Kotaku reader Michal's comic, however, might help explain why Snake strikes out with the women of Metal Gear Solid in a spin on this theory about Old Snake's shortcomings. I guess, technically, it's NSFW, so proceed with caution.

Sorry, Old Snake. That's a tough hand you've been dealt.

Full sized version at Michal's deviantArt space.

Bear's Beer Talk [deviantArt]

Does it need a movie? No. Do people want to collect the money that would be made from a movie? Sure. [laughs] I think that any time that a property is as valuable as this one, they're going to do it. It's not a question of if there is a need for a movie, it's a question of how do they insure that the movie is good, and worth watching.

And how would Hayter make Metal Gear Solid a movie worth watching?

I think, because of the scenes — there's so much movie in every Metal Gear game — it's like, well, do we really need to see a bunch more talking about Metal Gear? As a movie adapter myself, I would never take those scenes verbatim and put them up on screen; it wouldn't make any sense. I mean, a lot of times it doesn't make any sense in the game. But you're sort of speaking a language that all of these fans would understand.

In a movie, you're going to want, for the lack of a better term, a more American style of dialogue. Tighter scenes. Themes that aren't quite as ambiguous, that speak more to Americans. You're really watching a Japanese perspective of American military power, where as it would be interesting to me to see the American perspective on what American military power has become. Now it's kind of dubious right now, so it's an interesting time to sort of explore that.

If you're going to do it well, do it. If you're going to put out some piece of crap, then no. Nobody needs that. Why waste your two hours when you can waste 18 watching Metal Gear 4. [laughter] No, not waste. Not when you can add quality to your life by playing Metal Gear Solid 4. [smiles]

If Hayter doesn't end up writing the Metal Gear Solid movie and the flick stinks, fans will default to they-should-have-gotten-Hayter. And if Hayter does write the flick, the director and the producers might feel as though they're always deferring to Hayter and not making the movie as they see it.

Destructoid Interview: David Hayter [Destructoid]

I didn't agree with that [Snake flinching at pulling the trigger on himself] at all, and I begged them to change it, but I think it's still in the final game... I didn't buy it at all. I think it's weak for Snake to be killing other people and then not be able to kill himself when it's time. If he knows it's time, then it's time.

Point. Fair enough, fair enough. Though, we can also see how Kojima might have wanted to humanize Snake in his final moments as well.

David Hayter Critical of Some MGS Moments [1Up]

Eds Note: Reader Zac attended the panel, and sent along these edited YouTube clips:

• There are two new OctoCamo patterns available for download on Metal Gear Solid 4. Laughing Camo raises your enemies' laugh emotion when they spot you; Raging Camo boosts enemies' rage emotion when they spot you. They're out as of now, reports Gaming Bits.

• The new Rainbow Six Vegas 2 patch is out and available for download. We tipped you to it last week. This download gives you a map-pack and a game patch with lots of tweaks to gameplay and achievements. It is entirely free also. Enjoy.

• Reader Max W. writes to say that the demo for Mobile Suit Gundam: Operation: Troy is out on the Japanese Xbox Live Marketplace. "And it's awesome." I'm not in touch with Bash right now to verify, but there's another freebie to play if you're on that network. Gundam did wonders for 360's June sales, as we wrote earlier.

New OctoCamo Patterns Now Available [Gaming Bits]

Thanks DavidXsee!

Nintendo Wii outsells Sony's PS3 in Japan in June [Reuters]

Honestly, we asked the motion capture actors to do the motion capture nude, but of course, we couldn't use this in the actual game.

レポート：トークショウ [Gpara via My game news flash]

Now what on Earth would he need that for? Kojima Productions has produced all of about zero titles for the 360; he's flatly said MGS4 isn't meant for that platform, and MGS4 openly disparages (spoiler, kinda) the HD-DVD format in a codec call.

Maybe he was just using it for "research." That's the excuse I give when the credit card company asks me to validate certain, uh, Interwebs purchases.

