David Hayter Has "Massive Respect" For Hideo Kojima

David Hayter does not have problems with the Metal Gear Solid franchise or Hideo Kojima. Sure, he might've disagreed with the some choices, but hey, that's natural. Hayter's a creative guy, not some mindless drone, and there are bound to be times when people don't see eye-to-eye. Setting the record straight, Hayter writes over at the IMDB boards:

This is patently ridiculous. I love those games immensely and have nothing but massive respect for Mr. Kojima. I did mention one disagreement I had regarding the climax of the game, a question of character, but this is just par for the course when many people work on the same piece.

From the videos we posted, it certainly seemed like Hayter was joking. And besides, what's wrong about disagreeing? A man's entitled to his opinion, and Kojima is free to make the game however he sees fit. That doesn't mean there's any ill feelings! Hit the jump for the full message:

Does Metal Gear Solid Need A Movie?

They're making a Metal Gear Solid movie. And since David Hayter knows both Hollywood as a big time script writer and Metal Gear Solid as the English language voice of Solid Snake, he's probably a good guy to ask about the movie version — even if he's apparently not writing the movie. And what does David Hayter think?

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?

David Hayter Begged Konami To Change MGS4 Stuff

David Hayter isn't just some voice guy. He's a voice guy who's also a Hollywood screenwriter and has penned some big movies like X-Men. While Hayter did offer praise for Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima by saying he's "certainly learned things from him, especially about ambiguity and telling a story without giving all the answers", Hayter also pointed out creative run-ins he's had with the game designer. As far back as the original Metal Gear Solid, Hayter didn't always agree with Kojima's choices. What did Hayter think of Metal Gear Solid 4? Hit the jump for his opinion of where it went wrong — SPOILERS ahead!

Games Today: We Do Melodrama?

Hey, You've Got MGS4 In My Spore Creature Creator!

It takes more than a big time PS3 exclusive like Metal Gear Solid 4 to beat Nintendo. Way more. While MGS4 did give Sony a bump in sales, it wasn't enough, and the Wii outsold the PS3 in June. This is the seventh consecutive month that the Wii has come out on top in The Land of the Rising Sun. For those interested in the number crunching, data from Famitsu publisher Enterbrain has the Wii moving 235,990 consoles during June, while the PS3 shifted 139,494 consoles. In short: Even without a new, huge blockbuster title, Nintendo still sold 59 percent more machines than Sony. Guess Metal Gear Solid 4 didn't drive Japanese hardware sales as Sony had hoped.

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

Metal Gear Solid 4's Nude Actor Motion Capture

Metal Gear Solid 4 is a sexy game. It's got it all — sexy posing, sexy stone penis grabbing, sexy skin-tight outfits and sexy nard punching. At the recent MGS4 signing session in Tokyo's Shinjuku, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima joked that it sure seems like, with what Snake's ass-clenched sneaking suit and the Beauty and the Beast Corps tush-hugging outfits, there was a "butt depiction obsession." Sure seems like it! Kojima continues, "Originally, we were planning to have the Beauty and the Beast Corps appear buck naked." Character designer Yoji Shinkawa, who was also at the Shinjuku event, added:

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]

Metal Gear Online Stand Alone Confirmed, Access Numbers Announced

Over the weekend, MGS4 creator Hideo Kojima did a whirlwind autographing tour of Japan. After hitting America and Europe, we've covered this plenty! New bits: At the Yokohama Yodobashi Camera event, Kojima talked up Metal Gear Online, saying:

Domestically, the one-day peak time is 11pm with 12,000 players playing online simultaneously. Worldwide, we've seen about 100,000 connect [to MGO].

Famitsu confirmed the standalone version of Metal Gear Online, which goes on sale for ¥1,800 (US$17) on July 17th.

横浜で"MGS4 ワールドツアー in Japan" [Famitsu]

Alert reader Jonny L. was watching the bonus features disc that came with Metal Gear Solid 4, thought he spied something funny, backed up a few frames, and grabbed the above: Why, that looks like an Xbox 360 devkit on someone's desk at Kojima Productions!

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.

For all you MGS4 gamers, reader Christine L. has a couple new cheat codes for you. These look new to us, so we're passing them along. With them you can get the .45 pistol and the Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle before they unlock in the game (which happens after you meet up with the Metal Gear Mark II.) It doesn't exactly rock the foundations of science, but it might be useful to some of you.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Ships Out 3 Million

During Sony's corporate strategy meeting, at which the company announced Life with PlayStation and showed off its video download service for the first time, PlayStation bossman Kaz Hirai provided some new numbers. Most relevant to this post's interests are the shipment figures for Metal Gear Solid 4, which has been deployed to worldwide retailers three million times over. Not bad for a couple weeks work.

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]

According to Japanese news site IT Media, Metal Gear Solid 4 has been knocked down to number two by PSP game Super Robot Taisen A Portable. During its first week, MGS4 sold 476,334 copies — so says Enterbrain sales data. In its second week (June 16th to June 22nd), IT Media states the game's sales dropped to 68,000 copies. Still, an impressive number, but not impressive enough to overtake Super Robot Taisen A Portable, which went on sale June 19th. Good news: MGS4's sales have now topped 500,000 copies in Japan. That's way better than a punch in the nards.

僕らの時代のスーパーロボットが登場 [IT Media]

For those who missed meeting Hideo Kojima in the States and Europe and for those living in Japan, listen up. Konami has announced dates and places for the Metal Gear Solid 4 autographing spectacular. Kojima, illustrator Yoji Shinkawa and actress Yumi Kikuchi are slated to appear with signing pen. The dates and places and times are:

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]

Zero Punctuation Wades Through MGS4

Zero Punctuation The Escapist]

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

Like Kotaku's very own Leigh Alexander, I was interviewed by the New York Times for the paper's weekend story about Metal Gear Solid 4. But, perhaps unlike Leigh, I wasn't confident I gave the reporter a solid interview.

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)

MGS4 Ships A Million In Europe

We hear that Europeans like Metal Gear Solid. So to get ready, Konami shipped a million copies of Metal Gear Solid 4 to European retailers. That's a lot! A million shipped is impressive — a million sold, even more so. Martin Schneider, Sales and Marketing Director Germany for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH, comments with SPOILER:

The Metal Gear Solid series has again proved its huge potential, and we are delighted with the fantastic response the game has enjoyed at retail... MGS4 is nothing short of a masterpiece — an epic conclusion to the Solid Snake story. We are extremely pleased with the positive feedback we have received from retail and consumers alike, and will keep satisfying their needs with updates to the game's 'Extra' option, and via new content to Metal Gear Online.

Since Europe doesn't have a single chart tracker for every territory, it'll be a while until we have exact figures. (Konami will have to work off internal sales data for all of Europe.) But for now, this shipped figure will have to suffice. Full press release in all its confusing glory after the jump.