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Hideo Kojima has no plans to license Fox Engine
Don't expect the engine behind the next Metal Gear Solid sequel to power any other games in the near future. Despite earlier comments in which Kojima stated that the Fox Engine could potentially be used for a Silent Hill entry, or perhaps a first-person shooter, the designer now believes that the engine would require a massive amount of work before it might be found in games other than Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. "Right now it's a bit too difficult," Kojima told Gamasutra. "While, yes, the engine has been shared around internally at Konami, a lot of maintenance will be involved if we're to get the Fox Engine in a workable enough state to license it. At the moment there are no plans to license it to schools or other organizations." Continuing, Kojima adds that he and Konami are willing to meet with potential Fox Engine licensees, but that open licensing of the engine is "off the table for now."
Konami unveils LA studio, 'instrumental' to Metal Gear Solid games
Konami opened a new, Los Angeles-based branch of Kojima Productions today, expanding the sphere of mad scientist/game developer Hideo Kojima's influence to the shores of North America. The new studio, appropriately named Kojima Productions Los Angeles, will be "instrumental" to the development of a variety of games, but mostly the Metal Gear Solid series. "Los Angeles is ground zero for the best studios, facilities and world-class talent, we are leaning on these local resources to build an incredible team to create gaming experiences that are just as compelling as any film or television show," Kojima said. Kojima Productions LA will also be in charge of Metal Gear Solid 5's online multiplayer. Kojima recently told Joystiq during a MGS5 preview that he wants the Japan-based branch and LA-based branch to "kind of compete, but kinda co-operate and work together to form the true form of Kojima Productions." Kojima declined to say if said "true form" will be a giant robot dinosaur.
Metal Gear dev video shows transition from actress to shirtless character
This dev video for Metal Gear Solid 5 shows the impressive conversion of actress Stefanie Joosten from human being into Quiet. More impressive is how the tech removes her clothes and hopefully applies plenty of sunblock with a high SPF.
Evolving Snake for the open world in Metal Gear Solid 5
Last night, Konami invited press to Kojima Productions Los Angeles where components of Metal Gear Solid 5 are currently under development. As part of the introduction to the freshly opened studio, MGS creator Hideo Kojima presented what the publisher dubbed as the first live, in-game demo of Ground Zeroes, the so-called prologue chapter to the next Metal Gear. The demo began with a familiar setting, expanding on a gameplay demo first revealed in September 2012. In the demo - which Kojima noted was designed specifically for the event - Big Boss infiltrates a stronghold in the middle of a torrential downpour. Powered by the developer's new Fox Engine, the detail on display in the Metal Gear Solid 5 demo we were shown was staggering. Rain drops collide with characters, cloth and tarps realistically move along with the temperamental conditions around them, lights and shadows look outstanding. The entire demo appears to be running on early next-gen hardware; however, Hideo Kojima said that what we were seeing - which looked identical to the September 2012 reveal, available to watch after the break - was running on PCs that represent the power offered by the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Kojima confirms Metal Gear Solid 5 for PlayStation 4
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is in development for the PlayStation 4, series director Hideo Kojima confirmed in response to fan questions on Twitter. Kojima assures that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of The Phantom Pain are still in the works. Metal Gear Solid 5 was announced for the Xbox One during Microsoft's E3 press briefing yesterday.%Gallery-191281%
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain announced for Xbox One [Update: trailer!]
Konami announced at Microsoft's E3 press conference today that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will debut for the Xbox One alongside previously announced ports for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Promising "tactical espionage redefined," Metal Gear Solid 5 boasts a new open-world take on the series, offering up real-time weather and multiple transportation options. The game also includes a dynamic CQC system. The Phantom Pain's storyline, at least partially, seems to revolve around rescuing Kaz Miller, a character originally featured in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Konami did not reveal whether The Phantom Pain is exclusive to Xbox One, or if a release is planned for other platforms. Update: Microsoft's Major Nelson confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 5 is not exclusive to the Xbox One.
