Well, shucks. Yesterday we covered a story from GameAlmighty.com stating that the original Metal Gear Solid would be ported to the PS2 for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection. Now GameAlmighty has sent us word that they received a message from Konami saying that their rep misspoke:

“So it looks like there was a miscommunication about the format for the games. I recieved this note from Konami’s Michael Shelling – ‘…to be clear, MGS1 is not a port; it’s the original game on 2 CD’s not a DVD.’ The original Metal Gear Solid will be appearing on PS1 discs. What this means for saving the game, etc, I am not sure.

My apology for the confusion.”

So the full package will apparently contain four discs: two for MGS1, one for MGS2: Substance, and one for MGS3: Subsistence. You know, it’s nice that they’re re-releasing these classic games as one package, but you think they could’ve done a bit more than just shove all the discs into a box. At least add something to entice fans who have already played through these games.

Via GameAlmighty.com

Look at that magnificent beauty up there. It’s not overly flashy or trying to overcompensate. It’s just… there. That’s some lovely artwork of Snake, if might say, and if this were a poster I would gladly hang it up in my room. Alas, it’s merely box art for the lucky folks over in Japan.

I’m assuming the box art will have a lot more going on when it comes Stateside, but a man can dream, can’t he?

via PS3 Fanboy

A couple weeks ago, Konami announced that they would be releasing the first three Metal Gear Solid games as a single package on the PS2. At the time, they didn’t elaborate on the full details of “Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection,” but we’ve now learned a couple new things thanks to GameAlmighty.com. For one, the first MGS will be presented as a port, thankfully eliminating the need for any disc swapping or old memory cards. Unfortunately, it will still be the PS1 version, as opposed to the Twin Snakes remake that came out for the Gamecube. On the plus side though, the other two Metal Gear Solids will be in their expanded “Substance” and “Subsistence” versions, which adds almost two extra games’ worth of bonus material. If you haven’t experienced these games yet, this is a definite must-buy for any PS2 owner when it comes out.

Via GameAlmighty

Metal Gear Solid fans who have been waiting for Guns of the Patriots to release will be glad to hear that a perfect bundle will be released to coincide with the game’s release – an 80GB PS3, a copy of MGS4, and a DualShock 3 controller for $499.99. Sure, it doesn’t equal big savings for you, but you’ll guarantee that you’ll have a DualShock controller and a copy of the game.

Of course, if you do opt for this bundle and pre-order the game to gain access to the Metal Gear Online beta, you’ll end up with two copies of the game. Unless you cancel the pre-order after you get your beta access, of course.

via PlayStation.Blog

Want to check out Metal Gear Online before the game goes on sale? Well then just pre-order Metal Gear Solid 4 and you’ll be granted access to the open beta once it begins. Konami is expecting to begin the beta in late April, giving you a look at the game a full two months before it ships to U.S. stores. Metal Gear Online will allow you to play in 16-player matches as you try to fulfill various objectives in the usual Metal Gear style. The beta will be a trimmed down version, presumably with fewer maps, weapons, and character models than the full release. This probably also means you won’t get to play as Solid Snake just yet; not until late June.

Via Game|Life

This isn’t entirely unexpected, but it’s still pretty cool. Konami recently announced that they would be releasing the first three Metal Gear Solid games in one collection, dubbed “The Essential Collection.” The package will include Metal Gear Solid for the PSOne and it’s two respective sequels for the PS2 for a packaged price of $29.99. Konami hopes this will give gamers a chance to experience the full saga right before the release of Metal Gear Solid 4. Kind of wish they could have gone the extra mile and ported The Twin Snakes and then added the “Substance” and “Subsistence” versions of MGS 2 and 3, respectively. Of course, for anyone who hasn’t already played these games, this is a must-have.

Via GameTactics

UPDATE: I’m now hearing that “Substance” and “Subsistence” will actually be included in the collection.

I’m starting to believe that Konami (and more specifically, Kojima Productions) are masters at getting people to buy the same game twice. Ever since Metal Gear Solid 2, it seems like every other Metal Gear game has gotten a re-release with almost a second game’s worth of extra content. Thus, we get Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops +, which looks to add a lot more than just a mathematical symbol to the game’s title. As this trailer shows, you’ll now be able to work through levels with a completely different set of objectives and you can now recruit enemy soldiers over to your side, forming a squad of your own. Then you’ll be able to take these characters, with their own special skills, online to battle it out with others on some new levels. It should at least tide you over until MGS4 finally arrives.

Gaming news journalist Freeze over at XboxFamily.com vehemently reports that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will be heading to the Xbox 360 platform sometime in 2009. His source? An undisclosed Konami representative via a meeting of sorts. According to Freeze, he wrestled info from the rep stating “Metal Gear Solid [4] will be released for the Xbox 360 between 12 to 14 months after the PS3 version hits shelves.” Freeze stands by his claim that “This is not a rumor.”

Not satisfied with that alone, Freeze attempted to get an MS PR team member to assist him in backing up the Konami reps’ claim. Of course, Freeze received the obligatory “no comment” response from Microsoft.

Whether to chalk this up as a rumor or not, I’ll leave up to you to decide. It is my personal opinion that reports from undisclosed sources, regardless of the reputation of the reporter or site reporting it, are rumors until proven otherwise.

And I’m sure the fanboys will have their fun with this as well. As far as rumors go, this is certainly a plausible one. I would easily place more faith in information passed down from an undisclosed source from Konami than any Sony representative claiming “MGS4 is PS3 exclusive.” (If you will recall, MGS2 was claimed “PS2 exclusive” prior to release.)

Then again, one could easily argue that the whole “wow” factor of MGS4 will probably die down a year after release. 2009 is a long way off. Snake will be sucking down margaritas on some undisclosed beach in 2009. Enjoy your (hopefully permanent) retirement, Snake.

And Konami, milk that fat cash cow for all it’s worth.

Via XboxFamily

Reuters has an interesting article up today exploring the question, is Metal Gear Solid 4 destined to be the last of the great third-party exclusives? Video game production costs are rising these days, costing between $10 million and $50 million to make a quality title. Assistant producer for MGS4, Ryan Payton, says that the game will need to sell a million units on day one to recoup production costs. That’s quite a tough mark to hit, since only two other PS3 games have sold that many to date. Thus, many game developers are going multi-platform, a fact that Sony has been observing for some time now:

“We understand publishers are needing to recoup their investment,” said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony. “From our perspective, as long as the games aren’t going exclusive to other platforms, PS3 gamers are not actually losing anything.”

For my money, I doubt MGS4 will be the last great third-party exclusive, but they are becoming rarer these days. Still, as long as the console makers have enough money to lure developers to their camp, I’m sure we’ll continue to see the occasional major title remaining exclusive to one console or another.

Via Reuters

As if disappointed groans from fans around the world weren’t enough, Konami’s stock took a huge plunge, following news that Metal Gear Solid 4 has been delayed even further into 2008. The US release date, as of now, is set for Q2 2008.

According to Bloomberg, Konami stock fell more than it has in nearly four years. More precisely, the 6.8% drop by the 11 AM Tokyo Stock Exchange break was the largest drop for the company since December 8, 2003. The image seen above is for the five day span ending on November 1, 2007.

via Opposable Thumbs