Who Kojima Wants to Play Snake in MGS Movie

Speaking at the Eurogamer Expo in London today, Hideo Kojima has shed some light on the casting process for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid movie, which is to be produced by X-Men and Spider-Man's Avi Arad.

Although many Kojima fans will know that the legendary game developer originally wanted a career in film, he is not disappointed that he will not be the one to write the script or direct the upcoming Metal Gear Solid production. "I should not be the one to make Metal Gear into a movie," he said, although he will be working alongside Arad on script and casting.

As for who should play Snake, Kojima revealed some insight into the casting process. Originally he'd wanted a big star - specifically, he mentioned Hugh Jackman - but he's since changed his mind.

"If I talk to much about this Avi might get mad at me," he said, "but after thinking about it more, it’s probably better to go for someone new, a rising star, someone who hasn't been typecast before as a particular kind of character, so that’s the route we’re going right now.

"Avi is very good at finding these people, and I think we can find someone who can make it big and have Solid Snake be their break into the movie industry."

We outlined out dream Metal Gear Solid movie cast just a few months ago, and Hugh Jackman was the favourite for Snake - it's a shame that we definitely won't be seeing him in the role. With what Kojima said in mind, who would be your pick for Snake?

Keza MacDonald is in charge of IGN's games coverage in the UK, and usually isn't a big fan of snakes. Follow her on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Project Ogre is not Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes

Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima has confirmed that the freshly announced Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is unrelated to his mysterious Project Ogre title.

Kojima tweeted earlier today that he was "sick & tired" of the constant speculation over whether the newly unveiled title was Project Ogre.

“

While I am happy to know people liked "MGS Ground Zeroes", I'm sick & tired of people keep asking me like "is that project Ogre?" here in Seattle everyday.

"While I am happy to know people liked "MGS Ground Zeroes", I'm sick & tired of people keep asking me like "is that project Ogre?" here in Seattle everyday," he wrote.

"Project Ogre is what the project that Ogre appears. Ogre does not appear in "MGS Ground Zeroes" trailer."

So it would seem that Kojima Production is working on whatever Project Ogre is alongside Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. Does this mean it's the much-rumoured Metal Gear Solid 5? Back in July some images surfaced that appeared to show the game's title screen with the words "Open Ground Reconnaissance Endeavour" above it, so that's still very much a possibility.

Speculation about the link between the two titles hasn't been helped by the fact that Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes runs using Kojima's new Fox Engine, which many people assumed would have its first outing with Project Ogre. So for now at least it looks like we'll have to make do with consuming all the info out there on Ground Zeroes, unless Kojima has a change of heart and decides to spill the beans on Project Ogre in the near future.

Metal Gear Solid: Project Zeroes is a new title in the Metal Gear Solid series focusing on Solid Snake's mentor, Big Boss. While no release date has been set, it's in development for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

PAX: Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes Demo Impressions

Today at PAX, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima unveiled the first gameplay of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, which he called a "prologue" to Metal Gear Solid 5.

The Fox Engine driven "current gen" gameplay demo first shown last week in Tokyo offers a first look at who is presumably Big Boss and new vehicle gameplay, but more importantly we now know what the next Metal Gear Solid game will look like running. Here it is if you haven't watched it already.

First and foremost, the demo shows off the muscle of Fox Engine, looking as next-gen as anything could (Kojima again reiterated that this was not a tech demo, but a true gameplay demo for current-gen systems). The non-gameplay but "in-engine" pre-roll introduces an unidentified man making his way through a high-security base, possibly a camp of the Les Enfant Terrible. The internet is already speculating that this man is Volgin. We want to throw another guess out there - could this instead be The Fury, who burned to "death" in Metal Gear Solid 3?

Volgin or The Fury? Someone else?

Regardless, we're next shown a child in a cage - Paz - who appears to have headphones plugged into her chest (she unplugs them, replugging them into an old walkman). She's betrayed the man somehow. He tells the girl to give his regards to her "Boss" (yes, capital B in sub-titles) as he leaves.

