How dedicated is the vocal cast of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots? So dedicated that they believe they are the characters to which they breathe sound and life into. Is it some form of hypnotic gene therapy which brings out such wondrous talent? Maybe ... it's the work of the Patriots? *Cue dramatic music* Whatever the reason be, they now meet up regularly to (jokingly) discern between what really is game and reality.
Dr. Sadie, records one such session documenting how far our beloved actors have had one too many serums in the neck. Paul Eiding (aka Colonel Campbell) is on a junkie binge for some Scissors 61. While Christopher Randolph (aka Otacon) reveals he's been turning his cat "Mark" into Mark II ... by strapping a camera to its back. David Hayter (Old Snake), Jennifer Hale (Naomi), and Quinton Flynn (Raiden) are all there with their buddies with some hilarious consequences. See it all after the break. Thanks go out to Dr. Sadie for totally breaking doctor-patient confidentiality!
Posted Dec 19th 2008 12:00PM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
Those that have played Metal Gear Solid 4 probably stumbled upon the "Integral" podcast through the in-game iPod. The included podcast mentioned future episodes, but no updates have been delivered yet. Well, looks like that's going to change, as the first new episode of the podcast will be available to download on January 8th, 2009. The episode will feature Ken Imaizumi, Aki Saito, Sean Eyestone talking about all things Metal Gear-related. Perhaps they'll talk about LittleBigPlanet -- or the newly announced iPhone game. Expect episodes to be released every two weeks afterwards.
The podcast is available exclusively within Metal Gear Solid 4. So, when January comes around, pop in the Blu-ray disc and give the Integral podcast a listen.
Stop reading and watch the video after the break. Don't worry, we'll wait. Done that? Good, now that you're sufficiently excited about the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 LittleBigPlanet DLC packs we can give you a few more details, courtesy of the PlayStation Blog. There's a lot to cover, so pay attention.
First, the character packs, which you've already seen. They're $1.99 each or $5.99 for all four (essentially giving you Raiden for free). Remember how we were saying we wished the "level pack" actually included a level of two so we could collect all the goodies as we progressed? It looks like we got our wish -- and then some. The level pack contains six new levels and a lot of booty. Not to mention the Trophies which were revealed yesterday.
Inside the level pack you'll also find a new costume (Gurlukovich soldier), 72 stickers, 12 materials, 10 decorations and 18 objects. Not only that but there's four new music tracks (one background and 3 interactive), a new sound object, a new "plasma ball danger element," a new "laser sight gadget" and a functioning searchlight. Oh, we almost forgot about The Paintinator and the new switch that comes with it. All this can be yours on December 23rd and it'll cost you $5.99.
Okay, we've run out of space, so go visit the PS Blog for more info.
The cat's out of the bag. The Sony Hong Kong website has let slip details of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid LittleBigPlanet DLC. The content has grown substantially since we first saw Old Snake at TGS in October. He'll be joined by his buddies Meryl, Screaming Mantis and, if you buy the character pack, Raiden. Not only that but a level construction pack will also be made available. We have a feeling it'll include something quite surprising ...
There's no telling when these will be made available, or for how much, but we assume they'll be with us quite soon if they're already being listed on the Sony HK site. Would make a nice Christmas present during next week's Xmas Eve PSN Store update.
Sorry PS3 fans, "a next Metal Gear is" not coming to your favorite black behemoth of a console. In fact, it's not going to any console (sorry Xbox fans, maybe one day). Konami has announced today that Metal Gear Solid is going to the iPhone in the form of Metal Gear Solid Touch next Spring.
This won't be a new story, though. It's essentially a very watered down port of MGS4, as "each stage's location and characters are based on the story of MGS4." In case you're interested, Silent Hill and Dance Dance Revolution are also making the transition to iPhone. So there you have it, you can stop fretting over Kojima's cryptic message and enjoy Christmas.
Only two PS3-exclusive titles went home with awards this past Sunday from Spike TV's annual Video Game Awards. Media Molecule won the honor of "Studio of the Year" for their work on LittleBigPlanet, which, unsurprisingly also netted them "Best PS3 Game." The embedded video above comes from the PS.Blog where Jeff Rubenstein caught up with the glowing-faced recipients moments after the show had ended.
As for that other PS3-exclusive title, Metal Gear Solid 4 -- the tactical espionage title which debuted back in June -- won "Best Graphics" and "Best Original Score." While we definitely believe both wins are well-deserved, we could've seen MGS4 as Game of the Year material, but that's just us. It's also interesting to note, and a bit ironic we should say, that MGS4 won Best Original Score amongst a recent debacle regarding just how original that score really is -- well, its main theme, rather. With all footnotes aside, congratulations to both winners!
