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Gamestop says no Metal Gear Solid 4 until 2008
Uh oh. Looks like gaming behemoth Gamestop/EB Games is sending a dreaded email to gamers who preordered Metal Gear Solid 4. According to an email sent earlier today, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots been delayed from its tenative September 1st, 2007 date and is now expected March 1st, 2008. This isn't the first time a high-profile title hits a sudden postponement, but we were gearing up in anticipation for this title to hold us over through the holidays. Without the hugely anticipated title expected until 2008, it could cause Santa's little helpers to drop off something else under the tree. Lets all hope this one doesn't quite pan out as the email indicates.
Kojima working on a Snatcher sequel?
Hideo Kojima and Suda 51 (Goichi Suda) recently murmured about a project they've been plugging away at, aptly titled Project S. Rumors abounded that this project was, in fact, a sequel to the cult classic Snatcher by Kojima himself. Turns out the rumors are true -- this project is indeed based on Kojima's Snatcher title, but this project isn't actually a game. Oof.Turns out the project, re-named Snatchers, will be a radio drama written by Suda 51, who will also appear as a voice actor in said radio drama. Yep... radio drama. Seems we've taken a step backwards in time. There are other parts of the overall project, but Suda and Kojima are remaining hush-hush... let's see if a game is hidden between the secret decoder rings we'll need to solve the puzzle in the radio drama. More Ovaltine, please!
Kojima apologizes for lack of edible koalas in MGS3 [update 1]
At GO3, an Australian gaming conference of import (that's fancy speak for importance, not goods entering a country), Hideo Kojima had a little speech planned out where he discussed "game technology evolution" and proceeded through the Metal Gear series up to MGS4's current progress. We'll get to that.Before we go there, though, Kojima offered up an apology for the jungle in Snake Eater: "looks more like your backyard than a jungle," he joked, then apologized to the audience in Japanese for not letting koalas be an edible food source in the game. Would koalas even taste good? They'd probably taste like what they eat -- eucalyptus leaves. Anyway, on to MGS4 not-so-news.In line with the rest of his speech on innovating gameplay, he and his team knew that they "exhausted the concept of the space, so why not create a situation, rather then a place where Snake had to sneak in" and decided on a battlezone. He explained the possibilities of the battlefield setting -- how there are two sides fighting and one isn't necessarily Snake's enemy, moral ambiguities, et cetera. Then he showed the latest, but already viewed by many, trailer for the game. So, nothing new on the game, but it's nice to read about how Kojima has evolved the franchise across time.[update: changed the koala's dietary properties to eucalyptus leaves...]
Core Metal Gear Solid 4 cast announced: Hayter's a player again
As if hearing the collective cries of those tossing and turning in their beds, gripped by the nightmare of having the English Metal Gear Solid 4 cast be comprised of Pauly Shore, Gilbert Gottfried and Macy Gray, comes Konami and their announcement of the game's core voice cast. David Hayter, whose vocal chords can effortlessly grind cinder blocks to dust, unsurprisingly reprises his role of Solid Snake, lending some world weariness to the protagonist as he strangles inept soldiers, babbles into his codec and asks why nobody is telling him the damn truth. (You can sample the man's voice for yourself in the latest Kojima Productions Report podcast.)Returning as Roy Campbell is Paul Eiding, who will once again regale you with tales of "the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork," as well as mention his unusual and unexpected desire for scissors. Rounding out the core cast is Christopher Randalph playing Hal "Otacon" Emmerich and Quinton Flynn portraying the widely reviled, androgynous nudist-turned-ninja, Raiden. With Metal Gear Solid 4's over-the-top plot still a closely guarded secret, no other English character voices have been announced. Cam Clarke ("Liquid?") seems a sure bet, as do most of the great actors from the previous games. After all, there's no indication that Hideo Kojima's PS3 game ("so far") will be anything less than an "expertly crafted and customized" experience.(See? Our clever choice of video still leaves us in the clear in case it's a disappointment.)[Via press release]
Virtually Overlooked: Snatcher [update 1]
Update: screens!Welcome to our new weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.This week, we'd like to talk about Snatcher, a Sega CD game from Konami released in the US in 1994. The game was also released in Japan for the MSX2, PC8801, PC Engine CD-Rom, Playstation, and Saturn.Why the game hasn't been announced for Virtual Console yet: Not too long ago, the obvious answer to this question would have been "because it is a graphical text adventure." Luckily, however, the DS has changed that, bringing an era where graphical text adventures are the subjects of rabid fandom. What hasn't changed is that Snatcher is a Sega CD game, and Nintendo has made no announcements regarding support for CD systems. The size of the files may be prohibitive, although it would be possible to save space by compressing the sound and music.