Jonny says the above frame came from the segment "Hideo Kojima's Gene" in the bonus features disc, for those who have it and want to watch. The large size version, without graffiti, is after the jump, if you want to get down and sleuth this and argue the details of the frame.

Kojima Makes Fun of Xbox 360's DVD Format in MGS4 [Scrawl]

She got the unlock codes from two different launch events in Japan today, in Shinjuku and Yokohama. A third was released at Omiya but she wasn't there, so its code is still out there, presumably (if you have it, send along to tips.) But McWhertor tested these out and they're on the level:

password mekakorkkk unlocks the .45 caliber pistol.
password mnsoymsyhn unlocks the Mosin-Nagant rifle.

Enjoy your ill-gotten firearms! The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled you have a right to 'em after all ...

Hirai said MGS 4 is "the first title to fully utilize the capacity of dual layer Blu-ray disc.... Metal Gear Solid 4has created a world of gaming entertainment that can only be realized by PS3."

He also said MGS 4 drove console sales. "In the first week of the release of Metal Gear Solid 4, sales of PS3 in the Japanese market grew significantly, [an] eight times increase as compared to the week before, proving that Metal Gear Solid 4is a platform driver for PS3."

Yes, hairsplitters, that's shipped to retailers, not sold through to customers. Still, we're fairly certain Hideo Kojima can flaunt that number to friends and probably secure a line of credit at his favorite silk shirt retailer because they know he's good for it.

Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting [Famitsu via IGN]

僕らの時代のスーパーロボットが登場 [IT Media]

June 28th, Saturday
•Yodobashi Camera Shinjuku 10:00AM - 11:00AM
•Sofmap Omiya 2:30PM - 3:30PM
•Yodobashi Camera Yokohama 5:30PM - 7:00

June 29th, Sunday
•Nagoya Station Bic Camera 10:30AM - NOON
•Osaka Yamada Denki Labi1 4:00PM - 5:30PM

Seems like signatures are mostly being limited to game packaging (Premium Pack is okay!), so that means no Kojima signed cigarette boxes. Bummer.

GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS　ワールドツアー　in JAPAN [IT Media] [Pic]

When I was a kid, I ate all my beans before I ate my carrots, all my fish before I ate all my corn. These days, I eat all my fries before I eat my burger and I finish any console game I'm enjoying before I start the next one.

So if you are enjoying GTAIV and are as close to the end as you say you are, then forge on ahead and complete it. Remember, the next game you're going to play is a Metal Gear game, and, in order to understand one of those epics, you need to give it your full attention. One game at a time.

By the way, I think one of the hamsters that powers the Kotaku engine sprained a leg today or something. If you have a replacement rodent, you might want to send him scurrying in.

What you missed:
My Brief Surprise Visit To Sony's PS3 Home Beta
Skate It Wii May Get Skateboard Frame for Balance Board
ESA Responds To Crave Departure
Sporepedia A Million Strong And Growing

'Metal Gear Solid 4' And The Lack Of Sad Games

So, shortly after hanging up the phone, I sent him a follow-up. There was one MGS4 idea that we hadn't discussed that I thought was deserving of an NYT spotlight: How sad the game is. And how rare it is that we get a chance to play a sad game.

In my letter, I wrote:

MGS4 is the rare effort of video game blues and tragedy. Gamers are used to being asked to save the day and be the hero. Metal Gear Solid 4 is so unusual in that it's the rare game that asks them to be interested in something else: a march toward defeat, an interactive tragedy.

I've printed my full e-mail below. No spoilers beyond what was in the game's trailers.

Anyone else want more video game tragedies? (cue mention of Conker's Bad Fur Day)

David,

One other thing that we should have talked about: the novelty of a video game tragedy.

The video game medium has largely been one of triumphal fiction. One could argue that that's because of the nature of games. Designers need to keep their players entertained, which, in character-driven games as far back as Pac-Man, involves giving the player obstacles and enemies to overcome. And many modern video games keep the player engaged by rewarding the player with an expanding arsenal of abilities. Get this far in a game or conquer this challenge in a game and your character will now be able to jump further or replace her pistol with a shotgun or finally be able to swing not just a sword but now a sword engulfed in magic flame. Players are compelled, so often, by a sense of progress. And that's why, I think, so many games' stories are necessarily ones of triumph, of Horatio Alger status climbing or Joseph Campbell heroic feat.

