176w ago - A recent post on the Kojima Productions blog drops hints the company might be getting ready to reveal a long-awaited Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP surprise.

In the post, PR manager Jiro Oishi says the following after talking about touring Japan to show off the co-op play in Peace Walker, to quote:

"However, in truth, there's another ultimate charm outside of co-op play hidden in PW."

The original birth of this news came from an earlier blog entry by Hideo Kojima himself, so it is likely that Oishi and Kojima are both speaking about the same unannounced feature.

To date, there hasn't been any such announcement for the game that would make people rush out to buy a PSP, so only time will tell what surprise Peace Walker may hold for fans.

202w ago - Today the Examiner (linked above) took notice of a statement in the latest Kojima Productions podcast by Sean Eyestone, which essentially brings new hope for PS3 Trophy support to fans of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PlayStation 3.

To quote: "Just to address one issue that we've been getting a lot of comments about. And this is, of course, about trophies.

I just wanna tell everybody out there right now that your voices are being heard and that we're not ignoring you. We hear everything that you are saying. It's just that we can't say anything just yet.

But as soon as we have something to say, we will announce it. So, if we can just ask everyone to just be patient, we will give you an answer. But right now we can't say anything. So we just ask for everyone's understanding with that and just ask for everybody to remain patient and we'll let you know."

214w ago - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots came and we played. Then our own Scottish nobleman Mark Serrels came, and we went dang man, WTF?!

Yes there is no greater Kojima fanboy than gameplayer's Mr. Serrels who holds as his three fondest moments in life getting married, killing The End and seeing Kojima's wang in the dunnies at a Konami press trip in late 2007 in support of MGS4.

The man keeps in contact with the friends he made on that trip, including a member of Kojima's staff, who has just dropped him an email saying that the famous developer is about to make a big announcement in "T minus 3 days and counting" with regards to a new project.

What could it be? Zone of Enders 3? Snatcher Reborn? Metal Gear Solid vs. NWO World Tour? Speculate your respective butts off in the comments below and be sure to watch this space for info as soon as it drops. For the record, we're guessing a repackaged Metal Gear Solid 4, possibly in the vein of Subsistence. But for giggles we're saying MGS4 for Xbox 360!

Now wouldn't that turns some heads!

232w ago - Being one of Konami's biggest studios, Kojima Productions has some big plans for 2009. What are they up to? What's big man Hideo Kojima working on? And more importantly, are David Hayter and the rest of the gang still willing to work on more Metal Gear games despite some (questionable) psychological trauma?

Speaking to Famitsu about their plans for 2009, Hideo Kojima reveals that their studio will be starting with a clean slate (well, considering that Ryan Payton has already left...) and still aim to be a global competitor in the video game industry.

Interestingly enough, it seems as if Hideo Kojima is feeling the pressure from Western studios. What with so many industry key persons stating that video game development is no longer centered in Japan, Kojima Productions is now reviewing their current team structure, tools, staff, and basic operations.

I've thought a lot about how Western games have been winning, looking it from a global perspective, and there are things that I've noticed. So 2009 will be a year of change, a year where we start from zero again.

With games, you've got to use cutting-edge techniques, and doing so costs money - so I don't think you can make games that just appeal to the Japanese market. So, 2009 will see us continuing to think how to create...

251w ago - Ryan Payton (hats, in tow) has left Kojima Productions. The Assistant Producer spearheaded a more Western approach to controls for Metal Gear Solid 4, making the game far more approachable and much tighter than the previous installment. He also helped warm the MGS4 team up to more Western developed games like Gears of War as well. Why did he leave and what's next? His answers after the jump.

Why did you leave Konami and Kojima Productions?

Back when I joined Kojima Productions in 2005, I hit the ground running and didn't stop until we shipped Metal Gear Solid 4. Then, for the first time in three years, I wasn't working on any games and I had a three month vacation ahead of me. I went back home to my family's place in Washington state and literally three weeks after MGS4 launched we were hit with some pretty heavy news concerning my mom.

I don't think I need to go into details, but all of this has reminded me about how important family is. So this past month I decided to leave Kojima Productions and look to continue my career working closer to my family in North America.

It's not easy leaving my other family (the MGS team), but with everybody taking time off and not having any other big projects to shift focus to, it feels like this is how it's supposed to be. It's...