It’s Friday, and that of course means a new episode of The 1UP Show. This week, some conflict enters the office when some Dungeons and Dragons players try to recruit fellow nerds for some analog gaming. Then the team talks about the new Flash Map Pack for Portal which features the same maps as found in the flash version of the game. Next up is a preview of Project Origin, the sequel to the hit FPS, F.E.A.R. The game already looks creepy, and the AI can be pretty smart, it seems. Finally, there is of course a discussion about the pros and cons of the latest Metal Gear Solid game (which I’m not watching until I actually finish the game myself).

As always though, you can download the new episode using the links below.

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By now, many Metal Gear fans will have already sunk a good amount of time into Metal Gear Solid 4. The game was scored by Harry Gregson-Williams, who also scored Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, as well as movies like Shrek, Man on Fire, and Team America: World Police. (That last one gets him an instant thumbs-up from me.) Gregson-Williams spoke with 1UP recently about his work on the Metal Gear games, how the method for working on the series has evolved over time, and his interest in working on a potential Metal Gear film. (Here’s a hint: “I said I’d be right pissed if [Hideo Kojima] didn’t consider me.”)

How does writing a score for a game differ from a movie? I may be mistaken, but usually with a movie, you see a first cut before you start writing, correct?

Yeah. For instance, I’ve just started working on…I think it’s my eighth movie with [director] Tony Scott, and yeah, Tony hasn’t even finished shooting, and I’ve got what we call a “first assembly.” Lots of scenes are missing, and even the scenes that are there are probably a bit long and clunky, but the earlier you start in this process, the better chance you’ve got of getting it right.

The music for the Metal Gear games has always taken quite a long time, though. Not necessarily because the music was taking a long time to write, but because it’s spread out over a year. For this one, I would do a little bit of work, then it would go quiet from Japan for a few months, then they’d get back to me — they’d kind of be playing catch-up, since they’d be on to the next thing. Then they’d send me a little bit of footage, more descriptions, and I’d start chiseling away. Then, in the middle of that, there would be E3, and Hideo would bring a trailer to show people, and we’d get to meet. That’d be halfway through the “trip,” as it were, so it’d be on-off-on-off. I guess it’s just because it’s taken such a massive amount of time to make this game.

When asked if he’d work on future MGS games, he explained that he likely would if Kojima were heading up the project. Of course, if we take Kojima at his word, he won’t be directly involved in whatever the next Metal Gear game might be, so it’ll be interesting to see whether the next Metal Gear might end up with a different director and composer.

You can read the full interview at 1UP and check out an exclusive track from MGS4, titled “Love Theme.”

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise when you consider GTA didn’t have much time to sell in April, but it was a much closer contest for the top spots in May than you might have guessed. While the 360 version of GTA IV did take the top spot with 871.3k copies sold, Mario Kart was right on its heels with 784.4k and Wii Fit not too far behind at 687.7k. The PS3 version of GTA IV came in at number four with 442.9k and then there was a significant drop off to number five, Wii Play, which sold 294.6k copies.

Wii Play’s number is actually fairly low given the number of Wii systems that were sold in the month, but it’s quite possible that many of those Wiis were sold alongside a copy of Wii Fit, which isn’t a multiplayer-happy game like so many other games in the system’s library.

The DS and Wii also took four more spots in the top ten with Smash Bros., Guitar Hero III, and the two versions of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon coming in at numbers 6, 8, 9, and 10. Iron Man on the unkillable PlayStation 2 snuck in at number 7, no doubt thanks in large part to the movie’s great success.

May 2008 Software Sales:

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (360) – 871,300
2. Mario Kart Wii w/ wheel (Wii) – 787,400
3. Wii Fit w/ balance board (Wii) – 687,700
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) – 442,900
5. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) – 294,600
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) – 171,100
7. Iron Man (PS2) – 130,600
8. Guitar Hero III (Wii) – 116,800
9. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS) – 107,000
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS) – 102,000

Metal Gear Solid 4 is sure to come in highly with the June NPDs, and it’ll be difficult to overcome both Grand Theft Auto and a continued stream of Wii Fit copies. It’s definitely got a good shot at outselling them, though, and with those hard-to-come-by MGS4 bundles selling like crazy, the PS3 will be sure to see a nice bump in the first month of summer.

All sorts of downloadable goodness has been added to the PlayStation Store today of both the free and premium variety. Syphon Filter 3 for PSone is now available for $6. It’s not a terrible game, but it’s not nearly as good as the earlier Syphon Filter games. Also in the land of playable games is free demo of Quake Wars — from having tried the demo out on 360, I can pretty safely say that the game did not translate all that well to consoles. It’s still worth checking out if you never got to try the PC version, but chances are you’ll find it to be an overwhelming experience.

In the land of rhythm games, Guitar Hero III and Rock Band each have a handful of tracks now available. Guitar Hero got the Isle of Wight Festival track pack and Rock Band got the MTV2 Pack 01, plus an additional track.

