Joystiq

Hideo Kojima signing MGS4 at Virgin MegaStore in Times Square June 11

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-05-23T11:29:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3

NeoGAF poster Ephemeris snapped the photo above showing that Metal Gear Solid 4 auteur Hideo Kojima will be at the Virgin MegaStore in Times Square NYC on June 11, signing copies of the game for a midnight launch. We contacted the Virgin MegaStore's games department this morning just to confirm. The conversation went like this:

"Hi, I just wanted to confirm Hideo Kojima would be signing copies of Metal Gear Solid 4 at the store on June 11?"

"Who?" The clerk sounded half-asleep.

"Hi-de-o Ko-ji-ma, Metal Gear Solid 4, in store June 11?"

"Um, yeah, we're doin' that. Sure."

We're just curious to see if Kojima does a mega-signing in Japan for the opening there and then bends time backwards (by crossing the date line) to get to New York. That would be hardcore.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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MGS4 ads: Evil is powerful, but courage is Solid

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-05-14T04:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Business

So, there's this game called Metal Gear Solid 4 ... it's apparently a big deal for the PlayStation 3. Well, above is the movie-style trailer (with movie-voice guy) for those interested in watching it. No pressure. Watch it, don't watch it. We wish there was more we could do to generate hype for this indie title made in some guy named Hijeo Koshima Hideo Kojima's garage on a shoe-string budget.

After the break you'll find three ads involving MGS4. It's really nice to see Sony taking an interest in this title. It warms our cockles to see a giant corporation give support to a game featuring geriatrics at war.

Bonus -- Japanese TV Spots:

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Gametrailers begins Metal Gear retrospective

Justin McElroy — 2008-05-09T11:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Retro, Action, Video

We've really been enjoying Gametrailers' well-researched and engaging Star Wars retrospective, so we were happy to see this morning that they had turned their attention to everyone's favorite sneaky soldier with their Metal Gear retrospective. The first episode, seen above, covers Metal Gear, Snake's Revenge and MG2: Solid Snake.

It's a good way to refresh before Metal Gear Solid 4, but we hope the narrator is prepared for when he has to start recapping Metal Gear Solid plots. (Exploded brain washes out of microphones, right?)

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Metal Gear Online beta gameplay footage for the uncoded masses

Griffin McElroy — 2008-04-26T13:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Online

We're guessing that you missed your chance to grab an entry code for the Metal Gear Online beta, or you'd probably be too busy spending your Saturday afternoon brushing up on your CQC to read our humble gaming news site. Well, wipe away those tears of regret, little one, and we'll make you a deal -- check out this radical gameplay footage from the beta (including a very satisfying conclusion involving a dude launcher) to slake your thirst for Kojima's sneaky-creepy multiplayer outing, and we'll take you out for Chuck E. Cheese's. Sure, it won't do much to dull your regret, but you'll be too busy wondering why this restaurant elected to have a rat for a mascot to worry about all the online stealth action you're missing out on.

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Reminder: You can still win our Metal Gear Online beta code

Griffin McElroy — 2008-04-20T14:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Online

Are you so adamantly against the practice of video game reservation that you refused to drop the five dollars on a Metal Gear Solid 4 pre-order to secure a Metal Gear Online beta access code? Or, rather, did you place said pre-order, only to receive a hobbled, impartial code? Don't forget, there's still a chance that your kind uncle Joystiq can secure your ticket -- just drop a comment on our contest thread (don't forget to check out those legally airtight rules and regulations) by noon tomorrow, and you could be snapping, cracking, and popping stranger's necks before you know it.

Update: Locked comments in this thread. You can't win here, you'll have to go back to the old page.

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MGS4 pre-order DVDs shipping with MGO beta keys, beta to begin April 21

Griffin McElroy — 2008-03-29T11:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Online

Those who are truly anticipating the further adventures of the now mustachioed, raisin-wrinkled Solid Snake have no doubt hesitantly slid a five-dollar bill across the counter of their nearest brick-and-mortar, trying not to meet the crisp, judgmental eyes of Abraham Lincoln as they fulfill the reservation fee for Metal Gear Solid 4. Well, at least your shame before The Great Emancipator wasn't endured in vain -- copies of Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2, complete with beta access keys for Metal Gear Online, are currently shipping to retailers to be distributed to loyal pre-orderers.