So it was a bit strange when the first major MGS4 trailer premiered a few years ago and culminated with Old Snake finding a quiet spot of the battlefield away from the gunfire an placing the barrel of a pistol in his mouth. That's what feels so unusual about MGS4 even compared to the other MGS games. This is a sad story, one that feels destined to end in defeat. Snake is aging and dying. He's literally become toxic to the people around him. And his back hurts. (Which you'll see him clutch in pain if you let him crouch too long). MGS4 is the rare effort of video game blues and tragedy. Gamers are used to being asked to save the day and be the hero. Metal Gear Solid 4 is so unusual in that it's the rare game that asks them to be interested in something else: a march toward defeat, an interactive tragedy. That's what feels novel. And, like I said, it's still a challenge to parse the value of novelty from any sense of how the work will hold up in the long term.

Hope that helps!

-Stephen

Few days ago I found that the arcade game Magical Quiz Academy, while in demo mode, promotes METAL GEAR SOLID 4.
Basically, while everyone is talking about in-game advertisement, Konami has made a "game's in-arcade game promotion". I think this is a pretty smart move to reach hardcore users without speding a yen...

Clever, Konami, clever!

I'll also be cruising through Metal Gear Solid 4 one more time, taking my time to enjoy the sights instead of constantly thinking "Must finish by Tuesday. Must publish review. Run, Snake, run!!" Other than that, I'll just be trying to beat the heat.

What are you playing this weekend?

"I needed to just play a game for a little while, " he told me during a late night call earlier this week. "I got stuck in Metal Gear Solid and it was so frustrating playing it over and over again."

At 70, my dad isn't probably the typical Metal Gear Solid gamer, probably not even the typical gamer. But after watching me play through chunks of Grand Theft Auto shortly after its release he vowed to pick up the Playstation 3. Why the PS3? Because the original Xbox, now a magnet for dust in his house, got a chance and it was the Playstation's turn, he told me.

So on launch day my dad made his way to the only GameStop in Moultrie, Georgia, a town of pecan trees, tobacco warehouses and business-stopping high school football games. He got there before opening and stood in a line of one just to pick up the PS3 Metal Gear bundle.

After the set-up, the tweaking, the firmware updates, he settled down to play some Metal Gear Solid 4, his first experience with the franchise. I didn't hear from him for days. I imagined him sitting, cocooned in the self-exile of a tiny town in a tiny county, playing unshaven, the last great moments of Snake.

After a few days I called him up to check in, make sure he hadn't gone down the rabbit hole of virtual unreality. I asked him what he thought of the game.

"I think," he said slowly, "that they need to decide if they want to make a game or make a movie."

Had he given up, I asked. No, he hadn't done that, instead he had buckled down and muscled forward, enjoying a lot of what he had experienced.

I told him I had suggested the game because I thought he would like the themes of military and espionage, and that unlike the shooters he was so used to playing, he didn't have to worry so much about his slowing reflexes?

You can take your time, and let the action and the story unwind slowly, like a good book, I said.

Oh, he replied, I play it like a shooter. I don't sneak around really. I just die a lot.

But despite what has to be the frustrations inherent in tackling a stealth game with guns blazing, my dad was showing signs of getting into it, digging it. He had one night after dinner, for instance, "accidentally" played the game well into the morning hours, going to bed not much before the sun rose.

But his brief love affair with hardcore gaming came to a crashing halt Thursday night when Snake met Vamp and the mounting deaths finally sapped his will to game.

"I don't understand why they have to force me to beat Vamp," he said. "I mean it's completely stopped me from playing the game. I can't go do anything else. I just want to have fun, but I can't."

I hooked him up with some help, tips, a walk-through on how to deal with his Vamp problem, but I think, perhaps, it might be too late. Straddling the line between hardcore and easy entry games, my dad just got stun-knifed out of the game.

