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Watch 48 minutes of 'Death Stranding' gameplay
What exactly is Death Stranding? Thanks to a deep dive at Tokyo Game Show, we're finally able to answer -- or at least, better answer -- that long-standing question. The 48-minute presentation showed Sam Bridges, played by Walking Dead star Norman Reedus, wandering through more of director Hideo Kojima's eerily quiet world. But this time, we got to see a whole bunch of RPG and exploratory mechanics for the first time. These included the menu screen for picking up orders, fabricating equipment and stacking cargo on Bridges' back. Everything has a weight cost, so you'll have to carefully decide what, and where, to equip before heading out.
'Death Stranding' special edition comes with life-sized baby in a pod
There have been plenty of over-the-top game bundles in recent years, but the one for Death Stranding might top them all in terms of sheer audacity. When the game arrives on November 8th, a Collector's Edition will include a life-size "bridge baby" pod. That's right -- you too can creep out friends and family by placing what looks like a pickled infant on your desk. You probably don't want to decorate your office with this one.
More 'Death Stranding' details are coming on May 29th
Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding has so far existed as little more than a collection of strange cutscenes and brief gameplay snippets, but it's about to make considerably more sense... hopefully. Kojima Productions has teased a countdown to a news announcement on May 29th (May 30th in Japan). Just what you'll see is in the air, but the mention urges people to "create the rope" -- hopefully that line makes more sense after the unveiling.
Norman Reedus and Hideo Kojima reunite for 'Death Stranding'
Hideo Kojima made a stunning entrance during Sony's E3 2016 press conference, showing off an enigmatic yet intriguing opening to a game titled Death Stranding. After the chilling Silent Hills, featuring Norman Reedus in the lead role, fell through, it's interesting to see what will become of this new partnership.
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes zips onto Steam today
"Steam, are you okay? Steam? Steaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!" Calm down, Colonel. Steam is still safe and secure ahead of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes' arrival later today. The Windows PC port of the prologue to MGS 5: Phantom Pain is cleared for landing at 10AM PT/1PM ET, and with a price tag of $20.
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes gets permanent price cut
Konami announced a permanent price drop for Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes this week, cutting the game's cost down to $19.99 on all platforms. Ground Zeroes is now priced at £19.99 and €19.99 in Europe as well. The game will reach Steam on December 18. Acting as a prologue to Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and also set after the events of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes took players through a rescue mission as series hero Snake. Ground Zeroes launched in March for $30, and according to our review was "also 30 bucks for one hell of a cliffhanger" as the game wound up "teasing more than it satisfies." The next proper entry in the series, Metal Gear Solid 5, will launch in 2015. [Image: Konami]
Kojima promises Silent Hills will make players ruin their pants
Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima confirmed that the interactive horror game unvealed during Sony's Gamescom 2014 press conference is indeed Silent Hills, a new, pluralized game in Konami's Silent Hill series. Kojima is working with Hellboy director Guillermo Del Toro on a game that will make players "shit their pants," as Kojima said through a translator during Konami's livestreamed Gamescom event today, joking that a limited edition version of of Silent Hills will include an extra pair of slacks (you know, for all the pants-shitting you'll be doing). The interactive teaser, now available on PSN, was briefly discussed during Sony's event yesterday under the name P.T. As it turns out, that only stood for "Playable Teaser," as there's "no deep meaning into it." Kojima clarified, "you see all these trailers and teasers, but it is a game so I wanted to have something that was really interactive that you could play through and after playing it, clearing something, you will finally get to the IP or title or whatever it was."
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes coming to Steam
Update: In a video featuring Snake sneaking around in a box stamped with the Steam logo, Hideo Kojima has officially announced Metal Gear Sold 5: The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes is coming to PC. The announcement was made during Konami's special Metal Gear Preview Party, broadcast on Twitch. No release date was revealed, only that Ground Zeroes would release first. Original Post: Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes are coming to Steam. The news comes by way of Konami's official European site, which seems to have accidentally revealed the announcement prior to tonight's planned Metal Gear preview event. Though the press release Konami Europe's site is pointing to is no longer found online [link], we've discovered a text snippet of the announcement: Tonight's MGSV:TPP Preview Show revealed; with a twist of METAL GEAR SOLID humour, that MGSV: THE PHANTOM PAIN and GROUND ZEROES will be available on Steam, release date yet to be disclosed. The event featured a surprise message from Kiefer Sutherland; the voice of 'Snake', announcing an exclusive gamescom pre-order deal. Fans who attended received vouchers offering a 5 EURO discount on the PlayStation®4 and Xbox One versions of MGSV:TPP. This pre-order deal is also available at the KONAMI booth (Hall 7.1) – so if you're planning to visit gamescom, be sure to swing by! We'll be announcing more pre-order deals over the next few months, stay tuned. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain had previously only been confirmed to arrive for Xbox One, PS4, PS3 and Xbox 360. Ground Zeroes, the prologue to The Phantom Pain's story, was released earlier this year.