The DVD includes backstory on the major characters in the Metal Gear franchise, as well as a few trailers for MGS4, but the real treasure in this early bird bonus is the access code which will allow you to download the MGO beta on April 17, and play the fourquel's online counterpart from April 21 until May 5 -- at which point bleary-eyed FOXHOUND fanatics will emerge from their houses to an unfamiliar world; one where cowbots don't roam the streets, and neck-snapping is almost universally frowned upon.

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Kojima: MGS4 too big for 50 GB Blu-ray disc

Griffin McElroy — 2008-03-02T20:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action

It's not much of a shocker to learn the latest (and final) installment in the Metal Gear Solid series is a sizable one -- MGS games have a history of being big (and beautiful). However, a recent interview with series creator Hideo Kojima revealed a startling fact about MGS4 -- Kojima complained that a few features had to be cut from the game so it would fit on a Blu-ray disc. As format fanatics already know, that means the game takes up nearly 50 gigabytes of space.

If true, this is bad news for anyone who hoped to see anthropomorphic cow-bots on the 360 (unless that data was divided between about five dual-layer DVDs), but it could also mean a painfully long installation time for PS3 owners as well. We can only imagine that 49 of those gigabytes are taken up by thousands of variations on just three lines of dialogue -- "Snake? SNAKE? SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!?"

[Thanks, Beau Kebodeaux]

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Metal Gear Online beta in April, MGS4 pre-order secures access

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-02-26T14:57:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Online

Those looking forward to snapping the necks of complete strangers (in a game) should be pleased to learn that a Metal Gear Online "Starter Pack" is due to launch alongside Metal Gear Solid 4 in Q2 2008. Sony has announced that a beta test for the multiplayer sneak-em-up will start in late April, with pre-orders of Metal Gear Solid 4 giving gamers "guaranteed access." It's a great incentive, though given the anticipated nature of Hideo Kojima's latest opus, we feel a bit like donkeys wandering into a vast forest of carrots.

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MGS4 doesn't need 1m day one sales, Payton misquoted

James Ransom-Wiley — 2008-02-08T11:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Business

As fun as it's been to dream about the vague, but imminent peril hinted at by Metal Gear Solid 4 assistant producer Ryan Payton when he allegedly told Reuters that the game must sell over a million copies on day one (or else...?), it's time to wake up -- all bets are off! Speaking on the Bionic Commando podcast, Payton denied ever quoting the ominous figure, admitting, "I don't even know how many figures we'd need to sell to be profitable." (Figures? Aren't we talking about game sales?)

"More importantly, that's not something you really talk about in an interview," Payton continued, "I've been trying to contact Kemp Powers over at Reuters to see, I don't know, if he recorded it on tape, but I'd love to hear it. So we can set the record straight." Well Payton, consider the record straighted with us. (This whole thing never made much sense anyway ... What if it took two days to break a million -- then what?)

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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Metal Gear Solid 4 delay causes Konami stock price to fall

Dan Dormer — 2007-11-01T12:08:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

We know the news of Metal Gear Solid 4's delay has you down. Hell, you should see the bar tab we rung up after the announcement. Although we'd like to believe we're the most important people to be affected by it, that simply isn't the case. Konami's investors definitely take the cake this time, as they witnessed the company's shares fall 6.8% today, their biggest drop in four years.

You'd have to go back to a year when people still remotely cared about The Matrix Trilogy (2003) to find as large a drop for Konami. According to an analyst Bloomberg spoke with, investors "were active sellers today because of disappointment over the delay." On the bright side, at least spurned gamers aren't liquidating their pre-order portfolio.

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See Metal Gear Solid 4 demo in English

Justin McElroy — 2007-10-23T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action

Hello, friend. Do you have a comfortable chair? Do you have a refreshing beverage? If so, it's high time that you snuggle in and prepare yourself for an approximately 12-minute long demo of Metal Gear Solid 4 in English. Just a warning, the player of the demo occasionally blows through some of the dialog when it goes on a bit too long. Wow, it's just like you're playing at home!

Speaking of which, if you want to grab a controller and pretend like you're playing, we won't tell anyone. The demo starts with the first part above, and then continues below the jump. Enjoy.

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Joystiq interview: MGS4's Ryan Payton

Kevin Kelly — 2007-10-22T18:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Adventure, Interviews

While E For All may have been sparsely attended, we did manage to catch up with a few notables while we dodged tumbleweeds and worked our way through the cavernous South Hall. Konami's booth with its Metal Gear Solid 4 demo easily had the longest line, which kept some of the attendees behind barbed wire fences until they were treated to a lucky 15 minutes of glory.

