Good news for players awaiting news on Metal Gear Solid 4. Ryan Payton of Kojima Productions told ThreeSpeech Konami has an English demo in the works.

“As of tomorrow, we’re going to start working on the English demo… Anything I say beyond what I’m going to say is going to incriminate me and people are going to know what I’m hinting at.”

Gaming Today will post more details as they are announced.

via ThreeSpeech

Where Are My Comrades?
Where Are Those Who Need My Help?
Where Are Those I Must Protect?
Where Are Those Who Will Fight With Me?
Where On Earth Is He Hiding?

All valid questions if you intend on playing Konami’s spin-off to the Metal Gear franchise, Metal Gear Online. Based on the technology behind Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Online was originally slated as a standalone multiplayer product (see below) for the Playstation 3, supporting up to 16 players. Straight from the MGO wiki:

The player can upgrade skills that the character can use such as hacking, CQC mastery, tomfoolery, enhanced lock-on, and more, all of which can be leveled up. The player can keep tabs on allies and enemies with nanomachines.

Players will have the ability to “hack” another player’s character to steal information from their nanomachines, such as the locations of his/her allies. This is is how the SOP system from Metal Gear Solid 4 is going to be implemented as a gameplay feature in MGO.

Currently, Metal Gear Online is being beta tested in Japan by about 3000 players. Since the page is in Japanese, it’s hard to tell what’s going on. Still, it looks to be a fun squad based multiplayer game. I also like the VR style hud it’s sporting.

According to CVG recently, it seems that MGO will come bundled with MGS4. No word on separate pricing or if anyone outside of Japan will ever get to play it.

When playing Metal Gear Online, the question I’d have a hard time not asking is:

Huh? What was that noise?

…or the Japanese equivalent. Groan if you must, it had to be said. You gotta love the man-catapult. I wonder what lucky person gets to pwn the n00bs as Snake? If you are AFK, will your online character make farting sounds while hiding in a barrel? Inquiring minds want to know…

Out of the Tokyo Game Show comes a brand spanking new trailer for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4. And in the general fashion of MGS trailers, it makes almost no sense, but it’s awesome.

The video introduces us to a number of new characters, including Liquid’s private army, the “FROGS.” Yeah, it’s a lame name, but they look to be pretty much a full squad of Ninjas (plus it looks like Raiden may be one of them !?). We also meet a mysterious military scientist who watches over a little girl and Drebin, a “weapons launderer.” There’s also apparently a new enemy in the form of “Big Mama,” who bears more than a passing resemblance to The Boss from MGS3. And is it just me, or does that guy with the mohawk look a lot like Fatman, the bomb specialist from MGS2? I won’t spoil the shocking ending to the trailer, but suffice it to say it starts to tie up a loose end from MGS2.

Dammit, Kojima, why you gotta force me to buy a PS3? And if the rumors are true, I may even have to get one before the year is out.

Coming out of the Leipzig Gaming Convention is a brand new trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. This new video finally gives an in-depth look at some of the new Metal Gears in the game; and man do they look freaky. There’s one that resembles a wolf (complete with howl), and then three other types that look like robotic women with strange devices attached to the back of their heads: wings, tentacles, and six extra arms. You then get to watch these guys take out an entire squad of heavily-armed soldiers in yet another spectacular cut-scene from this game. Pair crazy videos like this with some of the gameplay footage we’ve been treated to, and this game has become my reason to get a PS3 before its early 2008 release date.

Once again, those of you out there who were clicking your heels together with ruby slippers wishing for your copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 for the 360 will once again be disappointed. HMV is actually not offering preorders of the game.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, an admin was responsible for creating this mess. “In his enthusiasm, one of our online games team indicated that hmv.co.uk would start taking pre-orders for MGS4 on Xbox 360, when, in fact, he simply meant to ask customers if they wished to receive an alert in the event of this title one day coming out on this platform,” the HMV retailer told GamesIndustry.biz.

As you know, we have covered quite a bit of the confusion surrounding the idea that this could happen, the past rumors have died, and so has this one.

via GamesIndustry.biz

MGS 4: Guns of the Patriots Gameplay Trailer
Last night, Hideo Kojima gave a 15-minute gameplay demonstration for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. As you can see, a lot has changed from previous games in the series. Almost every move shown off has never been in a Metal Gear Solid game before. As many people requested, the camera can now move more freely by using the right analog stick, and there’s a new over-the-shoulder view for quick aiming (similar to Splinter Cell and Resident Evil 4, respectively). This time around, instead of switching between different camo suits, Snake’s suit can be activated to mimic the textures around him. Snake can also (finally) take enemies’ weapons and even frisk them for additional supplies. And after all the talk from Snake about being “on the battlefield,” he’s being thrown into the middle of an actual war zone, where he can influence the outcome of the battles.

I said it after E3, and I’ll say it again: Hideo Kojima just sold me a PS3.