Some of you may recognize that ass instantly. Others, well, it’s not that obvious. It’s one of those things that gets lost in the mix because the game is being talked about so much that the simple fact that it has great asses in it doesn’t get a lot of attention. We need to change that, and that’s why it’s our number 4 pick. Like all entries on this list, there may be some content that some would consider ‘Not Safe for Work’.

Click images for a larger view.

#4 – Everyone (Metal Gear Solid 4)

More like Metal Rear Solid: Buns of the Patriots. Okay, so not everyone in the game is rocking a perky posterior, but Snake, Raiden, all four of the chicks from the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ unit, Meryl, etc. all have great asses. Actually, the characters whose asses you never see are probably still pretty great, you’d just never know about it.

At this point, the whole “they’re just fake” argument for why videogame characters shouldn’t actually be able to turn you on, well, it goes out the window. Why? Because all four of the Beauty and the Beast chicks are actually modeled after real beauties. Why then would it be weird to be attracted to a 3D render of a real-life babe? Answer: it wouldn’t.

Let’s see these asses in action, shall we? The first two and a half minutes is some photoshoot thing with them singing and dancing, but then it’s all in-game stuff after that.

There’s also this “interesting” interview with Lyndall Jarvis, the model/actress who plays Laughing Octopus in the game. And yes, even though she’s in her underwear, it is an actual interview about MGS4.

Even though the booties from MGS4 made it to number 4 on our list, previous entries in the Metal Gear Solid series have featured some pretty nice asses as well. I’m sure most gamers have fond memories of catching Meryl changing in the first MGS, and let’s not forget the hotness of Sniper Wolf either. Oh, and one more thing: Eva. Let’s take a video stroll down memory lane:

Most cosplayers seem to like the classics as well.

NSFW: Catching Meryl in the bathroom somewhat set the voyeuristic tone of a lot of fan art… or maybe people just like to draw naked chicks. Here we see Meryl in her famous scene (and another pic where her ass ain’t so huge), and here we have Sniper Wolf done in a classic Metal Gear artwork style (notice the Kojima panties). And just for you ladies, Solid Snake and Raiden go topless, too.

To be honest, some of the previous entries have been better on a direct ass-to-ass comparison, but the combined might of several nice asses in one game catapult the butts of Metal Gear Solid 4 up the list to our number 4 spot. How could it get any better? Well, there’s 3 more to go, so don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the next on our list of the Nicest Asses in Videogames.

All the Asses: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Special Mentions | 1

It’s been a long time coming, but finally there’s a demo of Kojima Production’s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on the PlayStation Store.  The Japanese PlayStation Store that is.

We’ve had a history reporting on the possibility of a Metal Gear Solid 4 demo here at Ripten.  PSW announced a demo to be released in February, despite the games Assistant Producer denying its existence a month beforehand and we were quick to correct PSW a week later. Everyone makes mistakes. At least that’s what we thought…

Konami have now released a beefy demo of Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Japanese PlayStation Store, weighing in at approximately 1400mb.  For PlayStation 3 owners who haven’t bought the game, give it a whirl.  For Westerners who missed out on the joys of the Japanese voice acting, why not give it a spin too.

As is outlined in my review, the game comes highly recommended.

[UPDATE] – The demo is also on European PlayStation Stores, so the probability of it making its way to the US is reasonably high.

[UPDATE 2] – The Official PlayStation Blog has confirmed that the same Metal Gear Solid 4 demo will be available on the US PlayStation Store.

Morpheon Mods has crafted this epic custom PS3; something we can, without doubt, call the world’s greatest piece of unofficial Metal Gear Solid 4 merchandise. Seriously guys, this is real, and it’s for sale on eBay. From the item description:

The entire PS3 and controller is a combination of Carbon Fiber and Midnight Black done in our own digital camouflage technique.This is protected with nine coats of automotive DuPont Chroma Clear clearcoat. A full size Carbon Fiber Fox Hound logo appears amongst the digital camouflage. The final product is a uniform finish that reflects like a mirror.

The laser cut stainless steel Metal Gear Solid 4 marquee, Blu-Ray drive bezel and the metal accents are hand brushed to a brilliant industrial finish.

But wait, there’s more! It’s signed by both Yumi Kikuchi (Raging Beauty) and Hideo Kojima, and comes with load more MGS4 swag, including the most hideous PS3 controller ever to grace the Earth. Have a look at the auction; there’s a truckload. As if all of this wasn’t enough, 15% of the proceeds from the sale will go to Child’s Play. It’s hard to measure the sheer amount of win here.

[Source: PS3 Fanboy]

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.

Despite his statements, Eurogamer pressed for an answer regarding PS3 exclusivity, to which he stated that “MGS4 was optimized for the PS3″ and that in part, he felt the modern day success of the game was closely linked the PS3 console itself.

Source: Eurogamer

In the not too distant future, videogames have become routine.  The marketplace is controlled by commercial enterprises, publishing the same fast paced action year on year.  FPS game follows FPS game, bald space marines give birth to bald space marines, EA merges with Ubisoft.

Yes, in the not too distant future, videogames haven’t changed at all.  What’s worse? We’re none the wiser.  Feeding off of these adrenaline pumping experiences, we praise them for their apparent innovation, their direct and exciting plot, their “next-gen” graphics. We’ll feel happy with the cards we’ve been dealt, comfortable in our past time, but for all our contentment we’ll never know how it could have been. Never know how it should and would have been if we had taken notice of Solid Snake.

Our only hope to free ourselves from cookie-cutter experiences pumped out by profit driven companies, is to learn the lessons of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and build a safer future for interactive entertainment.

Although Solid Snake is inexplicably aged in this final mission, MGS4 takes place only 5 years after MGS2’s Big Shell incident. His façade in distinct contrast to his contemporaries, sOLiD Snake is thrust onto a Middle Eastern battlefield. Like Haze’s attempted portrayal, the world’s wars are infected by Private Military Companies. Price-tagged PMC soldiers fight other PMC’s –- aimless battles seek only to support a self-sufficient war economy that has graduated from the Oil economy’s downturn.

Enhanced by nano-machines and trained by FPS videogames, post-modern PMC soldiers sign up to avenge the death of their loved ones, but without political or patriotic goals, they compete as if they’re still playing a videogame. And whoever controls the game, controls the battlefield. And whoever controls the battlefield, controls the world.

The man with his fingers on the trigger is Liquid Ocelot. As head of Outer Heaven, the mother PMC company, he has achieved total real-time battlefield control, puppeteering PMC’s by manipulating the life numbing nano-machines injected into their bodies. Disguised as one of the opposing militia’s hired PMC operatives, Snake enters this “cleaner, safer battlefield” with the aim to assassinate Liquid Ocelot and end his insurrection.

