Oh 6th June Konami did they pre-E3 show, Kojima Productions was involved in it to keep their promise of revealing Snake's new voice actor for the up coming games Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Plus some new information about MGS5.

Announcing things that were already known about the game, Kojima announced that MGS5's tagline will be "Tactical Espionage Operations" the same tagline given to Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and that the game's theme will be RACE and REVENGE.

He also stated that The Phantom Pain will be set in 1984 when Big Boss was 49 years old. Thus officially stating that Ground Zeroes will take place 9 years before that, in 1975.

Kojima also stated that The Phantom Pain will have some very heavy subjects, and a much darker tone than before.

And finally, the new voice actor for Snake for the new games have been announced as Kieger Sutherland.

The reasons behind this choosing is because much is done with motion capture and performance capture this time around, Kojima followed the advice of Avi Arad and asked Kiefer for the role. The actor accepted the offer, saying he despite not playing video games himself, knew about the famous series. For this game, Kojima wanted Snake’s emotions to be expressed through facial expression and vocal performance rather than words.

On the Kojima Productions Alert Podcast, One fan wanted to know why the Japanese voice actor for Snake (Akio Otsuka) has not changed, while the English actor (David Hayter) has. The host of the podcast, Sean Eyestone, answered:

“This time, the English voice is really driving the animation, is driving the character. In past Metal Gears, everything was done by hand: the animation was done by hand, both the English and the Japanese were dubbed in. This time, the facial performance that is being done by the English voice actor is what is driving the animation, what is driving the character. And actually, Otsuka-san, who is the Japanese voice, will be dubbing into that. So his facial expressions will not be in the game, so it’s just his voice. It’s like what he’s done up to this point. So that’s more or less the reason why this casting decision was made. I know some people may have reservations, whenever things change, people are always a little nervous. But I think if you just wait and see how things turn out, I think you’ll be very happy with the performance. I think it’s really cool and we can’t wait to show you more.”

A new trailer for The Phantom Pain will be shown at E3.
Throughout 17th - 19th April 2013, Hideo Kojima posted images of posters on his twitter account featuring Solid Snake and Naked Snake in all they're appearances in the latest CGI concept art with a Metal Gear Solid logo. The teaser immanently got fans hyped to what it could be. Speculations came down with either a new box set or a art book.

On April 18, 2013, the Korean Game Ratings Board leaked and announced "Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection" after Kojima's first photo announcement. Similar to MGSV: The Phantom Pain being leaked onto Link Japan before it's official announcement, it left fans pondering if this was true or they've been put on to a wild goose chase.

The pondering came to a sudden end on 22nd April 2013, as Konami officially announced "Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection 1987-2012."

The contains of the collection will involve:
Metal Gear Solid (As a DLC code for PSN)
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (As a DLC code for PSN)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty HD Edition
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD Edition (Includes Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots 25th Anniversary Edition
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD Edition

The collection will also include the 2 graphic novels illustrated by Ashley Wood.
Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel
Metal Gear Solid 2: Digital Graphic Novel

The collection will also included a illustrated booklet titled "Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Book." The booklet contains 100 pages showcasing promotional pamphlets and posters for each game

The collection is exclusive to PlayStation 3, and set for a June, 2013 release date for North and South America and July, 2013 for Japan.

A European release and date are still yet to be confirmed.
After many months of questions and regards over Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Solid 5, the questions have finally come to an end.

At GDC 2013 during his conference, Hideo Kojima announces that Ground Zeroes, MGS5 and Phantom Pain are all one of the same. Announcing his next instalment to the series via a new trailer - METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN.

The game will be set in 2 different scenarios, Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain. Ground Zeroes takes role as the game's prologue, (similar to the Plant/Tanker in MGS2) and takes place straight after Peace Walker in 1975. The Phantom Pain, the game's main story will take place 9 years later.

It was later revealed by Konami's Director of Public Relations, Jay Boor, that contrary to popular belief, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain are still and going to be separate games.

A downfall of the game is that David Hayter who's been voicing Snake since 1998, will NOT be a part of the game, he tweeted via his twitter account saying that he was never contacted or needed for this project. This announcement has stunned and cause a massive uproar among many Metal Gear and gamig fans worldwide. During a interview with Hayter, he felt very disappointed that he is not a part of the new game as he loves doing Snake's voice and couldn't possibly get over the fact that another person will pull off Snake as great. In fact, Hayter noted that "it makes him sick to hear other people do Snake." Although feeling let down and believing he is letting down all his fans, Hayter respects Mr. Kojima's decisions and wishes him the best in the project.

When asked about Hayter's absence, Kojima responded that he wants MGS5 to be a new era of Metal Gear thus, bringing in a new voice to voice the main man.

Kojima hasn't mentioned who will be voicing Snake in MGS5. Fans suggesting it will be Richard Doyle, who voiced Big Boss in the end of MGS4. But still, nothing has been confirmed.