Old Man and the GTA [Kotaku]

Metal Gear Online Standalone [Rakuten via ２ちゃんねる Thanks, Muu!]

Tecmo will be less happy to see that Ninja Gaiden II has already dropped off the charts after an unimpressive showing last week.

01. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) - 465,000 / NEW
02. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 38,000 / 1,444,000
03. Wii Fit (Wii) - 37,000 / 2,227,000
04. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Portable 3 (PSP) - 27,000 / 187,000
05. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP) - 26,000 / 2,203,000
06. Hisshou Pachinko*Pachi-Slot Kouryaku Series DS Vol. 2: CR Neon Genesis Evangelion - Shito, Futatabi (DS) - 22,000 / NEW
07. Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit (PS3) - 18,000 / 111,000
08. DS Bimoji Training (DS) - 17,000 / 285,000
09. DS Yamamura Misa Suspense: Maiko Kogiku - Kisha Katherine - Sougiya Isa Akashi - Koto ni Maru Hana Sanrin: Kyoto Satujin Jinken File (DS) - 17,000 / 56,000
10. Fushigi no Dungeon - Furai no Shiren 3: Karakuri Yashiki no Nemuri Hime (Wii) - 14,000 / 73,000

11. Wii Sports (Wii)
12. Meccha! Taiko Drum Master DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken (DS)
13. Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! (DS)
14. Family Trainer: Athletic World (Wii)
15. Valhalla Knights 2 (PSP)
16. Wii Play (Wii)
17. Mario Kart (DS)
18. Boura wa Kaseki Holder (DS)
19. Pokémon Ranger: Batonnage (DS)
20. Kuukan * Zukei: Hirameki Training - KuuTore (DS)
21. Majin Tantei Nougame Neuro: Neuro to Miko no Bishoku Sanmai (DS)
22. Link's Crossbow Training (Wii)
23. Motto TOEIC Test DS Training (DS)
24. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
25. Endless Frontier: Super Robot Wars OG Saga (DS)
26. Tottado! Yowiko no Mujintou Seikatsu (DS)
27. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
28. More Brain Training (DS)
29. Battalion Wars 2 (Wii)
30. Pokémon Diamond (DS)

Media Create Weekly Software Sales [Gpara]

What's included? Complete storylines, character profiles, relationship diagrams(!), plus "much more." The best part? Spoiler protection, as sensitive information that might ruin your MGS4 experience is "blacked out" until you've completed the game.

We'll have to check with the official Kotaku excitement tracker, but we don't remember being this enthusiastic about a database ever.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Database on the way! [PlayStation.blog]

One of the team responsible for creating the limited edition dropped us a line to let us know that Gamestation accidentally put it up for order before the big announcement, so this would be an excellent time to order one before the rush. At £99.99 it makes an excellent gift for any member of the American gaming press sitting at their computer desk drooling over a watch.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Exclusive Watch [Gamestation Preorder Page - Thanks Dan!]

【MGS4】ビューティ＆ビースト部隊がエロ過ぎる、とにかくエロ過ぎる [Hatimaki]

Chart-Track: MGS4 had "minimal" impact on UK PS3 sales [GI.biz]

Metal Gear Solid 4 is Kojima Productions' series swan song, an epic denouement that's dripping with metaphor and complex narrative, one that will most likely leave you ultimately satisfied rather than thoroughly confused. Getting to that point, we found, was a hell of a ride.