Kiefer Sutherland is the voice of Snake in Metal Gear Solid 5 [Update]
Kiefer Sutherland will provide the voice for Metal Gear Solid 5's iteration of covert espionage action hero Big Boss, previously known as Naked Snake, Konami has just announced during its pre-E3 livestream. This isn't the first time Sutherland's name has popped up in related to Metal Gear – a trailer presented during this year's GDC sparked debate when a very Sutherlandish voice was heard emanating from Snake's bandaged hospital companion, Ishmael. Whether Sutherland is the voice actor for both characters, and what implications that may have for the game's story, remains to be seen. The British/Canadian actor is perhaps best known for his time as Jack Bauer in the action/drama television series 24, but we prefer to think of him as the voice of Bosco in 2010's live-action Marmaduke adaptation. Update: Konami's presentation has been embedded in full after the break – Metal Gear-oriented proceedings begin around the 10-minute mark.
Konami pre-E3 show gives the scoop on MGS5, Castlevania on June 6
Konami's third annual pre-E3 show is penciled in for June 6 at 1 p.m. ET, streaming live online via Konami's events site, on Gamespot and via the Xbox Live Gamespot app. For the second year in a row, Konami will show off a new trailer for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, which was announced during last year's pre-E3 briefing. Konami also plans to show off some behind-the-scenes footage of the next Pro Evolution Soccer game, and will have "new announcements" from Kojima Productions. Kojima recently made a splash with the Joakim Mogren marketing campaign for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Surely nothing will be able to compete with that.
David Hayter: Hearing someone else as Snake 'makes me a little ill'
David Hayter, the voice of Snake since 1998's Metal Gear Solid, won't reprise his role in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain – and that sucks, Hayter writes in an elongated Twitter post."If it were my choice, I would do this role forever," Hayter says. "To hear anyone else's voice coming from Snake's battered throat, makes me a little ill, to be honest. But the truth is – it's not my choice. Any and all casting decisions are the sole purview of Hideo Kojima, and Konami itself. And that's fair."Konami never approached Hayter for the role, Hayter writes. He found out the production team "wouldn't be needing" him in December, when the recording sessions for Phantom Pain began in Los Angeles."No reason, or explanation was given beyond that. And that was it," Hayter says. He was "bummed" by the news. Konami head Hideo Kojima wants Phantom Pain to represent a "new Metal Gear game" and hasn't revealed who the new voice actor will be."To be clear, I love being a part of the world of Metal Gear," Hayter writes. "I admire its technological innovations, the gameplay, the political message of it all. But primarily, I love the fans of these games. Two grown men burst into tears upon meeting me at the Vancouver Fan Expo last year. Now that ... Is a rare and excellent role. You know you're making an impact. And I love doing it."Read Hayter's full description of events here. Yes, it's elongated by Twitter standards, but it's by no means a long read; it's simply concise and quietly sad.
Kojima explains Metal Gear Solid 5's 'Mogren' fakeout, Hayter's absence
Moby Dick Studio Head CEO Joakim Mogren is not CG. "We found a Swedish guy to stand in" for Hideo Kojima in his terror inducing Mogren mask, Kojima told GameTrailers.Kojima explained that the bizarre, counterintuitive campaign for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, during which a non-Metal Gear version of the game was shown off by a fake studio at the Spike VGAs, was meant to get fans active on social media. "We wanted to do something to really energize the community." The campaign, which was conceived and planned with Geoff Keighley over two years, was also meant to help Kojima Productions "evaluate the FOX Engine," as it meant every frame of The Phantom Pain's trailer would be examined in detail.Kojima mentioned once again that Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain will be released separately. "We can't comment just yet on how these things will be distributed and sold," he said. Ground Zeroes, the prologue, will come first, Kojima said, and will introduce players to the gameplay "on a smaller scale."He also confirmed that voice actor David Hayter was not asked to perform for MGS5. "Yes, I can say it will be a new person. I can't say who." This reflects Kojima's desire to set Metal Gear Solid 5 apart as a "new Metal Gear game."The interview is densely packed with information, including details about the open-world gameplay and the reasoning behind the switch to Roman numerals.