The ride to reach this point portrays a presentation significantly ahead of its contemporaries. Indeed, it was apt to call videogames “interactive entertainment” when discussing MGS4. As I’m sure you’re aware, the game has its fair share of cinematic cutscenes. These are expertly directed, containing some of the most impressively choreographed combat sections you’re likely to see in any cinematic medium.

What’s particularly stunning is the way cutscenes transition seamlessly into gameplay, using clever pans and real-time rendered cinematics. Other techniques are used to make sure you’re never taken out of the game world: playing through mission briefings with the Mk.II, Snake’s health bar is shown at pivotal moments, brief flashbacks occur when you press X, you can regress Octocamo to its default state by shaking the controller, in addition to more refreshing and original methods which I’ll leave for you to discover.

Yes, you’ll always feel part of the game world even though there are a staggering 9.5 hours of cutsceness. However, contrary to the popular exaggeration, this isn’t more than spent in gameplay. There is more gameplay than cutscenes –- for me around 15 hours gameplay, the longest in the series.

Versatile, expansive and varied would be the best way to describe MGS4’s gameplay. In fact, add fine-tuned and engaging, and you might be closer to an accurate portrayal. If you ever had a criticism of previous iterations, it would be control complexity and the birds-eye camera that would top the list. With age comes wisdom and Snake’s maturity certainly signifies solutions. The camera is now set behind Snake, with L1 providing an over-the-shoulder view for more accurate aiming, triangle to look down the sight, and R1 to shoot.

Even with a generous helping of CQC (Close Quarters Combat, which you can learn by watching the embedded video), the controls remain relatively simple. It may at first feel counter-intuitive to use both L1 and R1 to shoot, where other games automatically enter an over-the-shoulder view during combat, but the control system makes the best of unpredictable player actions and will certainly become second nature as the game develops.

New gear enters Metal Gear Solid with more velocity this time around, increasing the gameplay’s depth exponentially. Expanding on Naked Snake’s camouflage in MGS3, Otacon has created something more competent than dressing up mid-mission — a Stealth Camo Suit that dynamically “morphs” to the texture, pattern and colour of the surface you’re pressed against. The ease with which this can be performed is somewhat of an overlooked gem — without it the game would reduce to shadow jumping, as opposed to dynamic hide-and-seek.

MGS4 discards the closed corridors of MGS1 and MGS2, forgoes the tight forest walks of MGS3, and places you in a wide, brightly lit battlefield. The Camo Suit transforms every inch of this environment into your hiding place — at 90% camouflaged you can even survive a PMC’s close stalking as his feet brush past your head.

Another new piece of kit is a robot created by Otacon and Sunny –- the Mark II. Full of character, this little beauty can be used by Snake to shock enemies, defuse traps, and collect weapons during even the busiest proxy battle, thanks to its inbuilt stealth camo.

Rangebar’s Take	9.8
Let me get straight to the point. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the best game on the Playstation 3, hands down. If you don’t have a PS3 yet, this is your number one excuse to finally get one. With an incredible story, graphics that go above and beyond, cut-scenes that make some movies look bad, and action packed gameplay, MGS4 is one of the best games I’ve played. And I’m not even a huge fan of the series. Even without playing MGS3 and only half of MGS2, I still found an inner passion for this game. I’m not sure what it was, but MGS4 kept pulling me in and I kept coming back. One of my favorite things about the game is its attempt to tell the story of the MGS series all the way from the Philosophers, to the Patriots, Big Boss and Solid Snake himself. Even without playing the previous games, MGS4 does an excellent job of explaining what the heck’s going on. It’s sad to see the series come to an end like this, when I just fell in love with it, but if there isn’t a fifth installment I’ll just have to enjoy the past ones. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is truly a special game and a must own for any gamer.

Once you really get to grips with the controls, the stealth battlefield experience is quite the revelation. Of course you could, despite Otacon’s advice, blast your way through. Yes, it’s advisable to stay stealthy, but with the new reformed control system an action orientated play-through is certainly possible. But take note, the more combat, the more Snake will stress, thus reducing his Psyche. This will actively slow him down, lower his aiming accuracy and even responsiveness. Take a break, sit in a box, or use a pick-me-up item to gradually return his abilities.

Rather than going all out action or being stealth exclusive, I personally chose a pick’n'mix approach. In fact, since any direction you take feels natural, you may be unaware of all the options available to you: befriend the Militia and battle by their side; snipe the streets from higher ground; crawl through the shadows and tranq. your enemies; or rambo it out using a combination of heavy shooting and CQC.

The variety of gameplay that has been so prominent in the series has now migrated into every moment of the game; you have the tools and the moves to create your own variety whenever you like. This could backfire for action-orientated gamers, since their experience may shorten to create an unhealthy balance of cutscenes to gameplay. Then again, these gamers might just spend a lot of time choosing and modifying their weaponry.

Unlike previous iterations where weapons were discovered gradually, Snake is now on a battlefield littered with weapons from downed soldiers. Problematically, each weapon is ID-Tagged — if your Tag doesn’t match the weapon’s ID, it’ll be locked from use. You’d think this would be a clever way for Kojima Productions to limit Snake’s weapon use, but instead he can collect ID-tagged weapons and pass them over to the gun-launderer Drebin for modding.

Moreover, if you already own the weapon picked up, you can sell it to Drebin for currency to buy from a selection of over 70 modifiable weapons. Now each battle has a myriad of possibilities for every play style.

It is MGS4’s choice that may at first intimidate, but it is ultimately what makes this game trump its predecessors. Once you discover your style of play, experimentation can overtake, pushing the want to replay the game from start to finish. And, thankfully, you can skip the cutscenes.

Geoff’s Take	10
My disappointment with Metal Gear Solid 4 is that it has an end. Not only an end in and of itself, but an end to Metal Gear Solid. This disappointment I freely accept, because of what is gained—a wonderful, truly amazing experience and closure. Metal Gear is an anomaly. I cannot imagine how I would react to any other game doing what Metal Gear does, but Metal Gear is unique. The story is more than just a quasi sci-fi, anime, film-inspired drama. There are ideas and emotions that are palpable and important: War, violence, technology, control; the human struggle to achieve, to be remembered, to find peace and personal happiness; the passing of knowledge and memory from one generation to the next, their dissemination throughout society; the pressures we feel, our potential. Never has the game’s emotional impact and connections to its characters been more poignant. Passive only if you don’t consider thought to be an activity. The core Metal Gear sneaking gameplay is immensely satisfying, but never before has there been so much diversity and depth. The resolution of the story belies its often previously perceived incomprehensibility, and while it does so with tidy ease, it is satisfying. Play MGS4. Give it a chance, and if it does not win a part of your heart as a game that tries more than most, then at least you can see its technical achievements and be educated about what it attempts—even if you think it fails. One of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had with a videogame. All the sweeter to savor in its finality, and the variety of its many parts.