Loved
A Happy Marriage Of Art & Technology: Metal Gear Solid 4 is without a doubt the best looking PlayStation 3 game yet. A masterstroke of high quality art direction and technical prowess make it a feast for the eyes. Characters are modeled and animated beautifully, and the game's varied environments are expertly crafted. The attention to detail is simply stunning, with some of MGS4's clever product placement seemingly getting extra care. The frame rate may not be ideal, but given what's happening on screen, it's hard to quibble.
Being In Control: One of my biggest personal complaints about the Metal Gear Solid series was its complicated control scheme. MGS4 doesn't dumb things down, but introduces more context-sensitive actions and a tightened layout, resulting in less crab-clawing of the DualShock.
Gorgeous Direction:The bizarre and beautiful avant garde intro from Logan may leave players puzzled, but the Kojima directed in-game cinematics rarely stray into art house territory. Outside of a ludicrous breakdancing battle and some melodramatic emotional scenes, they're engaging and unparalleled in their production values.
Fan Service: MGS4 doesn't just dip into two decades of Metal Gear history, it bathes in it. Kojima fans will likely go wild with the game's extensive references to games past—and not just from twenty years of Metal Gear, but from other Kojima helmed titles, like Policenauts and Zone of the Enders. Many beloved characters make repeat appearances, even if some are just in flashback form. There are deviations from standard gameplay that might just blow your fanboy mind.
Great Gadgets: OctoCamo and Otacon's mini-Metal Gear are welcome additions to Snake's arsenal, as is the multifunction Solid Eye system. Upgrading weapons is a breeze, thanks to a generous and easy to use shopping system.
Robust Multiplayer Modes: Metal Gear Online may have initially seemed like an afterthought, but with six modes that range from straightforward Team Deathmatch to Sneaking Mission—in which one team member plays as Snake, another as Metal Gear Mk .II—it's clear Kojima Productions took multiplayer seriously. A fine replacement for the now-dead original MGO.
Comic Relief: Cola swilling monkeys aren't the only source of laughs in this generally gloomy chapter. Kojima and crew poke fun at themselves perfectly, with a welcome dose of MGS in-jokes and toilet humor that, believe it or not, actually makes sense plot-wise.

Hated
Obscene Cut Scene Length: Kojima Productions needs an editor. One portion of the game has the player mostly hands-off for close to an hour, with unnecessarily long cinematics flanking a hard drive install. We like Kojima's blend of action and narrative and often find his self-indulgence endearing, but there is simply no need to see some of this stuff. Gameplay feels like it takes a backseat to long-winded monologue at times, which is a shame, since the mechanics are so masterfully honed in this chapter.
Getting Metal Gear Online Online Is A Hassle: The Konami ID system is overly complicated and confusing, something we can't imagine doing via DualShock. MGO itself was somewhat unstable, resulting in three failed attempts at downloading a software update and occasional server disconnects.
Loading.... There is a somewhat lengthy install at the beginning of the game, plus additional smaller installs prior to each act. Potentially more aggravating are numerous loading screens that break up the action, with one particular thrilling chase sequence suffering most.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is a fascinating specimen, equal parts video game and interactive digital cinema. It is both aided and hampered by Kojima's predilection for extensive dialogue and exposition. It's so thematically layered, so steeped in Metal Gear lore that it might be intimidating to new players—having skipped out on Metal Gear Solid 3, I was concerned about being completely lost—but it shouldn't be. There are at times I wanted to throttle Kojima for his seemingly endless script, wanting to just play the damn game—something you do less and less as the game wears on—but there's still a certain charm to the game's thickly interwoven themes of the economy of war, familial strife, the role of science, and the toll that time takes on the mind and body.

Metal Gear Solid as a series, we hope, is over. It ends on such a high note—despite its numerous flaws—and so succinctly wraps up its voluminous, twenty-year long narrative that we'd hate to see an even older Snake give it another slog. Playing through Metal Gear Solid 4 again, however, is a different story. It's worth another shot.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was developed by Kojima Productions, published by Konami. Retails for $59.99. Available on PlayStation 3. Played single player campaign to completion on "Solid Normal" difficulty. Tested all Metal Gear Online modes and extras.

Playboy Spices Up MGS4 [Siliconera]

Front view, complete with surly little scowl, follows the jump:

Say it with me, fellow Snake admirers: Awwww.

Munny Monday - Old Snake [Albotas - Thanks, YaYaLuvsCupcakes!]