Watch Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain's E3 demo
Snake? Yo, Snake? Snake! Oh, there you are. Hey Snake, check it: You've read our E3 preview of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and its animal-ballooning hijinks. Now watch all 30 minutes of the E3 demo for yourself in this recorded Konami stream. [Image: Konami]
Seen@E3: A visual history of Metal Gear
The walls outside the theater of Konami's E3 2014 detail a visual history of one of the company's most famous franchises. One poster showcases the evolution of Snake from his days as a bundle of pixels on the MSX to the gruff, high-res hero in Kojima's upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Another poster gives players a history of its various weaponized tanks, the titular Metal Gears. A third poster breaks down the environments Snake has infiltrated over the years. For fans, it's a wonderful display of the stealth-action franchise's history and something we had to try very hard not to steal to put on our walls at home. Thankfully, Konami released high-resolution images of each poster. Time to go to the printer!
Recruiting goats and researching cardboard in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
The in-game demo of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain features an impressive array of technology, from Fox Engine's fantastic character models and dynamic weather effects to its day and night cycle and open-world locales. Oh, and also, you have the ability to attach a surface-to-air recovery balloon to a goat and send it flying toward your home base. Clearly, the engine's most impressive feat.
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes ships 1 million across all platforms
Konami announced that its Metal Gear Solid 5 prologue, Ground Zeroes, has shipped over one million units worldwide since its launch last month. The milestone accounts for all copies shipped on the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 3 in all regions. Developer Kojima Productions confirmed this week that Ground Zeroes' formerly console-exclusive gameplay modes will hit all available platforms on May 1 as free downloadable content. Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes takes series protagonist Snake, now played by Kiefer Sutherland, into an open world – with mixed results, according to our review. [Image: Konami]
MGS: Ground Zeroes platform-exclusive content free for all in May
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes' console-exclusive content will soon launch as free DLC across all available platforms, Metal Gear Solid series producer Hideo Kojima revealed this week on the Kojima Productions podcast. Ground Zeroes premiered last month with the Classic Snake skin and the "Deja Vu" mission on PlayStation platforms, while the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions featured the "Jamais Vu" mission starring Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance's cybernetic Raiden. The date "5/1" accompanies the announcement, though it's currently unknown whether this is a worldwide DLC release date or a launch date for the DLC in Japan. [Image: Konami]
Infamous: Second Son beats Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes to UK No. 1
Infamous: Second Son racked up the second-best first week for a PS4 game in the UK, only placing behind launch title Killzone Shadow Fall. Those sales were enough to ensure the system exclusive took the UK No. 1 ahead of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes this week, with last week's leader Titanfall titanfalling to third. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster was the other big new release of the week and the re-polished PS3 and Vita game took fourth. February and March's swathe of big-name games has finally given the UK charts a more current feel: Eight of this week's top ten were released in 2014, and most of those only in the last few weeks. The two lingerers from last year? Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition and, no surprises, FIFA 14. [Image: Sony Computer Entertainment]
Kojima toyed with design similar to GTA 3 back when it was released
Speaking to Joystiq, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima said that around the time Grand Theft Auto 3 was released, he and his team tried to create "something similar" to its open-world design. Kojima didn't note to what extent that something similar was worked on, nor which project it was for, but he did say it wasn't up to the standard of Rockstar's crime sim. The Japanese veteran designer presented GTA creators the Houser brothers with lifetime achievement awards at last night's BAFTA ceremony in London. Kojima has previously spoken about being influenced by the vastness of GTA 3, telling EGM back in 2012 the game "definitely opened his eyes." After the awards show, we asked him if the GTA games had inspired the open-world design of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. "When GTA 3 came out, we were on Metal Gear Solid 2," Kojima said, speaking through a translator. "At that point we tried to create something similar and we were completely unable to come up with this design to [a level of] similar success. Actually, around then I had with dinner with Dan Houser who I just saw [tonight] for the first time after ten years. To be honest, looking at their [Rockstar's] success at doing what we tried to do and failed, we went back and made the game engine [and] we first tried to ensure the freedom the player would have. So more than being inspired by them, to be honest they just went ahead of us, they were more successful than what we were trying to create back then. "Now, game-wise what we are trying to create [in Ground Zeroes] is something probably different than they are trying to create. We're trying to ensure the freedom so the player can do some more realistic stealth infiltration by having all this freedom. So I believe we're creating different games." Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes is the first game in the stealth series to feature an open world, and Big Bosses worldwide get to explore it in a few days' time. The game hits North America on PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PS3 on March 18, and then Europe on March 20. [Image: BAFTA]
Metal Gear Ground Zeroes: price cuts, iDroid, Phantom Pain DLC
