Metal Gear Solid on the 360! (unconfirmed)

(Note: while researching this, I have not found any mention of it on either Konami or Kojima Productions’ website. This may be fake.)

No, not THAT one. At least not yet. While there have been rumours (that have been squashed several times) that Metal Gear Solid 4 will make it to the 360, Konami announced that they will be re-making the previous 3 games for the Xbox 360. In fact, there is a new division of Kojima Productions specifically created for developing for the 360.

Skip to the press release.

It isn’t clear whether or not the ‘Metal Gear Solid Trilogy’–which includes remakes of Metal Gear Solid, MGS2: Substance and MGS3: Subsistance–will be released as one unit or if you’ll have to purchase each separately. The way it sounds, it may be an all-at-once thing, like how the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy for Xbox was released in one unit.

Now this can mean several things.

• This development team could be warming up on the 360 so they can port MGS4 easier.
• Exclusive (or at least Built For 360) new games for the 360 from the brilliant Kojima & Crew
• ZONE OF THE ENDERS 3

Zone of the Enders 3–no matter what platform it was on–would make me the happiest gamer ever.

Even if none of these things I’ve listed come to life, just the Metal Gear Trilogy would be a great addition to the system. Bonus points if they are visually revamped like the Gamecube’s revision of Metal Gear Solid to make use of the HD 360.

–Press Release–

KONAMI ANNOUNCES KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS TEAM FOR XBOX 360
Two Blockbuster Titles Already Under Development

OSAKA Konami Digital Entertainment Japan, a division of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today announced a new, exclusive for the Xbox 360 gameconsole, development team will be formed inside Konami Corporation. On January 11, 2007, Konami Corporation merged and consolidated its group companies. Accordingly, former Konami Computer Entertainment Japan East Team, lead by creator Hideo Kojima (Corporate Officer, Konami Corporation), embarks on a new era as “Kojima X Productions” inside Konami Corporation.

The newly formed Kojima “X” Productions is proud to announce that Metal Gear Solid: Triology is currently in development for the XBOX360 ( X360 ) next-generation computer entertainment system from Microsoft ( MS ). Metal Gear Solid: Trilogy will be a remake of three Hideo Kojima’s masterpieces. Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. The Metal Gear Solid series, is highly acclaimed worldwide, with its breathtaking graphics, profound stories, intricate human drama, original game design and superlative gameplay. Also under development is one other exciting game in the Metal Gear series — Metal Gear Solid: Fluid Ac!d for the Microsoft Zune media player.

Updates regarding Kojima Productions will be posted periodically on the following website: Kojima Productions Official Homepage: http://www.konami.jp/kojima_pro/.

About Konami Corporation
Konami Corporation is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties, specializing in the home video game market. Konami Corporation’s action and adventure titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill and Castlevania, among other top sellers. The latest information about Konami can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. Konami Corporation is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the US and Konami of Europe in Frankfurt, Germany. Konami Corporation, the parent company of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KNM. Details of the products published by Konami Digital Entertainment – America can be found at www.konami.com/gs.

Credit goes to www.gamebrink.com for this.

Animation has changed my life on more than one occasion.

I honestly can’t remember the first time I saw a Disney movie, but whatever it was it was the beginning spark of my creativity. Disney movies back then were so different from the stuff that was on TV it was mindblowing at the time. Ninja Turtles was my first exposure to an action show, and Inspector Gadget is another of my childhood favourites.

After I got a little older and entered high school at 11, this was around the time when the internet was starting to become mainstream. I was exposed to Dragon Ball Z. I had never seen the show before then, but friends of mine would always talk about it. In later years, my friends and I would go on to download every single Dragonball/Z/GT episode onto the school’s computers, and we watched every one of them.

Soon after graduating and starting college, I was exposed to fansubs. And this really expanded my animation horizons to a much wider range of what’s out there. RahXephon was one of the first few anime I was into on fansubs, but up until that point I was just under the impression that anime was ‘cool’. After all, all I had seen up until then was Cartoon Network/kid’s WB stuff. When I got into college, a new friend exposed me to fansubs, and I started out with RahXephon, Zone of the Enders and another show I can’t remember. RahXephon in particular blasted open my view and appreciation of anime, and remains at the top of my all-time favourite list. I have a gorgeous box set that contains all the DVDs and the movie, possibly my most prized DVDs.

So my growing-by-the-gigabyte anime collection, and even some of the non-Japanese animated shows on TV are really fascinating with their quality and the range of emotions/genres they stretch across. If I didn’t have the exposure that I had now, I would probably think that animation could never be as deep or emotionally involving as watching real people or reading something, but I know from experience that is not the case at all.