As if this wasn’t enough, MGS4 is a visual feast, leading the way on the PS3 in art direction and graphics. Artistically the game shines with a variety of visually distinct environments, including the stark and bright middle-eastern battlefield, and a real-time night to daytime transition (some might call it a “sunrise”) as you climb through an Amazonian landscape.

When the art is peppered with beautifully crafted character models, billowing smoke effects, dust/blood settling on the camera lens, and impressive lighting and shadowing, it’s hard to ignore how stunning the game is in its visual fidelity. Although you’ll find higher resolution textures in other games, it’s the subtleties and attention to detail that will impress.

MGS4 will visually exceed your expectations for a console game. In fact, ignoring the gorgeously rendered cutscenes challenging Hollywood CGI in its presentation, there are some latter gameplay sections that will knock you off your sofa with the technical achievement, making it incredibly hard not to crown MGS4 the graphical king.

The sound design similarly impresses, with 5.1 warzones making love to your speakers — the distant whirring of a helicopter is joined by the popping shots of your P90, the overwhelming screams of PMC’s and Militias in combat, a Gekko’s demented mooing, the sound of a rocket whooshing past your head, let alone the blockbuster soundtrack that makes every scene so emotive. Paired with great voice performances from David Hayter (Snake), Debi Maye West (Meryl), Patric Zimmerman (Liquid Ocelot), and Lee Meriwether (Big Mama), to name but a few, it’ll be easier to ignore some of the less exceptional voice acting.

What do you have to suffer to enjoy this presentation? A large initial install and 3 minute installs after every Act. However, these hardly affect your enjoyment. A 4.6GB install is understandable for a 50GB game, and due to good data management it only takes 10 minutes to complete. Moreover, the install is actually enjoyable, consisting of a witty and ironic harking to cinema warnings.

Act installs occur after such meaty gameplay and cinematics that an interval is warranted. However, MGS4 can get away with this due to its moderate stealth pacing and cinematic core, and is thus inadvisable for the fast-paced action game. Where loading does affect MGS4 is in short 5 second loading screens during gameplay transitions, or more damningly, chase scenes. This should have been ironed out, since the pace and excitement of these scenes can be somewhat dampened.

Thus, Metal Gear Solid 4 isn’t perfect.  It has its failings, and the narrative could disorientate new series players.  If, however, they embed themselves in the folklore and background of the series past, MGS4 will thoroughly reward them. Each character is fully fleshed out, explored and taken to their magnificent end.

What extends MGS4 to an ambitious and original result is that the game is a tragedy involving a character stepping ever closer to his death. For long time fans this is almost unbearable.  As Snake’s place in the world continuously becomes more hopeless, you’re always wondering if the next Act is his last.  The impact with which this tragedy is delivered is due to MGS4 taking full advantage of a videogame’s virtue to immerse players in a virtual world.  This results in some truly heart-wrenchingly beautiful and tragically inspired combinations of cutscene and gameplay.

Moreover, as you’ll discover, what has always been Metal Gear Solid’s overriding success is that no character is evil or morally good.  There are no clearly defined villains.  Uncommon to most filmic narratives, not a single character can be rooted to one end of the moral spectrum. Solid Snake may be the traditional Hero, but MGS4’s magnifying glass shows that even the most villainous characters are trying to be the Hero.  All are attempting to live up to their interpreted ideals of The Boss.  That you can find Hero’s in the most unlikely places is MGS4’s legacy to future narratives.

You may have noticed that I have refrained from mentioning the online portion of the game.  The fact that MGO is even included on the disc is a gift.  Its certainly not as perfect as its cinematic brethren, but when it shines, it shines bright — modes such as Sneaking Mission and Team Sneaking top the experience. MGO is the perfect place to show off the skills you mastered as Snake.

As Solid Snake’s final mission comes to a close, MGS4 fights its way to the top of this generation’s offerings. The polish is undeniable, from the art direction and graphics, to the gameplay and cinematics. What the game ends up being is a masterful example of what the videogaming medium can achieve — if ever there were a case for videogames being art, MGS4 is it. This fact and the vast list of successes, drowns out the negatives to result in an overwhelming experience.

Solid Snake’s conclusion ushers us to forget about his exploits, to move on from the history within the Metal Gear Solid universe.  We can no longer yearn for a sequel to fill in the gaps.  MGS4 gives you the conclusion and completes the cycle. It’s time to live for yourself.

What does this score mean? Check out our review scoring breakdown.

This is the month we’d see how much of an impact Metal Gear Solid 4 had on actual PS3 hardware sales. The results are promising.

Of course Nintendo continued to flex their muscles by trumping both the console and handheld markets, with 666.7k and 783k units respectively.  Wii’s numbers actually put the console ahead of the Xbox 360’s lifetime US hardware sales at 10.9 million units sold.

On the software side MGS4 displays the series’ strength, selling 774.6k unbundled copies. NPD Industry Analyst Anita Frazier had this to say on the subject;

As expected, Metal Gear Solid 4 realized significant retail sales and drove PS3 hardware acquisition.  While the attached media report does not include units bundled with hardware, if included MGS4 sold-through nearly 1 million units.

The extent to which MGS4 drove PS3 sales is quite staggering, in that the console had its best month in the US, not including the Christmas holiday periods – selling 405.5k units.  This in comparison to the Xbox 360’s 219.8 units for the month puts the PS3 at around 300k units ahead of the 360 in 2008 year-to-date US sales.

Hardware

Nintendo DS: 783k
Wii: 666.7k
PlayStation 3: 405.5k
PSP: 337.4k
Xbox 360: 219.8k
Playstation 2: 188.8k

Software

1. PS3 Metal Gear Solid 4, Konami, 6/08—774.6K (not including MGS4 PS3 bundles)
2. NDS Guitar Hero On Tour, Activision, 6/08—422.3K
3. 360 Ninja Gaiden II, Microsoft, 6/08—372.7K
4. Wii Fit with Balance Board, NOA, 5/08—372.7K
5. Wii Play with Remote, NOA, 2/07—359.1K
6. 360 Battlefield: Bad Company, EA, 6/08—346.8K
7. Wii Mario Kart with Wheel, NOA, 4/08—322.4K
8. Wii LEGO Indiana Jones, LucasArts, 6/08—294.5K
9. NDS LEGO Indiana Jones, LucasArts, 6/08—267.8K
10. PS2 LEGO Indiana Jones, LucasArts, 6/08—260.3K

Source: Edge Online

The recent additions of Team Sneaking and Headshot Only modes to Metal Gear Online is just the beginning, since the first of the expected expansion packs is only a few days away. Let’s talk about what’s included, how it indicates some promising MGO evolution and why maybe the price (if it can’t be free) isn’t as bad as it could be.

