the last generation. The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection wrangles together updated versions of Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater for the first time in high definition. Also included is a console version of the Playstation Portable title, Peace Walker. Add to that the original MSX2 versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, all for ten dollars less than the price of a standard console game, and you've got a collection approaching Orange Box levels of value. And while what's included in this anthology is quite impressive, it's the elements that are missing in action that tend to stick out.
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection slithers into Europe on Feb. 3, 2012 [update: US on Nov. 8]
Konami has announced a European release date for the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, an enhanced assembly of Hideo Kojima's playful, odd and utterly Byzantine stealth saga. (Well, most of it.) It'll be in shops for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 3, 2012. We've contacted Konami via uncompressed codec to confirm the HD collection's North American release date, which most retailers and rental outlets still list as November 8th, 2011. [Update: Konami has confirmed that date.] A Limited Edition packing a 450-page 250-page art book will also be available, as will this repeated reminder of what you're getting in the box: Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The Subsistence edition of MGS3 also includes Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The nested novelty of playing an MSX game inside a PS3 port of a PS2 game sounds too good to resist!
Hideo Kojima talks life, influences at USC presentation
Legendary game developer Hideo Kojima took the stage at the University of Southern California last night to talk about his life as a game developer, and give a few thoughts on the current state of gaming and game development. During an interview moderated by Geoff Keighley, the creator of Metal Gear Solid spoke honestly about his past as the son of two pharmaceutical executives, his current work/life balance, and what he thinks the future of gaming looks like. Kojima told a few cute stories from his past -- he said that he started writing as a young man, and early on wrote a long story called "Survival Battle" that had everyone in its world fight at the age of 14, earning extra time in their lifespan for each victory. He said that in college, he was an economics major, and thus the "only oddball in my class that wanted to make movies or novels." His economics thesis even included a short story "to surprise my professor, and he was very surprised," said Kojima through a translator, "but it didn't help my grade much." Kojima also talked about his gaming influences, starting with the original Famicom, and mentioned titles like Super Mario Brothers, Xevious, and the Japanese text adventure Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken as early influences on his work. "I felt great potential in the medium," Kojima said about discovering video games, adding that the interactivity was what really drew him in early on.
'Watch' Sdatcher in English right here
A group of heroic fans has begun the work of making Suda 51's Sdatcher, the Snatcher-inspired radio drama, available to Anglophone fans. A fan-subtitled version of the first installment has been posted to YouTube -- in English and Spanish -- allowing us to check in with Jean Jack Gibson, a "JUNKER" agent tasked with finding and destroying humanoid robots (Snatchers) who have infiltrated human society. This first episode is a sort of futuristic police procedural, with Gibson and his robotic partner "Little John" (played by Hideo Kojima) chatting amiably and going for lunch in Neo Kobe's Chinatown as they conduct an investigation. We can't help but wish we were seeing what was going on as we listen to this ... and that we were playing it. Thankfully, Akira Yamaoka's music does an admirable job of dropping us into the kind of cyberpunk future-'80s dreamed up in the original game.
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!]
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.
Sdatcher radio drama begins, swag for sale at TGS
For those of you who can understand Japanese, or just like the way it sounds, the first act of Kojima Productions and Suda 51's "Sdatcher" radio drama has been posted. You can access it from the Snatcher-inspired website set up for the series. And if you're the type of person who has been waiting for years for new Snatcher merchandise, and plans on attending Tokyo Game Show -- we're mostly referring to ourselves here -- Konami will be selling some exclusive Sdatcher stuff, including a postcard set and a clear file folder. We'll make sure to look and sound as American as we can, to send a clear message to Konami staff that there are Anglophones who are way into this stuff.
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.
Hideo Kojima tweets 'ZOE 3DS' logo
Prolific Twitter user and occasional game designer Hideo Kojima posted the above picture last night on his Twitter account, saying only, "Found this at Omori-kun's desk. What's this?" Yes, the Jehuty figure is pretty breathtaking, but something even more interesting can be found behind it: a "Z.O.E. 3DS" logo, with the "3DS" a subtle alteration of the mirrored ZOE logo. Part of another logo can be seen to the left, revealing "...bis: 2" That is perhaps a reference to Anubis, the Japanese name for Zone of the Enders 2. This ZOE logo could be anything: a ported Zone of the Enders game for 3DS (like Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater); a new sequel (as in "Zone of the Enders 3" in the west and "Anubis: 2" in Japan); or a canceled project that never made it past the "really cool logo" stage. Furthermore, Kojima could just be messing with his followers.
