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Metal Gear Online MEME expansion set for November 25

Zach Lott — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:39:47 -0600

Good news for those of you still playing Metal Gear Online: Joystiq is reporting that MEME, the game's second expansion, is set for a November 25 release at the low price of $9.99. You'll also be able to pick up the expansion through a $14.99 bundle that includes GENE, the first expansion.

New content includes two new characters, Mei Ling and Liquid Ocelot, as well as new avatar content and three new maps, Silo Sunset, Forest Firefight, and Winter Warehouse. An official tournament lobby and a couple new modes will be available without purchasing MEME.

Metal Gear Online Reaches One Million Mark

Tim Grube — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:02:57 -0600

With all the mass voting going on here in the states, Konami was able to sneak in some good news surrounding Metal Gear Online. The company revealed that Metal Gear Online has established over one million members since the service launched back in June.

To go along with this great news, Konami will launch a special campaign Metal Gear Online: Commemorative Campaign, which will officially begin on November 25, 2008, awarding reward points to gamers who access Metal Gear Online during the promotion. The 10,000 reward points will be updated to account owners on the last day of the campaign, December 9, 2008.

These reward points can be used to purchase new online gear from the in-game reward shop.

Little Big Planet: SquareEnix/Konami approved!

Ryan Fulton — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:05:56 -0500

God's honest truth, I didn't care about Sony's Little Big Planet until just a moment ago. Ok, that was a blatant lie, it's already pre-ordered, but that's hardly the point of what I'm going for here. Basically, we all knew that Kratos and Nariko were going to be making appearances in LBP, and that was cool. PlaySation Blog one-upped those two by breaking news of an additional round of sacked-out franchise characters.

Assuming you added your own drum roll there, the newly announced characters are none other than Metal Gear's Solid Snake, and Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth. Please, kindly, resist the urge to make LBP Sephiroth x Snake yaoi. Who am I kidding; I'm sure someone is already writing the fanfic as I'm posting this.

Rumor: Original Metal Gear Solid To Hit XBLA

Zach Lott — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:51:43 -0500

In news unrelated to the E3 leak, Wired's Game|Life blog has heard a rumor that the original Metal Gear Solid was recently spotted on Microsoft's developer-only PartnerNet service, which is used to test upcoming Xbox Live games. If true, this rumor means the game will likely be released on XBLA sometime in the near future.

However, members of the NeoGAF forums quickly pointed out that the huge amount of audio in the game would make it nearly impossible to shrink the game down to the 350 megabyte limit on the size of XBLA games, meaning that Microsoft may once again increase the allowed file size to accommodate the game provided that the rumor is true.

Konami Ships Off a Bevy of New Games, MGS Collection Included

Shiva Stella — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:36:40 -0500

Konami confirmed this morning that the company has shipped three new games nationwide, headlined by Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection for the PlayStation 2.

The collection retails for $29.99 and includes the original PlayStation's Metal Gear Solid (as a PS2 disc), MGS2, and MGS3 with package artwork by series artist Yoji Shinkawa. You can view order details here if you're interested.

Following The Essential Collection comes Diary Girl for the Nintendo DS--the game functions as a PDA-lite and "provides girls of all ages the ability to interact with friends through their own customizable avatars, as well as organize a calendar and address book in their own password-protected electronic journal." Sounds spiffy.

And remember, ladies: it's not a game, it's a "lifestyle accessory". I'm going to keep that in mind any time I buy anything. Diary Girl retails for the standard $29.99.

And finally, add Lost in Blue 3 for the Nintendo DS to the list.

In Lost in Blue 3, players guide one of two stranded characters, each with their own personal history, through exotic locales on a mysterious island while surviving the elements to stay alive. Players can work alone or cooperatively with other characters to gather food, explore the island and hunt dangerous wildlife. Completing one character's storyline will unlock the storylines of two additional characters, allowing players to explore the island in different ways, experience new storylines, and uncover different endings.

Lost in Blue 3 also retails for $29.99.

Konami Confirms Pre-order Bonus for MGS4

Shiva Stella — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:49:45 -0600

For those of us who already own a PlayStation 3 but would still like a nifty Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots bonus, Konami is launching a pre-sell program in April that'll include a Metal Gear Saga 2.0 DVD.

The DVD features character biographies, trailers, a 20th Anniversary special, and a code for accessing the Metal Gear Online beta test.

The game includes the Metal Gear Online "starter pack" that allows for up to 16-player matches and is set to ship on June 12, 2008.

