Earlier this morning, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima appeared at Sony’s unveiling of its NGP system to show off a demo of Metal Gear Solid 4 running on the hardware.

The demo is a cut-scene in the opening section of Guns of the Patriots, where Old Snake is introduced to the Mk. II via Otacon. It’s also where he gets his Solid Eye. Watch the video below, via GameSpot.

NGP releases this year in Japan. Kojima said at the event he will announce his new game for the system at E3 in June.

A Japanese retailer‘s outed a special new PS3 hardware bundle that’ll feature Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and another title from the collaborator of the former: Metal Gear Solid 4.

As well as Lords of Shadow, developed by Spanish developer MercurySteam, and MGS4: Guns of the Patriots being packed in to the bundle, it also includes a 160Gb black PS3.

The bundle will be priced at ¥37,980, although there’s no date to go with it.

Nothing’s been made official yet by Konami, though.

Thanks, Andriasang.

Update: From what we can gather from Google Translate, Famitsu‘s apparently carrying confirmation of the news. It says the bundle will be out on December 16.

Next Sunday, Best Buy will stock shelves with a lovely PS3 bundle that includes Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2.

It’s the 80Gb model, and you get all three for $400.

Basically, that’s getting both games free because that particular SKU retails for $399.99.

More over on Kotaku.

Konami announced today that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has joined the PS3 Greatest Hits Collection.

On June 16, the game will be made available at retail for the new price of $29.99.

Press release is after the break.

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., announced today that Hideo Kojima’s award-winning Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, has joined the PLAYSTATION 3 Greatest Hits collection and will be available for the new low price of $29.99 on June 16, 2009. Additionally, the company will release the game that started it all – Metal Gear Solid – on the PlayStation Network on June 18th, 2009 for the SRP of $9.99.

“Since it’s debut in 1987, the Metal Gear franchise has stood the test of time and continues to break new standards in story-telling and gameplay,” said Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., “These two releases are a perfect way to bridge the original game that created this genre with the latest masterpiece that brought it to an all-new level.”

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is an action-packed visual masterpiece that offered an entertaining cinematic experience that has redefined videogames. The final chapter in the saga of Solid Snake sends him around the world in pursuit of his arch nemesis, Liquid Ocelot. Armed with new gadgets and abilities, Solid Snake must shift the tides of war into his favor, using the chaos of the battlefield to infiltrate deep into enemy territory. In his globetrotting final mission, Snake must sneak deep into enemy locations in the Middle East, South America, and other corners of the earth to foil Liquid Ocelot’s plans for total world domination.

The originator of the stealth-action genre, the original Metal Gear Solid takes place in the southern Alaska region around the Bering Sea. The player takes control of Solid Snake, a retired military soldier who is ordered to infiltrate a nuclear weapons facility to eliminate FOXHOUND, a genetically enhanced special forces unit that has threatened to launch its nuclear weapon if the government does not cooperate with their demands

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, is developed exclusively for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and includes Metal Gear Online – the online multiplayer experience based on the Metal Gear Solid universe.

For more information on Konami’s products, please visit: http://www.konami.com.

Metal Gear Online is the ultimate squad based, tactical shooter based on the Metal Gear Solid Universe. Players can immerse themselves in this next-gen multiplayer experience with various maps, game play type and weapons to choose from. Create your own character or take on the role of your favorite Metal Gear Solid character. Players will need a retail copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots to play Metal Gear Online.

Konami has posted record sales figures for fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, with total sales reaching $3.24 billion which is a y-o-y increase of 4.2 percent.

Net income fell 40.7 percent ($114m) over last year, but revenue in the Digital Entertainment division increased 4.9 percent to $1.96 billion.

Worldwide, Metal Gear Solid 4 stood at 4.75 million units with Metal Gear Online claiming 1.3 million registered users, and the Pro Evolution Soccer series sold over 8.48 million units.

More numbers and figures are posted on Gamasutra.

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg has called earlier reports stemming from GameFork’s Twitter post regarding the 360′s E3 showing “completely uninformed”.

“I can confirm that this post is completely uninformed and does not even come close to matching our news for E3,” Greenberg told Eurogamer.

“You can’t believe everything you read, but it is fun to see people trying to guess what will be shown at the show and we are excited to share our real news with everyone on June 1st.”

Reports earlier this morning claimed that MGS4 and a motion controller called Xbox Fluid would be shown by Microsoft at the event, along with other unannounced projects.

The full version of Metal Gear Solid Touch is now available on the Apple App Store.

Set in the world of MGS4, the extra part of the game introduces eight additional gameplay levels to the original release.

The story unfolds in five chapters over 20 stages, and the characters featured in the latter eight stages feature new abilities.

Once all 20 stages have been cleared, a Survival Mode is unlocked, and lets players skip the story images and play stages consecutively without replenishing their life gauge.