Kojima explains his brand of antiwar sentiment, which is more or less circumspect about the reasons and results of war rather than outright pacifism. He also pines for a future where smaller, art-house productions are comparatively viable, among a world of titles that are increasingly developed for blockbuster effect, like Grand Theft Auto IV and MGS4.

Kojima said that action, sex and gambling are the genres "immediately understood all over the world," and expands on that in a thought-provoking way.

"We use action and that is why our games become bigger and bigger - Hollywood big. It is however possible to make smaller, more personal games if you, for example, limit the target region, the gender or the age of the audience. MGS is a Hollywood blockbuster, like GTA. But maybe it is time for something like independent movies, with a smaller target audience, like movies for an arthouse movie theater.

And he gives a great one-liner when asked to explain MGS4 to a non-gamer. "It's a game of hide-and-seek."

Spiegel Online Interview: Hideo Kojima talks about pacifism, movies and GTA [Gaming in Germany, thanks for the translation maxax]

Where the fuck were we? Oh yes, our originals coverage. Here it is. Another big week in Kotakopolis. Enjoy.

Be the King of Kotaku Commenters
Interview: Pachter Says Console Sales Still OK, But Expect Holiday Price Drops
SCEA Has No Plans To Offer Sixaxis Bundles In North America
Lunchtime With The Brothers Chap: Strong Bad's Creators Speak And Eat
No Place For Hideo: MGS 4's Hidden Themes
Rumor: Details On Sony's Motion Controls, No "Break-Apart"
Frankenreview Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
Return of the Game Club
Gunmetal PS3: The Unboxing
Do We Have Our First Rock Band II Artist?
Checking Out Rise of the Argonauts
Spore's Fruit Fucker, Or Why I Love the Creature Creator
Stan Lee, Ellijah Wood, Carlos Santana... and Crecente Duke it Out With Spore's Creature Creator
Our Metal Gear Solid 4 Review In Beta, Pushed Back
Bangai-O Spirits Circumvents DS Codes, Blows Minds
Get Paid To Comment and Ban
Hideo Kojima At NYC's Metal Gear Solid 4 Midnight Launch
Metal Gear Solid 4 Japan Launch - Osaka
Early Impressions: Crash - Mind Over Mutant On Wii
Early Impressions: Ghostbusters
Become Kotaku's Next King of Comments
The Incredible Hulk Review: The Beast Within
Take-Two Gets Into FTC Pissing Match
Metal Gear Solid Twin 'Staches!
Zelnick: Take-Two Experimenting With Microtransactions
More Details On Portal 2's Bad Guy
Interview: Turbine Confirms Console Project, Talks Future Plans
Impressions: My Pokemon Ranch
Interview: Flagship Studios On Life After Hellgate Launch
Hands On With Eternity's Child
Ninja Gaiden II Review: Swan Song or Death Knell?
Pachter: GTA IV So Did Not Drive Console Sales
Rumor: Casting Call Reveals Portal 2 Details?
Metal Gear Mustache Maniacs!
Digital Legends Bring 3D Fantasy To The iPhone
Pangea Bringing Enigmo And Cromag Rally To iPhone
Want to buy Metal Gear Solid 4? Head to Kuwait.

Wal-Mart blog Check Out reports that the auction will kick off next week and that you will be able to find it on the auctions page by searching for "metal gear solid".

Any would-be auctionees?

Own Some Gaming History [Check Out]

Beyond MGS4, I have a Kotaku giveaway contest to design this weekend, a birthday party to attend, plus some Meat Bun related things to wrap up, all very exciting stuff. All that and a Metal Gear Solid 4 review by Monday? Can I do it?! What about you? What are your IRL and virtual plans for the weekend?

“War has changed.”

That’s one of the main themes of Metal Gear Solid 4, and from the beginning, it forms a major thread that runs through Hideo Kojima’s hallmark marriage of gameplay and narrative.

Even if one were to skip the game’s introductory cinema, it’s evident something has changed from the first moment of gameplay. The silent tranquilizer gun, a fixture of the Metal Gear Solid series, has historically been the key weapon in a game that prefers the player be stealthy rather than confrontational, pragmatic rather than murderous. As the symbolic lynchpin in that approach, it’s usually one of the earliest pieces of equipment the player obtains.

