Article By: Zach to the C
Konami beat everyone to the punch this year with their pre-E3 show… maybe it was to get some early exposure, or maybe it was to save themselves from the humiliation of another “1 mirrion twoops… wow…” or “Very, very exciting… very, very exercise…” episode. Either way, the showing was very impressive. Here’s what happened.
Konami began the conference with Shinji Hirano (President Konami Digital Entertainment) thanking the consumer base of Konami products for their support since the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan recently. He then went on the say that Konami will be collaborating with the University of Southern California in their video game design class… Hideo Kojima will be giving lectures on the campus as a result of this collaboration.
Shinji the announced that Konami will be launching more gaming events and tournaments across the Americas for several of their franchises including Pro Evolution Soccer (PES). Lastly he announced that Frogger is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and Castlevania is celebrating its 25th… fans of the Castlevania series can expect more DLC to Lords of Shadow, and Frogger will be making its way to the Nintendo 3DS.
Next, the pre-E3 show took us to Tokyo, Japan where Yoshikazu Matsuhana (Creative Producer Metal Gear Solid 3DS) showed us some Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater for the Nintendo 3DS. He spoke of the game showcasing the features of the new hardware and said that the game is on schedule and showed us the trailer below.
Konami then had Shingo “Seabass” Takasuka tell us a bit about PES 2012. He mentioned the improvements that will come with 2012, including better AI and off the ball enhancements. He then showd us the trailer below.
Next, it was off to Oxford, England where Shinta Nojiri talked about his upcoming game, Neverdead. A completely new third person shooter IP where the catch is… wait for it… wait for it… you can’t fucking die. But you can suffer from a case of dismemberment. The game looks pretty sick… check out the trailer below.
Then it was off to Toronto, Canada with Tomm Hulett (producer Silent Hill)… first he discussed the upcoming movie Silent Hill Revelation with Michael Bassett (director) giving us some insight to the psychological terror of the Silent Hill games that he is trying to capture in the new movie. Next Tomm Hulett made a major announcement to series fans, the Silent Hill Collection containing Silent Hill 2 and 3 remastered in HD. Also, Sony’s NGP will be getting its own Silent Hill, with Silent Hill Book of Memories (Sounds more like a Lifetime movie then a Silent Hill game, but whatever). Next up was the main event… a new Silent Hill Downpour trailer…
Finally, it was off to see the man himself… Hideo Kojima. While some were speculating that he would announce Metal Gear Solid 5 (not me, I have a brain), Kojima actually gave us something even better for the time being. Kojima first his new network system for mobile and console gamers called Transfarring. With the announcement of Transfarring, came an announcement of the Metal Gear Solid Collection (Metal Gear Solid 2, 3 and Peace Walker – Scheduled Release: November 2011) for the PS3 and XBOX 360. Peace Walker will be the first game to utilize the Transfarring system with connectivity between the PSP and new PS3 HD version, and also an announcement for the Zone of the Enders HD Collection (Z.O.E. and 2nd Runner remastered in HD – Scheduled Release: 2012) for the PS3 and XBOX 360.
Kojima went on the explain how Transfarring will revolutionize gaming by allowing gamers to transfer their game saves with three different levels of integration…
Phase 1 – Phase one will allow Transfarring back and forth between PSP and PS3 with titles like Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.
Phase 2 – Phase two will allow Transfarring of PS2 classic HD remakes between the PS3 and NGP.
Phase 3 – Phase three will allow Transfarring between the PS3 and NGP for new PS3 game title.
All together, Transfarring looks to revolutionize gaming with its networking capabilities.
Lastly Kojima talked about his new FOX Engine which his next (yet to be announced) title will be built on. The FOX Engine will allow Kojima production to make titles across platforms with a shorter development time and Kojima hopes that the FOX Engine will be “the best in the world”, which is no small statement. Kojima then teased that his next game will be a multi-platform title and will be Transfarring enabled. Kojima closed by saying that this year will be a year of preparations for Kojima Productions, but that he will be at E3 2012!
FOX Engine Screenshots
Metal Gear SD and HD Comparison Shots
At the very end of the pre-E3 press conference, Konami unveiled one last surprise… a simple tease of the Contra logo with the words “They’re Coming” below. Can’t wait tp see what they’re gonna do with the franchise.
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