MGS: The Legacy Collection Skipping 360; “MGS4 is Just Too Enormous”

Despite both Metal Gear Rising and the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection  making the jump to Xbox 360 without a hitch, Konami’s newest box set, Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection, will release as a PS3 exclusive.  The reason?  The hefty inclusion of MGS4 and its landslide of data.

Series mastermind Hideo Kojima recently cleared up the matter, which is apparently an issue of storage.  “I’m sorry to say an Xbox 360 version isn’t being released,” said Kojima.  “Because an Xbox 360 version of MGS4 hasn’t gone on sale.  To explain the situation, the amount of data in MGS4 is just too enormous.”

Sony’s lean on Blu-Ray media meant Kojima Productions could stuff as much content as they wanted back in 2008 when the closing chapter in Solid Snake’s saga dropped into stores.  Porting the game to the Xbox 360’s DVD format, on the other hand, meant the developers would have to stretch their magnum opus across seven separate discs…Significantly more work than it was worth, unfortunately for Xbox fans.

And compromise in this situation would mean an incomplete package for collectors.  “If we released a version on the Xbox 360 without MGS4, then it’s not The Legacy Collection,” said Hideo.  Don’t give out hope completely, though, Microsoft loyal.  Kojima hasn’t ruled out the next Xbox as a potential home for the collection…So call it a maybe before never rolls around.

Konami Confirms Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection for PS3

Fans of the engrossing, albeit extremely convoluted, Metal Gear Solid series lit up like one of Snake’s cancer sticks when the franchise’s creator Hideo Kojima took to Twitter and teased us with this mysterious box art.  Featuring several incarnations of Snake both Naked and Solid — for the uninitiated, I apologize for your horrible confusion — the imagery hinted at the possibility of yet another gathering of the stealth-espionage games following 2011’s MGS HD Collection.

Today, Konami confirmed the artwork is for The Legacy Collection, a PlayStation 3 bound box set that groups together eight pivotal entries from the decades old franchise, slated for this June.  Here’s the lineup:

• Metal Gear Solid
• Metal Gear Solid 2: HD Edition
• Metal Gear Solid 3: HD Edition
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Trophy Edition
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD Edition
• Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions

The HD remaster of MGS3 is based on the Subsistence re-release of the game which included the MSX versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, rounding out Legacy’s roster to eight installments of warfare philosophy and crafty box disguises.  The collection is a few PSP games short of a complete deck and Nintendo’s ironclad license over The Twin Snakes means that lost gem has likely sunk with the Gamecube. 

But as far as continuity goes the Solid saga is well represented, and if you’ve somehow managed to live and act like a gamer without having played a single title in this historic series, the Legacy Collection is a great way to nuke that problem.

You Called It, Internet - The Phantom Pain is Metal Gear Solid V

Before you do anything else, watch the eye popping, spine tingling, FOX engined debut of Metal Gear Solid V right here.

It was a poor kept secret that The Phantom Pain, a new title from complete unknowns, Moby Dick Studios, was somehow related to the next installment of Metal Gear Solid.  The announcement of Ground Zeroes, an open-world continuation seemingly starring Big Boss, only served to cast confusion on matters, though, making certain no one but Hideo Kojima and company knew what the hell was going on (as per usual, that sly bastard).

That’s not to say there isn’t a huge cloud of “What the hell?” hovering above today’s news, but at least I can tell you this: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain debuted today and it looks crazy good.  MGSV is slated for current gen consoles (yes, both the PS3 and Xbox 360 — the first time a title in the main series has launched simultaneously on different systems) and runs off of Kojima Productions’ newly created FOX Engine — a foundation capable of some…well, put plainly, really goddamn gorgeous visual effects.

After debuting the trailer and some gameplay at GDC, Hideo threw some vagueness in the form of answers our way, confirming that the game is definitely open-world, another first for the series, and that both Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain make up the whole of Metal Gear Solid V.  Ground Zeroes was described as a prologue to MGSV to begin with, but how fans experience it — whether digitally, a full retail release, or packaged with The Phantom Pain — is still frustratingly not known.

Also, a bit of a downer for fans (though we were warned this might happen): David Hayter won’t be reprising his role as Snake, a part the actor has voiced since 1998.  And, you guessed it, his replacement is as of yet unnamed.

But we’ll end on a high note today, kids.  Enjoy some Phantom Pain gameplay hereabouts.  That should de-salt the wound nicely.

Above: Someone’s candid snapshot of Lords of Shadow 2 in action.  It’s been so damn long since we heard anything regarding the game, I thought I dreamed that E3 announcement.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories Demo Arriving for Vita Next Week

Whisked away from the critical flops that were Silent Hill’s HD Collection and the full-fledged sequel Downpour, Wayforward Technologies’ portable Book of Memories is finally seeing release on October 16th.

Exclusively designed for the PS Vita, Book of Memories infuses multiplayer — something not even its console counterparts have dared try — into a dugeon-crawling RPG that has masked itself in the skin of a survival horror game.  You’d think such a cocktail would come across as disjointed as one of Silent Hill’s hapless abominations, but early impressions paint Book of Memories in a positive light (and thank the Old Ones for that; the Vita could use more meat on its library’s bones).

