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E3 '07: Konami's 15-minute press event raises eyebrows

After teasing attendees with a cryptic e-mail, the Japanese publisher abruptly dismisses them after announcing Silent Hill 5; Kojima publicly questions new E3 format.

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SANTA MONICA, Calif.--Konami helped close the first day of the new E3 with its press conference at Santa Monica's Fairmont Hotel. GameSpot arrived to find attendees lined up out the door and into the driveway, and security seemed unusually high for what we expected to be a fairly standard third-party press briefing. Standard, that is, till we received a cryptic email from Konami's public relations agency earlier today. The email read, in part:

"What better way
to end your day
at Konami's media briefing collecting...
News for a major announcement
you were not expecting."

Mysterious words from the purveyors of such massive franchises as Castlevania and Metal Gear Solid. Notable figures such as MGS creator Hideo Kojima have taken their seats, so we expect the briefing to get underway in a few moments.

[5:56] Konami PR director Marc Franklin takes the stage to introduce the briefing, which he says will move at a rapid clip. Then he introduces new marketing VP Anthony Crouts to discuss Konami's lineup in general terms.

[5:57] Crouts talking about new versions of DDR for the Xbox 360 and Wii, and DDR's sales success and appearance in schools and fitness clubs.

[5:59] We're hearing more about Konami's upcoming lineup. Contra 4, Castlevania for PSP, Hellboy, even MGS4. All games we know about, and no visuals to accompany them yet.

[6:01] Crouts exits the stage as he introduces a new trailer for...Silent Hill 5! They were right, that was fairly unexpected.

[6:01] Producer William Ortell is now onstage to talk about the new Silent Hill, coming to "next-generation platforms."

[6:02] "Sharp interactive visuals, a chilling soundtrack." You play Alex Sheppard, a soldier returning from combat overseas. Sheppard returns to find his father missing and his mother catatonic.

[6:03] Only his brother Joshua can provide solace, but then wouldn't you know it--Joshua vanishes too. You'll embark on a quest to find your brother, and probably whack a bunch of really disturbing monsters with blunt objects as well.

[6:04] Fans will be happy to know Ortell has stated that series creator and longtime sound designer Akira Yamaoka is returning to provide the soundtrack for Silent Hill 5. Applause follows.

[6:05] Even bigger applause when Kojima takes stage. For the first time in GameSpot memory, Kojima addresses the audience entirely in English, rather than relying on the translator. He asks the audience what they think about the new E3 format, and talks about his own justification for coming this year.

[6:06] He talks about the excitement of past E3s, and the way that Metal Gear grew along with that excitement. Now he's been relegated to a small ballroom in a hotel.

[6:07] Kojima: "I hope that my E3 will return next year." At least one prominent developer misses the glitz and glamor. Hey ESA, are you listening?

[6:07] Kojima introduces what appears to be the same trailer shown at Sony's press conference earlier today.

[6:10] Meryl to Snake: "Your cause is our cause now." It seems the focus of the game will be stopping Liquid Snake, who has taken control of Revolver Ocelot's body.

[6:12] Franklin returns to the stage to...close the show? What? We thought he was kidding, till he reminded us to grab a disc of game assets and the house lights came up.

[6:13] Surely the shortest press conference on record.

[6:14] Yep, one more update just because we went to the trouble. Look for any new assets Konami has chosen to release to hit GameSpot in the next few minutes...

350 Comments

  • Freestyle_20

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 3:54 am GMT

    is there an actual video of this ?

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 11:54 am GMT

    Obvious Konami hates this E3

  • pnkmastr

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 8:08 am GMT

    mgs should be exclusive i really dont care bout the 2nd one it was raiden.. RAIDEN i didnt care bout him its like we gave xbox the gay character and now since hes cool he came back and isnt the outcast of loser ville hahaha

  • jagstar73

    Posted Jul 18, 2007 9:25 am GMT

    Raiden is finally cool!

  • jasemac

    Posted Jul 17, 2007 9:29 pm GMT

    Wouldn't he have to make a Z.O.E. 3 first? It'd still be awesome though, Z.O.E. owns

  • super-hyzy

    Posted Jul 17, 2007 12:35 pm GMT

    I hope after he finishes MGS4 he starts or says that he will make a Z.O.E 4 for the Ps3

  • samswet

    Posted Jul 17, 2007 8:17 am GMT

    Kojima is awesome...all about the fans. Jaffe could learn a lot from him about class.

  • menciawatcher25

    Posted Jul 16, 2007 3:37 pm GMT

    castelvania for psp yay and i wish i had a ps3

  • TTDog

    Posted Jul 16, 2007 7:51 am GMT

    "Bartz_Has_Bite: SergeStorms, there was. at the PS3 conference they said it was exclusive to PS3"

    Said by someone in Sony's employ. Right now with all the BS coming from Sony if they told me grass was green I'd look out a window to check.

    AS for moaning that there wasn't enough time to show MGS4 gameplay, maybe if the conference had been longer than 15 minutes you might have squeezed some in. Mind you, if the gameplay follows the previous games all the running between cutscenes that actaully counts for gameplay may not have filled the 15 minutes in total.