Players who have already installed the initial game can update to the complete version for free.

Press release after the break.

KONAMI LAUNCHES FULL VERSION OF METAL GEAR SOLID TOUCH ON APPLE iPHONE AND iPOD TOUCH

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – April 23, 2009 – Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. announced today that the full version of METAL GEAR SOLID TOUCH has launched on the Apple App Store. Set in the immersive world of METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS and created with the concept of allowing players to “touch” upon the world of METAL GEAR SOLID, the highly anticipated full version of the game introduces eight additional gameplay levels to the iPhone and iPod touch.

Developed by Kojima Productions and designed specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch, METAL GEAR SOLID TOUCH unfolds in five chapters over a span of the 20 stages with familiar enemies attempting to keep Old Snake from accomplishing his mission. The characters featured in the latter eight stages of the story will feature new abilities, putting them in a class of their own. Powerful enemies, such as the remainder of the “B&B Corps” and the dreaded Gekko, along with unique gameplay mechanisms such as piloting Metal Gear REX in battle, will have players facing multiple challenges that can’t be overcome by mere “tapping.” The variety of new elements will test strategy and insight more than ever before.

Taking advantage of the iPhone’s capabilities, players can shake their iPhone during Mantis Boss Battle to attack. Once all 20 stages have been cleared, a Survival Mode is unlocked, which lets players skip the story images and play stages consecutively without replenishing their life gauge.

As an added bonus, players will have access to over 30 original wallpapers that are available from Drebin’s Shop. Drebin Points are awarded according to the score at the end of each stage. The wallpapers feature a variety of artwork that include unreleased illustrations by METAL GEAR SOLID character designer, Yoji Shinkawa, gorgeous 3D CG, as well as images that were designed using METAL GEAR SOLID as a motif.

Players who have already installed the initial release of METAL GEAR SOLID TOUCH can update to the complete version for free. For those who have yet to purchase the game, the complete version is available for purchase from the Apple App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/. For players who just want a “touch” of METAL GEAR SOLID, Konami will soon be releasing METAL GEAR SOLID TOUCH Lite, a free version that players can use to sample the game.

For more information, please visit http://www.touch.konami.jp/mgst.

During an interview with The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, God of War’s David Jaffe said the game he was “most jealous” of was Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 4 and that the dev team must have had real “tenacity and vision” to make a game of that quality. writes Joystiq.

“To make a game of that scale and at that level of quality clearly took a whole hell of a lot of tenacity and vision,” he explained.

Jaffe recently said he thinks God of War III looks “like nothing you’ve ever played.”

By Mike Bowden

According to this V for Videogames piece, a Sony rep has said the company expects Killzone 2 sales to be as good, if not better than Metal Gear Solid 4.

“It would be a lie to say Sony has not invested heavily in Killzone 2 and each individual at Guerilla games has worked even harder to satisfy any expectations kept by the company and their loyal community,” said the rep.

“I do see the game breaking a barrier with a huge variety of groups and expect it to see sales as good as Metal Gear Solid 4 if not beyond it.”

More through the link.

By Mike Bowden

Following the release of a Metal Gear Solid 4 demo in Japan today, the free test is now available for download on the European PSN.

The demo’s there now on the UK PS Store, and we’re reliably informed by VG247 reader Syrok that it’s available in Holland as well.

The download will afford you a run through the game’s first Mid-Eastern level.

So go get it.

According to this Gamecyte report, MorningStar has replaced a TGS quote attributed to a Konami rep saying the firm was looking at porting MGS4 to 360.

The story says that the amended piece “now quotes a different Konami representative and mentions entirely different game series (Winning Eleven 2009 and Castlevania) to back up their thesis that companies are leaning towards multiplatform release.”

More through there. This will never, ever die.

Speaking to Techradar, Future mag editors Jon Hicks and Dan Dawkins have expressed little shock at potential Konami plans to being MGS4 to 360.

“After the massive success of GTA IV on Xbox 360, and the recent announcement of previously Playstation exclusives Final Fantasy and Tekken 6 coming to the platform, it’d be no surprise for Konami to follow suit,” said OXM editor Hicks.

“The huge install base of the console, particularly in the US, means it’s missing out on lots of customers by sticking to the PS3. Of course, Konami has ported MGS for other platforms before – the real news would be if it launched the next game in the series on the Xbox as well as the PS3.”

PSM3 editor Dawkins added: “Capcom have already sounded the death knell for third-party exclusives, since the rising costs of next-gen development, and the relatively small user bases of both consoles, mean they make no financial sense.

“Will MGS4 go to Xbox 360? If pressed, I’d say yes, almost certainly ,” says the PlayStation mag Editor, “though Konami may release it as a ‘vanilla’ port with zero enhancements at the same time as they confirm the extended edition for PS3, a bit like MGS3 Subsistence.”