The scarred man pulls away in a jeep convoy, a helicopter buzzing overhead, both of which foreshadow the use of vehicles in Ground Zeroes.

Next up: Snake or Big Boss? He's credited and addressed as Snake in the demo, but it makes more sense based on the "prologue" timeline, that and his eye-patch is on his right eye.

Yes, it's been too long.

Being called Snake works for Big Boss as well considering that Snake is Big Boss' codename. It could be either, as they both appear to be eluded to in the below on-screen quote, "From 'FOX', two phantoms were born." We're going to go out on a limb and call him Big Boss.

Big Boss or Snake?

We see the stealth mechanics in play here for the first time, crouching through the base, avoiding spotlights and taking out a guard with a silenced pistol. We also see Big Boss grab a jeep, and quickly reverse himself out of sight. It's during this section that we see a high-tech tracking device, called a 1Droid in the upper left corner (in beta version 1.02, no less). One crazy theory we have is this could possibly imply either Vita second-screen options, or even crazier, Wii U possibilities. Or maybe iPad? Smart glass? Or it's just a fancy Metal Gear Google map. I know, we're nuts.

That's right: Droid, not Apple.

Grand Theft Solid.

The demo closes with Big Boss catching a lift on a chopper, which Kojima said would serve as a means to travel between missions, and even different countries in the game. The vehicles featured customize-able music, with "Flight of the Valkyries" providing a dramatic backdrop for the demo. Kojima noted that the volume of the music will effect if you're discovered.

Flares are your friend.

So what do you think? Will we be playing as Big Boss? Snake? If so, which ones? And who's the scarred man at the beginning? And why does Pax listen to her body with headphones? So many questions! Right or wrong, tell us what you think in the comments below and let's figure this out.

Casey Lynch is Editor-in-Chief of IGN.com. Hear about his love for PAX , metal, and Dark Souls on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

PAX: Solid Snake Wasn't Based on Snake Plissken

Speaking at the Hideo Kojima Introspective: Past, Present, and the Future of METAL GEAR at PAX, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima explained that his venerable Snake character was not based on the scruffy anti-hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russel in John Carpenter's 1981 action film Escape From New York.

"Snake is the character in the game, but really Snake is you", said the director of Kojima Productions and Vice President of Konami Digital Entertainment. Kojima went on to describe his respect for Carpenter as a director, and his appreciation of the Russel film and character, but said, "Snake as a character has his roots in the 2D game. He was a pretty ambiguous character, didnt have much personality. We wanted to play with that so that's how he developed."

Kojima also expressed interest in making a game about The Boss, saying it wouldn't be a spin-off.

More news from the panel will be inbound shortly.

Casey Lynch is Editor-in-Chief of IGN.com. Hear about his love for PAX , metal, and Dark Souls on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Metal Gear Creator’s Fox Engine to Be Shown Next Month

Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima will show off the Fox Engine next month. In an interview on the PlayStation Blog, Kojima commented that “although the Fox Engine is not finished we are ready to show what it can do… on August 30th in Japan to be more specific.”

Kojima commented that the engine is “nearly finished, but the only way to be sure it works is to create a game at the same time and improve the engine with our tools as we go along.” The original plan was for that game to be Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, “but a lot happened along the way and instead it is being made with the engine they have at Platinum Games.”

The Fox Engine debuted at E3 2011. We last heard that it was running on PlayStation 3 and Vita during TGS, and Kojima commented that an actual game using the engine “may take a while.” Kojima Productions later posted job listings for “engineers to help develop next-gen game engine technology for use with the FOX Engine.”

For now, only the engine is confirmed to be making an appearance rather than an actual new game, though with rumors about Metal Gear Solid 5 swirling, anything is possible. Check back to IGN next month for full details on the Fox Engine presentation.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com