COULD! I say COULD! Not will. So relax. You cool? Then we cool. While chatting with the 1UP crew, Kojima Production's Ryan Payton has said "There are some misunderstandings that this is the final Metal Gear game. But it's really the final chapter of the Solid Snake story. That's all". Care to elaborate? Well, right before that, he said there's "still a lot of room for filling in the gaps as far as Big Boss is concerned". Make of that what you will. My favourite part of the interview, though, doesn't even concern Metal Gear. After he's asked whether Japanese devs should start adopting Western control methods in order to improve their games, Payton says: "If other Japanese publishers want to improve their controls, I wouldn't say they need to adopt western ideas, but rather that they simply need to improve them". Too true.

Metal Gear Solid 5 Could Be a Prequel [1UP]

Hear Solid Snake Say "Kotaku"

Late last month, magazine PSW stated that upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 has 90 minute cutscenes — which, the magazine pointed out, could be skipped. Website GamePro fired back, confirming that the game does have "occasionally lengthy" cutscenes and calling the 90 minute cutscenes "a pretty big exaggeration." Magazine EDGE offered this in its review: "The cutscenes here are sure to invoke that thousand-yard stare, two in particular coming perilously close to the 90-minute mark." But what's the official word from Kojima Productions? Metal Gear Solid 4 Assistant Producer Ryan Payton tells Kotaku that the 90 minute cutscene claim is a "gross exaggeration." Hit the jump for his full statement and POSSIBLE SPOILER.

Sure, we know Metal Gear Solid 4 is a big game and all. We didn't know it was gianormous. Literally! Last week, Kojima Productions producer Ryan Payton said there wasn't enough space for an English language track on the Japanese version of MGS4 and vice-versa. Just listen to this exchange between Hideo Kojima and Famitsu:

Kojima: For us, we're not still not satisfied with the quality we can do. You know, there's not capacity space.

Interviewer: Wait, wait a sec. Saying there's not enough capacity, are you talking about Blu-ray?

Kojima: That's correct. There's not enough space at all. (laughs) ...There's not enough space. We always talked about where to cut and what to compress.

Japanese MGS4 Won't Have English Subtitles

Earlier, we brought word that the US and European Metal Gear Solid 4 versions will not feature a Japanese voice track due to a lack of apparent disc space. Well, what about the Japanese version? Will it feature English language subtitles? Surely, Kojima Productions could squeeze subtitles on — that way, those English speakers who really wanted the Japanese voices would get them. Kojima Pro's Ryan Payton tells us:

No English subtitles on MGS4 JP.

In the latest Kojima Productions Report podcast, producer Ryan Payton announces that MGS4 won't have voice over tracks for other languages. Says Payton:

Unfortunately because of disc space, we don't have the space to include other languages, other voice over files for the respective versions. So the Japanese version's not gonna have English VO, and the North American and European versions won't have Japanese VO.

Million Metal Gear Solid 4 Launch Day Quote Is "Incorrect"

I wish I could send a message out to the whole world, 'cause I hear about this all the time. It was a story from Reuters, so it was literally sent to every news source around the globe. Yeah, that's how I was quote. If you notice, in the news story, I have lots of quotes in there with quotation marks, but that part of the story isn't in quotation marks.

Metal Gear Solid 4's Ryan Payton Speaks

"No Sacred Cows"

Obviously, we have about 99% Japanese men and women in our team, and sometimes it feels like 99 against one — since there are two control schemes. The whole process has been about re-looking at the game, and deciding what needs to stay, what needs to be revised. So, really there were no "sacred cows" as far as the control scheme was concerned.

No More MGS4 Trailers

TGS 2007 could be the last trailer for MGS4. The pressure is really on to finish work on the game, and we have decided not to be sidetracked by any more promotional work.

Dual Shock 3 Is Better, Yo

Absolutely, yeah. It feels better...

Kojima Productions just posted a podcast conversation between Hideo Kojima, Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond and AC creative director Patrice Desilets. The chat runs about twenty minutes — 8 of which is them saying how much they dig each other's games. Though, there is some grist towards the end when KP's Ryan Payton puts forth the PS3/Xbox 360 cross-platform question, asking if they like the rumors and speculation. While Patrice says he personally finds it "fun," Jade adds:

We want to make the best game possible that can be enjoyed by the most people possible. For us, its obviously a bigger challenge to ship simultaneously on both consoles, because they are not the same. But it's also worth while if that means more people can play the game, so I think that's ulimately our objective. To just get it out there to as many people as possible.

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