Kojima: Snake's grey hair 'due to lighting effect'

Konami's Metal Gear franchise is firing on all cylinders at the moment. Developer Platinum Games' Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance isn't due out until February 2013, but that didn't stop publisher Konami announcing another game in the series, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, at PAX last week.

As part of the announcement, it was confirmed that Naked Snake would be returning as the game's protagonist. The fan reaction, at least on Twitter, was that Snake's grey hair made him look rather old. On his English Twitter feed, director Hideo Kojima responded: "Saw many tweet about Snake in grey hair after taking off the goggle. This is due to the rim-lighting.” He also posted an image of Snake with a darker-looking beard than the one featured in the video.

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is a more open-world take on the series' trademark stealth-action. The game is set for release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, though no release date has been confirmed at this stage.