In an interview with Kotaku, Assistant Producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, Ryan Payton, announced that he is leaving Kojima Productions and heading back to North America in order to be closer to his family who lives in Washington.

When asked about what he will miss, Ryan said:

“It’ll be hard not being involved in MGS5, but I’ve got the utmost confidence that Hideo Kojima, Ken Imaizumi, and our amazing team will put together another blockbuster game. I’ll be cheering from the sidelines.”

So while rest and relaxation seem like the current plan for Ryan Payton, it appears that Kojima may be hard at work on another solid sequel.

Having been away from my family for nearly ten years, I can empathize with Ryan, and fully expect to see him resume his role as plaid wearing producer when he feels the time is right. Until then, he has left us all with a nice little nugget to chew on.

Check out the full interview over at Kotaku.

In an interview published today with Eurogamer, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima (who just turned 45) stated that he is tired of people asking him about the PS3/360 hardware, and wishes people would just focus on the game. He went on to say:

“Sometimes I even feel like [Metal Gear Solid 4] should be on a PC so that people don’t ask me about hardware and platforms,”

Kojima added that in the near future he hopes that people stop asking him about formats and instead ask about their company and future projects. Read more…

Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series, is 45 today, and we here at Ripten would like to wish him a very Happy Birthday.

Turning 45 doesn’t mean Kojima is old by any means, it just means that he’s got one less year left to give us more great games like Metal Gear Solid 4 before he retires. Happy Birthday Hideo!

Hideo’s coming to good ole’ Blighty! Naturally not for a holiday, but to please all the Snake fans. On Monday 2nd June, Metal gear fanatics will be able to meet Hideo Kojima and series’ artist Yoji Shinkawa at HMV’s Oxford Street store in London’s West End. Read more…

Remember that Assassin’s Creed/ MGS4 April Fools mash-up? Well, this is nothing like that. Okay, the warning screen is similar, along with the Kojima “Did you like it?” at the end. This trailer may contain minor spoilers, but for what it’s worth, I personally didn’t find it going too far into spoiler territory. I felt it was more of a hype-builder, and boy, did it build some hype. Those that are to remain firm, move along. Nothing fun to see here. Read more…

From an interview at CES 2008, where Kojima’s Playstation 3 offering is being demoed to a lucky few, comes the confirmed news that Metal Gear Online will be included with the purchase of the single player game, MGS4. It is, however, an online starter pack. Read more…

In the midst of the ongoing ruckus surrounding videogame violence, Metal Gear godfather Hideo Kojima has come out saying that it’s pretty much essential. Read more…