So, we decided to sit down with one of the men behind the game. Namely, Konami's Ryan Payton, who has the enviable position of being one of the Assistant Producers on MGS4. He is also one of the extremely few Westerners working on this title. Mind you, he is fluent in Japanese and is currently living over there, which certainly makes things a bit easier. Check out our interview with him about the game after the break.

Gallery: E for All 2007

So, have you guys felt the pressure of releasing basically the first "system seller" for the PlayStation 3?

Absolutely. You know, we've felt that from day one since we first announced the game and showed it off at TGS 2005. There's a lot of pressure to succeed. If this game is a lemon, it will not only be a problem for Konami, but it will be a problem for Sony, and Japanese gaming as a whole. With that said, I'm not worried, at all. Obviously, working on the game every day allows me a little bit more perspective on how the game is turning out. I'm very bullish on what we're going to be able to accomplish with the title. It already feels good, and we're here at E For All with a demo that is pretty "solid." Solid, in quotes by the way (zing!). Although the game we have running at the studio is very actually quite different. The gameplay is different, the menus look different ... so we're still moving ahead and moving beyond this demo. If you think this is solid, this is really only an 80% glimpse into the game.

Has the ending for the game been completed, and as a fan of the series and an employee, are you satisfied?

Oh absolutely. I mean, what can I say about the ending ... it's the final chapter of Solid Snake, no joke about it. There's no smoke and mirrors, no jack-in-the-box trick, this is the final chapter in his life, and in his story. With that said, we give him proper homage at the ending. It's epic and it's long. It will take two days after the game is released for people to start talking about the ending, because it will take awhile for people to get through it, but I think that's going to be one of the biggest topics. We have a couple of cool things in the game that will hit the blogs and the message boards, and people will be saying "Can you believe this!?" and I think that the ending will be one of those kinds of things as well. It will be talked about for a long time.

So, when a hardcore gamer buys this game, goes home, takes it out of the shrinkwrap and puts it in, how long will it take them to run through the whole game?

That's tough. We haven't been able to gauge it yet because we're still implementing the A.I., tweaking the stages and all that. The stages are there, but as far as the scripting of the enemies and all that, it hasn't been completed yet, so I can't really say. There are also other gameplay modes that aren't just stealth/action. We're pulling from other genres as well, and those bits are like 20 to 30 minutes long. Those haven't been completed yet, they'll probably be completed at the end of the game. Once all those pieces are in place, I think it'll be longer than Snake Eater but I can't say for sure right now (pauses) ... yeah, it's gotta be longer than Snake Eater.

Can you tell us what those other gameplay modes are? Do you mean some vehicle-based stuff?

I wish I could say, but I'd be killed. Plus I kind of want it to be a surprise. I don't think we'll even be talking about it until like a week before launch, and we'll have it on the back of the box so people can go "Oh wait, I can do this?! It's not just shooting people?"

In regards to the control scheme for the game, there are two, right? One for more traditional Western gamers, and one that is aimed at Japanese gamers. When did you guys know that was going to be the case? When was that decision made?

About a week ago! Mr. Kojima came to me and said, "Ryan, you're in charge of European and American versions of the game, and that not only means on the production level, but from a gameplay standpoint as well. Balance, default control scheme, difficulty ... all of those things are going to be tweaked with the Western gamer in mind."

It's going to be harder than the Japanese version, I can say that right now. That over the shoulder view is going to be, I hope, the focal point. I want to make that the default setting, and then people can turn on auto-aim later if they want to. I think that auto-aim takes away from the intimacy of the battle. The reason we put that in there was because at TGS I noticed that when Japanese gamers would play, they would pick up the PS3 controller, and their right thumb would never go even go close to the right stick. They would never manipulate the camera. It's still something that they need to learn about this full 3D camera system. Games like Onimusha and Resident Evil have always kind of held their hands through games with fixed cameras and things like that.

This really is the next step. Final Fantasy XII experimented with it too, and I think that this is where the industry is going, but we also need to be conscientious of the Japanese gamers that maybe have played FFXII or Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. This really is where the industry is moving, there's a reason for having that right analog stick on the PS3 controller.

Speaking about the controller itself, how long ago did you learn the Dual Shock was heading back to the PS3?