Metal Gear movie backed by Sony Studios -- so, PS3 exclusive?
Stop and think about the subject line for a minute. The Metal Gear movie is being backed by Sony Pictures. Would Sony really want to fund such a large, high-profile project like this if Konami and Kojima were going to stab them in the back and move onto multiple platforms? We think not. While it is indirect and no more than an assumption, it makes sense. You wouldn't see Sony backing the defunct Halo movie, or Microsoft spearheading a Shadow of the Colossus film (there isn't one).For those curious about the film itself, Kojima himself gave this the go-ahead, so you know there will be quality somewhere along the line. Vice-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Yair Landau, said: "It's a very cinematic game, it really lends itself to movie telling. But the question is, 'How do you translate Snake's experience into a full arc that conforms to what audiences expect on the large screen?" Good question, but that's what Kojima's here for! Ask him for help. There are also talks, he said, of an Everquest movie. Let's not talk about that.[Thanks a lot, Colin!]
Sony Pictures producing Metal Gear Solid movie
Shortly after delivering his convergence keynote at this year's D.I.C.E. summit, the vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed to Gamespot that Sony's film studio would be responsible for dragging Metal Gear Solid into the cinema. "We're working with the Metal Gear guys," says Yair Landau. "It's a very cinematic game, it really lends itself to movie telling. But the question is, 'How do you translate Snake's experience into a full arc that conforms to what audiences expect on the large screen?'" Lead Metal Gear guy, Hideo Kojima, announced the film at last year's E3, though barely any details have surfaced since then. Apart from crushing the hopes of Dr. Boll, Kojima and co. have said nothing with respect to casting, directing or script. A safe assumption sees Solid Snake strangling inept soldiers and battling at least one psychopath with a penchant for babbling about the philosophical hangups of dropping nuclear bombs ... on the rainforest. The real trick will be to provide a film more entertaining than the infamous Metal Gear Awesome (embedded after the break for old time's sake). Landau also hinted at an Everquest movie from Sony Pictures, but declined to name the supposedly esteemed producer attached to it. If it winds up being an epic tale of elven mana dealers and over-the-top dragon chases, we'll know it was Jerry Bruckheimer.
Fan-translation of Kojima's Policenauts nears completion
While most American gamers know Hideo Kojima as the man behind the blockbuster Metal Gear Solid franchise, the two games he worked on before breaking out with MGS are considered forgotten masterpieces. One, Snatcher, saw a limited U.S. release on the ill-fated Sega CD. The other, Policenauts, has never been available in English. That seems poised to change, though, as Kojima fan-site Junker HQ has just announced the completion of a five-year project to translate the game's text. Only some technical work remains before the translation is released as a patch on the newly relaunched policenauts.net, currently targeted for the second half of 2007. Theoretically, the patch will require a CD-R, an official Japanese version of the game and a modded PlayStation to work, but emulator-compatible ISOs are sure to leak out for the less scrupulous among us. While you wait, check out the game's Wikipedia entry to get some idea of what made the game so special. [Via MetalGearsolid.org]
MGS4 creator wants to develop on 360
In a recent interview with GamePro, Metal Gear Solid creator, Hideo Kojima, intimated that he wants to develop for the Xbox 360. When asked about the possibility of developing for the Xbox 360, Kojima states that he is interested in the idea, and notes that the 360 is selling very well in areas outside of Japan (in other words, 360=Money). Kojima also says that he's a fan of Gears of War (wonder what his Gamertag is ... BigBoss69 maybe?). Adding fuel to the undying rumor-fire that is Metal Gear Sold 4 on the 360, Kojima uses interesting wording regarding the game, "MGS4 is only for the PS3 so far."Did you see that? "So far." In PR terms, that leaves many windows open for Metal Gear Solid 4 to appear on other platforms. Granted, it's not an assurance that it will happen, but as hungry fanboys, we'll take what we can get.[Via Joystiq]
Kojima hopes to develop for everything, ever
