Metal Gear Solid

Just a few days after Konami revealed the Japanese limited edition for Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, the European Metal Gear fans get their share.

A stylish black and white box with an art of Raiden on the front drawn by Metal Gear’s famous artist Yoji Shinkawa. Like with the limited edition of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, this version will be available only at UK retailers Zavvi, for a price of £99.99 (or €133.99). There will be 25.000 copies available.

This limited edition will also come with the same White Raiden action figure by Play Arts that is bundled with the Japanese version, as well as a code to unlock White Raiden in the game, an armor that allows players to carry more recovery items.

Apart from this edition, Konami also announced two other versions. People who pre order the game will have a choice between two steelbooks:

One with a render of Raiden. Included is the Commando armor, allowing Raiden more projectiles weapons. This version will be available at different retailers.

Or one with an artwork by Shinkawa. This version includes the Inferno Armor that lets Raiden carry more throwing weapons, and will be sold exclusively at GAME retailers.

Source: AllGamesBeta, CVG, Zavvi

Heaven’s Divide is one of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker’s most prominent music tracks, and one of the few that features lyrics. It is a song that was written specifically for the game, and that has higly metaphorical, symbolic lyrics. What do those words mean exactly, and how do they relate to the storyline? This article attempts to propose a possible explanation.

While attempting to interpret the lyrics as logically as possible, and giving multiple meanings where more than one option is valid, this is still an interpretation and therefor inherently subjective.

This analysis was written using knowledge of the entire series when interpreting the lines, with the use of examples directly from the games at certain points. But of course, it’s very well possible that someone else reads something quite different from them, and no interpretation is more valid than the other.

Also, it has to be noted that it is difficult to translate some of the metaphors directly to a literal meaning, but in order to arrive at an interpretation it is necessary to make things a little more concrete. Some of the lines are less explicit and clear-cut than a simple explanation can provide, so this should be kept in mind. Simplification isn’t the goal here, but a tool to make the lyrics easier to summarize, and to translate feelings and thoughts evoked by the lines into a meaning, coherent to the context of the whole.

Interpretation

This interpretation assumes the lyrics are written from Big Boss’s point of view, and are aimed at the Boss.

 Petals of white
Cover fields flowing in grieving tears

This part is pretty obvious, it refers directly to the flower field where Big Boss against his will fought – and killed – the most important person in his life, the Boss. This event would become the turning point in his life.

And all the hearts once new, old and shattered now
Love can kill, love will die
Give me wings to fly
Fleeing this world so cold
I just wonder why

This part echoes his new-found bitterness as a result of his mission to kill the Boss, and finding out the truth. ‘Hearts once new’ refers to how he changed by these events, and how it embittered him (‘old and shattered now’). You can already see how Big Boss separates himself from his country and society as a whole, ‘fleeing this world’ that he can no longer relate to, and that uses soldier’s lives as carelessly as The Boss’s.

Cold as the dark
Now my words are frosted with every breath
Still the heat burns wild, growing inside this heart

Now we see a turning point: here it becomes even more clear that Big Boss’s ‘dark side’ has come out. His soul has become ‘cold and dark’, and the last sentence points towards the fact that he will actually take action at one point. It’s safe to say this refers to Outer Heaven. The ‘heat burning wild’ probably refers to his growing hatred for what happened to the Boss, and his new-found passion for his military nation.

When the wind changes course, when the stars align
I will reach out to you and leave this all behind

This sounds like it refers to Big Boss’s own death. He will ‘reach out’ to The Boss by joining her in the afterlife, and leave the real world behind.

However, it could also be something else. It could refer to Outer Heaven’s creation as well. The wind changes course – Big Boss becomes a terrorist himself. He will reach out to her, because in his eyes he is fulfilling the Boss’s will by creating Outer Heaven. And he will leave his previous life behind, the traitorous world that caused her death.

It is also possible this refers to a comment made by the Boss in MGS3: “The foibles of politics and the march of time can turn friends into enemies just as easily as the wind changes.” The metaphor for a changing wind refering to changing enemies is used here as well, but this time it’s for Big Boss, whose former country now becomes his enemy.

When heavens divide

This can, and probably does have multiple meanings. Heavens divide immediately brings to mind Big Boss’s military nation ‘Outer Heaven’. The division between Zero’s ‘heaven’ (The Patriots) and Big Boss’s ‘heaven’, meaning their ideals, their ways of interpreting the Boss’s will. The war between Zero and Big Boss.

It could also refer to the Boss’s death again, when the two must part ways.

