As fans of Hideo Kojima and his games will already know, he’s a bit of a prankster. The first time I remember experiencing his madness and love for breaking the 4th wall was the Psycho Mantis fight in Metal Gear Solid. Perhaps the most interesting boss of its era, Psycho Mantis introduced the battle by “psychically” reading your past. He would comment on how many time’s you’d saved, on how you’d played so far. Perhaps his most famous manoeuvre was to tell you to place your controller on the floor, and watch in magnificence as he used his power to move the controller. I was younger then, and it amazed me. I remember people at school claiming that Mantis could move the controller even without a dual-shock controller, and of course we all tried it, almost hoping it to be true. (In case you’re wondering, of course it wasn’t 
).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayZG-RJCUYs&hl=en&fs=1]
This to me was something special, the fight even involved Mantis reading and avoiding your every move, until you figured out the trick – to switch your controller to port 2 to block his psychic power and prevent him from doing so. Even when I recently replayed Metal Gear Solid Mantis threw me yet again – with a sudden comment that I was a fan of Castlevania – which was true in its own right, but even more eerie since my friend was playing ‘vania right next to me. I personally love when games break 4th wall, and Kojima is incredibly good at it.
Yet again, come Sons of Liberty, and Kojima was at it again. Near the end, when things start to get a bit weird, the Colonel starts speaking strangely and coming out with very odd lines… the game begins to try and trick you, looking as though the game over screen has come up with the famous words “Fission Mailed”. And then, good enough to even freak me out – the Colonel starts screaming at you to switch the console off. It probably didn’t help I did this in the middle of the night, but it sure as hell gave me the creeps.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTd_9FVupMg&hl=en&fs=1]
And to top it off, MGS4 manages to take the Mantis thing even further – with a new Mantis. But instead of simply breaking the 4th wall, the game almost taunts you to try.. see how far you get trying to switch controller ports with a PS3. The game double bluffs you into trying things, using the experiences of MGS1 to throw you completely. Clever, and highly enjoyable. And you can just imagine Kojima, sitting with a grin on his face, succeeding to baffle the audience once again.
Now this isn’t so much about his trickery, but his love for riddles and clues. And as the fans seek desperately to find what’s next to come, he enjoys to taunt us with just enough information that we see something that intrigues us further, yet tells us nothing.
You may already know what I’m talking about – Kojima’s new teaser website. Kojima has officially stated that he is now working on a new title in the Metal Gear saga, so we know this much. The site bears a simple flash animation of a torrential storm, with nothing but countdown ticking down, constantly. Now, if you pay more attention, there’s actually more to it than you might notice at first.
Firstly, there are letters and symbols that appear in the lightning flashes – the symbols ‘e’, ‘E’, ‘3′, ‘P’, ‘R’ and something that resembles a ‘5′ or an ‘S’ As always, people will take their speculation and make what they will of it. E3 perhaps? A ‘5′ for ‘Metal Gear Solid 5?, but that doesn’t explain enough to really know the truth. As always, its just a matter of time. The site is slowly adding more to it – one countdown seems to run into another, but this is all we’ve seen thus far – except for one image I have yet to mention.
Yes, I know what most fans would think the second they saw this face: “Big Boss.” Sadly, the problem with Big Boss is that with so many clones we can’t actually know for sure which Snake this is – is it Big Boss? Is it Solid Snake, somehow young again? Or is it someone else entirely – Solidus, or another clone we have yet to consider? Also, Kojima stated that the symbol on his beret would have some significance. It appears to be some sort of globe, but what does it mean? Is it related to Outer Heaven? And whether it matters or not – his Beret is actually worn the opposite way round to Big Boss in MGS3. Subtle, but Kojima has mentioned that he wears something different (although the actual object stated was blanked out in the interview in question – which suggests it is in fact relevant.
On the topic of the emblem upon the beret, Kojima stated “It’s not only an emblem, but for the game, it will be a new type of system.” What does this mean? A new system? Who knows what on Earth he’s talking about. An excerpt from Famitsu’s interview can be found at the end of this article.