Totally last minute. I think it was a week and a half or two weeks before TGS. We finally got word and we got the drivers so that we could start implementing it back into the game. We know that Sony was working really hard to get that back in the system, and back into the controls. We went into development thinking that it wasn't going to have rumble, and it's been a nice surprise.

Rumble has been so unique to the whole Metal Gear series. Do you think it would have suffered if it hadn't been in?

A little bit, yeah. I mean, it does bring more to the game, and you miss it when you don't have it. There's also been some parts of the game that we've been able to kind of expand upon because of rumble. Again, I don't want to ruin the surprise but ... I just hope that everyone who picks up the game also has a Dual Shock controller, because it's going to be a lot of fun. And it's not going to just be shaking when you're shooting.

In the demo, the characters name bar says "Old Snake", now are we going to be playing a younger Snake during some parts of the game?

All I can say is that it's more of a joke, really. It's a Hideo Kojima joke; this is Solid Snake, but he's old. It's part of the charm of Metal Gear, I think in a way.

Was the Threat Ring in the demo at TGS?

It was, although we've tweaked it for E For All and made it more visible. That's something that I think is a really important part of MGS4. Getting rid of the radar and adding that milky-white ring to give you really a 360 perspective on where every enemy is coming from. That's something that I'm surprised other games haven't implemented up to this point.

In other way, if you're going to go around a corner, you'd have to sort of cheat by using the right stick to adjust your view. But if you crouch down and let the Threat Ring appear and you notice no bumps in that direction, then you know you're cool and you can head out.

Konami is releasing Metal Gear Solid: Online, and Metal Gear Solid 4 as two separate games, are there any plans to release them as a bundle?

I don't know what the current plan for North America is, I think the North American office is still figuring that out. But as far as Japan is concerned, we'll have a starter pack of MGO included with MGS4 for free. That's part of the pressure we've been under ... to not only provide a full-scale single player mode, but to include a multiplayer mode as well. I don't know the plans for the U.S. release yet. But, as of right now we want to make sure that starter pack is in the U.S. version as well.

One thing is for sure, we're not going to gouge customers. People are not going to pay like two $60 packaging prices, it's not going to be like $120 for both. We want to give people a taste of MGO with MGS4 because we know that people are excited about the story mode, but are still kind of on the fence about MGO. The online team is working really hard to make it a really cool and unique experience. It's not just MGS4 with other humans in it that you can shoot. In that sense, we're pretty excited about blowing away people's expectations. I think that if people buy MGS4 and try out MGO, they're going to want to continue that experience.

Konami recently said that there would be no demo for MGS4. Why is that? The demo is really the hit of E For All, and it's the longest line at the show, so why did you make that decision?

As of right now, there are no plans for a demo. Could that change in the future? Maybe. We made this demo for E For All really, to be completely honest. We wanted people to come out to the show and check it out. We were excited by the idea of this consumer-based version of E3. Also, we don't want to give people a taste or a sample of a game that's only 80% complete. That section in the single-player mode that we're pulling from isn't even complete in our version yet. This isn't a beta test, and I talked with Hideo about this last week, but this isn't the version that we want people to play with in their own homes and break, because the A.I is not done yet. We want to make it perfect, and we don't feel like this is perfect yet.

Last question, which we're sure you can guess what it is ...

When is the Xbox 360 version coming out? *Laughter* No, it's PlayStation 3 exclusive, that's all I can say.

Well, how are you handling the speculation at this point? There's been a lot of discussion about MGS4 appearing on the Xbox 360.

We like the console, it's fun and there are a lot of great titles for it. But, we're committed to the PS3. We want the PS3 to be successful, and we've had a great history with the PlayStation. So it's a PS3 exclusive title, now having said that ... questions like this don't bother me. The questions that bother me are ones like, "Are you worried that the Xbox 360 is stealing exclusives from the PS3" or whatever. I think that the industry really needs to grow up and get away from this Xbox vs. PlayStation mentality.

I really want to get my point across that the industry is mature enough so that we can get past this. There is space for three consoles, as Nintendo has proven. There are more important things in life than the Xbox 360 or the PS3 getting exclusive titles from one another. Life goes on. But, with that said ... if you want to play MGS4 next year, you're going to need a PlayStation 3. So that's the way it works ... is it something to cry about? No.

So what's next for you? When do you head back to Japan?