When heavens divide
I will see the choices / choice is within my hands

Big Boss has to choose between The Patriots and Outer Heaven.

It could also refer to Big Boss changing role from pawn (someone who is being controlled) to leader (someone who is controlling). He went from obeying soldier to leader of a military nation.

How can we ever protect and fight with our tiny souls
Let me shine like the sun through the doubts and fear

It could possibly refer to Outer Heaven opposing the almighty Patriot organization, despite their nuclear capabilities an unequal battle. When leading MSF and Outer Heaven, Big Boss fights alongside minorities who are opposing a mightier enemy. The last phrase possibly refers to the fact that Big Boss is an icon for many of the people he encounters and aids (Saladin for Sniper Wolf, Che Guevara for Amanda, Naomi’s ‘benefactor’, and he is also being used as an icon by Zero). In this way, he could be a sign of hope that shines through their doubts and fears.

Do you feel the storm approach as the end draws near

The storm that is approaching is the war between Zero and Big Boss, which will result in his death.

When heavens divide
Time will come to softly lay me down
Then I can see a face that I long to see
And for you, only you I would give anything
Leaving a trace for love to find a way

This sounds like it refers to Big Boss’s death again, after which he will meet The Boss again in the afterlife. He would give everything for her, including his life.

I will dive into the fire
Spilling the blood of my desire
The very last time
My name scorched into the sky

This segment has a darker tone to it again. Big Boss will dive into the fire, he will create Outer Heaven and fight a relentless war against Zero. He will use his power as leader of a military nation to spread conflict around the globe. The man will become a symbol, his name ‘scorched into the sky’.

In short, the song covers Big Boss’ life after The Boss’ death in chronological order.  Looking at the overall structure, you can roughly discern those parts: Big Boss kills the Boss, is embittered by this and by the way the world doesn’t seem to care, turns his back on his former country, fights alongside minorities and becomes their hope against greater opponents, and faces death after which he can get closer to the Boss again, leaving behind a dark legacy.

Heavens Divide - Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Original Soundtrack, lyrics by Nobuko Toda, performed by Donna Burke.

Recently the Zone of the Enders HD Collection came out in Japan, and it’s bundled with a gameplay demo for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Konami has released a bunch of new videos on their official Youtube channel to show off the game. Different gameplay mechanics are shown off, such as stealth kills, environment destruction, the CODEC system, grenades and Zan-Datsu.

Long demo 1

Long demo 2

Stealth kills

Slashing and blocking

 Zan Datsu

Ninja Run

Metal Gear Rising will release in February next year, for PlayStation 3 in Japan and for PS3 and Xbox 360 in the west.

Source: Konami official Youtube channel

Gaming magazine Play UK published a graph showing the total sales of 19 PlayStation 3 exclusive games.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has sold a total of 5.67 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling third party PlayStation 3 exclusive to date.

Click to enlarge

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the series continues to be a strong brand name and an important part of the video game industry, as proven by these numbers.

Note: keep in mind that it’s unconfirmed where Play UK got these numbers.

Source: The Silent Chief

Konami has announced the Japanese Collector’s Edition for Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, called the ‘Premium Package’. It consists of a large box with a print of Raiden on it, a soundtrack cd with a steelbook and an art book, and two figures of Dwarf Gekkos with magnets built inside. Aside from that, it also comes with a skin for Gray Fox/Cyborg Ninja from the original Metal Gear Solid game.

The Japanese Collector’s Edition

The Gray Fox/Cyborg Ninja skin

There will be two versions available, with the only difference being that one contains an action figure of White Raiden by Play Arts.

or

Both versions are up fro pre order at Konami Style Japan, the version with the action figure costing 12,980 yen, and the one without 9980. Both versions include the Gray Fox skin download code.

Source: Korekado’s Twitter, official Japanese MGR site

Kojima Productions staff member Tsubuyaki Jiroo has posted pictures on his Twitter of each of the two packages that come with the Metal Gear Solid Rubber Keychain Collection – a set of keychains representing Metal Gear Solid characters that is released in honor of the series 25th anniversary. There will be two volumes: volume 1  comes in a white box and volume 2 in a red box.

Click to enlarge

As can be seen on the box, each volume contains six characters from the famous game. To see all the keychains in the collections, go here. The bundles can be ordered on Konami Style here and here.

Source: Tsubuyaki Jiroo’s Twitter

Metal Gear is known not only for its deep characters, but also for the dramatic and powerful death scenes that may befall them. Here are the 5 most pivotal, dramatic or shocking death scenes in the Metal Gear Solid series. Some are chosen for their importance to the story, the impact on the player, or the cinematic quality and memorability. But what they have in common is that each of them is sure to stick with you.

