Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 4 is back — as the main character — and the game’s taken on an action bent. That’s incredibly evident if you check out the trailer, which debuted on Saturday night at the Spike VGAs.

Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo is also getting in on the Metal Gear Love with a line of limited edition t-shirts celebrating Peace Walker. The 10 designs come with codes that, when entered, will give you access to an in-game shirt that is the same one as you purchased as well as a new soldier.

The shirts will be available for sale both in Uniqlo stores and online on June 11, 2010. To celebrate, series creator Hideo Kojima will be at the global flagship Uniqlo store in New York City from noon to 2:00 p.m. on the day of the shirts’ release to sign autographs. That store will also be giving away several Metal Gear prizes.

Multiplayer co-op

As far as new information, we’ve learned of the existence of Mother Base: A place where Snake can upgrade weapons, get information, and keep recruited soldiers, who act as Snake’s support system. Another minor reveal is the AI Weapons, giant unmanned behemoth vehicles that Snake must defeat at the end of a mission. Each AI Weapon can talk or even sing. Finally, Kojima revealed the extensive PSP multiplayer elements – groups can partake in co-op missions and even six-player battle royales.

Konami has announced the US release date for Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker on the PSP. The title will be coming to the PSP on May 25th, 2010.

“Featuring an original story created by legendary game designer, Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is a title that has serious sales potential,” said David Daniels, Director of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “Kojima Productions has pushed the limits of the PSP system and we cannot wait to unveil their latest addition to the Metal Gear franchise to gamers this coming May.”

MGS Peace Walker

Konami had their GamesCom press conference today and one of our favorite people in the Games Industry showed up. Hideo Kojima showed up to demo Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and the co-op abilities in the game.

Kojima showed off the brand new trailer for the game which is below. Then he said the co-op for the game requires teamwork with tasks like CPR, walking in tandem and of course hiding in cardboard boxes together.

Here is the trailer, enjoy!

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Konami held a Q&A session with head of Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima about the new title for the PSP, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The PSP title picks up where Metal Gear Solid 3 leaves off.

Here are Kojima’s thoughts on the upcoming title:
1) I bet many users had expected the next MGS5 announcement. When did you start this project?

I actually had the plan for this project in mind while working on MPO. Back then, I intended to place the project in the hands of the next generation of creators at Kojima Productions. However, in the end, I felt that it was still a little too early to leave it completely in their hands, so I decided to take the reins.

This game is an MGS5-class game. I am supervising, designing, producing, directing, and editing this title together with the MGS4 team. Therefore in that sense, “METAL GEAR SOLID” has not ended, and the “METAL GEAR SAGA” continues.

2) You have been telling for many years that your ultimate theme is “Anti-war and Anti-nuclear weapon”. Does this theme continue in this title?

Absolutely. The METAL GEAR SOLID series has always featured “Anti-war” and “Anti-nuke” themes. This title is no exception.

In the event of an attack from a neighboring country, I believe that finding a solution through diplomacy is ideal. However, the fact is that even peaceful countries with no intention of retaliating still maintain armies just for the sake of deterrence. I am sure there are varied opinions regarding this subject, but I believe that it is our generation’s role to “create peace through discussion.” What makes things complicated is that the youth of today have been born into a world where the current situation is the norm, so it’s difficult to convey this message. That is why my hope is to have players ponder and learn about why there are people who advocate the “need for armies, military power, and nuclear weapons” so that they may realize “why things turned out the way that they did” while they play this game.

3) I understand that it is a tactical espionage action game but could you provide some explanation for bringing this title to the PSP platform? I saw 4 Snakes in the trailer presented at E3, is this COOP?

The game will be stealth-action based. I can’t reveal too many details yet, but we are implementing features that can only be realized on the PSP platform that I believe everyone can look forward to. The game will be a little different from the METAL GEAR that players have come to know. However, the story can be replayed numerous times and the game is full of challenges to complete, so I feel that this title will really satisfy players with its long-lasting play time. Just as an example, do you recall the cardboard box at the end of the Peace Walker trailer? In addition to that two-man box, we are preparing a variety of other different cardboard boxes this time around.

To give a little more insight into the game, you can, how shall I say… customize Snake according to your preferences and determine what kind of soldier you will use prior to embarking on your mission. For example there’s heavy gear configurations that make a lot of noise, but that allow you to equip numerous weapons. Or, there are other configurations that won’t allow you to carry many weapons, but will allow you to be light on your feet. We will be preparing a variety of other types as well. Being able to make decisions and plot a strategy will be one of the really enjoyable features of this title.

We are also working on a “growth feature” as well, where your character evolves. It will be a new type of system, so I hope everyone will look forward to it!

4) “You’re known for boot camps and on site checks. This time which part would you like to stress about the reality in terms of game quality?

We conduct research in many ways and then begin game production. In regards to the quality of the game, the main staff of MGS4 are producing it. They are aiming for PS3 quality because they were creating MGS4 on the PS3 not too long ago. In reality it is hard to maintain the same quality as the PS3 but we strive for it and we are expressing this in ways only we can express it in.

5) Regarding the KJP countdown teaser site, there were several signs as a message, could you explain what this message is all about?

-
5=it is an MGS5 class game
S=Snake
巳＝snake in Kanji
E=E3
R=Raiden
3=3 from 360 and E3
6=6 from 360
P and S=PSP and adding 3 makes it PS3
-

Aside from the Snake and Raiden visuals, we featured a total of 10 “symbols” and when all of these are rearranged, they form connections to the announcements that we made at E3.