Originally, Metal Gear Online was possibly going to be a separate game. Thankfully, Kojima Productions wisely gave everyone who purchased MGS4 a good taste of the basics that MGO had to offer in the form of the starter pack—touting coming expansions packs that would add lots more content for those wanting it.

Information on the first of these expansion packs, entitled GENE, has been posted by Konami. As they previously discussed, they look to be hitting all categories with this expansion by adding new characters, maps, a play mode, new customizability and an extra character slot.

Maps

Coppertown Conflict/City of Sorrow: Brown Town? YES! While I can’t be sure, this map almost surely looks like the reappearance of Brown Town from MGO: Subsistence, one of my favorite maps from that game. Hopefully it will find its own personality in the new MGO, as Midtown Maelstrom does hark back to its design with a wide-open street on one edge and more intimate alleyways on the other. I think there’s absolutely room for both.

Tomb of Tubes/Underground Waterway: Reminiscent of the underground Groznyj Grad sewers Snake escapes through in Snake Eater, Tomb of Tubes appears a darker, more intimate indoor affair.

Virtuous Vista/South American Power Station: Adapted from Snake’s latest adventure (MGS4), specifically the South American jungle of Act II. I get a Svyatogornyj East vibe from this one, though likely larger, which would be fantastic.

Characters

One of the things I missed most about MGO: Subsistence was the unique characters leading each squad and the fun, variety and tactics this brought to the game.

I had hoped unique characters might return and it looks like Kojima Productions had the same thing in mind.

Meryl Silverburgh: Meryl’s skills revolve around her role as a team leader.

Enemies she attacks and enemies that attack her will be displayed through SOP (perhaps something akin to Monomania and Narc at level 3).

Allies near her will regain Psyche faster, though as far as I know there’s no way to regain Psyche in MGO so perhaps she will enable this within certain proximity.

She can wake teammates quicker than usual and excels at handgun use (probably Handgun+ at level 3).

Whether or not she’ll be able to use the Desert Eagle, as she carries in MGS4, by default or by choice I’m curious to see.

Johnny (Akiba): Like Meryl, Johnny’s abilities seem tied to his in-game MGS4 persona. He’s an expert at traps.

He can see all traps in a stage and can disarm them in a special way, by pressing triangle, to turn them into items.

While he may be equipped with some special weapons or skills at using traps too, he may be less easily used given that I don’t see many trap users out there in MGO. It’s a shame because I not only had some great fun, but also success, when playing around with the likes of C4 and sleep gas mines. Most hosts sadly turn off many of the weapons.

It’s also possible that Johnny is meant as a weaker character, in-line with at least his early-game persona in MGS4 and his appearance as Johnny Sasaki in all the other MGS games. This would make him similar to Sokolov in Subsistence, who was controlled by the worst scoring player on his squad and who only had a weaker version of the optical camo to aid him.

Konami has added a note that these characters are not freely selectable, meaning that they should function similarly to the “leader” characters in Subsistence. Konami claims they’ll be assigned randomly, which would be a change, as previously the special characters were controlled by the best or worst scoring player on a given squad. To give more people a chance to play as these guys, randomizing it sounds like a good idea.

A similar change was made when deciding who becomes the next Snake in sneaking mode. No longer does the soldier who killed Snake take over his role, alleviating at least some competition within teams.

Customizability

The expansion adds the ability to create female soldiers, and with it adds a new character slot so that you can create and save a second character without having to purchase the atrocious extra character slot add-on for $7.99USD (includes 3 character slots.) You only really need one character I suppose, but still…

The total number of characters you can buy slots for now is apparently eight, if you want to waste money.

New items for your character will also be available in the Reward Shop for purchase with Reward Points.

Survival Mode and Reward Shop

I’m really curious about Survival Mode, but details are scarce. Presumably it revolves around staying alive and will probably be another fairly unique mode, very welcome in MGO. Reward Points can be earned in Survival that can be spent on items in the Reward Shop to further customize your characters. These items can be used in modes other than Survival as well.

Could Survival be a single player or perhaps cooperative experience as opposed to team vs. team? It’s an interesting possibility. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Release Date

You won’t have to wait long though as the Metal Gear Online GENE Expansion will be available for download on July 17, 2008. It will be available through the MGO shop, which probably elicits a groan throughout the world, as Konami has insisted on using their own proprietary online system for their games as opposed to the PlayStation Store.

Not easy to use through the PS3 itself, the MGO Shop is simply a barebones webpage. While only the overpriced character slot and codec pack add-on have been available up until now, the expansion should be its first real test. If possible, try accessing the store via PC and making your purchase that way. I admit though that I do not even know exactly how that works and you may still be required to access the shop to at least start the download on your PS3.

Price

Priced at 9.99EUR for Europe, there has been no revelation yet for North Americans even days ahead of release. That figure is likely to translate directly to $9.99USD, or so I’d hope. If that will be the price, then all I can think is that it could be worse. With three extra character slot running $7.99USD on the MGO Shop, I worried how much an expansion might run if it included stuff that was actually worth getting.

$10 is certainly more reasonable than $15 or $20, but it’s probably the highest price I would consider acceptable. Given the price I paid for MGS4 already and the reliance on Konami’s servers to enjoy MGO, it still gives me pause for thought. Map packs tend to run around $5. There’s more here and it’s interesting content, but Survival mode is still a mystery and with more expansions on the way, the cost of the “full” experience could get pricey.

While I’m not privy to all the intricacies of the industry’s business model, look at what Criterion is doing with Burnout Paradise. There’s a precedent for this stuff to be free, and MGS4 is a full retail game. Clearly a huge amount of work went into it, but are they nickel and diming us with the online portion?

It’s impossible to say, since we don’t know what else the future will bring. I don’t know how many hosts out there will be using the expansion, but Konami is raising the danger that the already niche MGO userbase will be splintered. Of course prices could come down or expansions could be bundled, but the price already seems to be adding up.

Maybe it’s not fair to expect this kind of stuff for free, but as a big Metal Gear Online fan this is giving me pause for thought. And that’s something Konami should be concerned about.

Other companies are releasing impressive add-on content for free, so take notice Konami. It’s in your interest to keep the community strong.

Sources: Konami, Strategy Informer

If you are one of the few that has yet to get their grubby hands on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, you can sort of almost get it for $40 by going through a popular electronics retailers! Who could it be? Click onward to find out!

It’s Bed, Bath, and Beyond!

Just kidding. That wouldn’t even make any sense.