Here’s a video where the five death scenes can be watched in order. Below follows an explanation why they were chosen.

After Vulcan Raven has been defeated, he decided to give his body back to nature, since his presence is ‘no longer needed’. As Snake walks away, Raven has a dark and tragic message for him. Raven tells Snake that he is born to be on the battlefield, and that he can’t escape this fate. Snake turns his back on him and walks away, but we can see the words spoken by Raven hold true. The crooked camera angles show that Snake is on a warped path. The ominous music underlines this fact. Also, we see Snake walk in slow motion, which represents the fact that he can try to walk away from this message, but he can’t escape its truth. It keeps hold of him.

“No matter how far you go, or how many corpses you crawl over, the killing will never end.”

As Raven’s final words echo trough the room, Snake turns around and sees the only remains of the man who had stood before him: the gatling gun. Paired with a church bell melody one raven feather swirls towards the weapon. Raven has been consumed, and so has his message by Solid Snake.

Big Boss’ death scene is bittersweet. It is relatively peaceful, since he can die at the grave of the person he loved most, after having made peace with his artificial son. The fact that Big Boss feels that way is underlined by his last words ‘This is good, isn’t it?’. But it’s also tragic, as Big Boss strongly realizes that half of his life consisted of nothing but grave mistakes that caused doom for mankind. Ever since he killed The Boss, something he regrets severely, he, according to his own words, ‘was already dead’. The creation of The Patriots and subsequently Outer Heaven is something that caused more harm than good, and in the end Big Boss realizes he has betrayed The Boss’s ideals rather than lived by them. He feels that he is beyond redemption and the world is better off without him. He hopes that through his clone Solid Snake, he can live his final days as a man.

“Forget about us. Live for yourself.”

His death is very calm and subtle compared to other death scenes in the series, such as Volgin exploding in a thunderbolt or Vulcan Raven being eaten by birds. Big Boss passes away quietly.

After defeating Sniper Wolf, a seemingly cold and emotionless person, Solid Snake hears her life story just before she dies. She turns out to be more a victim of war than a enabler. Her words are full of sorrow and tragedy. After being traumatized and destroyed by war as a child, she makes the choice to see war from a different perspective, literally. From the outside, through the scope of her sniper. She also puts Big Boss in a different light by talking about him as someone who saved her.

“In the name of vengeance I sold my body and my soul.”

The music that plays during her death scenes is one of the most beloved of the series, and for good reason. Her words are like a sad poem, and the images of the two figures on a cold, snowy field are memorable. The atmosphere of the desolate place in the dark night is very strong, but Sniper Wolf likes the tranquility and loneliness of it, saying she has always dreamed of a peaceful place like it.

Zero’s condition in MGS4 represents what happened to The Patriots. Just like The Patriots organization, Major Zero has been taken over by machines himself. Everything about him is. He can’t think for himself, he can’t breathe for himself. Just as The Patriots organization and its ideals have been taken over by machines, so has the face behind it all, Major Zero. The same thing that EVA describes happened to Big Boss, happened to Zero as well, ‘he wasn’t allowed to live or die’. When Big Boss kills him, he actually frees him. Zero dies a natural death, as a human.

Another thing that’s notable about him is the big contrast between Zero ‘the leader of the Patriots’ and Zero ‘the man’. Throughout the game, he is presented as an almighty tyrant, a god even. When Liquid takes over the system, he shouts to the sky “Do you see this, Zero? We are victorious!’, as if he is shouting directly to the gods. But when you finally see Zero, there is nothing of this all. He is just an old, sad man that isn’t even able to move or think for himself. Big Boss makes this sharp contrast clear when he says ‘This man was the source of it all… and he doesn’t even realize it. He’s completely unaware of the fact that he led the world to the brink of ruin’.

The camerawork helps to emphasize what is being said. When Big Boss talks about Zero as a threat to humanity, a ‘beast’, the camera is very low so that Zero looks powerful and menacing, almost like a god, again contrasting with his actual physicality.

“And for that reason I am taking it upon myself to send Zero back to nothing.”

Big Boss also reflects back on his own mistakes by looking at Zero, and he sees it as his duty to ‘take him back to nothing’. He doesn’t hate him anymore. As Big Boss ends his life, flashbacks of past events show the man that he was. It is unclear wether these are Zero’s or Big Boss’s memories, but it doesn’t matter: they are their shared memories.