The first symbols that appeared were the number “5″ and the letter “S” for Snake that represented PW which, to me, is a “5″ class title. “巳” not only hints at the lowercase lettering of “E” for E3, but it is the kanji for the word “snake.” Also, the symbol that appeared at the very end is the kanji “®��” and represents a sunny background and the sunrise that links to RISING.

The “RISING” of “METAL GEAR SOLID RISING” implies “the sun rising,” “the sun shining,” and “the sun shining on Raiden” that was revealed in the visuals on the HP. In addition, “RISING” also represents how “METAL GEAR SOLID” will be taking the next step up.

Going back to the symbols found on the HP, they also link to “the day of 360″ and also to each of the titles that we announced at E3. When each of the symbols are rearranged, I think you’ll be able to recognize E3, PSP, PS3, 360 and others. So everyone, how did you like it? Were your predictions on the mark?

Konami had a press conference earlier today where Kojima continued to be the belle of the ball with announcements of four brand new games.

Metal Gear Solid Arcade was announced and is a Playstation 3 exclusive. The title comes with special 3D goggles. It will be released in Japan this year and Konami is trying to figure out how to bring it to other regions.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker video was shown as well. . The main character is Naked Snake, and set after MGS3 and a true sequel. Kojima is heavily involved with the title as well as the MGS4 team.

Metal Gear Solid Rising was next. Kojima stated that it’s for next-gen consoles.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is the last game to be announced. It stars a character called Gabriel whose mask can bring the dead back to life. It won’t be out until at least 2010. Here is a video shown in 2008 at GDC until we get the new one.

Kojima just updated his teaser site today with a close up of Big Boss. The face literally made me jump because I wasn’t expecting anything new today. The letters “R” then “P” flash on the screen during the thunder and then it’s a close up of Big Boss.

Big Boss is Solid Snake’s commanding officer in the original Metal Gear.

The countdown clock is posted again and takes us about to E3.

Anyway, just as we spent Friday, we spent the Saturday morning in line for [b]David Hayter[/b]. This time for an autograph! We were nowhere near close to the front of the line, despite being there 2 hours before even line-up time should have begun and we still had at least 4 hours ahead of us. As soon as they moved us into the Artist Alley where the real line was, some guy in line started blasting mem songs (ie: Rick Astley, Numa Numa…). I happened to have it on my iPod, so I made him play “Snake Eater” which made my day, strangely.

We met alot of awesome people in that line. We also met up with some friends who we were looking for for two days. Holla to the cool people who chatted with us about Metal Gear and Pokemon! We also met Mr. Hayter’s friend “Eric” (see future posting of David Hayter panel footage.)

We waited in line for what seemed like forever, if not for the small conversations about random stuff, I would have been passed out on the floor sleeping. He started blasting thru the line about an hour into signing the autographs and I was sure we wouldn’t get an autograph. But as AWESOME a person as Mr. Hayter is, he stayed there until every person (as far as I know) at least got to meet him. We got the special edition of the MGS4 strat. guide lithograph and the cover of MGS4 autographed, as well as some of our friend’s things, despite them limiting the sessions to 1 autograph each.

Ah well, it was a dream to talk to him, too bad all I could say was THANK YOU for staying.

After that fiasco we went with friends to the Exhibit Hall again. [b]Funny story…[/b] guess who we saw? One of the guys in front of us we were chatting with! He told us he was disapointed that we wouldn’t be able to meet him and he didn’t want to waste his time, so he left the line. We felt so bad when we told him that he autographed everything… he looked like he was going to cry.

At the exhibit hall, we checked out the new Naruto and Soul Calibur games. Got some footage of us actually playing too! (will hopefully be up soon) We got away with 2 Palkia and Dialga figures, a Knuckles, Link and Kirby plushie. I got a pair of the cutest Katamari earrings and the Shikon no Tama replica from InuYasha. We got a pair of Yu-gi-oh! Abridged shirts at a small gaming booth, along with a Paper Mario and Four Swords shirt for him, and a Kirby and L (DeathNote) shirt for me.

They were also having a mini-concert at the [b]Circus[/b] booth next to the Bandai one we were playing at.

We also stopped by the artist alley and spotted our own Chalcedony selling her wonderful crafts. We ended up leaving with a few badges from scuttlebutt.com.

I’ll take a group pic of all the AX schwag in the future.

We ended up hitting some of the most interesting panels on that day. We hit a [b]Disgaea[/b] panel, where they talked about the new Disgaea game (which looks amazing!) where they added new features to about every single aspect of the gameplay possible. They also displayed a new title that looked very good called “Witch’s Tale” I reccommend this game for anyone who liked the art style in Folklore. It was a very cartoony version of that game.

Next we hit the [b]Funimation[/b] panel where they read off the laundry list of anime they’ve aquired, including the lost title from poor ‘ol Geneon [b]“Hellsing Ultimate”[/b]. Therefore the rest of the panel was fans thanking Funi for being the saving grace of anime. Which is well deserved in my opinion.

The next thing we did was hop in line for the [b]“L: Change the World”[/b] movie, like 2 hours early. (And I’m glad we did, people were literally fighting for a spot in the theater.) Shout out to the people who kept me company in DS chat (Yo Dre and blakmajik! lol) This movie was in fact a work of pure fan lovin’ genius. I was very satisfied with the movie, though it was terribly spoileriffic for anyone who didn’t know how the series ended. There were some parts where the crowd was literally on their feet with excitement. I must say to anyone who just says to themselves “I’ll see it next time” at a con, you will enjoy it X10 surrounded by fans of the series.

Since I didn’t have to worry about Q&A with Q&J, we went home after that I think.

I hope I got all the details right, it was a week ago after all! Again sorry for being so late on the coverage and I hope to have vids and pics up soon!

Thanks for reading!
~Meg