  • msudude211

    Posted Jul 14, 2007 5:08 pm GMT

    Too bad it was so short...

  • lamprey263

    Posted Jul 14, 2007 3:37 pm GMT

    Man, I downloaded the MGS4 E3 trailer from the PlayStation Store and I was so disappointed with how choppy the video was at parts. You think with today's advance technology that game makers would focus less on making everything look like it came out of a wax museum and start focusing on making sure the video is smooth.

  • Azhar85

    Posted Jul 14, 2007 1:58 pm GMT

    For me...soccer is the best sports today....(EPL season will start soon..)

  • wraigth

    Posted Jul 14, 2007 8:27 am GMT

    why do people keep talking about "pro evo", it was an American press conference, "evo" will only sell well in Europe and personally i hate football games(soccer for you Americans) they are so boring.

  • Shadow_Fire41

    Posted Jul 13, 2007 8:51 pm GMT

    WHERE IS SUIKODEN 6!!!!?
    WHERE I ASK, WHERE!!!!!!!?!?

  • Sil3ntStRik3R

    Posted Jul 13, 2007 3:39 pm GMT

    this is probably the main reason y i chose sony over microsoft .......so i really hope it remains for sony....

  • livinglegend305

    Posted Jul 13, 2007 4:52 am GMT

    mgs4

  • Fumpa

    Posted Jul 13, 2007 1:24 am GMT

    the graphics look amazing, but i hate that he has to look so old. it's actually just the gray hair. i guess they couldn't do the salt and pepper hair since that's done by the splinter cell guy. i wonder if he would've looked better if he was bald. naw, that wouldn't work. he needs the mullet.

  • Incubus420

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 5:29 pm GMT

    OH well...E3 blows another one

  • firstspar

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 4:43 pm GMT

    erm, isnt pro evo their most sought after game?

    how about some thing on that you idiots!?

  • lamprey263

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 4:31 pm GMT

    Why are people insisting that MGS4 is exclusive? Konami already said that it is considering porting MGS4 if PS3 sales don't pick up soon. That doesn't mean it's going to go to the X360 or PC, but it also doesn't mean it won't; its really iffy right now.

    Anyhow, just to play devil's advocate (I realize I'm just going to get booed for suggesting this): what if when the game is finally released, the game turns out to be utter crap; then won't all this fighting about the games exclusivity or port potential just seem totally ridiculous?

  • GrimBee

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 3:38 pm GMT

    Silent Hill 5 will probably be alot like resident evil 4.

    Either way - Silent Hill hasn't been good since the first one, and I am a massive Silent Hill fanatic. The first game followed a traditional survival horror style. But even with the visual flare of the others, whilst providing a few chills here and there - they seem to of lost alot of the motifs that made it great in the first place.

    For me, Silent Hill is about being alone in a massive place. Feeling like the entire town has it in for you. And all you have is a torch and a pistol.
    Fog, torch, siren, darkness, ugly monsters which make you run... thats what its all about. If they make it all monster-whooping then it will be very tiresome.

    I mean, Silent Hill 4 was a sure-step back for the series - no fog, no torch... I hope that the new one takes full advantage of next gen consoles.
    Otherwise I just hope they release a wii version - where you move the torch about yourself

  • TJchief

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 3:32 pm GMT

    metal gear is a system seller and so was halo so imo they are "all that"

  • DeathgiverX

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 3:23 pm GMT

    Yeah, I would agree too. I hope they are planning on fixing the Silent Hill gameplay though, after 4 games of that crap I need a change, they need to "next-genitize" the gameplay.

  • pete_merlin

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 3:06 pm GMT

    i agree with below poster. there good but not AMAZING

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 3:03 pm GMT

    mgs4 isn't ALL that, kinda like how halo 3 isn't ALL that.

  • Liams

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 2:30 pm GMT

    Forget Silent Hill 5 what about Pro Evo 7 is it not happening this year or what?

  • haesuse

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 2:21 pm GMT

    @reckeweg:
    exlusivity of the any game at the moment is important to Sony and those that support it. Reasons are so many, from fiscal to following to line-up quality and if you werent trying to stir some fanboy shootout and instead, you really dont understand why than you shouldnt even ask a question like that.
    as from players standpoint, its very simple. arguably but still for many gamers and not just PS fans/owners MGS franchise has always been on the top sharing it with FF series. Many polls have also had MGS for the 1st PS ranked as the #1 game of all time. So being that it is that huge, losing exclusivity to it could be counted as losing a best player on the team, or a flagship in a fleet, etc.
    now i answered nicely, so unless you can say thanks for the explanation, dont come back with some lame counter argument how "360 rulz" or something like that as this is not a post nor the topic about that!

  • SonOfSparda018 posted Jul 12, 2007 1:56 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    SonOfSparda018

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 1:56 pm GMT (hide)

    MGS4 & PS3 rule!