Come this Tuesday, North American Vita fans will be able to download a demo for the game, finally giving Hill fans a hands-on with 2012’s last entry into the franchise.

Metal Gear 25th Anniversary Event Brings Us Two New Games and a Movie (!)

It’s a damn good day to be a fan of Metal Gear.  During the series’ 25th Anniversary event (yeah, video games aren’t so young anymore), Kojima Productions detailed three new projects sure to buckle the knees of diehard tactical espionage action fans the world over.

“For many years I fought to bring comics to theaters - and video games are the comics of today.”  What does that mean?  Don’t know.  Who said it?  Mr. Avi Arad, the producer behind a bevy of Marvel comics brought to the screen, who is working diligently (in association with Columbia Pictures) to now bring Metal Gear into theaters.  The project’s still a newborn, practically, so we’re a little ways off from finding out who might be crazy enough to direct it and who would be filling in Snake’s live-action five o’ clock shadow.

For those sneaking on the go, Metal Gear Social Ops was announced for mobile devices, expected out somewhere between the Fall and Winter.  That’s well and good, but of course all other news was steamrolled by the official unveiling of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, the fabled main series sequel running on the studios’ brand spanking new FOX Engine.

The bulk of our knowledge on Ground Zeroes comes from a flurry of excited Tweets attendees were asked not to post, so details are muddy at best.  But Ground Zeroes is said to trade up metal corridors for a vivid, open world where your discretion drives the action — from riding jeeps, dispatching foes, to avoiding capture.  The battlefield is your playground, and evidently it all looks friggin’ fantastic.  Stay tuned as harder details surface.

Metal Gear Solid 5? Kojima Says It’s Definitely Happening

In an interview with the French magazine IG Magazine, Hideo Kojima confirmed what we’ve already guessed: Metal Gear Solid 5 is in its early planning stages.  True to form, Kojima revealed little save for the fact his studio’s new FOX Engine will power the sequel.  The FOX Engine is a veritable monster whose muscles are much too large for puny current-gen consoles, meaning we probably won’t have MGS5 in our hands until the next cycle.

Murmurs and even scattered ideas from Hideo himself hint at another go-around with the infamous Big Boss (and possibly the invasion of Normandy), but the game designer says we haven’t seen the last of Solid Snake even though the icon was intended to (Fox) die in last installment.

Hideo also dropped an interesting tidbit that may point to changes to come for the stealth-action series: “There will be more infiltration, espionage, and convincing people to do you ‘a favor’ like in the last Metal Gear Solid.  I liked the idea of social interactions in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.”  Could this mean conversation trees?  Divergent paths?  Hell, he could say the cutscenes will have cutscenes and I’ll still pick it up.  I can’t wait to see how Metal Gear evolves next.

“Just be sure to tell your next of kin before you begin!”

Honestly, they wouldn’t be surprised to hear that a skeleton strangled Papa to death.

Behold, Castlevania Fans, the 3DS is Receiving Mirror of Fate This Fall

And this is the official trailer for it.

A common complaint leveled at the original Lords of Shadow was that, while a smartly executed action game, it failed to capture the essence of old school Castlevania.  It’s true, LoS was a vastly different kind of experience that landed miles away from the Metroid-vania side-scrollers the series is loved for.  It didn’t stop me from enjoying (well, actually, friggin’ worshipping) LoS, but I, too, missed the 2D days of old.

That’s what makes Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (I run out of breath saying it) so appealing.  While not visually restricted to it, Mirror of Fate binds the 2D platforming from the series’ past with the combo-laden hack n’ slash play style prevalent today.

Konami seems deadset on supporting the Lords of Shadow license, but developer MercurySteam seems to want classic ‘Vania implemented in all sorts of ways, including a years-spanning storyline featuring Simon and Trevor Belmont in their attempt to thwart the stain in their lineage, Dracula.  Mirror of Fate, arriving exclusively to the 3DS this Fall, is also said to setup next year’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.  I guess you don’t kill Dracula in Mirror of Fate, but I honestly like Gabe too much to see the dude staked.

UPDATE: During Nintendo’s 3DS showcase, Konami confirmed the presence of series favorite Alucard as a playable character in the new handheld title.  Besides Trevor and Simon, one other controllable character remains unrevealed.

“It seems the gameplay portions of the trailer are quite popular.  The ability to slice everything is a refreshing feature, and the playable cutscenes are well received too.  People have been comparing it to Ninja Gaiden, but at least Ninja Gaiden 3 was a shitty game that cannot be helped. I don’t want it to be compared to that.”

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s producer, Atsushi Inaba, drawing the line on comparisons being made between his game and Team Ninja’s ode to unfun.

To be fair, while Platinum Games looks to have a phenomenal hack n’ slash on their hands that will likely transcend genre standards, it still seems like a pretty shitty Metal Gear game.  Fans will get to put Revengeance’s asymmetrical war to the test when the Zone of the Enders HD Collection (eventually) releases, as a demo for Mr. Inaba’s efforts will be included.  Otherwise, look for Metal Gear Rising early 2013.