Metal Gear Solid mastermind Hideo Kojima appeared on stage tonight as Sony unveiled various games for its PSP successor, the NGP. He showed off an early cutscene from Metal Gear Solid 4 rendered on the device, then dropped some intriguing hints about the future of the series.

Kojima mentioned that when he released Peace Walker, it was "an experiment for the cloud computing future." Ultimately, Kojima says, he'd like to let players start a game on their PlayStation 3, then take it with them on the NGP while they're away. When they come back home, they can continue the game again on the PlayStation 3. Read more »

The website teasing Kojima Productions' next project was updated today with a picture of the Metal Gear Solid character Big Boss, apparently confirming an upcoming Metal Gear-related announcement from the company.

The site had previously featured only a countdown overtop an animated thunderstorm. The first countdown ended last week, only to reveal a new countdown to the widespread consternation of Metal Gear fans. Speculation as to whether the lightning is a reference to Metal Gear character Raiden, and as to the meaning behind the site's mysterious letters and numbers, continues to run rampant. Leaked scans from Famitsu show that Raiden will likely be featured on the site before the current countdown ends. Read more »

A site teasing the next project from Metal Gear Solid developer Kojima Productions has ended its lengthy countdown timer with the addition of a second countdown timer.

Originally featuring only the number "5" the site now also displays an "E" and the digit "3." The new countdown ends in 119 hours.

Rumors of an announcement to the expected Metal Gear Solid 5 abound, though the company is notorious for throwing fans off the scent with misleading clues. A website launched last year that had many expecting the announcement of an Xbox 360 port of Metal Gear Solid 4 eventually turned into the unveiling of a Metal Gear iPhone title.

A new website teasing the May 18 announcement of a new Kojima Productions project has been launched.

The site features a simple cloudy background (seen left) and the site header "Kojima Production Next." The webpage source code includes the words "MGS" and "METAL GEAR." Read more »

Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima today took the stage at the Game Developers Conference to discuss his vision of the future for the Kojima Productions team.

"I want to add both [the] Western way of designing and the Japanese way," he said.

He explained that Western studios focus more on overcoming hurdles through software technology, and can thus create an open-world with no loading screens or the ability to drive any vehicle, whereas Japanese developers circumvent hurdles via game design. Read more »

Watchmen co-writer David Hayter, also known as the voice of Solid Snake to gamers, has co-founded a new development studio with the goal of producing a wide range of media--including video games.

Producer Benedict Carver (Bratz, Doomsday) has teamed with Hayter to create the company, which will develop "film, TV, Internet and video game projects in the action, sci-fi and horror genres," according to Variety. Read more »

Metal Gear Solid composer Norihiko Hibino now says that the series' classic theme song was removed from Metal Gear Solid 4 due to plagiarism accusations.

"The truth is, Konami [had legal problems with] Russian composers who said we stole their music," Hibino told EGM, as related by Gamasutra. "They didn't, actually. But Konami was too sensitive about the situation and just decided not to use that music in the game." Read more »

A new page teasing the "next Metal Gear" went live late tonight on the official website of Metal Gear Solid developer Kojima Productions.

The site text reads, "A Next Metal Gear Is..." and includes a series of bright green images (left). The final green image in the sequence appears to resemble the Xbox 360 power button icon at first glance--though the icon itself is a standard power-related image used across many platforms. The "i" could also be a reference to either the iPhone, the Wii, or the upcoming Nintendo DSi. Read more »

Following teases of a new entry in the stealth-action series, now-former Kojima Productions employee Ryan Payton has confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 5 is on the way.

"It'll be hard not being involved in MGS5, but I've got the utmost confidence that Hideo Kojima, Ken Imaizumi, and our amazing team will put together another blockbuster game," Payton told Kotaku in an interview regarding his departure. Read more »

Sales of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) led a 16.7% sales jump and massive growth of Konami's PlayStation 3 sales volume, the publisher revealed in its 2009 first quarter financial results.

Kojima Productions' stealth action shooter moved three million units since its June 12 debut, propelling Konami's PlayStation 3 business to 57.3% of its total sales in the quarter ending June 30. The figure shows a massive increase over the same reporting period last year, in which PlayStation 3 software accounted for just 1.3% of sales. Read more »