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Though we still don't know much about Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker's cast of characters, Konami sent out a batch of glamour shots for a few of the assumed super spies you'll be cavorting with during your time with the game. Our personal favorite? Definitely Chico. It takes a special breed of man to pull off an Ascot that expertly.

Check out all the portraits, as well as a bunch of new screenshots, in the gallery below.

Some days you feed on a tree frog ... and some days you get a new Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker demo! Kojima's official blog brings word that a new demo will drop on the Japanese PSN this Sunday, November 1st. It's not quite the same as the one we got our hands on -- this one will be a tweaked version of the demo that was available exclusively in a special section of Konami's booth at the Tokyo Game Show.

Kojima Productions has modified the controls based on player feedback, adding an unlockable third control scheme on top of the original two. The developer also improved the enemy AI and behavior, and changed the CQC system a tad, all in an effort to make the game easier to play.

Kojima explains that this process of releasing demos is a game of "catch ball" with the players and that he's looking for more input after they've tried this second demo. Sharing is caring, after all.

[Via andriasang]

With fingers crossed, we turned to the latest Kojima Productions podcast, hoping beyond hope that the studio had taken our recommendation to refresh the voice of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker's bearded protagonist. Our nominee for Solid Snake's new pipes? Bobcat Goldthwait. Sure, Mr. Goldthwait would likely take the series in an unexpected direction -- but what unsuspecting player wouldn't be swept up in an exploration of Snake's rarely discussed history as a rabid, nigh-incomprehensible stand-up comic? Now there's a 90-minute cutscene we can get behind.

Alas, Konami's recently announced voice cast for Peace Walker is actually (gasp!) sans-Goldthwait. Of course David Hayter will reprise the role for, like, the hundredth time. The rest of the totally unsurprising list can be found after the jump -- but why not watch this beautiful excerpt of the Peace Walker that could have been instead?

[Via Kotaku]

Ever the consummate hype man, Hideo Kojima is fluffing up Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker by teasing an apparent system-selling feature. "I haven't announced this yet, but there's another feature in [Peace Walker] that will surprise people, to the point where they'll want to go out and buy a PSP right now!" Kojima blabbed in the latest issue of Famitsu (as translated by 1UP). Short of some sort of in-game subliminal advertising (hey, these guys like to experiment), we're thinking The Two-Hundred-and-Forty-Nine-Ninety-Nine-Dollar Feature -- or maybe it's just "The Buck-Seventy Feature" -- could get lost in translation. After all, the two Peace Walker features that have been newly revealed seem distinctly Japanese in their appeal.

Also plucked from the pages of Famitsu, is the revelation that Peace Walker will feature Yamaha's Vocaloid software. (Yeah, we'd never heard of it either -- just wikipedia it.) If we understand it correctly, Vocaloid will allow certain weapons in the game to sing and scream. Mm-hmm, sounds incredibly annoying.

Also revealed: Those 2D-illustrated cut scenes? Yep, like this one. Well, they're interactive. "For example, if you zoom in on the scene where you first meet Paz, you can see the uniform she has on under her coat, and then what's under that," art director Yoji Shinkawa explained ... rather creepily. "It's an idea I came up with while thinking about what makes games different from movies or animation. I think it's pretty interactive." Hopefully, not too interactive.

If you thought the writing on the cutscene-friendly Metal Gear Solid franchise was confusing, the reason for that should be crystal clear when you read the personal blog of the series' creator, Hideo Kojima. The blog's latest update imparted the enigmatic developer's feelings on President Barack Obama's recent, unexpected reception of the Nobel Peace Prize:

"President Obama, who declared 'A World Without Nuclear Weapons' in Prague, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Has the era at last started shifting? The start of the Peace Walker plan? I hope that comes to be. 'Peace will not walk to you.' 'You must both walk towards one another.' From the gym."

Not only does this entry reveal that Kojima writes like William Shatner speaks, but it also exposes a grim truth of the Metal Gear series -- it's all real. The GW construct. The Philosophers' Legacy. The Patriots. FoxDie. And, of course, somewhere there exists a real-life Metal Gear. Based on this post, we're guessing it's in a gym.

[Via Andriasang]

If you weren't able to make the trip to Japan for the Tokyo Game Show this year, don't fret -- not only do we have you covered on the hot news scoop front, but IGN managed to snag a downloadable copy of the co-op enabled, TGS-exclusive (well, formerly TGS-exclusive, we guess) Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker demo for the PSP. Just make sure you've got the latest firmware, download the file from the acronymed gaming news site, unzip it and place it in your PSP's "Game" folder, and enjoy.

If, while enjoying, you also happen to kick ass, you might even get a high enough ranking to unlock a special wallpaper for your Sony handheld. Finally, we have incentive to do something other than make cardboard box fortresses.

Remember when Kojima's countdown ended ... and started another countdown? Man, that was fun! The creator of the Metal Gear series seemingly had a big laugh as he teased gamers all the way to his E3 announcements: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP, Metal Gear Solid: Rising for PS3 and Xbox 360, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

As the countdown continued, the site featured a number of symbols that flashed on the screen. Many of you attempted to break the code ... but were you successful? Kojima just revealed what each of those symbols was supposed to mean:

• 5 = it is an MGS5 class game
• S = Snake
• 巳＝snake in Kanji
• E = E3
• R = Raiden
• 3 = 3 from 360 and E3
• 6 = 6 from 360
• P and S = PSP and adding 3 makes it PS3

Once again, Kojima asks gamers: "Did you like it?" We think we can speak for most gamers when we say ... "no."