If you don't yet own a PlayStation 3, Konami has also teamed up with Sony for an MGS4 console bundle (MSRP $499) that includes the 80GB unit, a Dualshock 3 controller, and the game.

As an aside, I have no idea what this image means.

Konami Confirms Metal Gear Solid: Essential Collection (PS2)

Shiva Stella — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:37:59 -0600

Here's something unique for all you Metal Gear Solid fans, as Konami confirmed this morning that it is indeed releasing an MGS bundle for the PlayStation 2 in preparation for MGS4, entitled Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection.

The Essential Collection will feature MGS for the original PlayStation, the director's cut of MGS2 and MGS3 in a "commemorative package" with artwork by Yoji Shinkawa. The bundle retails for the wonderfully low price of $29.99 and is an excellent way to relive those nostalgic stealth moments while you eagerly await Guns of the Patriots.

"Since its inception, the Metal Gear Solid franchise has been one of the most successful game series in the history of video games, receiving worldwide recognition and praise," said Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. "Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection represents a great value for gamers, bringing together three must-have classic titles which pioneered the stealth action genre."

Konami's MGS: Essential Collection is scheduled to ship on March 18 with the appropriate Mature rating. Feel free to preorder at the link.

Three cheers for backwards compatibility.

Konami 'Officially' Confirms Silent Hill Origins for PS2

Shiva Stella — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:36:21 -0600

Because nothing rings in a Tuesday quite like an official confirmation announcement, Konami has confirmed that Silent Hill Origins "is in fact currently in development for the PlayStation 2."

"Console gamers can now expect the same chilling, suspenseful and fear-filled experience that handheld gamers encountered when we released Silent Hill Origins on the PSP system," said Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "This is their chance to learn more of the mystery and mythos surrounding Silent Hill that's been hinted at in earlier games and made the series such a success."

Hit the jump for a juicy tidbits from Konami. The release date as listed on Gamefly and Amazon is now squeezed in between March 4-6, but Konami failed to mention a ship date in its announcement. We'll keep you updated, though.

Additional game details:

Players take on the role of Travis Grady, a lone truck driver making a routine delivery when he makes an unfortunate detour to the mysterious town of Silent Hill. Players must help Travis escape the city's horrific inhabitants and unravel the mystery of the strange hallucinations from Travis' past, visions that have plagued him since childhood.

Updated controls maximize combat, allowing Travis to use his fists, his wits and an array of weapons including a meat cleaver, pool cue and sledgehammer to fight his way through the nightmarish world of Silent Hill and face multiple endings based on his actions.

Silent Hill Origins a-go for PlayStation 2

Shiva Stella — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:40:37 -0600

News has recently hit the Web that Konami's Silent Hill Origins is definitely headed to the PlayStation 2.

The game is currently listed on Amazon and Gamefly with a March release, though the two sources disagree on a specific date - Gamefly lists it as March 31 while Amazon's is much sooner at March 4.

As usual, Konami has yet to give any official confirmation. The game is currently available on the PSP and has an average rating of 78% on metacritic, though it also carries an 89% from average users.

We'll keep you posted.

MGS4 Must Sell 1 Million Copies On Launch Day?

Aaron Dunlap — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:09:31 -0600

In the linked Reuters article, calling Metal Gear Solid 4 the last of the third-party single-platform exclusive games, Kojima Production's Ryan Payton says that the game must sell over a million copies on launch day to recoup the huge cost of development.

So far only two games have even hit the million-sold mark for the PS3. Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, the so-far most anticipated release for the system, has sold under 100,000 copies currently.

There is serious doubt as to whether the game will be the financial boon that Sony needs it to be. Metal Gear has its fans, but the game lacks the widespread appeal of less complicated series such as, say, Ratchet and Clank. Then again, I suppose there are a lot of people who are holding off on a purchase of the last-place console until MGS4 releases, myself included, but are there really a million people ready to pony up $400+ for the sake of one game?

The most commercially obvious thing for Konami to do is release this game on a more popular platform so it might have a chance of making a profit, and the only reason we haven't heard an announcement of such a port is because Sony clearly has some kind of ridiculous exclusivity contract.

And I don't blame Sony for that. If MGS4 rolls off onto the 360 like previously-PS3-exclusive Assassin's Creed did, the PlayStation 3 obituaries will start coming fast. It's in their best interest to lock MGS4 down, but by tying the system's future to a game that newcomers to the franchise won't even understand, they may have signed their own death warrant.