"Kept you waiting, huh?" whispered Konami, before dropping a collection of news bombs this morning. For starters, the company announced a price cut to the physical PS4 and Xbox One versions of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. Rather than costing $40, the two consoles' retail versions are now priced at $30. The company says it wants to "provide as many people as possible an opportunity" to play the game - awwwwwwww. Other versions of Ground Zeroes remain at the same price; you can check out the game's still highly-convoluted pricing structure here. Incidentally, the price cut is matched in the UK, where PS4 and Xbox One retail versions will set Brits back £30. In addition, Konami confirmed the previously speculated inclusion of Phantom Pain DLC with early purchases of Ground Zeroes. The codes, which include additional staff to utilize in Big Boss' Mother Base headquarters, which apparently plays a "central role" in The Phantom Pain, are available in the first batch of retail copies and for an undisclosed "limited" amount of time with download versions. In case you've been living under a rock or with bandages wrapped around your ears, MGS5: Ground Zeroes is being billed as the prologue chapter to MGS5: The Phantom Pain. If you'd rather wait before you Snake, the good news is all copies of Ground Zeroes have some integration with the Mother Base in The Phantom Pain. The POWs and VIPs you rescue in the prologue will carry over to the follow-up, as will character skins you unlock. Finally, it wouldn't be Metal Gear without some peripheral capers, and if you so choose you can download a free second-screen "iDroid" app on iOS and Android to use with the game. The app, which is integrated into SmartGlass for Xbox, lets you view maps, play cassettes you discover, and summon air support in the game ... Oh, the game! Yes, the small matter of Ground Zeroes itself arrives on March 18 for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PS3. [Image: Konami]
MGS5: Ground Zeroes transcends generations in platform comparison video
You've seen the frame-rates and resolutions for Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, now see the frame-rates and resolutions in Konami's new comparison video. Rather than dwell on the differences in p between Xbox One and PS4, it focuses on cross-gen enhancements between PS3 and PS4, and Xbox 360 and Xbox One. One thing it doesn't touch on is the price difference. When the prologue to MGS5: The Phantom Pain hits on March 18, a download version will set you back $20 on Xbox 360 and PS3, and $30 on PS4 and Xbox One, with physical copies priced at $30 and $40 respectively.
Hideo Kojima defends MGS: Ground Zeroes' reported two-hour length
Metal Gear Solid series director Hideo Kojima has issued a statement addressing concerns over the length of the coming Metal Gear Solid 5 prologue chapter, Ground Zeroes, assuring that the final product will encourage replay due to its "freedom of approach and play style." A report from the latest issue of Game Informer pegged Ground Zeroes' campaign at around two hours in length. Kojima explains that the game's breadth of content, which includes a collection of side missions and an online-ranked trial mode, will keep players occupied long enough to justify its $40 retail price point. "This is not a linear game like the past," the statement reads. "[Ground Zeroes] offers freedom of approach and play style, which we hope players will enjoy over and over without [becoming bored]. I believe people will be satisfied with the 'Play Time' of Ground Zeroes and not stress the 'Clear Time,' which is a standard for linear games." Kojima Productions' Jordan Amaro backed up Kojima's statement, comparing Ground Zeroes to brief but satisfying indie experiences such as Journey and Dear Esther. "I want people to celebrate the new MGS like we used to," Amaro told GameSpot. "I'm not dismissing their concerns. But this [issue] has been trumped-up." Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes will launch on March 18 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PS4 and Xbox One. [Image: Konami]
Report: Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes campaign completed in two hours
If you're expecting Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes to eat up time ahead of The Phantom Pain, you may be out of luck. In this month's issue, a Game Informer preview noted the standalone prologue's main campaign was completed in "just less than two hours." "How quickly it takes to complete the main mission and explore the camp is up to the player," the preview said, "but the extra missions give the game a little more replayability." You can find the full preview in this month's Game Informer, which goes into the side stuff available in the game's open world. That said, Ground Zeroes commands at best a $20 price tag for the downloadable Xbox 360 and PS3 version. If you want to get a physical copy on PS4 or Xbox One, you'll have to stump up $40 - we've got the full pricing details here. Longevity lovers may look to The Phantom Pain, which series creator Hideo Kojima said has a map "hundreds of times larger" than the one in Ground Zeroes. We'd rather play Ground Zeroes ourselves before commenting - who knows how good those two hours are? Every Snake and his dog will be able to do just that when the game launches on March 18. [Image: Konami]
Konami investigating Metal Gear Rising's region lock on Steam
Konami is looking into region-locking concerns related to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance on Steam. The news comes from a tweet recently issued by JP Kellams, a creative producer at Platinum Games. Kellams assured players that the "first thing I did in the office today was talk about the MGR region lock thing." The game's Steam community includes a number of discussion threads questioning players' inability to give the game as a gift to others across the globe, locking Russian and Argentinian copies to those regions, as an example. One discussion noted that Ireland-based players were unable to access the game's page, but seemed to find a work-around by being gifted the game from other European countries. The PC version of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will launch Thursday, and is currently 20 percent off on Steam until then.