For what I assume is a limited time, Circuit City is offering Metal Gear Solid 4 for $50, plus throwing in a $10 gift card with your purchase. I originally read about the deal over at PS3 Vault, where they said you could order it online with free shipping or for in-store pickup. However, at the time of this writing, the Circuit City page reads that it can only be purchased in-store.

So get to steppin’, right into Circuit City.

The unique and enjoyable Sneaking Mission mode that debuted with Metal Gear Solid: Subsistence is returning in the new Metal Gear Online, due out with MGS4 on June 12th. Kojima Productions has taken the unique and enjoyable mode and revamped it, making some extensive changes to improve it further.

With the MGO beta nearly upon us now (along with the re-launch of the online PlayStation Store, the release of the Dualshock 3 controller and the arrival of the Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 DVDs), a few more details on Metal Gear Online have begun to seep out.

While the two-week beta will be limited to a couple of stages, Ryan Payton has revealed during the Kojima Production’s Podcast that the Sneaking Mission from MGS: Subsistence will be returning with some exciting changes for the full release.

In Subsistence, the Sneaking Mission was a lot of fun and a very fitting mode for Metal Gear’s multiplayer debut. It was also quite unique among multiplayer online offerings, Behind Enemy Lines from the original Call of Duty being the closest comparison.

However, things often deteriorated into Snake being able to sprint for his goal if the opposing team was even slightly unorganized, or the opposite, with Snake being systematically hunted and shutdown fairly easily if the guards communicated and combined firepower. The new Sneaking mode looks to address some of these issues and add layers of complexity.

First of all, Snake’s ultimatum will no longer be to reach a set location alive; instead, he will be responsible for collecting a set number of dog tags. The number needed for Snake’s victory can be altered, but he will always attain the tags by incapacitating enemy soldiers controlled by other players. In turn, the enemies will be trying to kill Snake, needing to do so three times to succeed. The real twist though, is that there will be more than one enemy team hunting Snake.

Two teams will compete against each other to be the first to eliminate him and win the match, no doubt creating a nice backdrop of chaos for Snake to fade into—attempting always to complete his own objective. If no team eliminates Snake, the side that did the most damage to the opposing team will come out on top.

It seems Snake is chosen at random, which should help alleviate the tendency among players to compete against each other for the kill instead of working together to make sure their team is victorious as a whole.

Snake will of course have special tools at his disposal, including his Octocam. If the game is well-populated, someone can even control the Metal Gear Mk.II to support Snake. It will be fascinating to see how this scenario plays out—kudos to the guys at KP for continuing to be inventive with the Metal Gear universe.

MGO will also feature online matchmaking, so you can more easily find players of your skill level to play with.

Payton reiterated that more content will be coming for MGO in the future. He spoke of expansion packs including not only new levels, but new game modes, weapons and characters as well. No pricing has been mentioned, but let’s be thankful we’re getting the starter pack with MGS4 itself, which will include 5 maps.

Nostalgia should be in full effect with MGO, so here’s hoping for some fun stuff down the line. For those who feel they can’t wait, you better get out to pre-order MGS4 and hope you can snag a beta code while they might still be available.

I, for one, am lamenting the impossibility of going back and playing Subsistence some more. June 12th isn’t so far off!

Source: Konami

Back in February when news first hit about a Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 bundle, we speculated that it would include a limited edition console. It looks like that speculation was correct.

A google translation of a Japanese news tidbit says that it’s a special “steel” colored model that also comes with a 3-dual shock controller. The Japanese release date is June 12th, 2008.

Source: NeoGaf

Based on a few news stories that came rolling in today, it looks like we may be seeing a Limited Edition Metal Gear Solid 4 Playstation 3 pretty soon. Say that ten times fast.

The picture above is from Dengeki Playstation magazine. The picture shows the upcoming PS3 bundle. The PS3 unit is blacked out with a question mark over it.

That, coupled with the information reported today that stated we’ll be seeing the “look” of the bundled PS3 on March 21st, I think there’s a good chance that a Limited Edition console is on the way.

Building off of what Geoff Haugan reported on earlier, it looks like June 12th, 2008, is in fact the official worldwide release date for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. And that’s straight from Kojima’s mouth.

Aside from the game hitting shelves in less than 4 months, we also got a few more juicy tidbits.

Pricing for the different versions of the game and the look of the bundled PS3 will be released on March 21st. The TGS ’07 trailer will hit the Japanese PSN store on February 29th.

Also, the special edition disc contains trailers and making-of videos.

The Metal Gear Online starter pack will contain 5 maps, but it doesn’t look like all of them (or any) will be new. Also, MGO expansions will come with new character packs and maps.

Finally, the official site for the game will be seeing a relaunch on February 29th. That’s tomorrow!

Want to be one of the first to test out the multiplayer aspect of MGS4? No problem, the official Sony Playstation Blog confirms that those who pre-order the game will be guaranteed access to the MP beta.

… If you can’t wait to try out MGS4, the good news is you don’t have to much longer. Those who pre-order the game will be guaranteed access to a multiplayer beta test for Metal Gear Online scheduled for late April.

There you have it. The waiting period is drawing to a close, and the faint sound of “snake? snake? snaaaaaaaake?!!” is growing louder by the minute. Unfortunately, this deal only applies to the US at this time. Sorry Patrick.

Source: blog.us.playstation.com

All of you PS3 hold-outs better be ready to pony up the cash when Metal Gear Solid 4 finally hits shelves next year, because Kojima Productions needs your support to continue working exclusively on Sony’s next-gen platform.

Assistant Producer Ryan Payton told Reuters that they’d need to sell over a million copies on launch day to justify development costs, showing that the Playstation brand isn’t merely suffering from the cost of the new console, but the cost of doing business.

Though it might seem silly to expect as many sales right off the bat, keep in mind that many games sell the majority of their copies during the first few days after release. In other words, a million would trend well enough for the rest of MGS4’s lifetime to justify the amount of money that’s already been poured into its production.

G4TV commentator Adam Sessler was quoted in the article as saying:

“No, ‘Metal Gear Solid 4′ isn’t the killer app. People who already own a PS3 will likely get it. But it doesn’t have that kind of broad-based appeal.”

It begs the question of whether or not gamers really care about such franchises as much as they once did. Looking at sales of such huge platform releases as Ratchet and Clank Future (only 75,000 in October), we might find that a majority of people are trending away from the series that built up the Playstation brand in the first place.

Sure, plenty of core gamers have been waiting for Solid Snake’s latest to hit before jumping on the PS3 bandwagon, but general public perception could be that the franchise is as old and tired as its geriatric hero. The last outing, Metal Gear Solid 3, only moved around 3.7 million copies. Impressive, but only about half that of its predecessor (MGS2, 7 million).