Konami Patches PES 2008, No Need To Buy an HDTV. Still, Though, Get One Already

Aaron Dunlap — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:17:05 -0600

A while ago we told you about some problems with Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 on the PS3 when played on a standard-def (oldskool) TV. Their solution at the time was to play the game on an HDTV with HDMI cables. A nice, thousand dollar solution.

Fear not, dwellers of the technologies past, Konami has released a patch that will fix the problem, hopefully.

Oh how I love this age of downloadable updates to free developers from the requirement that video games work before they're released.

If you have a PS3 though and don't have an HDTV, you might as well have a PS2 for cryin' out loud.

GB Review: Contra 4 (DS)

Eric Jonathan Smith — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:22:01 -0600

The same macho brutality and challenging gameplay you love.

Contra 4 delivers the classic tough-as-nails gaming experience that children of the 80's look back on fondly but will probably be too unforgiving for those weaned on more contemporary titles. Relentlessly challenging but immensely satisfying, Contra 4 will reward those willing to undertake its masochistic demands.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

One look at the box art for Contra 4 sums up the entire experience: explosions, two guys (presumably) causing this mayhem, menacing alien eyes staring at the bare-chested duo, and above all of it, a banner declaring the series' 20th anniversary. Contra 4 is all of those things - one or two-player 2D side-scrolling, alien-blasting action that hearkens back to its two-decade old roots. Contra 4 is certainly a balls-to-the-walls experience and Konami would lead you to believe from reading the box that its appeal is largely due to the Contra series' moniker as the video game equivalent of S&M: testosterone manifested as a DS game card.

But a closer look reveals a different story. From the explosively cheesy cover art, to the back of the box bulleting the famous Contra "spread shot" as one of the game's features, to the intentionally pun-tastic throwback to old Konami instruction manuals from the 80's, one thing becomes clear: Contra 4's appeal comes not from its manhood-grabbing nature but because it pulls at those emotional strings that reside within the recesses of your nostalgia.

That said, this game was made for a very specific audience by members of that same group - players who grew up with Contra during its heyday in the late 80's/early 90's. From its explosions, spread shot, manly men, and ugly aliens, Contra 4 delivers that sadistic double punch to the gut that will cause some to reminisce and others to give up in frustration.

The premise of Contra is simple: shoot everything that moves and get out of the way of anything that doesn't; if you don't, one hit will kill you. This is the way it has been since the beginning and Contra 4 does little to mess with this basic formula. Contra 4 feels like a Contra game from the moment you pick it up. This may be a sigh of relief to some, as when it was announced that American developers WayForward were picking up the historically Japanese-developed franchise, longtime fans drew a cause for concern. It was all for naught. The game controls great (with the exception of the DS being perhaps a bit too confining during the game's intense combat for the more "grown-up" hands of its intended audience, though this hardware kink is no fault of WayForward's), looks great with its colorful 2D graphics and huge setpiece bosses, and even sounds great with throwbacks to days of old with familiar sound effects and musical cues. There is no doubt: WayForward has imbued the soul of Contra in Contra 4.

Not everything is the same. For one, the game is on DS, so that means two screens. The action happens on both the top and bottom screens of the DS, which is a lot of real estate to get used to. A grappling hook feature has been added that allows quick and easy transportation to the upper screen when necessary. However, when the initially unnatural screen layout is combined with the gap between the DS's two screens (the distance between of which the game actually compensates for) it can add to some cheap deaths.

And lives don't come cheap - the game varies them between 3 selectable difficulty levels: Easy with 10 extra, Normal with 5, and Hard with 3. Playing on Easy is tantamount to practice, since in that difficulty you are only able to access 7 of the game's 9 levels. Practice and memorization of enemy patterns will see the most dedicated players to the end of the Normal and Hard modes. No, the game is not forgiving and doesn't pretend to be. When you run out of lives you have a limited number of continues to try again. When you run out of those - you guessed it, you have to start again from the first stage. Players not versed in the mechanics of the age of Contra and its peers will likely not find this type of punishment the least bit rewarding. Those twenty-or-older-somethings that do recall this system are likely to smile at the same time they curse the enemy that just expired their last life.

Being the series' twentieth anniversary, Contra 4 packs in some sizeable bonus content. An unlockable Challenge mode will allow you to earn the NES versions of the original Contra and its sequel Super C, additional player characters, and more. A Contra Museum feature detailing the series' history is available from the outset.