Metal Gear Solid 5's Fox Engine in pictures
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain was the big news for Joystiq readers to come out of the Kojima Productions panel at GDC, but the studio also had a lot to say about the engine that powers the game, the Fox Engine. The talk involved a lot of technical terms we won't pretend to understand (linear workflow, something about "light probes"), but the pictures speak for themselves.Fox Engine allows for some impressive visuals, fueled by some interesting technology. One key component is the ability to scan real-life objects or take pictures of them to easily create in-game models and textures. Kojima Productions created an in-engine mock-up of its own studio conference room, and the result was eerily similar to the real thing. Using an array of cameras, the studio was able to fully scan a little boy into the Fox Engine with surprising fidelity and drop him right inside the virtual conference room alongside Snake and an enemy soldier.%Gallery-184157%
Seen@GDC: The Phantom Kojima
When Hideo Kojima unveiled the trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, he did so while wearing a head bandage like the one worn in the game by the character known as Ishmael. (He took the bandage off later, so we know it was him.) Joakim Mogren, as far as we could see, was not in attendance.
David Hayter says he wasn't asked to voice Metal Gear Solid 5 [update 2: separate games]
One thing you should have noticed in the today's trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5 is the supposed voice work of Kiefer Sutherland. Sutherland is most certainly not David Hayter, previous voice talent for Big Boss and Solid Snake since the series' humble beginnings on PlayStation, who's indicated he won't be reprising a starring role."Well look, at least I had a good run," Hayter tweeted today, likely after seeing the news himself. He also replied "nope" to another Twitter user, who inquired if Hayter was asked to reprise his roles as voice actor. Snake losing his voice is quite a phantom pain in itself, except for the whole Kiefer Sutherland part.Update: To clarify, the supposed voice of Sutherland can be heard from the bandaged man that is guiding Snake in the trailer, not Snake himself. Presumably, another voice actor has replaced Hayter.Update 2: Contrary to what Kojima said during the GDC panel today, Konami has confirmed with Joystiq that Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain are indeed separate games.
'Ground Zeroes' is the prologue portion of Metal Gear Solid 5 [update: separate games]
In typical Kojima fashion, Metal Gear Solid 5 was shown off, separately, as three different things: Ground Zeroes, an open-world game about a rescue mission; The Phantom Pain, about a recovering amputee under attack, and finally, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. In a tweet (or, technically, a Twitlonger post) following the panel, Hideo Kojima cleared up the relationship between all these seemingly different properties."'Ground Zeroes' is a prologue of MGSV," Kojima said. "9 years after that event will be 'The Phantom Pain.'" Metal Gear Solid 5 comprises these two parts, much like Metal Gear Solid 2 opened with the Tanker chapter, then moved onto the Plant portion starring Raiden. "The game play demo I presented today is the opening of [The Phantom Pain] which is tutorial that starts from crawling." [Update: Contrary to what Kojima said during the GDC panel today, Konami has confirmed with Joystiq that Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain are indeed separate games.]Wow, what is this feeling? Is it ... understanding a Metal Gear game?%Gallery-184116%
The Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain trailer [update 2: separate games]
Rather than describe the intricate detail with which Kojima Productions' Fox Engine renders Big Boss dragging himself around on the floor, you can just see for yourself.You'll also hear the surprise Kiefer Sutherland voice work and Garbage soundtrack behind the GDC trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.Update: Konami has not yet confirmed if this is Kiefer Sutherland we're hearing in the trailer, or if it's the best Kiefer Sutherland impersonator we've ever heard.Update 2: Contrary to what Kojima said during the GDC panel today, Konami has confirmed with Joystiq that Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain are indeed separate games.%Gallery-184116%
The Phantom Pain is Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain [update 2: separate games]
Update: A press release confirms Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.Update 2: Contrary to what Kojima said during the GDC panel today, Konami has confirmed with Joystiq that Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain are indeed separate games.As many suspected, The Phantom Pain is in fact a new Metal Gear game. It is Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions head Hideo Kojima revealed during a GDC panel today. Kojima told the audience that Metal Gear Solid 5 is made up of both Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain, and the influences of both could clearly be seen in the trailer.The game stars a Snake who has been in a coma for 9 years. Its opening section will be familiar to anyone who's seen the Phantom Pain trailer, as Snake wakes up in a hospital and must escape an unknown enemy. He's accompanied by a man with a bandaged face and a voice that sounds very much like Kiefer Sutherland. Naturally, it's pretty hard for Snake to stand up after 9 years of lying down, so most of his escape (and the GDC demonstration) is spent crawling on the floor.Hallucinations seem to play a role in the game, as Snake spies a woman with a resemblance to Psycho Mantis mystically floating up an empty elevator shaft. The hallway is then engulfed in flame, and Snake and his new friend are accosted by a huge, intimidating man ... who soon spontaneously combusts and disappears. Whether these scenes are real or merely hallucination isn't quite clear.The hospital section serves as a tutorial, after which the game proper begins. Today's demonstration was running on PC.The Phantom Pain was revealed during the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards, with many immediately speculating that it was related to Metal Gear.
