May 17, 2005 - At the Konami press event currently in progress, Mr. Hideo Kojima announced that he has been authorized to form a development house within the greater whole of Konami. The new production Studio, aptly called Kojima Productions, will continue work on the Metal Gear Gear franchise with MGS4 on PlayStation 3, a game Kojima himself will write, direct and produce, as it was "demanded by fans and staff." Though as we reported early, the director of ZOE 2 is taking a heavy role in MGS4 development.

While the trailer being demonstrated was built off the PS2 Snake Eater engine, which Kojima says is not at all indicative of planned MGS4 quality, it still gave us a good sneak peak at what the game will eventually be.
MGS4 will take place several years after the conclusion of MGS2 and will feature an online battle mode. Conceptually, the game follows the idea of "nowhere to hide." What this means for gameplay, we do not yet know, but it could spell a more action-oriented, run to survive type of experience.

"You can run, but you can't hide." You dig?

We also know that a few favorites from the series will make return appearances, including Meryl, Otacon and Revolver Ocelot. Thankfully, Solid Snake will this time be the main character, though Kojima hinted that Raiden might still make an appearance.

Interestingly, Metal Gear Solid 4 will include Metal Gear Ac!d 2 connectivity. What this entails, we don not yet know, but plugging our PSPs into our PS3s is certainly an exciting prospect.

Ed's Quick Impressions:
Nothing. They didn't show us anything. But about Subsistence... I don't know. I think it's really cool. Basically, it has things for fans of the series that will make them really want to play more -- the Snake Theater and the ape battles. There's also a lot of features for more people. The 3D camera mode is basically for all the whining bitches who won't play the game. Now they can.

Jeremy's Quick Impressions:
I thought it was one of the most bizarre trailers I've ever seen. Though I thought the concept was definitely a cool one -- the idea of watching Solid Snake fighting for position in his own game was kind of neat -- the unusual color scheme and the addition of a laugh track was a little out there. Yes, there was a laugh track. That said, I did like the additions Konami said would be made in the game and I'm intrigued about how they can make a stealth game work when there's "no place to hide."

Kojima plans to demonstrate actual PS3 footage of MGS4 next year, which we expect will totally wow us. Expect more detailed impressions shortly.

Of course, MGS4 on PS3 is a completely different product than Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence on PS2.