Some big gaming news is rumbling through the industry right now: it appears Konami is going through a restructuring right now and want the Konami branding front and center, instead of other studio names like Kojima Productions. As part of this, they’re renaming Kojima Productions LA Studio to Konami Los Angeles Studio, and the “A Hideo Kojima game” branding on Metal Gear Solid V ads and website has been removed. According to Gamespot and their anonymous source, the restructuring has resulted in a power struggle between Kojima Productions and Konami, the latter of whom has embargoed corporate internet, emails, and phone of KojiPro. Kojima and other senior studio staff are essentially only on as contractors now, and plan to leave once their contract is up in December. Gamespot goes into more details here, but suffice to say, it appears Kojima and Konami won’t be working together after MSGV. Read more…
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes was a good (if expensive) appetizer, but most gamers are waiting on the main course, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. IGN just leaked that the game will finally be out on September 1, 2015 in every region. Of course, Konami is so bull-headed with its PR plans that they couldn’t just roll with it, taking the video down instead. But the internet never forgets, and so you can expect to get your hands on MGSV in early fall. Read more…
At this point, it’s hard to tell whether Konami has been poorly communicating information about Metal Gear Solid V on purpose (a la Metal Gear Solid 2) or if it’s just due to their usual bad management. We had heard that there would be two parts to the upcoming sequel: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a prologue (similar to MGS2‘s Tanker scenario), and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the main, longer game (similar to MGS2‘s Big Shell scenario). After the rather inelegant reveal that The Phantom Pain, a game advertised as an independent game made by a fake studio, was unsurprisingly MGSV, conflicting information suggested that both parts of the game would be sold together. Konami has just announced that this isn’t true: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will be released by itself in Spring 2014. Read more…
As Konami continues rereleasing various Metal Gear Solid collections, there’s often one sticking point: the first Metal Gear Solid. It’s not the first game in the series — Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake saw release on the MSX — but it’s arguably the most iconic entry, and it’s only available today in its PS1 form, and only digitally on PS3. So it’s no surprise to hear that Kojima is considering remaking the game. Read more…
Even though it’s not an Xbox One exclusive, Microsoft led the start of its E3 2013 press conference with the first footage of the anticipated Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Since the game is an open world game set in a wide-open desert region, the implementation of stealth has been dramatically redesigned. It looks like a very unique experience with stunning graphics. Naturally, the game is also coming out on PS4, though Microsoft didn’t want to mention that. It’s all looking quite impressive, so watch footage from the stream below! Read more…
There’s more downloadable content coming for off-the-wall action game Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. On May 14, North American gamers can pay $6.99 or 560 MS points to download the Blade Wolf DLC. It’s a new set of missions allowing players to take control of the former boss prior to his fight with Raiden. The missions show him working for Mistral and reveal more of his backstory, all culminating in a new boss battle. I can only hope it’s longer and more worthwhile than the recently released Jetstream DLC, because for only a few bucks more, you could easily buy a longer, meaty game from Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network.
Think you’re up-to-date on your Metal Gear Solid collection? You’ve got the original copies, the improved rereleases, the Essentials collection, and the HD collection? Well prepare to feel incomplete, because now there’s a new collection! But if you’ve never played a game in the series before, this is the one to get, because it covers pretty much every major game in the series! Read more…
When Konami showed a trailer at the Spike VGAs for a game called The Phantom Pain, they claimed it was being made by “Moby Dick Studio” and even fabricated a CEO for that company. People got suspicious after noticing certain visual clues and pieced together that it was probably the next Metal Gear Solid game, even though that game had previously been announced as Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. Well, after a GDC announcement, it turns out that they’re both the same game! Read more…
Confession time: I only played Metal Gear Solid — the PS1 classic — for the first time last year. I liked it and plan to play more, but that’s just to establish where I’m coming from. Consider it a disclaimer for when I post that Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the action game spin-off starring Raiden, looks absolutely insane in the best possible way. It helps that Platinum Games, makers of fine, yet crazy action games, is developing it on behalf of Konami. The latest trailer looks like it’s from the opening of the game and…well, give it a watch. Read more…
At the VGAs a trailer for a “new” game was shown, called The Phantom Pain. It was a pretty neat-looking trailer, but it also featured a very Snake-esque main character, looked to be running in the FOX Engine, and that studio is clearly fake. Ok, let’s face it, this is something Metal Gear Solid-related, but Hideo Kojima is coy and not saying anything at all. Whether this is Ground Zeroes, a new game, or some weird middle ground, this is (at the least) some creative viral marketing for MGS. And don’t miss Volgin in the fire and the overlaid text on “The Phantom Pain” title that seems to say “Metal Gear Solid V.” Video is below, starts at the 10:45 mark. Read more…
The other day Konami held a press conference dedicated to Metal Gear Solid to celebrate its 25th Anniversary – and of course, to announce new stuff. Two big items of news? The Metal Gear Solid movie is, according to Hideo Kojima, on its way. Avi Arad showed up to announce that he is producing the whole affair, but given that he’s been producing lots of game-based films that are currently going nowhere, let’s just keep this one in “maybe someday” folder. The real news is a new game, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, a supposedly open-world stealth game in the Fox Engine. Read more…
In case you haven’t had a chance to catch the latest trailer for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance — yes, that’s a real word, I know — then feast your eyes. Konami recently uploaded this latest trailer in preparation for E3, later this week. Mind you, it’s incredibly violent and there’s plenty of blood, so if that’s not your sort of thing, you might want to skip it. On the other hand, it’s pretty wicked stuff. How well it’ll actually play remains to be seen, especially considering the project has been outsourced to Platinum games, but if its anything like Bayonetta, then I imagine we’re in for a treat. Otherwise, it’ll be a bit of a toss up. To be honest, there just seems to be too much going on, but who am I to doubt Hideo Kojima? I’m sure if it was so terrible, he’d be the first to state so. He’s been candid about that sort of thing in past, after all.
If I’m going to buy overpriced Japanese t-shirts, there’s only one retailer I really trust — Uniqlo. Stylish, well-crafted, and comfortable to wear, their t-shirts will often catch your eye with with quirky prints or bright colors. In Japan, the retailer teamed up with Konami to release a line of Metal Gear-themed shirts celebrating the series’ 25th anniversary. I’d probably kill for a few of these designs, but seeing as their shirts usually retail for around $45 a piece at conventions, I’m not sure if I have the cash to spare. The shirts will be available this April, but I have no idea if you’ll be able to find them in any of the three Manhattan locations located in the US. You might have better luck at major anime conventions later this summer — otherwise, a trip to Japan might be your best bet. Check out more photos after the break. Read more…
ThreeA has put out some amazing stuff over the years, and their recent partnership with Konami to create a 1/48th scale Metal Gear Rex got a lot of people excited. We saw a few preview images a while back, but now we’ve got the full details and full-color photos: Metal Gear Rex will go on sale March 2nd at 9am Hong Kong time (8pm EST, March 1st) and it’ll be priced at $490. Pricey? Yes. But holy crap does it look fantastic. Read more…