Kojima Productions remains bullish on the Playstation 3’s capabilities, but if their flagship title’s sales don’t live up to expectations, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to see it appear on other platforms down the line and it almost certainly bodes poorly for any future exclusives.

Source: [Reuters]

Amazon.com has finally started their pre-orders for the highly anticipated PS3 exclusive, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. According to the site, it will be officially released on May 31st in Europe and then one month later in North America on June 30th.

We have yet to receive an official comment from Konami’s PR department, though we have left several messages. At this time, we have no further information details to report other than the amazon pre-order list.

One thing is for sure though, if this does hold true, we will see a lot of MGS4 copies leaving Europe and making their way overseas to North America in during that one month time gap.

The title many of us have been waiting for has been pushed back yet again, and while the delays may be frustrating, if the end result ultimately adds up to a flawless finale for a treasured franchise, it will have been well worth the wait. Press release after the jump.

METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS Release Update
October 31, 2007

KONAMI announced today that “METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS”, the latest in the METAL GEAR series, is scheduled to be released in the second quarter of calendar year 2008.

KONAMI had initially intended to release “METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS” this winter and has been working on the production of the title. KONAMI has decided to delay the title’s release in order to make further improvements to the quality of the game and provide even greater enjoyment for more customers worldwide.

KONAMI will continue its efforts to make “METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS” meet everyone’s expectations.

Further information regarding the release date will be announced as soon as possible.

Title: “METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS”
Expected Release Date: the second quarter of 2008
Genre: Action
Platform: “PLAYSTATION 3″

“PLAYSTATION” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

We sit down with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots’ Assistant Producer, Ryan Payton and pick his brain about his contributions to the long standing series, accessibility to newcomers, enhancements in gameplay, competition, the movie, and more. Have at it after the jump.

Q: What has your involvement been with the Metal Gear series?
A: My involvement in the Metal Gear series started with Portable Ops on PSP, where I helped design part of that game and helped with the script. That was my first title where I was actually involved with the design process, from inception to the time when we hand-carried it to Sony in time for Christmas. So that was a very hectic year… what was that, last year? Hard to believe.

So that’s where I really cut my teeth on game design and integrated a lot of Western game design ideas into the titles. For example, giving people multiple paths to get to their objectives, being able to recruit comrades and equip them with the items you want, create your own unique units, basically giving people more freedom to play it.

So I’m bringing some of that to the MGS4 development, with Metal Gear Online in particular, where we now allow players to equip their own skills, so everyone has their own unique skill set, and you can level up your characters with experience, so that as you get better your character gets better too.

Q: How did Konami take to your ideas?
They’re pretty receptive. Mr. Kojima recognizes that until now they’ve always had a 100% Japanese team. So it’s inherent that their game’s going to be more appealing to the Japanese, or feel better in terms of control and game balance. So that’s one of the reasons he brought me on two and a half years ago, to give the studio and the team a different perspective.

“… Mr. Kojima is receptive to it, so I think I’m going to keep my job.”

I’m lucky that he’s given me so much power and leeway in terms of what I want to do. As far as the control scheme in MGS4, I’ve been telling people that there are no sacred cows. We’ve been reworking the control scheme since the inception of the game. So no more bird’s eye view, the gunplay finally feels good, it’s never felt good in an MGS game. So we’re incorporating a lot of game ideas and I’m really lucky that Mr. Kojima is receptive to it, so I think I’m going to keep my job.

Q: Have you had any involvement with the story?
A: Yeah, I’ve been working on the story since day one, and I’m also in charge of editing the script and also directing the voice overs. We did six months of voice over work in Hollywood. So I helped direct that along with Kris Zimmerman, she’s been there since the beginning, we always hire her to direct our VO work.

That was a huge project, making sure that not only does it sound good, but it reads good. It’s the first Metal Gear, I think, that doesn’t read and sound like an anime. And that’s a good thing in my opinion. So making sure the story makes sense, getting people up to date with the story, because we have literally twenty years of fiction we have to cover.

Q: How are you making MGS4 accessible to newcomers?
A: That’s a tough challenge, because hardcore gamers have these expectations that they want us to fulfill. I get emails every day asking, is there going to be a European Extreme mode, is there going to be this and that. We’re working pretty hard to keep the hardcore happy, we’re including these flashback scenes in the cutscenes.

We’re actually tying up every loose end in the story in MGS4, going back to Portable Ops, and Snake Eater, MGS1 and MGS2. Pretty much everything you’re wondering about and you might have complained before about Mr. Kojima’s script, that this doesn’t make sense. Why doesn’t Vamp die, or why is Raiden like this, or who is Naomi, really, why is she double crossing and triple crossing people. All of that stuff is answered in MGS4.

In that sense it’s going to keep the hardcore happy, but on the other hand I realize that this is a mainstream title, and I’m not interested in just selling 800,000 units to the hardcore, I want this to sell 3-4 million copies worldwide. Which is why we’re giving players the option to explore the backstory, you know we have these flashback scenes, if you want to watch them it’s your choice.

We also have an encyclopedia in the game, if you want you can bring it up and go into the history, if you want to, but it’s not required. You can just watch the story from start to finish. There’s a clear villain-it’s Liquid Ocelot, there’s a clear objective. So even for people who haven’t played any Metal Gears up to this point, I think they’ll get a lot out of it.

Q: Do you think the gameplay is moving more towards Ghost Recon or Rainbow Six gameplay style, or is it still Metal Gear?
A: Not really. We call it “Tactical Espionage Action”, but I don’t think it’s that tactical still. Ghost Recon, they do a great job in that genre, and we’re not looking to intrude on them at all, because they do great at what they do. Our gameplay is not so much that strategic element of moving around your unit. Snake’s solo, he’s on a solo sneaking mission, you don’t have to worry about giving other people commands.

“…with this demo … gameplay feels so good and the aiming feels so fun, that people just kill everything in sight.”

And that’s one thing we’ve run into with this demo, and the demo at TGS, is that the gun gameplay feels so good and the aiming feels so fun, that people just kill everything in sight. And that’s not really a Metal Gear Solid game, because if they keep killing people, obviously we’re going to keep throwing enemies at them until Snake’s dead, or Snake hides, and then it goes back to normal mode.

With that said, we’re also opening up the gameplay to these warzones, these battlefield areas. So how I like to describe it is a waveform gameplay. The beginning is a sneaking section, and obviously you have to get to your point, like rendezvous with Otacon for example, that’s a sneaking part. But then we lead you onto the battlefield, where you can use these cool weapons without worry about being found. So you can unload on the PMCs, you can join with the militia men, you can kind of change the tide of war to how you see fit.

So that’s a cool way of releasing all that tension that you built up during all the sneaking parts. Then we take you back to a sneaking part, then back to a battlefield. It’s a way of keeping the player’s attention. So obviously that’s different from what Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon does.