More through the link.

Japanese investment research firm MorningStar has published a paper from TGS quoting a Konami rep saying the firm is looking at moving MGS4 to 360.

We did actually tell you about this in July, but there we are.

“We’re actively looking into a release for the Xbox 360,” the spokesperson apparently said.

Obviously, this sort of flies in the face of Hideo Kojima’s constant claims that the game isn’t possible on the Microsoft machine because it doesn’t have Blu-ray.

We’ll put it another way: “Would you like $500 million, Konami and Microsoft?”

More on IGN.

Spencer’s also confirmed that Corrine Yu, formerly of Gearbox Software, and her husband, former id artist Kenneth Scott are definitely on the crew.

The exec said in a statement, “Microsoft Game Studios is thrilled to have such talented people working to develop new and exciting projects within the Halo universe and supporting existing projects from studios like Bungie and Ensemble.”

More through the link.

Both Kotaku and Shacknews are rumouring that MGS4 producer Ryan Payton has been signed as creative director on Halo Chronicles, the Peter Jackson-developed Halo title.

Payton recently left Kojima Productions to return to the US, citing family issues.

Hit the links for more.

MGS4 assistant producer Ryan Payton’s spilled a pretty big can of beans in this 1UP interview, saying that the MGS trilogy on PS2 was never meant to be continued.

“The stories of MGS2 and MGS3 were truly written without any backup measures if the series continued, leaving dozens of confusing and unexplained plot elements in the wake,” he told the site.

“The fact that we were able to tie up all the loose ends with MGS4 was nothing short of a miracle.”

Payton left Kojima Productions after the launch of MGS4, citing family reasons.

Heaps more through there. Even on a cursory glance, it appears to contain a huge amount of spoilers, so be warned.

Speaking on Konami’s Japanese site, Hideo Kojima has said that big business is knocking this shit out of creative games development. Which is probably a bit of a shame.

“The creativity of video games is now on the verge of crisis,” he said.

“Massive advertising campaigns are executed for games before their entertainment values are put into consideration all too often, resulting in sell-off tactics happening without hesitation.”

You go, Hideo. Um. Didn’t MGS4 have a giant ad campaign?

Thanks to Kotaku for the translation.

“The Japanese public seems to be disinterested in next-gen and high definition gaming,” he told Kotaku. “There is a stigma still attached to western technology there.”

“There have been a lot of good mainstream games built for the Japanese Xbox 360,” he continued. “But they only sold a small number of copies. I think that kind of drained a lot of expectations.”

Most telling, however, are the panicked reactions of those who hedged their bets on “next-gen” gaming.

“It’s apparent, everyone knows it in Japan,” he said. “The developers here feel the pressure. They’re starting to develop more with the West in mind and the tech is in the West now. I’m surprised at how many titles have been produced on the Unreal 3 Engine.”

More poignant commentary, along something about hobos, through the link.

By Nathan Grayson

According to this Kotaku post, Metal Gear assistant producer Ryan Payton has quit Kojima Productions, citing family reasons.

“Back when I joined Kojima Productions in 2005, I hit the ground running and didn’t stop until we shipped Metal Gear Solid 4,” he said. “Then, for the first time in three years, I wasn’t working on any games and I had a three month vacation ahead of me.

“I went back home to my family’s place in Washington state and literally three weeks after MGS4 launched we were hit with some pretty heavy news concerning my mom. I don’t think I need to go into details, but all of this has reminded me about how important family is. So this past month I decided to leave Kojima Productions and look to continue my career working closer to my family in North America.

“It’s not easy leaving my other family (the MGS team), but with everybody taking time off and not having any other big projects to shift focus to, it feels like this is how it’s supposed to be. It’s fate.”

And yes, he does mention MGS5 over there. We salute you, Ryan. Best of luck.

“When we look ten years into the future, maybe yes, I may well end up spending more time on the Metal Gear series,” he said.

“I always intend to stay true to these statements; I do always say what I actually feel at that time, after each Metal Gear, when I say I am going to move on to the next project.

“But it’s like when Hayao Miyazaki says he is not going to do more, and then always ends up doing it.”

There’s a full interview here.

However, don’t confuse “shipped” with “sold.” PSU did note that “about one out of every four or five PS3 owners has purchased Metal Gear Solid 4,” but Konami didn’t go into specifics.

We’re not entirely sure how this fits into the 3 million shipped figure Konami gave earlier this week, but we’re just the messenger. So don’t shoot us.

Regardless, it’s always good to see a quality game succeed. Congrats, Kojima and co.

