Hideo Kojima, head honcho behind the Metal Gear Solid series, has announced plans for his team and himself, saying that 2009 will be “a year where we start from zero again.” Speaking to Japanese gaming magazine, Famitsu, Kojima said how he will be looking at his Kojima Productions’ inner workings and how the company measures up to the rest of the world:

“We’re currently reviewing everything - from the team structure to tools and our staff - in order to make Kojima Productions a team that can challenge foreign creators and software houses. So, because of that, 2009 is going to be a very important year for us.”

“I’ve come to understand that the way we’ve made games up until now won’t translate globally, and I’ve come to think that I need to make Kojima Productions a team that can compete alongside the rest of the world.”

He went on to relate how his team’s efforts will compare to western developers and how they develop games:

“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 a team that can take on the world.”

After the release of Metal Gear Online: Gene Expansion, an expansion pack for Metal Gear Solid 4’s multiplayer component, things have got a little hairy for Konami.

Due to the large volume of traffic, heavy server load has resulted in a host of problems for players trying to access the new multiplayer content, including the inability to access the ‘MGO Shop,’ ‘Ranking Display’ and the ‘Community Support Page.’

Simply trying to login to the service has been problematic, while Konami have been issuing refunds to player accounts after payments made were processed incorrectly, one of the main sources of the server load.

You can read the full list of issues, to which Konami have ‘no permanent solutions,’ but are currently trying to fix.

Konami Digital Entertainment has announced an expansion pack to Metal Gear Online, Metal Gear 4’s multiplayer component, entitled ‘Gene Expansion.’

The expansion pack features new characters, such as Meryl and Johnny from Metal Gear Solid 4, as well as a new Survival mode where players need to stay alive as long as possible against increasingly overwhelming challenges.

A ‘Reward Shop’ has also been added to trade points for new equipment, while players are now able to create female soldiers as their custom character.

New maps also feature in the expansion with the likes of ‘Coppertown Conflict’ featuring wide open streets, ‘Tube of Tombs’ comprising underground, labyrinthine passages and lastly ‘Virtuous Vistas,’ including locations ideal for mid- to long-range combat.

Gene Expansion will be made available on Thursday, the 17th of July, at a price of 9.99 Euro.

Last week Konami announced a Metal Gear Solid 4 Database would be available for download on the PlayStation Store. The Database is already available to North American PSN account holders but will become available to European gamers on the 26th of June.

The Metal Gear Solid 4 Database gives fans information about characters, weapons and plots from all the previous MGS titles and MGS4 Guns of the Patriots. Users can search using three central hubs: Genes (a glossary), Meme (maps relationships between characters in the series) and Scene (timeline for the series).

As previously mentioned information relating to MGS4 only becomes assessable when the game has been completed to avoid spoilers.

Last week LucasArts’ Lego Indiana Jones just lost number 1 to Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot but this week Lego Indy reclaims the top spot on UK’s All Formats Chart.

Lego Indiana Jones experiences a 29% drop in sales in comparison to MGS4 which drops by 59%, pushing the PS3 stealth game down to number 2. Although Atari’s Alone in the Dark debuts on the Xbox 360, Wii, PC and PS2 after a seven year hiatus, the game enters the chart at number 3 with under half the sales of MGS4 this week.

Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV drops one place to number 4 while Nintendo’s Wii Play climbs two places to number 5. Sega’s Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is at number 6 with Nintendo’s Brain Training at number 7 and Codemasters’ Race Driver GRID at number 8, each title losing two places this week.

Activision’s Guitar Hero III re-enters the All Formats Top 10 at number 9, boosted from last week’s number 13 thanks to a retailer promotion of the PS3 version. Square Enix’s Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII enters the UK All Formats Chart at number 10. This RPG debuted at number 2 in the Japanese Charts in September 2007. According to Chart Track this PSP exclusive accounts for 54% of all Full Price PSP games sold this week.

Two more new entries feature in the All Formats Top 40 this week, Take 2’s Top Spin 3 enters at number 12 and Nintendo’s Cooking Guide: Can’t Decide what to Eat debuts at number 19.

Take Two’s Sid Meier’s Civilization drops out of the top ten to number 13, as does Konami’s Sports Island to number 17.

Missed last week’s chart? Catch up on UK software sales for the week ending the 14/6.

All Formats Top 10

1. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts)
2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot (Konami)
3. Alone in the Dark (Atari)
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take Two)
5. Wii Play (Nintendo)
6. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega)
7. Brain Training (Nintendo)
8. Race Driver GRID (Codemasters)
9. Guitar Hero III (Activision)
10. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix)

Source: Chart Track

Gamestation is accepting pre-orders for a limited edition Metal Gear Solid 4 watch.

The MGS4 watch, exclusive to Gamestation, will be available on the 31st of October for £99.99. There are only 500 units available worldwide, individually numbered from 1 to 500. The watch is approved by Hideo Kojima and comes with a Konami certificate of authenticity.

The MGS4 watch comes with a “watch gift box with MGS 4 print, black flock interior with matching cushion” and is a “must have for all true Metal Gear Solid fans.”

Sony has taken the wraps off a Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Database.

Konami Online’s Brandon Laurino made the announcement on SCEA’s blog yesterday, revealing that the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot Database would be available on the PlayStation Store update today.