I have about another week of production work here in Los Angeles, we're working with a studio who is producing the opening movie for the game. We're doing it with a very untraditional studio here in LA. I think that the opening movie and the ending of the game are going to be the two talks of the town. The opening movie is something that has never been attempted, and will never be attempted again. It's something that could only come out of Hideo's mind.

Now we're really buckling down and focusing on the game. This really is the last trade show for us. We have to finish the game, so we're going into lockdown/blackout mode.

Thanks for sitting down with us, we really appreciate the time.

No problem! It's always great to sit down with people who enjoy the series. Thanks very much.

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MGS Portable Ops+ gets dated, no MGS4 PSN demo

Dan Dormer — 2007-10-18T12:23:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

Do you remember when your fake ID couldn't fool the bouncer, leaving you outside sober, cold, and distanced from the girl you were looking to at least play ball with? That's kind of how we're feeling right now, after learning on the latest Kojima Productions podcast that there are no plans to bring a demo of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots to the PlayStation Store prior to launch.

Host Ryan Payton stated: "I can tell you, as of right now, we don't have any plans of uploading this demo on the PlayStation Store." And definitely, he added, no plans of "uploading [on PSN] next week." His statements were echoed by Konami's new flak master, Michael Shelling, adding "[E for All] is going to be your one chance to actually play it prior to it launching next year."

Yeah, while this news is certainly a crushing blow to the Metal Gear Solid fan base (many of which help run Joystiq), there was at least a little positive news: Shelling revealed that Konami has gone gold with Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops+, and is planning to release the game on November 13. That's a little antiseptic to the wound, no?

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Kojima's Ryan Payton talks more underwear monkey

Justin McElroy — 2007-10-03T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action

We're not sure if you're on Metal Gear Solid 4 overload yet, but we thought some of you might find this new interview with Kojima Productions producer Ryan Payton of some interest. Sure, he talks about some of the Western influences on the game and some of the nuances of Metal Gear Online, but he also gives up the details you crave on monkey in a diaper and his buddy Sisqo/Demolition Man-era Wesley snipes.

As Payton is quick to correct, it's a monkey in pants (boo!) whose taken on a larger role in the game (yay!) as development has progressed. Also, Sisqo is actually named Drebin and is actually an arms dealer, not a fallen star of dance hall R&B. Let me see that claymore! Clay-more-more-more-more-more.

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Kojima Productions is done with MGS4 trailers, for now

Ross Miller — 2007-09-28T17:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Adventure

Counting nine trailers since the original at Tokyo Game Show 2005, Kojima Productions assistant producer Ryan Payton has told MTV Games' Stephen Totilo that their latest video, from this year's TGS (embedded above), "could be the last trailer [for the game]."

"The pressure is really on to finish work on the game, and we have decided not to be sidetracked by any more promotional work," he said. That doesn't rule out making more cinema once the game is completed, but don't expect that anytime soon.

The nine trailers, for those keeping track, encompass three E3 Expos, three Tokyo Game Shows, two Leipzig Games Conventions and a Metal Gear 20th Anniversary Party. It should be noted, as Totilo observes, that one of the videos wasn't a trailer so much as it was 15 minutes of Hideo Kojima playing the in-progress game.

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LGC07: Metal Gear Solid Press Conference Q&A with Kojima

Jem Alexander — 2007-08-23T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

The Kojima Productions Press conference at Leipzig today ended with a Q&A session between the press and Kojima-san and his cohorts. The following is a summary of the questions and responses and covers Metal Gear Online, Metal Gear Solid 4 plans for the 360 and more.

Will Metal Gear Online be separate from MGS4 or will it be included?

Hard to explain. When you play story mode you will be able to go online and it will have extra stuff at the end.
Haven't decided whether it will be separate or not, but if you buy MGS4 you can play a portion of online at least. The worlds of MGS4 and MGO are very similar and they want consistencies between them. Final discussions haven't been made yet.

Can you say anything about the music?

There may be a special feature where you can play your own music.

Will Metal Gear Solid 4 ever come to 360, like the previous titles as a "subsistence" package?

Right now it's only being made for PS3. No plans for 360 for now.

It seems too easy. Was the demonstration in Easy mode? Can we expect harder AI in the full game?

I'm sorry to say that we set the AI for our producer, Ken, a little too easy in case he had difficulties. In the full game it will be harder. We are still balancing the difficulty.

