Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Message Board older than one year ago

No matter how often you play it, you won't be able to understand the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker TGS demo unless you know Japanese. Thankfully, all that changes today with a brand new English language demo for your PSP. Based on our calculations, the English translation makes it about 15% more comprehensible than before. Excellent! The demo will be available on the PlayStation Store and here on Joystiq (via BigDownload) later today. To ensure a problem-free experience, make sure you have the latest firmware update and have at least 103MB of free space on your PSP.

An English demo is headed to the PlayStation Store with new content.

Click to sneak through the full gallery Though we still don't know much about Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker's cast of characters, Konami sent out a batch of glamour shots for a few of the assumed super spies you'll be cavorting with during your time with the game. Our personal favorite? Definitely Chico. It takes a special breed of man to pull off an Ascot that expertly. Check out all the portraits, as well as a bunch of new screenshots, in the gallery below.

We found out yesterday that the PSP sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3 will hit shelves in the UK on May 28 -- following a March 18 debut in japan -- and today Konami has announced that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will arrive (via cardboard box, fittingly) at US retail three days earlier on May 25. Although Kojima Productions is at work on a localized English language Peace Walker demo, the Japanese demo, released during Tokyo Game Show '09 (and later improved for release on PSN Japan) is pretty easy to pick up on -- and definitely worth playing. We've contacted Konami in hopes of confirming a digital release of the game for the same week the physical copies hit shelves, and maybe -- just maybe -- we'll get la-li-lu-le-lucky and score a special / limited edition for the States.

More Metal Gear coming this May.

May release for Europe; American release info coming soon.

A Konami press release, laden with the heft of a UK release date for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, landed in our laps this morning. We don't think it had enough force to do any serious damage to -- what? Oh, right. Potential FOXHOUNDs living in the United Kingdom can get their hands on the co-op portable stealth title on May 28, 2010; or, as they'd likely call it, 28 May, 2010. For those of you keeping score, now the UK and Japan both have release dates for the game. Who does a guy have to hide behind in a box and then put in an unrelenting sleeper hold to get a North American launch date around here?

Next Metal Gear epic arrives earlier than expected.

This week's issue of Famitsu lifts the cardboard box off Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker's release date, outing the PSP title for a March 18, 2010 release in Japan. Given Konami's history of timely Metal Gear localizations, it might not be too long until the game reaches its excited Western audience. We loved what we played at TGS and we're willing to bet those of you who braved the Japanese demo likely felt the same. If you were frightened by the lack of understandable words, have no fear -- an English demo is currently in the works!

The Metal Gear saga is not the easiest thing to follow. However, it's far more difficult to understand when it's not in English. Thankfully, Kojima Productions is going to make the Peace Walker demo a lot more accessible by rectifying that crucial problem. The latest Kojima Productions podcast reveals that an English demo is already in the works. Makes sense, considering the English voice casting is already complete."One could also argue that Peace Walker could be the most innovative title in the series yet," Ludwig stated in his TGS hands-on. Perhaps, after playing the upcoming demo, you will be that hypothetical "one" he spoke of.[Via Siliconera]

Some days you feed on a tree frog ... and some days you get a new Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker demo! Kojima's official blog brings word that a new demo will drop on the Japanese PSN this Sunday, November 1st. It's not quite the same as the one we got our hands on -- this one will be a tweaked version of the demo that was available exclusively in a special section of Konami's booth at the Tokyo Game Show. Kojima Productions has modified the controls based on player feedback, adding an unlockable third control scheme on top of the original two. The developer also improved the enemy AI and behavior, and changed the CQC system a tad, all in an effort to make the game easier to play. Kojima explains that this process of releasing demos is a game of "catch ball" with the players and that he's looking for more input after they've tried this second demo. Sharing is caring, after all. [Via andriasang]

Sample new stages and controls and help Kojima Productions improve Peace Walker.

Assassin's Creed 2 head Patrice Désilets and MGS: Peace Walker head Hideo Kojima had a war of compliments in the most recent issue of Famitsu. It seems that the two gentlemen have a bit of a game industry bromance going on, lauding the other's current project in a back and forth translated by 1UP. "I think there are three games that stand out above the rest of the pack in the remainder of this year. One is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, one is Uncharted 2, and the third is Assassin's Creed II," said Kojima."If I had to give my impression of Peace Walker, I'd have to say that I want to play more," Désilets responded. "It was great fun; I can't wait for the retail version." Kojima expanded a bit on his appreciation for Désilets' "focus on game design" over style, and said that he's currently considering the possibility of them"maybe, kinda" going steady. Okay, we made up that last part.