Leaked scans from Famitsu have revealed another, similar, image – of another character. The most common belief is that the character is Raiden – but as always theres speculation. Is this Raiden? Or perhaps someone else? It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had a new Ninja in the series (Grey Fox, Mr X, Raiden). Raiden translates in Japanese as ‘thunder and lightning’, so looking at the stormy theme of the teaser site, I believe (and personally hope) that this is a nod towards him.
Another point that I will mention is that both characters have their eyes covered. Obviously, if the first is in fact Big Boss, we already know why. But if it’s Solid? Who knows. Even more so, why does ‘Raiden’ have a bandana covering his own? Is it symbolic in some way?
On that note I will say – if it is indeed Big Boss and Raiden, it is important to point out that they currently have no relevance in the same time zone – Big Boss vanished after Zanzibar, looking considerably older than in the teaser shot, and Raiden didn’t become a Cyborg until after Sons of Liberty. So the idea that they could be in the same time period for the same game is pretty unlikely – unless theres some kind of wierd time travel or two part story.
So what does this mean? Is this Metal Gear Solid 5? Is this two titles – perhaps a PSP game and PS3 game? (Portable Ops 2 could explain Big Boss, and perhaps a PS3 Raiden game?) Who will be the lead role of whatever game this turns out to be? We can only speculate – but the one thing I am confident in is that when E3 rolls around, we can expect some big Metal Gear news.
Famitsu Interview with Kojima:
The X’s denote the blanked out words. Don’t expect to understand much, but it is an interesting read nonetheless.
Famitsu: Is the generation XXX?
Kojima: No, it’s XXX. If I were to say it all, perhaps XXXXX. I’m currently doing the game design and direction.
Famitsu: Really!
Kojima: I believe Japan will be the focus, but it will be sold throughout the world. Within me, this is XXXX. I won’t say it’s X, but I am making a proper story, and it is being made by the MGS4 staff.
Famitsu: Really! That’s amazing
Continued…
Hamamura: XXXXXXXXX’s XXXXXX?
Kojima: But, XXXXXXXXX. It’s XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
Hamamura: Ah! I get it!!
Kojima: “XXXXX XXXXX XXX”. Well, it’s not “X”, but a “X” kind of feeling. That’s him. I can’t say the title yet, but it’s this kind of feeling. But it’s the Metal Gear saga’s tradition.
Hamamura: The time period is XXX?
Kojima: No, it’s XXX. I’m saying everything, maybe XXXXX. I’m designing and directing all of this game.
Hamamura: Wha!
Kojima: I think the focus will be domestic, and we’re launching it globally. For me, this is like “XXXX”. I won’t say “X”, but a solid story has been created, and the MGS4 staff is making it.
Hamamura: Wow! That’s great.
Kojima: This time, only the image of this guy will appear. Then lighting. Just this appearing, I wan everyone to guess. This is how XX’s will be appearing.
Hamamura: This…is Big Boss?
Kojima: XX’s way of appearing is slightly different.
Hamamura: Eh? Different…?
Kojima: The emblem on this guy’s hat is important.
Hamamura: The emblem isn’t a fox. There’s like a world map thing drawn.
Kojima: It’s not only an emblem, but for the game, it will be a new type of system.
Hamamura: Is it XX-XXXXXXXXXX?
Kojima: Yes. You’ll while XXXXXXX. XXXX, etc. are a given, so they’ll be included. Ooops, I’ve said more than I was planning to. (laughs)
Hamamura: Hahahahaha! Well XXXXXX, it’s XXXXXXX? Also, where’s the game going to be set?
Kojima: The place is XXXXXXX. XXXXXXXXX happened, and it’s a XXXXX type of country. There isn’t XXXXXXXX in the country, but they do have XX like things and XXXX. At that time, XXXXXX come to where the guy is.
Kojima: The theme is XX. XXXXX kinda thing or XXX theme, or XXXXXXXXXXXX, or why is there X, that’s where we’re drawing. Maybe everyone is probably thinking, “This sermon again!” Maybe this sermon will become a genre. (laughs)
Hamamura: Ahahahaha!
Kojima: This is quite a deep interview.
Hamamura: So true!
