Beats me, What, you thought I was gonna tell you on the jump? Siliconera noticed the "Piece Walker" portal, but has no clue, either. The only links on the page are to Konami, Kojima Productions, and the Peace Walker demo.

METAL GEAR SOLID "PIECE" WALKER WEBSITE [Konami via Siliconera]

The official Halo Waypoint Twitter account brings word of Tojima's hire, the second—that we know of—former Kojiima Productions staffer to join Microsoft in its Halo-expanding endeavors. Ryan Payton, assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, joined the internal Halo team late last year.

Sounds like Konami and crew may have a little difficulty as of late in keeping their audio talent interested in sustaining their employment at the Japanese publisher. Regardless of Konami's musical staffing problems, we look forward to what the combination of all that talent and the backing of the Halo franchise will bring.

"The reverberation has been bigger than imagined," the game designer writes. How big? Apparently KP staffers who worked on Z.O.E. have been stopping him on the elevator, in the office, in restaurants and in Tokyo Midtown, saying "Is it true?", "When do we start making Z.O.E.?" and "Please let me join the team!" One guy even has a Anubis (Z.O.E.) print out tacked up on his cubicle!

"No, no, a little longer," Kojima writes. "I want you to wait."

アヌビスのその後｜コナミ小島プロダクション公式ウェブログ [コジブロ]

Anubis was slated for release during holiday 2002, but was pushed back to February due to the packed December release calendar, just as many games scheduled for this holiday have been pushed back to early 2010.

"Everything was due to an error by me, the producer," wrote Kojima in his blog (translated by Andria Sang. "At that time, if I hadn't made a mistake with the release date, Anubis might have ended up a major Kojima Productions title to follow MGS, still seeing development as a series."

Interest in Z.O.E. has not dimmed, and Kojima writes that he would like to make a sequel. "Also, we feel that if we do it, we'd like to make Anubis succeed this time," Kojima continues. "I already have a game plan and method for sales in my head."

Kojima, however, does not know if the Zone of the Enders sequel will get the green light as the production hopper at Kojima Productions is currently full.

"I cannot make a promise about time," writes Kojima. "However, I can promise a sequel." Someday!

ANUBISでの苦い想い出｜コナミ小島プロダクション公式ウェブログ [コジブロ via andriasang via Destructoid]

In a recent interview, art director Yoji Shinkawa explained the 2D cutscene feature: "For example, if you zoom in on the scene where you first meet Paz, you can see the uniform she has on under her coat, and then what's under that." Let's try!

Here is Paz. Hi Paz.

Zoom, zoom, zoom. Oh, she's wearing some sort of uniform. Something seems wrong with her arm — guess that's why we are peeking. Next!

Zooooooooooom. Ah, yes. Underwear. That's what most people wear under their clothes, too. Some don't, though. It depends.

『メタルギア ソリッド ピースウォーカー』新たな物語が描かれるシリーズ最新作 [ファミ通.com]

In the latest Kojima Productions Report, the MGS PW voice cast has been announced. It is:

Master Miller - Robin Atkin Downes
Paz - Tara Strong
Amanda - Grey DeLisle
Strangelove - Vanessa Marshall
Coldman - H Richard Green
Huey - Christopher Randolph
Galvez - Steve Blum
Chico - Anthony Del Rio
Cecile - Catherine Taber
Naked Snake, Big Boss - David Hayter

And like that, David Hayter is back for more gravelly gravel gruffing. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayter!

PW English Voice Cast Announced / PW英語版声優さん発表｜コナミ小島プロダクション公式ウェブログ [コジブロ]

Kojima tells PlayStation.Blog.Europe:

A lot of [people] love Zone of the Enders, and we love the title as well, especially at Kojima Productions and we always want to create one for the next gens as well.

Of course, Kojuma Productions has a long list of things we want to bring out, and of course Zone of the Enders is one on the top of the list.

However, we have to manage staffing and work around projects therefore it's not going to be out too soon, but we are really considering it.

He also says that he wants to create an original title and he could produce Z.O.E.

Oh, and Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear Solid anymore. Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear Solid anymore. Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear Solid anymore. Kojima-san doesn't have to...

Kojima on Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker [PlayStation.Blog.Europe via VG247]

Here's why. The game designer has been pumping iron.

But Kojima blogs that because of the Tokyo Game Show, he wasn't able to hit the gym that much. He gained 2 kilograms and lost muscle mass.

Still, check out those guns! Hideo Kojima will mess you up, yo. Baaaaaaaaaad.

二週間ぶり｜コナミ小島プロダクション公式ウェブログ [コジブロ]

"The 30 minutes I spent playing Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on the first day of the Tokyo Game Show left me with the best first impression I've ever had of a game on the PlayStation Portable," wrote Kotaku's Stephen Totilo.