With fingers crossed, we turned to the latest Kojima Productions podcast, hoping beyond hope that the studio had taken our recommendation to refresh the voice of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker's bearded protagonist. Our nominee for Solid Snake's new pipes? Bobcat Goldthwait. Sure, Mr. Goldthwait would likely take the series in an unexpected direction -- but what unsuspecting player wouldn't be swept up in an exploration of Snake's rarely discussed history as a rabid, nigh-incomprehensible stand-up comic? Now there's a 90-minute cutscene we can get behind. Alas, Konami's recently announced voice cast for Peace Walker is actually (gasp!) sans-Goldthwait. Of course David Hayter will reprise the role for, like, the hundredth time. The rest of the totally unsurprising list can be found after the jump -- but why not watch this beautiful excerpt of the Peace Walker that could have been instead? [Via Kotaku]

Ever the consummate hype man, Hideo Kojima is fluffing up Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker by teasing an apparent system-selling feature. "I haven't announced this yet, but there's another feature in [Peace Walker] that will surprise people, to the point where they'll want to go out and buy a PSP right now!" Kojima blabbed in the latest issue of Famitsu (as translated by 1UP). Short of some sort of in-game subliminal advertising (hey, these guys like to experiment), we're thinking The Two-Hundred-and-Forty-Nine-Ninety-Nine-Dollar Feature -- or maybe it's just "The Buck-Seventy Feature" -- could get lost in translation. After all, the two Peace Walker features that have been newly revealed seem distinctly Japanese in their appeal.Also plucked from the pages of Famitsu, is the revelation that Peace Walker will feature Yamaha's Vocaloid software. (Yeah, we'd never heard of it either -- just wikipedia it.) If we understand it correctly, Vocaloid will allow certain weapons in the game to sing and scream. Mm-hmm, sounds incredibly annoying.Also revealed: Those 2D-illustrated cut scenes? Yep, like this one. Well, they're interactive. "For example, if you zoom in on the scene where you first meet Paz, you can see the uniform she has on under her coat, and then what's under that," art director Yoji Shinkawa explained ... rather creepily. "It's an idea I came up with while thinking about what makes games different from movies or animation. I think it's pretty interactive." Hopefully, not too interactive.

Ever the consummate hype man, Hideo Kojima is fluffing up Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker by teasing an apparent system-selling feature. "I haven't announced this yet, but there's another feature in [Peace Walker] that will surprise people, to the point where they'll want to go out and buy a PSP right now!" Kojima blabbed in the latest issue of Famitsu (as translated by 1UP). Short of some sort of in-game subliminal advertising (hey, these guys like to experiment), we're thinking The Two-Hundred-and-Forty-Nine-Ninety-Nine-Dollar Feature -- or maybe it's just "The Buck-Seventy Feature" -- could get lost in translation. After all, the two Peace Walker features that have been newly revealed seem distinctly Japanese in their appeal.Also plucked from the pages of Famitsu, is the revelation that Peace Walker will feature Yamaha's Vocaloid software. (Yeah, we'd never heard of it either -- just wikipedia it.) If we understand it correctly, Vocaloid will allow certain weapons in the game to sing and scream. Mm-hmm, sounds incredibly annoying.Also revealed: Those 2D-illustrated cut scenes? Yep, like this one. Well, they're interactive. "For example, if you zoom in on the scene where you first meet Paz, you can see the uniform she has on under her coat, and then what's under that," art director Yoji Shinkawa explained ... rather creepily. "It's an idea I came up with while thinking about what makes games different from movies or animation. I think it's pretty interactive." Hopefully, not too interactive.

Something so big that you'll rush out to buy a PSP!

This time around Snake has a squad to back him up.

See how the pros handle the TGS 2009 Japanese Demo.

Sharing a flimsy, cardboard box with another soldier is sure to cause an inexhaustible supply of awkward discomfort. Aside from the clear violation of personal space, there are two major concerns for the occupants of Metal Gear Solid's iconic camouflage: (1) Who's driving this thing? And (2) that better be your gun poking me in the back, I swear.Thankfully, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker has an elegant solution for the former problem. Holding up on the PSP's d-pad will "sync" you with your sneaking partner(s) and, as long as the button remains held down, you'll stay in automatic lockstep with the leader. Remaining a cohesive group is an essential strategy for a silent approach, though splitting up offers its own advantages as well.

Your CQC better be up to snuff if you want to follow Big Boss into battle.

Your CQC better be up to snuff if you want to follow Big Boss into battle.

The Cold War comes to a head in Central America.

The Cold War comes to a head in Central America.

Stroll through the jungle and take the enemy stronghold!

Stroll through the jungle and take the enemy stronghold!

Get your bearings before heading into battle.

Get your bearings before heading into battle.

Big Boss takes on enemy forces in true Snake fashion.

Big Boss takes on enemy forces in true Snake fashion.