In Metal Gear Online will other characters be playable? Bosses, maybe? Or just normal soldiers?

Yes, of course we'll have some special characters appear.

Aren't Metal Gear 2 and the Stealth suit too big an advantage for Snake? Does it make the game too easy?

You don't have to worry. We're still adjusting the difficulty. You can't complete the game just using those things, the full game will be much harder. Metal Gear mk. 2 is just a supporting device, so you can't proceed much further with it. Snake has to physically move in order to proceed.

Will the final game support Rumble?

For now, we don't have that feature. We wish we could. Let's see what happens in the future. In Kojima Productions there is a man, we call him The Rumble Guy, and he has nothing to do right now. So every day I worry about him. I want to include Rumble so that he has something to do.

Can you say anything about how weather will affect gameplay mechanics?

We have implemented psychological battles in the game. If you or your enemy are somewhere that is uncomfortable: too hot, too cold etc, then that will affect your gameplay. For example if you are in a hot area then you are tense, but if you eat hot food in that situation then you get a power boost.

What other uses will the SIXAXIS controller take on in the game?

You might need to use the SIXAXIS controller on special occasions throughout the game.

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LGC07: Kojima-san introduces Metal Gear Solid 4's boss characters

Jem Alexander — 2007-08-23T08:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action

Hideo Kojima whipped out his Genius-to-English dictionary again today in order to address the press at the Leipzig Games Conference personally, rather than through a translator. Showing off a new video, he introduced us to Metal Gear Solid 4's boss characters. After a short video showing all the bosses from past Metal Gear Solid games, Kojima asked us "but how can you improve on these? Let me show you."

What followed was a spine-tingling in-game video showcasing each of the new bosses for the upcoming title. They come in the form of beautiful women transformed by a brutal war into sick, metallic beasts. A tentacle-wielding creature with a cruel laugh. A giant silver wolf with an echoing howl. A creature with wings and a jetpack, constantly screaming "rage!" and a floating puppeteer, complete with attached marionettes. All of them twisted, mechanical beasts.

Keeping with the "Beauty and the Beast" theme, Kojima modeled these boss characters and their movements off of "real world beauties", one of whom, Yumi Kikuchi, stepped up on stage to declare how happy she is to be in the game -- and how much she loves Leipzig, naturally.

Our anticipation for this game is at its highest yet. Q1 2008 can't come quick enough.

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LGC07: Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer arrives

Justin McElroy — 2007-08-23T08:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Video

If you read about some of the technical issues this trailer was having yesterday at Leipzig, you might be a little confused when you first start watching this new Metal Gear Solid 4 video from the show. Be patient! Though you've seen the first half of this video before, we think the second half will be pretty eye-opening.

We think you'd probably remember it if you'd seen scary metal dog in previous trailers, ditto for Lady Doctor Octopus, Flying Doctor Octopus and the guy who loves rage. Maybe it's just how they murder a bunch of people, but we're getting a rogue's gallery vibe here. What do you think?

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LGC07: New MGS4 trailer borked

Ross Miller — 2007-08-22T18:26:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Adventure

Interested in seeing a new trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4? So were many in attendance at Konami's press conference during the Leipzig Games Convention. Unfortunately, as 1UP reports, technical glitches concerning the audio led to the publisher shutting down the trailer. "We apparently missed the important half -- everything we saw so far was just repeated from prior trailers," said 1UP.

As previously noted, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima is holding a separate press conference tomorrow. With any luck, Solid Snake will be in better shape tomorrow. We hear at his age, he has good days and bad days.

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LGC07: Kojima hearts Europe, wants simultaneous worldwide MGS4 release

Jem Alexander — 2007-08-22T10:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action

Before showing off Metal Gear Solid 4 live for the first time outside of Japan, Kojima-san got up in front of the entire Konami press conference in Leipzig and had a bit of a heart-to-heart with the audience. In English. He said that despite his busy schedule he was very happy to be back at the Game Conference here in Germany. Along with E3 and the Tokyo Game Show, he considers the Leipzig convention to be a central show for the industry.

His love for Europe doesn't stop there. Kojima-san went over to lament the fact that games are constantly released late over here. He is determined to make Metal Gear Solid 4 a simultaneous worldwide release for all regions, Japan, the US and Europe. There's more Metal Gear Solid news to come tomorrow when Kojima-san hosts a separate press conference himself. We'll be there to let you know what's new.

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