In a recent Gamepro interview, Hideo Kojima makes it clear that his aspirations involve more than just the Playstation 3. The Metal Gear designer notes that he eventually wants to develop for the Wii, the Xbox 360 (he's a fan of Gears of War, you know) and the "world-wide platform" that is the PC. "I want to do it. But our staff, especially the younger ones, don't so much like to work on the PC. If it was PC, we don't have to go into some crappy things with the first parties."Going by Kojima's earlier steak dinner and movie analogies, we suppose he can now be interpreted as a rabid film critic wandering about town, randomly bursting into houses and demanding delicious steaks. Of course, PC gaming needs to fit in there somewhere -- is it like leveling up your own livestock, shortly before slaughtering it and eating it alone?Read the interview and make your own conclusions. Watch out for Kojima stating that "MGS4 is actually for the PS3 only so far."[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
See where MGS soldiers are hiding
As you can see from the map above, Hideo Kojima's plan to launch a secret army in Japan is working quite well. A new service uses Google Maps to show you the points of interest you'll want to hit in order to recruit new characters via Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops' unique and innovative GPS mode. Although an English language version of this service is supposedly "coming soon," I wouldn't be surprised if it never saw the light of day: certainly, it would be a far more demanding undertaking to travel across the entirity of America in order to unlock as many characters as possible.Of course, the true Metal Gear fans have already started their cross-country trek.[Via Pocket Gamer]See also:Unlock all of MGS:PO's unique characters
Hideo Kojima dismisses HD and 1080p, sort of
We picked up a GamePro magazine a couple of days back, because we like to read printed material every once in a while. Even though news travels so much faster on this crazy "series of tubes" called the internet, there are a few interviews and such that remain under the radar until the magazine hits shelves. One such interview was with Hideo Kojima, mastermind behind the Metal Gear games. Let's go over the key things we drew from his interview. In MGS4, Snake won't be utilizing his back-to-the-wall move anymore -- Hideo says it's not a very realistic move for the battlefield Snake will be on. You can hide behind stuff, take a peek out, then shoot, though. Blu-ray isn't all it's cracked up to be. Hold on. He says that a basic gameplay frame, HD visuals, and 5.1 sound takes up so much space that the advanced capacity of a Blu-ray is used up in no time. What does that say for plain ol' DVD's, then? MGS4 on multiple discs, perhaps? Kojima wants to try out the Wii after MGS4 wraps up -- supposedly. What could he be planning? Hideo doesn't care for HD at all. He purposely made the graphics appear dirtier than more generic "clean" screenshots, to bring a more realistic life to the atmosphere. That's good. So what have we learned here? Blu-ray is easy to fill up, HD graphics can make things look like plastic and unrealistic, Snake will have to find another signature stealth pose, and the Wii is interesting. Sounds like any other day, really. I mean, I have GI Joes in my closet to play with if I want plastic-laden soldiers. I demand scarring and mud on my PS3 warriors and I will have it! Eventually.[via GamePro magazine]
Stock trader sim imported, reviewed
The folks at GameBrink got their hands on a copy of Kabushiki Baibai Torenakabutore, a stock trader sim, but not the one we mentioned before. And the verdict is? Solid offering from Hideo Kojima (is there any other kind?), but not exactly import friendly unless you read Japanese. What's interesting about this game is that it relies on five years of real data from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, so the trends are realistic. They're not playing when they call this one a sim, are they? Further, all your favorite gaming companies are represented, like Nintendo and Konami. The lessons are real as well; a complete trading newb can apparently pick this up, play the game, and walk away knowing some real information about how the market works. Should a sim be so realistic? Maybe not always, but stock trading is apparently pretty addicting, so here it seems to work well.Since there are multiple companies busily forging stock trader games, perhaps we'll see a release outside Japan for one of these ... and now we're hoping for this one, since we've gotten a look at it!
Kojima doesn't care about HD, likes Wii
Taken from a recent issue of Gamepro magazine, Metal Gear guy Hideo Kojima said the following things when asked about HD gaming and the possibility of working with the Wii. Given the past (Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes), we think the possibility of a Kojima project, whether it be Metal Gear related or not, is good. What kind of project would you like to see from Kojima on the Wii? Maybe a port of Metal Gear: Portable Ops or perhaps a brand new IP?
Satoru Iwata: biggest Japanese industry cheese of '06?