The game's greatest asset is its unwillingness to change. It will never hold the player's hand with tutorials or allow 10 minutes to explain some overly melodramatic narrative. You will likely have to continue in the first stage; but with every death you will remember the alien scumbag that did it and blast him into oblivion your next attempt. That is how we used to do it in the old days and those who can relate will interpret this punishment as a lost pleasure.

Won runner up for GameBump's Best Portable Game of 2007

Konami Admits PS3 PES2008 Problems, Now Buy an HDTV

Shiva Stella — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0600

Buy me. I look even better with soccer.

In more game-issue news, Konami has commented on PlayStation 3 errors gamers are experiencing when playing Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 on the console via a new published faq. Problems include multiplayer issues (everyone's favorite) when trying to play online, "stuttering", and freezing.

The solution? Purchase an HDTV. And don't forget those HDMI/component cables.

Here's an excerpt from the faq:

My PES 2008 on PLAYSTATION 3 is not running smoothly

Konami Digital Entertainment is aware that some players of PES2008 are experiencing stuttering by their machine when playing on PS3. (This does not occur on other formats). After checking the matter we have found that the problem is primarily taking place where the user is not playing the game in high definition.

The solution to this problem is to play the game on an HD TV (high definition screen) with an HDMI or component cable and the PS3 set to output in 720p resolution or above. This should prevent the problem and allow the player to enjoy the full HD experience provided by their PlayStation 3.

Please note: to achieve high definition it is necessary to use HDMI or component cables instead of the AV (composite) cable supplied with the PS3.

We are continuing to work on finding a solution for those people who do not have access to an HD TV.

In the meantime Konami would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Talk about pushing the HDTV market...

Silent Hill Origins Ships for PSP

Shiva Stella — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:20:00 -0600

Handheld gamers feeling a little left out of this week's list of blockbuster releases can at least get their hands on Konami's Silent Hill Origins, which has shipped to North American retailers today.

The title is a PSP exclusive and "brings to North America the frightening and popular survival horror series with all new game play and a storyline set before the events of the original Silent Hill."

Hit the jump for more details and a score breakdown, if you're interested. Current average is 82%.

Excerpt:

"Fans of Silent Hill can expect a fear-inducing experience with Silent Hill Origins," said Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "We're adding to the mythos by revealing some secrets hinted at in the original Silent Hill and have added an all-new soundtrack from series composer Akira Yamaoka to the elaborate puzzles and chilling storyline that has made Silent Hill a hit for gamers everywhere."

Reborn on the PSP system, gamers take on the role of Travis Grady, a lone truck driver making a routine delivery when he makes an unfortunate detour to the mysterious town of Silent Hill. Players must help Travis escape the city's horrific inhabitants and unravel the mystery of the strange hallucinations from Travis' past, visions that have plagued him since childhood.

Updated controls maximize combat, allowing Travis to use his fists, his wits and an array of weapons including a meat cleaver, pool cue and sledgehammer to fight his way through the nightmarish world of Silent Hill and face more than one possible ending. Taking full advantage of the PSP system's graphics, sound, and portability, Silent Hill Origins sets a new standard in handheld gaming terror.

Score breakdown - current average of 82%:

90 - GamePro: "Still, Silent Hill Origins succeeds on so many levels that it will not disappoint fans of the series."
85 - Play Magazine
80 - PSM
72 - Electronic Gaming Monthly: "Origins unfortunately also falls prey to the series' most notorious pitfall--crappy combat."

Only four at the moment, so we'll see how the game does yet.

MGS4 Delayed...Again...Until Mid-2008

Aaron Dunlap — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:49:02 -0500

According to this IGN UK report, Konami has just announced another delay for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PS3, this time setting the launch window back to Q2 2008. Initially the game was slated for a late 2007 release but was nudged back to early 2008.

Meanwhile, the PlayStation 3 is suffering from poor sales and very, very few "system-selling" titles. As I see it, the only game making me even consider a personal purchase of a PS3 around this Holiday season is Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, and I've lived a productive life so far having skipped all the other R&C titles. Sony's betting a lot on MGS4 and its release could define the future for the PS3.

From the IGN article:

A statement from the publisher said simply: "Konami has decided to delay the title's release in order to make further improvements to the quality of the game and provide even greater enjoyment for more customers worldwide. Konami will continue its efforts to make Metal Gear Solid 4 meet everyone's expectations."

If the delay will make the game better, I can live with it, but can the PS3 stand another quarter without this title to prod sales?