It was later announced that Akio Ōtsuka will continue to voice Snake in the Japanese version. This announcement has caused severe negativity among Western fans, some opening a official petition to get Hayter into MGS5 and some just simply refusing to buy the game until Kojima brings back Hayter to voice Snake as a new VA would "remotely suck ass" and "won't be the same."

Due to the announcement of the new game, a new folder has been added to the group for Phantom Pain related art to be submitted in. The Ground Zeroes folder will remain untouched due to the announcement of the 2 game being separate.

How do you feel about the new game? Excited? Let down? And how do you feel about David Hayter not being involved? Comment below!
As many Metal Gear fans already know, on Wednesday March 27, Hideo Kojima and a few other members of his studio will head to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco to hold a presentation.

Kojima emphasized their (75 to 90 minutes) presentation will mostly be a technical demonstration of the Fox Engine, showing the rendering techniques of the brand new game engine. Among the people joining Kojima at GDC are a CG art director and a lighting artist, so that should give an indication about what to expect as well. But there will also be a trailer (presumably for Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes).

Not only that, but the mysterious game company Moby Dick Studios will be attending GDC also to show new a brand new trailer to the mysterious The Phantom Pain.

With a lot of revealed stuff and interviews that happened recently, a lot of fans are still praying that TPP is Metal Gear Solid 5, however other fans are confirming to themselves that MGS5, TPP and Ground Zeroes are one of the same game... Hopefully a lot of questions will be finally answered this Wednesday.

Mr. Kojima's presentation will be streaming live on March 27 (11:00 AM to 12:30 PM PST) on various gaming websites. Some will be posted right now.

uk.gamespot.com/shows/gamespot…

(More will be updated when time draws nearer.)
As Metal Gear Rising: Reveageance's release draws nearer and nearer, Konami and certain worldwide companies have been announcing new and new promotions for the releases. Here they are.

For Japan:
•  A DLC to unlock Grey Fox's Cyborg Ninja skin has been announced. Buyers will receive this code when they buy the game or any of it's limited editions from KONAMISTYLE.jp.

•  A Premium Package was announced. The bundle contains the game with a different cover art, a steel book, a soundtrack, a art book and 2 Dwarf Gekko magnet figures. The Premium Package will cost 9,980 yen.
Buyers could add 3,000 yen to the total and also get the Raiden - White Armour ver. Play Arts KAI action figure added to the bundle. The offer is exclusive to KONAMISTYLE.jp.

•  Konami also announced DLC costumes for Japanese players who buy the game from certain stores. Players will receive the "White Battle Armour" DLC if brought from LAWSON and KONAMISTYLE, the "Inferno Red Armour" DLC if brought from GameTSUTAYA and the "Commando Suit Armour" DLC if brought from GEO.
The "White Battle Armour" allows Raiden to carry more health items, the "Inferno Red Armour" allows Raiden to carry more grenades and the "Commando Suit Armour" allows Raiden to carry more missiles.

•  The Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Zan Datsu Package has been announced. The package will include the game, a limited edition 250GB PlayStation 3 and DualShock 3 controller, a t-shirt and the White Armour skin DLC. It will cost 31,960 yen. The Cyborg Ninja DLC is also included in the bundle.

For North America:
• The Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Collector's Edition was announced. It includes the game, a steel book case, a soundtrack, and a high-frequency plasma lamp that contained a scale model of Raiden's high frequency blade from the game. The bundle will cost $149.99

• Gamestop has announced that buyers who pre-order Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance standard or the Collector's Edition from their store will receive the Cyborg Ninja DLC code, The Fox Blade (Grey Fox's sword) DLC code, a steel book case and a art book. as a gift.

• Buyers who pre-order Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance standard or the Collector's Edition from Amazon.com will receive a limited edition t-shirt as a gift.

• Buyers who pre-order Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance standard release from Wal-Mart will receive a instrumental soundtrack.

For Europe and UK:
• Konami of Europe has announced that the Cyborg Ninja skin DLC and the Fox Blade DLC codes will be included in all standard releases of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

• The Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Limited Edition has been announced. The bundle will be sold by UK retailer Zavvi exclusively and is limited edition to 25,000 worldwide. The contains are the game, the Cyborg Ninja skin DLC, Fox Blade DLC and the Raiden - White Armour ver. Play Arts KAI action figure. The Limited Edition will cost £99.99.

• Europe and UK's pre-order gift for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be a limited edition steel book case. However, if buyers pre-ordered the game from UK retailer GAME will receive a steel book case with Yoji Shinkawa's art design of Raiden on it instead.

• UK retailer GAME will give out the Inferno Red Armour skin DLC to anyone who pre-orders Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance from their store.

• Zavvi has announced that buyers who purchase the standard or limited edition from their website will receive the White Armour skin DLC as a free gift.

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