The Phantom Pain bizarre interview points to FOX engine, GDC reveal
The Phantom Pain is all but confirmed to use the Konami-built FOX engine. The news comes via screenshots of the game displaying the engine's logo, as shown during what some would call an interview, and others... not so much.GameTrailers' Geoff Keighley sat down to talk about the abstruse game with its alleged creator, Joakim Mogren of the alleged Moby Dick Studio. As you can see, Mogren was covered in bandages because of "an accident," but he'll apparently be healed in time for GDC (two weeks time) where he'll unveil a revelatory Phantom Pain trailer.Mogren revealed nothing else beyond that, except for some screenshots that oh so subtly displayed the big fat FOX engine logo in the corner. We'll give the man credit: when the eagle-eyed Keighley pointed out the FOX logo, Mogren's shock (cough splutter) was a thing of beauty (see after the break).In completely unrelated news, Hideo Kojima is giving a talk at this year's GDC, and it'll feature a demonstration of the FOX engine.
The Phantom Pain trailer, screens are figments of imagination
Undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the VGAs, the trailer for The Phantom Pain has been the subject of intense speculation. The debut showing for unknown Swedish developer Moby Dick Studio featured an amputee who looked a lot like Snake of Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid series. And if there's one guy in the video game industry who's always been fond of a mysterious tease, it's Hideo Kojima.Over the weekend, we rounded up the many threads of thought produced by the trailer, touching on everything from the appearance of white petals a la the ending to Metal Gear Solid 3 to movie title sequence designer Kyle Cooper, whose portfolio includes MGS 2 & 3, wearing a The Phantom Pain t-shirt. %Gallery-172987%
The Phantom Pain speculation round-up: Metal Gear?!
The biggest surprise to come from last night's Spike TV Video Game Awards was undoubtedly the announcement of The Phantom Pain, a seemingly new IP from a completely unknown Swedish development house called Moby Dick Studio. The debut trailer showed a hospital under attack from an ominously obscured figure, and ended on a macro shot of an amputee that bore a striking resemblance to Solid Snake of Metal Gear Solid fame.Wait, Solid Snake? Metal Gear?! But, how could that be possible in a new franchise from a new developer that isn't Konami or Kojima Productions? Hey actually, now that we think about it, why is a brand-new studio getting to premiere a teaser for its first-ever game at an event generally reserved for AAA titles from global publishers?Perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye. Let's take an in-depth, spoiler filled look at what evidence there is so far, and why all signs point to this being a new entry in the Metal Gear mythos.
The Phantom Pain announced, main character looks like MGS's Snake [update: video pulled]
The most cryptic trailer so far for the Spike Video Game Awards 2012 was one for a game called The Phantom Pain. We have no idea what it is, since we've never heard of developer Moby Dick Studio.All we know is that it had a bunch of patients being mowed down and blown up in what looks like a hospital. It ends with a close-up on some dude who had a hook hand and kinda looked like Snake from Metal Gear Solid. We'll update as soon as we figure this out.Update: Check out the trailer yourself just beyond the break!Update 2: Sadly, this trailer's been pulled. We'll update this post (and the rest of our VGA 2012 posts with video) as soon as it's back up.