Q: This is a very cinematic game. How much of the time is spent watching cutscenes?
A: At first, Hideo and I were talking about keeping the cinematics pretty short for MGS4. Because we felt pressure, complaints that the cinematics were too long. But I think that’s only a very vocal minority. I think people actually enjoy the cutscenes, just based on how popular the trailers are. And so what ended up happening was, we kept adding more and more cool scenes til we got to the point where I know we’re going longer than Snake Eater in terms of cinematics, and that game had four hours of cinematics.

I won’t say how many hours of cinematics we have in MGS4, but I will say it’s impressive. If people don’t want to watch they can skip it, so we’re giving people that option. Using our next-gen graphics engine, really incredible sound… I hate to sound cocky, but I think we’re going to win awards for our sound design this time. It’s really incredible. And people are going to be missing out if they skip those cutscenes.

Like I said, the script actually sounds cool. Maybe that was a problem before, is that the story was so convoluted and it sounded like it was coming from Japan, literally translated into English, and this time it feels like a Hollywood movie. It’s entertaining, the dialogue is witty. So yeah, you might be putting down your controller and watching some cinematics, but it’s going to be entertaining, I guarantee it.

Q: You guys have one of the biggest games at E for All. When did you make the decision to attend, and has it paid off in terms of fan reaction?
A: We made this decision without really knowing how many other vendors were going to be here. We like the idea of having a consumer-only event. We always support big shows like this, we’ve visited Leipzig and GDC, TGS, E3, even GO3 in Australia. So we’re very supportive of these consumer and press shows.

But with that said, are we happy we showed up? Of course. We’ve filled every seat we’ve had since we opened the doors on Thursday. We have literally hundreds of people playing the game every day. Some people are giving this show a Doomsday prophecy, like it’s not going to be around next year, that this is the first and last E for All. But I beg to differ, and I’m not just saying this because I’m here at the show and I want people to come.

I would be curious to see a ratio of attendees per booth compared to E3, compared to E for All, because we have people lined up around the booth to play MGS4. Smash Brothers has a huge line, and so does Galaxy. I’m wondering if publishers are regretting the fact that they didn’t show up, like Capcom, Sony, and Microsoft. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ratio of attendees is higher than it was at E3. So I’m hoping this is just the beginning of something really cool.

Q: How do you think you can sell millions of copies of MGS4 with all the competition?
A: I’m not worried about the competition, really. I think we’re the leading title coming out on PS3 next year. We’re not looking for a big bang, to sell a couple million copies in two weeks and then just trickle out throughout the year. I think we’re going to sell consistently, we’re going to own the majority of 2008 I think.

“I’m not worried about the competition … we’re going to own the majority of 2008…”

Especially with the online mode we’re including is going to keep people coming back. And we’re just going to keep updating Metal Gear Online. So I’m thinking we’re going to have steady sales all the way through to Christmas 2008. And maybe you think I’m being too bullish, or too cocky, but I have a lot of confidence that this game is going to be the system seller, that people have been looking forward to for the last year and a half.

Q: One last question, how about the Metal Gear movie?
A: The movie is still in pre-production. We’re having meetings next week. It’s still really early. I’m not as interested in the movie, I’m more interested in making games. I didn’t join this industry to make a Metal Gear movie, even though I know a lot of people are excited about it.

***

Check out our hands-on preview of the game here.

A long line of gamers eagerly waiting to play Metal Gear Solid 4, perhaps their only chance before the game comes out early next year, snaked around an elaborate barbed-wire bunker booth at E for All.

Once inside, seated on sandbags, these demo testers got a quick walkthrough on the slightly different control scheme. Besides the controls, which emphasized one button aiming (L1) and one button firing (R1), the other major change from Tokyo Game Show is that this game was in English, with Snake once again voiced by David Hayter.

The demo started about 5-10 minutes into the final retail version of the game, with Snake in a “Middle East” location (sorry, it doesn’t get more specific than that). Revolver Ocelot is in the area, and Snake contacts Otacon on the Codec to determine where to rendezvous. There’s some interesting talk about Lizards and Gekkos as well—are these a new type of super-soldier to rival the legendary Snake?

Snake begins sneaking around outside a deserted street—deserted, except for a unit of private military contractors rolling along in a tank-like vehicle called a “Striker”. The Striker not only has a mounted machine gun, but also a roaming camera which can spot Snake and call in reinforcements. It’s the same camera evasion from previous MGS games, but this time it’s on wheels.

Konami’s MGS4 Booth at E For All

Yet another shot of Konami’s barbed-wire booth

Snake’s “threat ring” helps him identify the general location of such adversaries, but it’s a replacement for the radar that used to indicate that direction enemies were generally moving. Reading it feels like identifying seismic activity—a bump in one direction means you need to take cover, activate camouflage, or just run for your life.

The enemies, once they spot you, will follow you relentlessly. Peering into dark corners or following you through a series of rooms, the enemy AI is meticulous about tracking you down. Stealth is obviously the best way to move through the game, because even though your throat-slashing technique has improved, you are still too outnumbered and outgunned to take the balls-out action approach.

Those lucky gamers who had 15 minutes to play through this early level were also asked for their feedback on the game, and we’d estimate that most people were so happy to get an early look that they’d have hardly any criticisms. But if we had to point out a few problems, the camera work was a little confusing at times, being very sensitive and not framing the action very well. Also, the enemy animations took some time to recognize that, say, their buddy was just opened up by an aging superspy with a gray mullet. The reaction times could be a bit quicker to give this game a livelier feel.

There are still a few elements we haven’t understood yet—like why do you need to know the temperature, humidity, and wind speed of your environment? It’s not like Snake’s trying to drive a golfball through town. Also, the camo indicator in the corner tells Snake how well he’s disguised with the Octo-Camo, but we’d end up using that more than a visual confirmation, just to make sure that we really are hidden in plain sight.

Overall we can’t wait to see more of MGS4, though, so this hands on was a great (but brief) chance to check out the way the game plays. But besides the unique Kojima vibe, Snake is looking more and more like his Tom Clancy companions and less like his old self. Whether this is going to sit well with long time fans of the series is the biggest question we have about Metal Gear Solid 4 at this point.

With an English demo currently under development, we are pretty sure nine demos will be enough to hold fans of the series over for a while. Kojima Productions Assistant Producer Ryan Payton in an interview with MTV Games said that the video shown at this years Tokyo Game Show “could be the last trailer.”

“The pressure is really on to finish work on the game, and we have decided not to be sidetracked by any more promotional work,” said Ryan.