At the beginning of MGS 4, though, as soon as gameplay begins, your first look at your weapons inventory reveals that instead of the seminal, suppressed tranquilizer gun, you start off with a real one.

Though the game takes place across several different locations, it opens in the Middle East, where local rebels are at war with the soldiers of a private military company (PMC). Instead of Snake’s customary subtle insertion into the outliers of a guarded facility, you’re in the thick of war when the game begins. Stealth is much, much harder now, and cutting through enemy soldier lines against the desert backdrop or carrying an assault rifle amid tanks and grenades evokes moments of feeling just as if you’re playing a typical war title.

War has changed for the MGS universe - and the experience of approaching the series has changed for the player.

Within the game, though, the reason for the evolution in war is explained largely in two parts: First is the privatization of war, waged by corporate platoons-for-hire rather than national armies, and second is the proliferation of nanomachine technology.

The nanomachines prevent soldiers from experiencing fear or feeling much pain, and a digital ID system prohibits them from using unapproved weapons or taking inappropriate actions on the battlefield. The overall effect renders these PMCs little more than remote-control humans, without allegiances, loyalty or personal reasons to fight, and their wars are just business.

This new value set for war stands in direct contrast with the one with which we became acquainted in the original Metal Gear Solid, whose theme could be summed up in a single question: “What are you fighting for?”

In fact, the entire MGS 4 continuously recalls the narrative structure, cinematic arrangement and other key elements from the first game, emphasizing the contrast. The series’ past themes of the necessity of war, battlefield values and personal ideals are put to the test along with the gameplay’s core tenet of intelligent non-confrontation.

MGS 4’s antagonist is overtly once again Snake’s twin, Liquid. But the larger conflict is with this corruption of core ideals - the game presents a world where Snake’s core values, and by extension, the franchise’s, no longer mean anything.

Perhaps that’s the reason behind the decision to prematurely age Snake so severely – that state of affairs actually required some reaching outside of previously-known information to explain. But his advanced age emphasizes his status as a relic in this digitized battlefield, creating player empathy for his loss of relevance and highlighting his heroism when he continues to stand and fight against such overwhelming odds.

Snake, of course, directly contradicts the labeling of himself as “hero” – several times throughout the game, when he’s asked why he still goes into battle, he responds simply that he “still has things left to do.” Simple as that.

The question is, could Metal Gear Solid 4 be a larger metaphor for Kojima’s career and the evolution of the game industry, where high-powered, mindless-slaughter FPS titles set in explosive warzones now dominate, and both creativity and individual vision are minimized against the high-risk “arms race” of the video game console war?

In MGS 4, war has become a financially-driven corporate industry, and the “war economy,” in which PMCs wage war for profit, is another key theme. The game world is bereft of all value except the financial – and even that fluctuates regularly depending on the tide of the war. It looks a lot like a depressing interpretation of the game industry, come to think of it.

MGS 4 was also promoted with the tagline “No Place To Hide,” frequently punned as “No Place For Hideo.” It’s entirely possible that MGS 4’s themes are an expression of Kojima’s own sentiment that the industry has lost its values, glutted itself on war titles, relegated personal strength and creativity to near-extinction, and become entirely focused on money – leaving “no place for Hideo” after all.

Kojima has actually mentioned numerous times that he’s finished with the franchise, often before making a new Metal Gear game – just as, at the end of every game, Snake attempts to retire from war.

Snake is always drawn back in when he’s needed, though, notably led by people who tend to manipulate and lie to him. Even when he’s aware of this, though, Snake, a mercenary who follows orders because of his own values and not because of allegiance to a larger organization, fulfills his objectives for the sake of finishing things.

Maybe Kojima felt he “still had things to do,” just like the rapidly-declining Snake. MGS 4 wraps up all of the loose ends in the series’ plot; whatever Snake has left to do, he’ll finish it at last. And maybe this time Kojima is truly finished, too.