Posted Dec 8th 2008 12:30PM by Alan Tsang Filed under: News
To celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the PlayStation 3, Weekly Famitsu takes a look back at some of the big events relating to Sony's console since its launch. One of the most interesting portions of their feature is the part where Entertain reveals the top 5 best-selling titles in Japan so far:
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- 671,706
Minna no Golf 5 (Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds) -- 408,175
Not too many surprises here -- the Japanese sure love the Dynasty Warriors franchise. Furthermore, it was revealed that the PS3 itself has sold 2,469,448 units since its Japanese debut. Also worth noting is the fact that 476,334 copies of MGS4 were sold during the first 4 days of its launch, meaning almost 71% of the copies were snatched up during that time. Did any of these games surprise you guys?
Posted Dec 5th 2008 9:16AM by Alan Tsang Filed under: News
A couple of hours ago, on Kojima Productions' homepage, a link in the form of a green power button icon appeared. Clicking on it leads to this splash page which alternates between the Konami logo and the cryptic message above.
The green color and power button symbol are leading some to believe this has something to do with the Xbox 360. However, keep in mind that the power icon appears on just about every electronic device, including the PS3. The icon as depicted above is also slightly modified, since includes an exclamation mark, which is a trademark of the Metal Gear series. Finally, note that "mgst" appears on the URL, which could be an acronym of some sort.
What do you guys think? Let the speculation commence!
Hideo Kojima snagged an accolade for himself during MTV's Game Awards. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for his Metal Gear Solid series. While such awards are usually given to retirees, Kojima had this to say: "I have to say, even though I received this award, let me state that I will not retire. I will continue to create games as long as I live." We're looking forward to these future titles. Hopefully, we'll see them on the PS3 ... with more bad-asses in them.
Posted Nov 18th 2008 4:20PM by Alan Tsang Filed under: News
Here's a curious incident in Willich, Germany that sounds suspiciously like something out of Metal Gear Solid: a 42-year old Turkish man that was serving a seven-year sentence climbed into a 150cm x 120cm (about 59" x 47") cardboard box and was successful in getting himself delivered out of jail. When an express courier came to the prison to pick up some inmate-produced merchandise, the box containing the prisoner was also loaded onto the truck. As soon as the truck passed through the prison gates, the prisoner made a run for it -- he is currently still at large.
Spike TV's 2008 Video Game Awards will be kicking off next month and the nominees and categories have all been set in place. Among the PlayStation-centric titles, Metal Gear Solid 4 and LittleBigPlanet lead the pack and have earned five nominations each. Both titles are going head-to-head in such categories as: Game of the Year, Best Original Score and Best Graphics. LBP is also vying for Best Soundtrack, while MGS4 is looking to score Best Action-Adventure Game. Both titles, along with Grand Theft Auto IV and Resistance 2 will be fighting it out for Best PlayStation 3 title.
Resistance 2 comes in third with three nominations for Best Multiplayer, Best Shooter and the aforementioned category. Other nominees include: SingStar - Best Music Game; Media Molecule - Studio of the Year; and PixelJunk Eden - Best Independent Game. God of War: Chains of Olympus and Patapon have been nominated for Best Handheld Game.
You know, Easter Eggs are always fun little secrets to seek out -- such as this one from Resistance 2, which candidly gives a shout out to Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4. Reader Jay stumbled upon this "MGS4PWNS" sign in co-op mode. It looks like the ladies and gents at Insomniac have enjoyed MGS4 quite a bit. And why not? It's great.
To see the EE for yourself, just check out the Spec Op's ammo crate after "prototype ammo berserk" has been activated. We haven't tried this ourselves yet this weekend, but we're sure we'll run into it sometime. So how about you? Have you found anything interesting in your gaming sessions this weekend?
The numbers are in. While Metal Gear Solid 4 has shipped three million copies around the world in the first two weeks, it's already gone off to sell over four million copies worldwide. 4.33 million copies have been sold from June up to September -- that's four months after launch. Hmm, the fourth game sells four million in four months? We sense a Patriots conspiracy here.
With conspiracy theories aside, MGS4 alone accounts for 38 percent of all Konami games sold between April and September 2008. This ties in with previous reports where Konami predicted an 88 percent increase in profit.
A while back, Sony asked it's fans to create some MGS-inspired vids. The focus of these videos: Snake's Octocamo suit, which lets him blend into the environment. Check out this video by Aaron C., our favorite of the winning entries. The style of humor on display is very Kojima -- we're surprised we didn't see something like this in the game! To see the other winner, click here.
Metal Gear Solid 4 was by far the biggest third-party title exclusive on the PS3 this year. It's the end of the line for the Solid Snake tetralogy, and it's a milestone that every hardcore Metal Gear fans should already have in their collection. However, more cash-savvy fans know Kojima Productions likes to re-release MGS games, possibly leaving some to wait out the usual extra year or so for a souped up version.
If you find yourself in the latter category and haven't tried the game out yet but want to, the demo that's available on the Japanese PS Store should give a taste of Snake's last adventure. The 1.4GB download can only be grabbed off the Japanese PS Store (so far, since the other regions have not updated yet); so make sure you've got an appropriate account.
