They're a passionate bunch, those Metal Gear fans. So when series creator Hideo Kojima throws up a simple flash page, you can bet they'll go absolutely bananas.
In the wake of the site being updated with a naught but a single countdown clock, the flashing of the number "5" (or the letters "S"!) and some thunder & lightning (OMG RAIDEN MEANS THUNDER & LIGHTNING IN JAPANESE), the page's source code has been read, compiled, digested, analysed then read again by some the world's keenest Metal Gear fans, hungry for clues on what it all means.
And they've found the following:
- Analysing the page's source code via Flash, it seems that the current countdown on the site is but one of five clocks that will run on the site over the next few weeks. Absolutely absurd, yes, and PR companies, know it's an abhorrent practice, but what's interesting about this is that the fifth one runs out on June 1. Or, the day of Microsoft's E3 press conference (Sony's is a day later, on June 2).
- The site occasionally flashes white when lightning flashes. At the bottom of the screen, you can clearly see the words "APRIL 2007". Does that mean anything to hardcore series fans?
- The site's search keywords are "Hideo Kojima", "MGS", "METAL GEAR", "NEXT", "game", "Konami", "Kojima game", "KJP", "Kojima Production". Interesting that, if they're search engine keywords, none of them say "MGS5".
So, yes, make of that what you will.
What do we make of it? PR people who think countdown clocks are a good idea should be taken out back and kicked in the nads. We're only interested in this one because the thought of a Metal Gear-related announcement (if that's even what this is) at a Microsoft press conference tickles our funny bones.