Hideo Kojima has further reiterated his supporting role in Castlevania: Lord of Shadow in a new interview with Weekly Famitsu, reports 1UP. "This has become a big project, one with the idea that we needed to make a Castlevania which had that same kind of feverish Western support, and that's why Kojima Productions came in to help," Kojima told the Japanese publication.

With his Metal Gear Solid games beloved by everyone the world over (everyone with taste, anyway), Kojima's the right man for the job. But seeing as how this game is being developed by Madrid-based Mercury Steam Entertainment, Kojima obviously won't be on-site to aid in development. Instead, the team comes up with concepts to run by Kojima and he has them "fix things based on my objective viewpoint." An example given is the initial model for the hero's face, which Kojima had them redesign to be, well, more heroic looking. See, people, this is the kind of thing only Kojima can bring to the table!

Despite stating that he would be more hands-off with the Metal Gear Solid games after the fourth installment, Kojima has decided to once again roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Speaking with Japanese mag Famitsu (via PSPHyper), the gaming icon has said that Peace Walker will pretty much be his MGS5 -- something that will likely be excellent news to every Genome soldier reading this very post -- and that the MGS4 team will be working on it. (For some new Peace Walker screens, fresh out of Kojima Productions, check out our gallery embedded below).

Moving on to Metal Gear Solid Rising, Kojima says the game will include "a completely different kind of action than what has appeared in the series so far," though we're not sure if that's a good or bad thing. He also mentioned that he will be involved with the project "more deeply" than a normal producer which, considering the expectations and the new engine involved, makes sense.

The implicit bad news here: With all this Metal Gear stuff taking up Kojima's time (not to mention Castlevania: Lords of Shadow), we're unlikely to see that rumored Snatcher and/or Zone of the Enders and/or Something Else title anytime soon.

Source - Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker details
Source - Kojima discusses Metal Gear Solid Rising [via Eurogamer]

Like a case of bad allergies, Metal Gear Solid 4's graphics left us rubbing our eyes. That said, when it comes to developing the recently unveiled Metal Gear Solid Rising, the latest sequel's eye candy is not nearly sweet enough.

According to Kojima Productions assistant producer Sean Eyestone, the team is remaking Rising's engine "from scratch" to make it look better than MGS4. Speaking during a recent Kojima Productions podcast, Eyestone describes the multiplatform project as "a big project like Metal Gear Solid 4," adding that the team "team is serious about making it look as good as possible on every platform." Let's just hope our meager eyes can take it.

[Via 1UP]

During Konami's E3 press conference today, Kojima confirmed assumptions that Metal Gear Solid Rising will be multiplatform, now announced for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and PC. Kojima also shed some light on the mysteries of "lightning bolt action," calling Rising an experiment in building technology first, and then delivering new content based on it. A team of new, "young" staff will produce the project.

Additionally, Kojima revealed the significance of the storm teaser from his website. Contrary to your seemingly acute observations, the storm symbolizes the current economic situation, and the entertainment business is the force that will "clear up the storm." Shucks. That was so going to be our next guess!

Tactical Espionage is back and on PSP. Kojima announced Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker at Sony's conference calling it a "true sequel" that's definitely "not a spin-off or side story." Kojima himself will be writing the script and producing the game, so fans can rest easy they're getting an authentic Metal Gear experience.

The game is set in the 1970s, 10 years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3. It will star, yet again, Big Boss and will take place in Costa Rica, divulging the back story of Outer Heaven's creation. It will debut in 2010.

We thought you guys really nailed it before, but the team from Mega64 has their own take on the mysterious Kojima teaser campaign. The final, final answer involves hammerhead sharks, twisters and Master Chief. Yeah, it's all very technical.

Now that the guys of Mega64 have cracked it, can we give the poor Kojima code a break from cracks? Look at the poor thing, it's like a plumbers convention.

... Thanks, we'll be here all week. Try the veal.

What exactly does an Executive Corporate Officer Director of Kojima Productions do, you ask? Well, we can tell you what he doesn't do. "I'd love to work on a smaller project," Hideo Kojima mused during a new interview with Develop. "But, thinking about the time I have left to survive, I'd rather spend that time working on bigger projects" -- global projects.

Having recently completed a tour of various US game studios -- and taking copious notes, no doubt -- Kojima has returned to his seat atop Kojima Productions pondering a competitive, global expansion of his once modest development company, while attempting to keep his hand in everything. "At its peak, there were 200 people working for me on MGS4," Kojima explained. "The way I look at it is being 200 people versus me." What happens if that number was to balloon to, say, 2,000?

While the pains of growing and the pressure to deliver in a "hit industry" might have Kojima daydreaming his escape out from under Konami's arm and into a life not bound to Metal Gear sequels, let's face it, his greatest fear is losing control: "I think that what you might expect from a Metal Gear might only be possible from Kojima Productions." Cue the countdown.