Kotaku: guns of the patriots

Kojima Disappointed With Metal Gear Solid 4

Mike Fahey — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:00:00 MDT

Looks like Kojima Jr. isn't the only one disappointed with Metal Gear Solid. The latest issue of the UK's Edge magazine contains an interview with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, who expresses disappointment with the latest game in the series, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. It isn't so much the gameplay itself as it is the graphics.

"Game-wise, it's pretty close to the original vision: you sneak into the battlefield and can choose whether to do a stealth game or interfere with the battle more directly. But the graphic, side things like motion-blending and the size of the map, totally was not accomplished to my original vision - to my satisfaction.

Now Kojima is a well-known perfectionist, but it is a bit disturbing to see him voice his dissatisfaction with what is supposed to be the masterpiece of the franchise. So where does he lay the blame for not fully realizing his vision?

"When we first showed the game engine at TGS, the staff were really proud and happy. PS3 was a dream machine, y'know, and we were going to work on this and that - and we had so many ideas. But when we actually started developing the game, we realized there were a lot of restrictions and so it turned out how you see it today. The original vision was to go ten steps further, the reality was just one step, which isn't to say we didn't progress.

So there was certainly progress made, but not enough progress...or more specifically, not enough power for progress. Apparently the team overestimated what the PlayStation 3 was capable of.

I remember saying three years ago that we wanted to create something revolutionary, but in reality we couldn't really do that because of the CPU. We're using the Cell engine to its limit., actually. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing the PS3 machine, it's just that we weren't really aware of what the full-spec PS3 offered - we were creating something we couldn't entirely see.

Well there you have it, straight from the man himself. Metal Gear Solid 4 is not revolutionary. Personally I think the man is being a bit hard on himself, but that's what great minds do.

Check out the latest issue of Edge for the full story, as well as a 6/10 Mario Kart Wii review. Eep. Thanks to mescalineeyes for the scan and the info!

HMV Admits MGS4 360 Boo Boo

Mike Fahey — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:20:06 MDT

Hell, sometimes even we get confused about the current status of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the Xbox 360 (no status at all), so far be it for us to scold some simple data entry clerk at UK retail giant HMV for posting a pre-order listing for the game during a bout of what the company labels as over enthusiasm.

"In his enthusiasm, one of our online games team indicated that hmv.co.uk would start taking pre-orders for MGS4 on Xbox 360, when, in fact, he simply meant to ask customers if they wished to receive an alert in the event of this title one day coming out on this platform," admitted the retailer to GamesIndustry.biz

. So it was all just a big mistake, though the difference between release dates for the PS3 (Apr. 18th 2008) and 360 (Sep. 26th 2008) piques my curiosity for just a tiny moment before it goes back to not caring either way at this point.

'MGS4 for Xbox 360' a mistake, admits HMV [GamesIndustry.biz]

Guns of the Patriots Snake Figure

Mike Fahey — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 12:40:09 MST

Kojima Productions and Japanese toymaker Medicom are teaming up to create the ultimate Solid Snake action figure. The super-detailed figure captures the look of the world's most physically fit geriatric down to the hair on his moustache, and stands a full 12 inches tall, effectively unleashing a torrent of juvenile 12 inch Snake jokes that the gaming community may never recover from.

The figure utilizes Medicom's RAH 301 technology, which uses a super-articulated underbody that you can put clothes or a skin over, allowing for a lifelike look while maintaining poseability. What that basically means is that the figure will be awesome, and most likely relatively expensive as far as action figures go. The figure should begin shipping in November. Michael Fahey

Medicom and Kojima Productions Partner to Break the Mold [Kojima Productions via Joystiq]