Looks like Ryan Payton will be leaving Kojima Productions and returning home. He cited family reasons as the basis for this tough decision, but he also mentioned MGS5:
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.
Here’s to Ryan and his future endeavours. I’m hoping Ryan’s influence on Kojima Productions will carry forward.
I was looking forward to this month. Looking forward to how much of a hardware pusher Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots was. I even participated in NeoGAF’s June NPD prediction thread.
The fourth installment of the original stealth action franchise brings the legendary hero’s saga to an end. As a fan who loves this series, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is my most anticipated game of the year and quite possibly, ever. I purchased a PlayStation 3 for this game. In fact, you could say I assembled my entire home entertainment system in preparation for Snake’s final mission. The expectations are high with the folks at Sony, Konami, loyal followers and critics alike anticipating nothing, but the best from Kojima Productions. I don’t know if it rocked the sales charts or silenced the critics, but I do know it spoke to me and delivered an extremely satisfying gaming experience.
I doubt it’ll make GTAIV numbers, but I was certain that it will break 1 million units in sales worldwide. Worldwide. Not in Europe alone.
So when I read that MGS4 sold 1 million units in Europe alone, I was impressed to say the least. In related news, all 25K worth of Limited Edition units were sold out as well. I’m curious how the U.S. market took MGS4. Europe sure loves its Metal Gear and I’m wondering if American gamers feel the same.
The June NPDs should be interesting. I’m especially interested to see if Metal Gear Solid 4 will do what GTAIV failed to do and that is: shift hardware units. Early reports of the MGS4 bundle being sold out is certainly pointing towards some form of hardware sales. I mean, they did sell out of initial stock and are planning to ship more in early July.
Yes, it’s over, the last chapter of Snake’s tale was completed by yours truly. I’ll elaborate more about the game in my review, but let me stress one thing: you need to play all three previous games.
Need.
The impact and subtlety of MGS4 would surely wash over many new comers and I would go as far as saying that a majority of the game would be a clusterfuck of nonsensical cutscenes and references. It’s that important. So I implore you to play the originals. If you’re frustrated, ask a MGS veteran for help. You’ll thank me and would probably love the the finale a lot more.
Oh, and needless to say, avoid spoilers. It’ll taint the experience as well.
Think of it as an interactive encyclopedia of everything Metal Gear related. It’s coming tomorrow via the PSN weekly update. Anyways, here’s what we should be expecting:
“contains the official knowledge base of everything that is Metal Gear, reaching all the way back to the very beginning of the franchise. Including complete storylines, character profiles, relationship diagrams, and much more!”
Picked up the Limited Edition box set and I was disappointed by the packaging like Mr. Bettenhausen here. The packaging could have been handled better like the European Limited Edition or the Japanese Limited Edition. Still, it wasn’t bad for $90 taxes included.
Here’s the breakdown of what I received:
Metal Gear Online beta invite - for pre-ordering
Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 DVD - for pre-ordering
Metal Gear Solid 4 Art-book - for pre-ordering the Limited Edition
The Making of Metal Gear Solid 4 Blu-ray - Apparently over 2 hours and all in HD
Metal Gear Solid 4 Soundtrack sample - A CD’s worth of songs. Not the entire soundtrack
Like I’ve said before, this is the one of the few franchises I would purchase a Limited Edition for. It’s just that wonderful to me. As for the game itself? Let’s just say this is the definition of a “next gen” game. (more…)
“Why we love it” is a new feature which we hope to put out when a highly anticipated sequel is about to make its debut. Think of it as an effort to elaborate upon the qualities and traits fans appreciate from the franchise. It’s not aimed at swaying naysayers, but it will acknowledge the franchises’ foibles. This is predominantly aimed at those who are curious about the hype surrounding an upcoming game and have always wondered, “Why do they love it?”.
It’s a question I was asked awhile ago, which I found incredibly hard to answer. “What do people like about the Metal Gear Solid series?” It’s a difficult game to explain. Trying to justify how 20 minutes of cutscenes and codec conversation is an enthralling experience is a tough task, but I thought it was about time I tackled it. So here’s my attempt to describe the Metal Gear Solid series and share why I (and many others) regard it as one of the best videogame franchises of all time.
I’m still working on my “Why We Love It: MGS Series” feature. There’s a lot of shaping and thinking involved with this feature. Don’t worry, though. It’ll be out by Monday. I’m also going to write a Battlefield: Bad Company PS3 demo impressions piece as well. Lots of writing.
So I finished MGS2, but instead of playing MGS3 I’m helping my brother play MGS. Mostly for his benefit, but also to help my feature piece. I’ve helped him out through the original til about the half-way point before he was able to fully grasp the game’s design.
As for my personal gaming? Pixeljunk Monsters Encore. That’s about it. Surprising? Don’t be. I’m purposely not committing to anything before MGS4. I guess Phantom Hourglass is being played out of whim as well.
