Tag Archives: kojima

Kojima flatly denies any involvement with The Phantom Pain

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Hideo Kojima has flat out denied having any involvement with The Phantom Pain, in an interview with “Youth Arabia”:

YA: Did you have anything to do with Phantom Pain , since the character bears a resemblance to Solid Snake? 

HK: (Laughs) Phantom Pain is being made by Moby Dick studios, I do not have any part in that game. I saw the resemblance there though.

The interview moves from subject to subject quickly, so there’s no followup to this point, unfortunately.  But it’s obvious Kojima isn’t just being cheeky here; at this point, he would have to be an out-and-out liar if it turns out he’s involved with the game.

As I said previously, I believe The Phantom Pain is the taboo “Devil Project” which Kojima said had the potential to end his career if people don’t respond well.  The Devil/Ogre Project has been shrouded in secrecy from the beginning, although we know that it needs to involve visible demons, and that it’s not Ground Zeroes; manwhile, the trailer for The Phantom Pain includes the question “Am I in hell?”  Coincidence?  Lying directly to game journalists and fans could certainly backfire, and perhaps it’s is the career-jeopardizing move Kojima has now fully committed to.

The Phantom Pain’s Phantom Appeal

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It’s what you DON’T see that makes it fascinating.  Negative space.  The words “METAL GEAR SOLID V” literally cut out of the title, instead of being shown front and center.  It’s brilliant, intriguing, and (hopefully) reflects a deeper theme within the game — of letting our imaginations go wild, for better or worse.

Is The Phantom Pain really Metal Gear Solid 5?  Or is that what we’re supposed to trick ourselves into thinking?

The Phantom Pain

Remember when Kojima talked about a “taboo” project that could potentially force him to leave the industry — the project which was eventually revealed to be the “devil” project?

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Part 5 progress / MGS5 logo confirmed fake

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Not long ago at the San Diego Comic Con, rumors about MGS5 were stirred up by some images that appeared to be leaked, which connecting the “Ogre Project” with the next Metal Gear game.  The whole thing was dubious from the start, but Kojima has confirmed that they are fake, apologizing to those who were looking forward to it.  The tweet was posted on July 16, leaving no doubts that it was fake.

In other news, Part 5 of MGS2: A Complete Breakdown is still being worked on, but all the fun and activity of Summer is admittedly soaking up my free time, so it’s not moving as quickly as the other ones have.  I know many of you are looking forward to it, and so am I.  As I said on my own Twitter, this feature was originally designed to be a video, so I’ve had to rewrite a lot of it to fit a written format.  Look forward to it in August.

Metal Gear Solid 5 leaked image confirms rumors apparently

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I happened to notice “Metal Gear Solid 5” in the Twitter trends this morning, and soon found myself reading very vague, and very possibly fake rumors.  Here’s the news piece.

The unverified picture prominantly [sic] displays a logo for Metal Gear Solid 5 along with the phrase ‘Open Ground Reconnaissance Endeavors (OGRE)’ which could be a replacement for the ‘Tactical Espionage Action’ tagline the series has carried thus far.

Kojima wanted to have an open-world environment ever since Snake Eater, which was supposed to be “seamless” initially, with weather patterns and a day/night cycle; players were supposed to get lost in the jungle and need to use landmarks for navigation; hunting and sneaking would be more important than ever.  The trailer even made reference to Grand Theft Auto, suggesting that the games would be comparable.  Basically, compared to Kojima’s original ambitions we got a can of sardines.  This would be the full feast.

This may be Kojima’s opportunity to make his old dream a reality.  If “OGRE” does stand for “Open Ground Reconnaissance Endeavors” — which for the record I hope it does not, because nothing sounds lamer than the word “endeavors” when describing a game — then it could be Metal Gear Solid 5 after all.  How on earth this ties into raising a family?  Well, Big Boss did have some hand in raising Solid and Liquid Snake, at least…

Do I believe the leaked rumor?  Actually, I sort of do.  It would even fit with his old statement about how it could end up as career suicide if it went wrong, which I surmised involved retconning the Metal Gear series.  Or maybe I’m dumb!

EDIT:  Okay, so I’m way behind in the times here.  So there are a couple of fuzzy screenshots, not just one, and there is a lot more news about MGS5 being said already.  I am dumb!

1up talks VR Theory and Allegory

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As part of a major Metal Gear 25th Anniversary celebration, 1up.com has posted an article regarding popular “fan theories”.  As you would hope, they directly refer to my own VR Theory, and the Allegory Theory, which I’ve been leading the way on for so many years, both on this website and prior, on “The Unofficial Site”.

This marks the first time a major publication has acknowledged these theories in full force from what I can tell, and it’s long overdue.  You can be sure their overview of the VR Theory is taken from my own analysis, especially when you read this:

He questions the reality of Rose’s involvement, the mission, and his commanding officers. He points out that his VR training was impeccably realistic. References to Big Shell, Raiden’s real name (Jack), and the PS2’s Emotion Engine were all said to be subtle clues. Proponents of the theory convinced themselves that absolutely everything was an extremely complex system of indicators, all pointing toward one unmistakable reality: Raiden was just some random guy hooked up to a training simulation. And crazy as it might sound, the case seemed fairly solid.

No other fan theory includes an interpretation of the choice of names, such as the Big Shell, Jack, and E.E. — those points are exclusively mine.  Although he doesn’t give credit where credit is due (using generic “many fans believe” instead of tracing things to the actual source) I’m happy that freelance writer Steve Watts doesn’t butcher the theories while summarizing them.  His description of the Allegory Theory is a little watered down for my liking, considering that Kojima has officially admitted he put his own experiences in the games (making it no longer a “theory” at all), which means that this article could afford to look a lot deeper at the personal commentary found in, say, Metal Gear Solid 4.

Big thanks to JMG9519 for pointing the 1up article out to me.

Kojima once again says that MGS2 was supposed to be his final Metal Gear

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I’ve said it a million times but apparently it’s still news: Kojima intended for MGS2 to be his last Metal Gear project, which means that Snake Eater and Guns of the Patriots were both projects he was “forced” to do.  Get it?  He didn’t want to make those.  He’s directly saying it, on record.  Okay, I think you understand now.

Very diplomatically, he says that nobody was to blame, and that there were “problems” when others tried to take over.  (Problems which couldn’t have been more obvious in Portable Ops, I’m sure.)  He also says that Project Ogre will use the Fox Engine, which is predictable, but still exciting.

Think about it this way: if he made MGS3 and MGS4 against his own will, and they turned out to be as great as they are, how great will the project he really wants to work on be?  I don’t know how I failed to notice this before, but apparently Kojima recently talked about how Project Ogre will deal with issues of family and adult life, and would be a “subdued” experience.  Never knew that.  As much as I dislike melodrama, I look forward to this.  (Please don’t be like Heavy Rain.)

Part III (MGS2: A Complete Breakdown)

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PART I – PART II – PART III – PART IV – PART V – PART VI – PART VII

{NOTE: Clips are best watched in Full Screen mode.}

Part three is a careful study of Metal Gear’s creator, Hideo Kojima.  More specifically, it’s a study of his motivations for betraying player expectations with Metal Gear Solid 2.  As confusing as it may seem, there is a logical explanation for it all.  (Here’s Part 1 and Part 2)

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Kojima takes picture with excellent cosplayers

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Foxhound coat

Normally I dislike cosplayers, but these guys are all pretty good, I have to admit.  The Foxhound coat is great too, and the first time I’ve seen one in cosplay — although, what good are buttons down by your knees?

(Source: Kojima twitter)

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