There’s plenty more, including an MGS4 theme and all sorts of trailers. Hit the break for a list of all of the new content.

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The game’s only been out for several months now, so it’s time for some demo action! A demo of the third-person action game Dark Sector can now be found on the Xbox Live Marketplace. As Jonathan put it when he wrote up his impressions of the game, the game suffers from “Gears of War Syndrome,” which is to say that it tries and fails to do nothing innovative with the formula that Gears perfected.

Overall, the single player game can be fairly engaging, but only for about the first half of the game. The glaive itself is entertaining enough for a few hours, but once the novelty wears off, there’s really not much in the story to keep you moving forward. The whole “Soviet world domination” angle has become a tired cliche by now, and there’s not a whole lot to define Hayden as a character — aside from one defining act in the prologue. He’s just a very quiet man with a whispy hairstyle and an affinity for slaughtering without mercy. That’s kind of creepy by itself if you think about.

It might not be great, but it might be enough to distract you from thinking about Metal Gear Solid 4’s impending release, and you’ll be able to appreciate Gears of War 2 that much more once it’s released.

Our Mission this week is to debrief you on the history of Konami’s Metal Gear series. Maniac Elephant (Ron) and Infamous Cockroach (Shawn) discuss their past experience with the Metal Gear missions and plan a tactical approach for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4: Twin Acid Sons of the Patriots Liberty Eater’s Revenge mission that is set to go into operation this coming Friday.

The two mission specialists also talk about a rogue military superweapon (The Incredible Hulk), a rogue government assassin (The Bourne Conspiracy) and a silly child’s game featuring a plastic college professor (LEGO Indiana Jones).

This weeks show is available by direct download here.

As always, you can get past episodes from our podcast page at http://podcast.filefront.com, and you can send your comments, questions, suggestions, or snarky comments to podcast@filefront.com.

File-N-Forget is also available on the iTunes Music Store.

You can get your own Metal Gear Codename by checking out the Metal Gear Name Generator.

With the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 on the horizon, it looks like rumors pertaining to the series are starting to fly. One of the latest of these purports that Konami may already be working on a new PSP title, called “Metal Gear 3: Revolver Ocelot.” Apparently, the game will take place between Portable Ops and Metal Gear 2 (note: that’s not Metal Gear Solid 2). The game will also play a lot like Portable Ops, but with Revolver Ocelot as the main character. Word is that Konami will be revealing this new game officially at E3 this year. I hope this rumor turn out to be true. I have a feeling I’ll be itching for more Metal Gear action once I finish up with MGS4.

Via GameRush

While Konami is gearing up for the big release of Metal Gear Solid 4 — the sole reason I will be at Best Buy way, way too early on Thursday — they may also have another MGS project in the works. Ripten recently received a tip that the original PS1 game could be ported over to the Xbox Live Arcade. The classic stealth game may even have a subsequent release on the PSN. Of course, such a transition is not going to be without its share of problems.

Obviously, there are some logistical issues going along with this announcement, not least of which is the question of size limitations. Microsoft may soon be raising the XBLA file limit to 35oMB, but that still may not be enough for MGS1, considering it spanned more than one disc originally. On the other hand though, Microsoft did publish the PC version of the game; and Konami managed to keep all of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night down to 95MB. We’ll have to see. What I’d really like though would be Konami to take Twin Snakes, Substance, and Subsistence and cram them onto one big, fat Blu-Ray to keep me warm through the winter.

Via Ripten

Personally, I love the Metal Gear Solid series. They’ve consistently had some great gameplay and enticing — though sometimes confusing — storylines. Everything about the games just seems huge, which unfortunately includes it’s “WTF” moments. Every one of those games had instances where you just sat back and asked yourself, “what the hell just happened?” And now, thanks to 1UP’s Scott Sharkey, we get to relive those moments all over again. Crotch grabbings, awkward relationship talk through codec, homoerotic sword fights: it’s all here. I think it was the revelation that Otacon slept with his mom that really weirded me out the most though (seriously, Kojima, what the hell?). I think I need to lie down now; it’s just too much terrible for one sitting.

Via 1UP

June is shaping up to be a pretty decent month in the way of gaming releases. Already we have been handed Kung Fu Panda, LEGO Indiana Jones, Ninja Gaiden II, The Bourne Conspiracy, The Incredible Hulk, and Summon Nights: Twin Age. But what else does the month leading into Summer hold for us?Plenty, and I have next week’s releases listed for you right here:

June 9

• Don King Presents: Prize Fighter – Xbox 360

June 10

• Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm – PC, Xbox 360
• Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit – PS3, Xbox 360
• EVE Online: Empires Age (Expansion) – PC
• Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles – Nintendo DS
• Looney Toons: Cartoon Conductor – Nintendo DS
• My Fashion Studio- Nintendo DS
• NASCAR 09 – PS2, PS3,Xbox 360

June 12

• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Regular and Limited Edition) – PS3

All release dates are subject to availability, so some may be in stores on the day listed, the day before, or the day after so check with wherever you purchase your games because shipping times vary.