Below is a complete run down of all 9 trailers for those that want to play catch up…

E3 2005
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TGS 2005
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GC 2006
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TGS 2006
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E3 2006 (Part 1)
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E3 2006 (Part 2)
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E3 2007
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GC 2007
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TGS 2007
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Alright, nothing left to do now but sit tight and wait for the English demo. Stay tuned for more information as we will be following this game closely in the months to come.

A new Kojima report podcast has surfaced, and according to the contents, the English version of the Metal Gear Solid 4 Demo will begin production tomorrow. No date is given for completion, however if you factor in bathroom breaks, sleep, and the occasional pause for food and water, we could be looking at a few weeks.

“All I can say is that as of tomorrow we’re going to start working on the English demo.”

Check out the podcast here, and stay tuned as more information becomes available.

Source: mp.i-revo.jp

Round trip flight to Tokyo from pretty much anywhere in the United States, $1027.00. Playing the Metal Gear Solid 4 demo at the Tokyo Game Show, priceless. Playing the same demo from the comfort of your home without the cost of a plane ticket, even better.

For those that haven’t heard yet, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was available hands on at this years Tokyo Game Show. As great as that is for the population that was lucky enough to make it there, news that the demo will soon be available over the Playstation Network is even better.

Kojima Productions is planning on releasing a demo to the general public via the PSN, and while we are unsure as to whether or not it will be exactly the same as the one shown at TGS, we are pretty sure that gamers will welcome the opportunity to play the game in any format.

With Games Convention underway in Leipzig, Germany, expectant Metal Gear fans were rewarded with yet another trailer for the highly-anticipated stealth title. Four new bosses were revealed in the GC 07 trailer, all female, and all named after the bosses in the first Medal Gear Solid.

Series director Hideo Kojima explained that the new enemy squad, called “Beauty and the Beast Unit”, is comprised of attractive females from around the world who have been transformed into death-dealing animal robots. It sounds a bit like an anime fan’s weird fetish came to life, and perhaps that’s what Kojima is going for.

The new characters are Screaming Mantis, Laughing Octopus, Raging Raven, and Crying Wolf. They show off their abilities in the last half of the trailer, starting with Crying Wolf, who upends a bulldozer while deflecting bullets from the panicking soldiers. Then Raging Raven, crying “Rage!”, swoops down from the skies and cuts through the same soldiers with deadly wings. As the soldiers flee and Crying Wolf waves her tail high above her metallic haunches (yes, we think it’s a bit odd too), Laughing Octopus emerges from the shadows and squeezes a soldier to death with huge, Doc Octopus tentacles, saying “Laugh with me!”.

All the catchphrases seem to be in check so far, but what is that screaming sound above? It’s Screaming Mantis, who uses telepathy to force a soldier to fire at his comrades, and then lifts him in the air and breaks him like a doll. Speaking of dolls, she seems to have two inanimate companions on either side of her that look a bit like the stick figures from the Blair Witch Project. As the Beauties leave the battlefield, we’re left wondering how after two years of MGS4 trailers, we ended up with the weirdest, longest CG film in the videogame industry.

We’ve seen everything from pissing, mooing, organic Metal Gears, a young Snake in disguise, Raiden the ninja stabbing himself to take down Vamp the vampire, and now a quartet of mecha beauties that would make the creepiest otaku blush. Hideo is performing some serious fan service here, but whether this game is for Metal Gear fans or the larger audience of anime fans is not yet clear. Will we “get” what Hideo is saying when the game finally comes out? Can the gameplay possibly live up to the potential seen in what feels like hundreds of hours of CG cutscenes? PS3 owners will find out in early 2008.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We reported just a few days ago that as of June 28th, Kojima Productions was still undecided about whether or not they would be making an appearance at E3 2007, well what a difference a few days makes.

Kotaku.com is now reporting that a new Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer will in fact be at this years E3, in English and will hint at the return of a previously unseen character. That is all we have in the way of information right now. Stay tuned.

Source: Kotaku.com

Three boxes left boss. Do you want me to load em up on the truck for E3?

In a recent “Kojima Productions Report” podcast interview with Mark MacDonald the question was asked, will Metal Gear Solid 4 be at E3 2007? The response was…

“Thats a good question … and as of this recording (June 28th broadcast), it’s not decided, honestly.”

We were all lead to believe that the major issue with the old E3 was the cost associated with being there as a publisher, yet with the upfront cost cut drastically this year we are seeing many developers still opting out of being there and others still on the fence.

With so many companies having a hard time committing to “min-E3” or deciding not to show at all, it makes us really question whether or not the idea to do away with the old E3 format was really was the best course of action.

Source: Kojima Productions Report Podcast

Update: 7/5/07 – 9:00PM EST
It appears that the final three boxes were loaded onto the truck after all. A new Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer will be shown at E3 2007 next week. The trailer will be completely in English and hints about a previously unseen returning character. That is all we have at this moment. Sit tight.

Source: Kotaku.com

So maybe Sony WILL end up losing the exclusive rights to Metal Gear 4 to Microsoft and the Xbox 360, but that may pale in comparison to what some Japanese outlets are reporting will be the fate of Konami’s Silent Hill 5 and even more surprisingly, Capcom’s Resident Evil 5.

Rumor has it that both titles could be dropped for the Xbox 360 all together! Once again, nothing has been confirmed at this time, and this may end up being nothing more than a vicious rumor surfacing in response to the MGS4 rumor already floating around.

If this holds to be true, the addition of the afore mentioned titles as PS3 exclusives could give Sony the time it desperately needs to play next gen catch up with Microsoft and Nintendo.

In closing, we aren’t sold on this rumor as of yet, in large part due to Sony’s staggering sales figures. We will however keep you all updated as more information becomes available.

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Sony better pray that this rumor turns out to be false. According to some Internet sites, the much anticipated game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots could be ported over to Microsoft’s green machine Xbox 360.

Before you Xbox Fan-boys start busting out the army fatigues and face paint, take a deep breath and remind yourself that this is only a rumor. Now, do we think it could happen? Yes. With Sony sales hurting and Xbox’s selling like hot cakes covered in chocolate it makes perfect business sense, for Konami that is. Why would they produce the fourth installment of their best selling franchise and greatly limit it sales by being an exclusive to the PS3? Exactly, it doesn’t make any sense to us either!

No conversation is complete without at least mentioning the Wii. Of course we have also heard rumors regarding a possible downgrade version of Metal Gear: Guns of the Patriots on Nintendo’s Wii and while we do believe there is some truth in the 360 rumor, we are not on board with this one quite yet.

Stunning cinematic sequences have always been synonyms with the MGS series, and MGS4 has given us a peek at a more then a handful left us just short of speechless. Achieving the same level of quality on a Wii just isn’t possible, although it would be fun to tiptoe around snapping the neck of unsuspecting guards with our Wii remote and numbchuck.

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