The latest issue of Japan's Weekly Famitsu contains gory details of the magazine's annual Japanese industry awards, and it's little surprise that renowned industry savior Satoru Iwata is cited as the figure who made the greatest impact on videogames in 2006. NCL's friendly President (there's a French brand of cheese called Président, you know) received 201 votes to pip Ken Kutaragi, of all people, to the title. What "Big Ken" was even doing in the listings we fail to fathom, but there you have it. And here you have Famitsu's top five Japanese industry cheeses: Satoru Iwata (Nintendo) -- 201 votes Ken Kutaragi (Sony Computer Entertainment) -- 181 votes Hironobu Sakaguchi (Mistwalker) -- 126 votes Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo) -- 41 votes Hideo Kojima (Konami) -- 33 votes
A little bit of foresight -- Portable Ops style
There's a very interesting idea floating around. This idea says the upcoming PSP title, Metal Gear: Portable Ops is a little more than simply an MGS3 sequel -- it's a testing ground for new gameplay elements that may appear in Metal Gear Solid 4. Since MG:PO has some drastically different gameplay elements (4-man teams, limited inventory, recruiting any character seen to help you out, etc), Kojima and friends might be using the PSP game to see how people, and critics, react to these new styles of play.You see, even though we've seen trailer after trailer of Metal Gear Solid 4, we've yet to see much concerning actual gameplay. An aging Snake taking on armies of mechs alone? Not likely. Many gameplay elements are completely unheard of -- this may be a reason why. What do you guys think? Is the PSP game a sort of test for how loyal enthusiasts react to gameplay changes that may appear in the PS3 title? It's an interesting idea, but at the same time, no one thought that Snake would battle with cards via Ac!d in future games.
Hideo Kojima still misses his dear rumble
You may be thinking to yourself, "!", but it's more like "?", followed by a shrug or perhaps a strange pattern of walking. Metal Gear overlord and storyteller extraordinaire, Hideo Kojima, does indeed miss the rumble feature in the Sony controller for the PS3, as told in an interview with OPM. He even "hopes it will come back". A lot of people do, Kojima-san, a lot of people do.How about the motion-sensing? Kojima did say they would use it in some way, shape, or form, but wasn't specific as to what, exactly. Let's take some time to think about it. Would it be aiming? No, no... that needs more than six axes (axe-eees). Looking around corners? Maybe, but L2 and R2 did just fine there. Perhaps moving the camera after hitting the aforementioned buttons? No... the right analog was dandy. Perhaps controlling something akin to the Nikita missile? That would be subtle enough to not get in Kojima's way, but still a proper utilization. Leave us your theories here!
MGS4 on the 360? Let's debate some random rumors!
People over at Konami HQ have long been pressuring Hideo Kojima, mind behind the Metal Gear games, to go multi-platform. Until the time of this writing, he has remained adamant about staying solely on Sony platforms (although MGS2 did get onto the XBox after some time). So, what's the rumor, eh? Check out the cover of EGM. Zoom in or whatever on the smaller print right above Master Chief's head. MGS4 on the 360? Couldn't be! What's the proof? We won't know until we get our mitts on this magazine (I'll check my mailbox incessantly -- I'm that addicted to gaming "news"). Unless this magazine is out... don't think so. Last one we got had a huge Gears of War spread. Well, let's try our best to keep this civilized, but... what do you guys think would happen if Metal Gear goes multi-platform? Is it truly (along with Squeenix -- debatable) the only thing keeping Sony afloat? How important are the (trite, meaningless phrase warning) killer apps for each system? Is it enough to have large quantities of "pretty good" games, or do you have to have one "I need this game right now or I'll kill you" among a sea of mediocre garbage? Ready? Go.
Will Wright makes "Digital 50" Top 5, beats out Google & YouTube founders
The Producers' Guild of America has recognized the achievements of Will Wright (The Sims), Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), and Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Rez & Lumines), naming the three luminaries to the Guild's current list of 50 most innovative producers in the field of Digital Entertainment. Wright even landed in the number 5 position, besting big-name contributors like Google's Larry Page and Sergei Brin (#9), and YouTube's Chad Hurley and Chris Chen (#23). Kojima and Mizuguchi made the list at numbers 38 and 50 respectively.Brain Age's Dr. Ryuta Kawashima also made the list, popping up -- surprisingly -- at number 16. Anyways, a round of applause for the 'three gaming gods' and the talking head. Congrats, gentlemen.Who should the PGA elect next year?
Portable Ops crucial to Metal Gear Solid 4 story
Everything's connected. At least, according to Kevin Bacon JJ Abrams Hideo Kojima. And, in order to fully understand the events of the amazing-looking Metal Gear Solid 4 on the PS3, you'll have to buy yourself a PSP. The two upcoming PSP-exclusive Metal Gear titles (Digital Comic 2, Portable Ops) will establish the story for the next-gen sequel. "We'd like you to definitely play it [the PSP games]," Kojima was quoted saying. "If you change the Ops story, you have to change 4. If you change 4, it also becomes necessary to change Ops. Until Ops is finished, 4's story can't be finalized." We'll all get a taste of the Guns of the Patriots' storyline when Portable Ops hits the system in December.[Via IGN]