Laurino explained that “The MGS4 Database is a free, downloadable interactive application that contains the official knowledge base of everything that is Metal Gear, reaching all the way back to the very beginning of the franchise. Including complete storylines, character profiles, relationship diagrams, and much more!”

“The MGS4 database is a great way to catch up for someone new to Metal Gear, as well as a useful resource for any veteran of the series, with complete official details on every aspect of the intricate Metal gear lore.”

For fans who have not yet played through MGS4 don’t worry because the MGS4 Database blacks out spoilers until you have played through the entire game.

In addition Laurino disclosed that there is already new, free downloadable content available (new camouflage and a new music track for the in-game Ipod) for the game under the Extras option of the main menu. Apparently more content will be added so gamers should check this option often.

Konami’s highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has topped the Japanese software chart with a whopping 465 000 copies. Interesting to note that the PS3 exclusive was released on the 12th of June so this figure accounts for just four days sales.

Nintendo’s Mario Kart Wii moves up two places to number 2 with 38 000 copies, almost crossing the 1.5 million life-to-date sales mark, while Nintendo’s Wii Fit climbs four spots to number 3 with 37 000 copies. Konami secures a second top ten position with Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Portable 3 for the PSP, which drops from last week’s number 3 to number 4 with 27 000 copies.

Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G moves up one place to number 5 with 26 000 copies. MHP2G now boasts life-to-date sales of 2.203 million but Wii Fit powers past it with life-to-date sales now reaching 2.227 million.

D3Publisher’s latest DS title, Hisshou Pachinko Pachislot Kouryaku Series DS Vol. 2 CR Shinseki Evangelion ~Shito, Futatabi~, debuts at number 6 with 22 000 copies while Namco Bandai’s Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit for the PS3 plummets from last week’s number 1 to number 7 with 18 000 copies.

Nintendo’s Beautiful Letter Training for the DS moves up two spots to number 8 with 17 000 copies and Tecmo’s DS Yamamura Misa Suspense: Kyoto Murder Files drops to number 9 with 17 000 copies after debuting at number 5 last week. Sega’s Mysterious Dungeon: Fuurai no Shiren 3 for the Wii rounds off the top ten, dropping from its debut at number 2 last week to number 10 with 14 000 copies.

It will be interesting to see what effect, if any, the two PS3 titles in the Top Ten (amounting to 483 000 copies) will have on tomorrow’s hardware sales. Will these top selling titles boost sales of the PS3 this week, will the PSP continue its reign as the best selling console in Japan or will the strong sales of Wii software push the Wii to the top of the roost…find out tomorrow when the hardware sales hit the wires.

You can also brush up on last week’s hardware and software chart.

Software Chart

Source: Media Create

Hot on the heels of Sony’s announcement that the Metal Gear Online Beta would be available across Europe on the 17th of April, Konami has issued a press release detailing the beta.

Konami announced that Europe would be included in the public beta program for Metal Gear Online. It also confirmed that the Metal Gear Online beta would be available via the PlayStation store from the 17th of April, with online tests running from the 21st of April to the 6th of May.

Metal Gear Online is a new Metal Gear title that is designed specifically as a multiplayer online experience. It will be released worldwide as part of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on the 12th of June.

Players will be able to sample the multiplayer experience and co-operative team based play of MGO through the beta. If you download the beta you can explore two maps, Blood Bath and Groznyi Grad.

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Sony of Europe has just announced that the new PlayStation Store will launch across Europe on the 15th of April. Sony also announced that the Metal Gear Online beta will be available across Europe on the Store on the 17th of April.

Other new content that will be available from the 17th includes Warhawk: Operation Broken Mirror as well as Lair: Diabolical Dragons Pack and Skyguard Upgrade Pack (which promises “new and exciting features and functions”).

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot will launch worldwide on the 12th of June. Metal Gear Online, launching alongside the game, is “a squad-based, online multiplayer tactical shooter that supports up to 16 players and takes place in the Metal Gear Solid universe.”

Konami has detailed the products and packaging which will be available for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. MGS4 will be hitting store shelves on the 12th of June.

In a post on SCEA’s PlayStation blog, Konami Online’s Brandon Laurino detailed what the Standard and Limited Edition of the game as well as the MGS4 PS3 bundle would include and announced the MGS4 Limited Edition PS3 bundle would include a gunmetal grey PS3.

Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 Bonus DVD plus MGO Beta

Konami announced that the Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 free pre-order bonus offer DVD with MGO Beta Unique Product Voucher Code insert would be available through participating retailers for gamers that pre-order the MGS4 Standard Edition or the MGS4 Limited Edition. Stocks for this special offer are limited and gamers have been urged to check with retailers when the stock will be available.

The Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 DVD contains extensive original video content, with the focus mainly on how the ‘Snakes’ (namely, Big Boss (Naked Snake), Liquid Snake, Solidus Snake and Solid Snake) are connected. The DVD also contains a compilation of all the MGS4 trailers as well as a special Prologue video to MGS4.

Gamers will find an insert in the Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 DVD case. This insert will contain a Unique Product Voucher Code which will enable gamers to participate in the Metal Gear Online Beta. Gamers will be able to download the MGO Beta from the PlayStation Store from the 17th of April to the 5th of May, with game play being available from the 21st of April to the 5th of May.

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