By Nathan Grayson

Other stuff the publisher’s looking to air:

Games

• PES 2009
• Silent Hill Homecoming (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Castlevania Judgement (Wii)
• Dancing Stage
• Rock Revolution
• Lost in Blue (Wii, NDS)
• Eledees: The Adventures of Kai and Zero (NDS)

Stage shows and presentations

• Hideo Kojima (Will discuss Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Online plans)
• Koji “IGA” Igarashi provides insight into the Castlevania series
• Thomas Hulett (Associate Producer) talks about Silent Hill Homecoming
• Rock Revolution presentation with Associate Producer Niais Taylor
• Dave Cox, responsible for product planning at Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH, own future developments in Konami Europe

We’ll be there. For some of it, anyway.

Speaking to the BBC, Hideo Kojima has spoken about how Metal Gear 4′s life started as a consultation with Sony on the birth of PlayStation 3 itself.

“We started to work on Metal Gear Solid 4 four years ago, after finishing work on Metal Gear Solid 3,” he said. “At that time we really didn’t know what the PS3 was going to be like, so the first two years was all about experimenting, developing and trial and error.

“In the last two years, we’ve know what the PS3 is capable of, the specifications of it and how we can utilise it… PS3 is a monster machine. That’s why it took so much time to create Metal Gear Solid 4.

“Since we’re developing only for the Sony format, Sony has given us a lot of advantage before the actual release of the hardware. So we had many meetings with them to discuss the specifications. We analysed this black box before it was released, and we experimented with it and we gave Sony a lot of feedback, like, ‘Can we do this and can we do that.’”

Watch the full thing through the link. There’s future-gazing stuff there about leaves. We love you, Hideo.

1. PS3 METAL GEAR SOLID 4 774.6K (Does not include bundles with PS3 hardware)
2. NDS GUITAR HERO ON TOUR 422.3K
3. 360 NINJA GAIDEN II 372.7K
4. WII FIT W/BALANCE BOARD 372.7K
5. WII PLAY W/ REMOTE 359.1K
6. 360 BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY346.8K
7. WII MARIO KART W/WHEEL 322.4K
8. WII LEGO INDIANA JONES: 294.5K
9. NDS LEGO INDIANA JONES: 267.8K
10. PS2 LEGO INDIANA JONES: 260.3K

Full list below:

1. [PS2] Persona 4 (Atlus) – 193,000
2. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) – 30,000 / 2,353,000
3. [NDS] Densetsu no Starfi Taketsu (Nintendo) – 29,000
4. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) – 25,000 / 1,560,000
5. [NDS] Daigasso Band Brothers (Nintendo) – 23,000 / 190,000
6. [WII] Biohazard Zero (Capcom) – 21,000
7. [NDS] Derby Stallion DS (Enterbrain) – 20,000 / 206,000
8. [NDS] Hanayori Dango: Koi Seyo Onago (Konami) – 20,000
9. [NDS] Gegege no Kitarou: Youkai Daigekisen (Bandai Namco) – 16,000
10. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom) – 16,000 2,277,000

Thanks NeoGAF.

By Mike Bowden

Following last night’s shock news that Final Fantasy XIII will release on Xbox 360, VG247 has been told be a very senior UK industry source that an 360 version of Metal Gear Solid 4 is “inevitable”.

“There’s only MGS left now: for a few months at least,” said the mole. “It’s inevitable. Konami knows how many million they’d sell in the US alone. If FFXIII can make it to 360 when Sony owns nine percent of Square, Metal Gear’s a slam dunk.”

Kojima has constantly said that the game isn’t transferable to 360 as the Microsoft console uses DVD as opposed to Blu-ray.

Money, as everyone’s mother used to say, talks.

See for yourselves:

1. [NDS] Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (Nintendo) – 47,000 / 167,000
2. [PS3] Initial D Extreme Stage (Sega) – 43,000
3. [NDS] Derby Stallion DS (Enterbrain) – 38,000 / 186,000
4. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) – 31,000 / 2,323,000
5. [NDS] Nanashi no Game (Square Enix) – 30,000
6. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) – 28,000 / 1,535,000
7. [WII] Tales of Symphonia Dawn of a New World (Bandai Namco) – 27,000 / 164,000
8. [WII] Super Mario Stadium Family Baseball (Nintendo) – 20,000 / 108,000
9. [PS3] Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots (Konami) – 18,000 / 585,000
10. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom) – 18,000 / 2,261,000

By Mike Bowden

According to figures from Media-Control GfK International, Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core is straight in at number three in both territories.

The full chart listings for both countries are through the link.

By Mike Bowden

Thanks, Joystiq.

We already know the game has sold 1 million in Europe in its first week, and that it shifted around 500,000 units in Japan in its first seven days on sale.

The figure was revealed at the Sony PlayStation Business Review in Tokyo today.

This is usually where we say “more through the link” but to be honest, there isn’t any more. That’s it.

By Mike Bowden