The Boss is one of the series’ most beloved characters, but that’s not the only thing that maker her death scene significant. If her death in MGS3 hadn’t happened, nothing else in the story would have happened the way it did. There would be no Patriots, no war between Zero and Big Boss, no Outer Heaven, no Les Enfants Terribles (so no Solid Snake as well). Her importance to the story is so great, she’s pretty much the root of all the other events.

“Kill me now.”

What also makes it memorable is the fact you have to pull the trigger yourself. And you have no other option. You can wait, but you can’t go on until you shot her. Just like Big Boss, you can’t walk away from it, wether you like it or not. As Snake stands over his defeated mentor, there’s nothing but silence, until you pull the trigger and a loud shot echoes over the landscape. A shot that will change Snake forever, as well as the fate of the entire world.

On September 28 Hideo Kojima was in London, where he attended the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, giving a lecture on video game development and talking about his personal career. A video of the interview is now available online. Some of the more interesting parts are written down below.

Kojima didn’t expect game hardware to evolve so quickly when he entered the industry 25 years ago, but he is not happy with where it is yet. He still hasn’t been able to create the image he popped into his head 25 years ago, despite hardware getting better, and until he has reached that point he will keep creating games.

Kojima thinks that at a certain point games will become truly immersive and you will be able to feel things like temperatures, and smells. And that may be the point when he can realize his original vision.

Game design and story are done simultaneously, in parallel by Kojima. Since he works on both himself, he is able to do that and to make one complement the other. The open world system introduced in Ground Zeroes will affect the way Kojima is able to tell stories, due to the increased player freedom, but the type of stories will be fairly consistent.

Now that players have more freedom, it’s up to them to create their own story as they play through the game. Kojima thinks that this is something we will see in the next generation of games.

Movies based on games haven’t been success stories. Hollywood tries to force a story onto the game when making a movie, when the game it’s being based upon may no have a very compelling story. Kojima wants to tackle this problem with the MGS movie, and believes it will turn out well. Although at this point he can’t think of a good games based movie. Tomb Raider was pretty good… in terms of sales.

Most games that are released nowadays tend to be similar to each other. But Kojima does see great potential in the medium. Games are able to achieve something neither movies nor novels can do, it’s a unique form of story telling. Users want that, and it’s Kojima’s mission to provide that for them.

Kojima believes that in the future games will become more realistic, and users will be given a lot more freedom. The way of interacting will become more natural.

You could say Kojima could be considered an auteur, but this is very unusual for the game industry. From this point on games will get bigger, and tasks have to be split up. For this reason Kojima thinks the auteur is a dying breed in the games industry, and his generation will probably be the last.

The original vision for a game comes from Kojima himself (gameplay, controls). He has imaginary personalities in his head, he bounces ideas around in his head, asking himself if he is on the right path. Then he puts a teaser and trailer on the internet and watches the reaction, and makes adjustments from that. He also have people play it at game shows and through demos. But what he doesn’t change is the core gameplay concept, that has to stay true to his vision. If the users don’t like the concept, he just has to throw it away. Because losing sight of original vision is the worst thing that can happen, according to Kojima.

Kojima was never able to beat the NES version of his first Metal Gear game. This version was not made by Kojima, and he considers it a butchered game. He once bought it from a bargain bin, but he couldn’t get past a bunch of Dobermans, and got frustrated to the point that he never played it again. He also thinks it’s ridiculous Metal Gear isn’t even in the game, but instead there is a computer screen.

Female characters in the Metal Gear universe are mainly based on Kojima’s ideal: intelligent career women who are also able to express a lot of emotion. Rose on the other hand was based on actual people Kojima knew, but she wasn’t very popular. Rose calls you up during the mission to ask what day it is, and this actually happened to Kojima.

Being a father changed Kojima, he creates something not just for himself, but for the next generation. He wants to have a positive influence on them. He wants the player to not just be killing time and having fun with a game, although this is important as well, but he wants the game to somehow be useful for the next generation. Being a father changed his perspective on things, and also what he puts in his games.

Aside from Raiden, the only character who could take the role of Snake as a protagonist in future Metal Gear Solid games is The Boss. She wasn’t created with the idea of her being a protagonist in mind, but she turned out to be very popular with the fans.

Source: BAFTA Interview Video, direct link to video, transcript of the interview

Recently Konami unveiled the collector’s edition for Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. Amazon has now put the CE on their webshop, shedding some more light about the contents and the price.

The set will include the earlier revealed plasma lamp, as well as a two-sided steelbook, a soundtrack and of course the game itself. The package has a suggested retail price of $149,99.

It is likely Europe will receive a different CE altogether, but nothing has been announced so far.

Source: Examiner, Amazon US