  • TehPickle

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 1:36 pm GMT

    reckeweg--It's pretty simple really, MGS retaining exclusivity is a good way to sell some consoles.

    I haven't bought into the PS3 thus far, it's seems ok I guess, but I don't have anything particularly flattering to say about it. But with that said, I'd like to see the PS3s sales performance increase drastically, choice is good for everyone and at the moment that choice is far too cut and dry (Wii60).

    Yes, that's right, I'm saying I dislike the PS3 but I want to see it succeed none the less. Is that fanboyism or common sense? I'll leave it up to you guys to decide.

  • BulletProof007

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 1:19 pm GMT

    cool

  • cwhistler posted Jul 12, 2007 1:14 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    cwhistler

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 1:14 pm GMT (hide)

    Isn't MGS 4 a movie? I thought all MGS "games" were just movies. I sat through about 30 minutes of MGS Subsistence and in that time only got to play about 30 seconds just to run from one room into another.

    Hard to understand why this is called a good game.

  • reckeweg

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 1:11 pm GMT

    Hey sony fanboys out there and you know who you are. I do have one question, why is it so important to you that MGS4 remain solely exclusive to the PS3?

  • jazilla

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 1:10 pm GMT

    I really liked the new movie they showed for MGS4, but I agree with a lot of people...is this a movie, or a game? I would see it if it is a movie, but I want to see gameplay for it, not just prerendered stuff.

  • funky_muzic

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 12:41 pm GMT

    LW2 said: "Also why is it that 360 fan-boys denounce ps3 titles as system sellers or inconsequential and with the same breath hoping it becomes a 360 title in the near future it befuddles my mind."

    Well, it can't really be a sytem seller if it's not an exclusive title!

  • RiseFM

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 12:34 pm GMT

    Am I the only one that's just not that excited about MGS 4 trailer? How about letting us see some actual gameplay??

  • icarus212001

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 12:12 pm GMT

    sh5!! woot!

  • Bartz_Has_Bite

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 12:12 pm GMT

    SergeStorms, there was. at the PS3 conference they said it was exclusive to PS3

  • SergeStorms

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 11:51 am GMT

    I think it is fascinating that no exclusivity announcement has been made yet, at E3 even. This still has to be up in the air.

  • Stickminty

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 11:41 am GMT

    I am so psyched for MGS4 its sickening. I CANT WAIT!!!! I think I may have to take th South Park root and try and freeze myself, only to awake when the game is out...

  • finaleve

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 11:41 am GMT

    elreddiablo > And people buy a 360 for halo 3. Hell they bought Crackdown just to get a taste of what Halo 3 was. So no man is safe with that....

  • Ross20_PS3_OWNS

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 11:34 am GMT

    Metal Gear Solid 4.... Cannot Wait

  • EmperorSupreme

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 11:13 am GMT

    Games like Metal Gear don't come around very often. It is one of the few truly epic games. Just like truly great movies. Really looking forward to this one.

  • imortiferus

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 10:59 am GMT

    DonutTrooper, the Processor that ship with 360 and PS3 are built and were co-designed by IBM, not Intel. The rest I agree with beyond the storage difference between DVD and Blueray, both machines are neck and neck in terms of graphics... but we still have not seen the best of either, and wont for quite a while.

  • myke2010

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 10:56 am GMT

    I could care less about more crappy cinematic trailers for MGS4. What I want to know is have they done away with the stupid top-down camera and given us full camera control ala Splinter Cell. Get with the times Konami, It's been 4 games and 2 system generations since the first MGS, which I think is the best game ever made for the PS1; but a little innovation would be appreciated here. Other then graphics, the last two MGS games did absolutely nothing that the original didn't do better. I'm sure I'll still play it if only to wrap up the absurdly complicated storyline, but if it's just more of the same pacakge with a prettier wrapper then perhaps it's best if this is the last of the series after all.

    Other then that, nothing here for me. Contra has sucked since they made it 3D and Silent Hill never impressed me. If Konami wants my business they'll bring out a killer 2D Contra and 2D Castlevania for the next gen systems. Find me a fanboy who wouldn't buy those the second they hit the stores.

  • imortiferus

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 10:54 am GMT

    First, Kojima himself has stated publicly that MGS4 is portable to 360, obvioulsly he knows a lot we dont... I'll leave it at that. Second, Even following the price shave of the PS3 Konami is NOT confident in the sales growth. They NEED to sell Millions to recoup the development cost. Finally, Third, Everything displayed at E3 by Sony, MGS4 or otherwise is doable on 360 and just like Virtua Fighter 5 will look as good if not better.

  • kairnz

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 10:51 am GMT

    The fight between Raiden and Vamp looked so awesome.

  • DonutTrooper

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 10:51 am GMT

    Paul:

    My brother and two of my cousins work at Intel and have worked on the processors for both the 360 and PS3. From what they've said and what they've shown me, both processors are very similar, and the only difference in graphic capability will only start somewhere around 3-5 years from now. Although the PS3 is faster and more sharp, the 360 could easily run the MGS4 graphics. All it takes is time.

    But I'm not thinking it will port anyway.

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