That's not good enough for Kojima Productions, it seems, as the studio is currently tweaking the game's controls based on the opinions at TGS of the media, the industry, players, the internet, bulletin boards, etc. It really sounds like Kojima Productions is open to whatever input can make the title better and is making changes "at a quick pace".

At TGS, two control types were playable: Shooting Type and Action Type. Kojima Productions is currently investigating whether or not it is possible to implement a third control scheme into the game.

TGSを受けての操作変更｜コナミ小島プロダクション公式ウェブログ [コジブロ]

According to the upcoming issue of Famitsu, here are the characters: Amanda, Huey, Chico, Strangelove, Coldman, Cécile, Miller, Paz and Gálvez. Character illustrations above.

Due out in 2010, Peace Walker takes place 10 years after Metal Gear Solid 3, chronicling the rise of Outer Heaven in Costa Rica. The game is not a side story or spin-off, but a full game written and produced by Kojima himself.

Because it looks like Konami will be offering demo kiosks for attendees as well as making the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker demo downloadable. A perfect time killer, should Konami offer a theater demonstration or behind closed doors trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Not saying they are. Just saying.

We've already booked our appointment to play Peace Walker, so if you can't make it to TGS this year, live vicariously through our preview of the game.

TGS2009 Kojima Productions Site [Konami]

But we have something... better? Screen shots!! Yes, fresh Gamescom-exclusive stills of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, showing whip-wielder Gabriel in action. Watch out, because there's a bit of gore ahead in the form of an exploding pool of blood. Gruesome!

So what is KP doing? Lending moral support, it seems.

"Kojima Productions is playing more of a support role," explains Kojima. "Castlevania is one of Konami's most important brands, one that's seen many releases since the original, and they've all been received warmly, but there's never been a Castlevania created to really satisfy Western gamers. This has become a big project, one with the idea that we needed to make a Castlevania which had that same kind of feverish Western support, and that's why Kojima Productions came in to help."

Oh. Okay, then! Not sure if we agree that "there's never been a Castlevania created to really satisfy Western gamers". Our next question, why is Konami pushing Hideo Kojima into the limelight and not series producer Koji Igarashi?

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will be out next year on the PS3 and the Xbox 360. "It's got great gameplay and great action," says Kojima, "and the graphics are good even to Japanese eyes." Because Japanese eyes are the gold standard, yo.

Kojima Discusses Castlevania Involvement [1Up]

Yes, the Metal Gear publisher is once again prefacing actual video game announcements with a warning that it plans to make said announcements, a move that has become a Konami trademark. Konami notes today that it will release "exciting" Metal Gear announcements all week long aimed at fans of the tactical espionage action franchise.

Don't expect all-new game announcements, considering that both Metal Gear Solid: Rising and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker recently had their existence confirmed. Instead, anticipate "game updates and other highly anticipated announcements" from Konami.

We doubt that Konami will embroil us in another Kojima Productions NEXT-style roller coaster ride of speculation and mental manipulation, but expect something of substance this week.

According to the Kojima Productions podcast, Konami is developing a brand new engine for Rising to, as KP podcast host Sean Eyestone points out, "realize this multi-platform goal".

"We're redoing the engine from scratch, and it's going to look amazing," says Eyestone. "It's going to be a big project like Metal Gear Solid 4. The entire team is serious about making it look as good as possible on every platform."

The title Rising is a pun of sorts. The Japanese pronunciation "Raijin" is a word play on a mythic Japanese storm god. The character name "Raiden" means "thunder and lightning" in Japanese. Geddit?

The title also has significance in English: "It's raising the Metal Gear franchise up to the next step."

Kojima Productions does in depth [Metal Gear Scholar]

The recently announced Metal Gear Arcade takes Metal Gear Online and stuffs it into an impressive-looking, but similarly expensive to develop, networked arcade cabinet. Thanks to 3D goggles, it will take the Metal Gear series "into the 3rd dimension," kind of a step back for us PlayStation 3 owners already gaming in glorious 4D. But it looks like it could be an enjoyable sit-down arcade experience, as long as we don't have to register for a Konami ID to play it and Kojima leaves the cut scenes at home.

The first trailer for the game shows off some familiar looking gameplay, but gameplay nonetheless. Metal Gear Arcade is slated to hit Japanese arcades sometime in 2009.

It was announced at the Konami press conference. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and his studio Kojima Productions are involved. At the press conference, it was announced that the game uses "3D googles". This teaser images reads "Tactical Online Action."

A trademark appeared this past April. That trademark was protected against "entertainment services" for "providing a website featuring information about video games" and "arranging and conducting video game competitions."

The game will be out in Japan later this year.

Our take: it will be a customized arcade take on Metal Gear Online with networked arcade cabinets.