E3 06: Konami offers MGS4 E3 teaser

Sony's preshow conference at last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo turned a lot of heads. Along with the introduction of the PlayStation 3 and a handful of trailers for the system's first wave of games, the Sony conference dropped the first official word that Metal Gear Solid 4 would be coming to the PS3.

This year it appears Konami is looking to make another splash at E3 with Metal Gear Solid 4. The latest edition of the Kojima Productions English-language podcast has confirmed that the publisher will be showing off a new trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4 at the show, and it even includes an audio clip of the first 90 seconds of the trailer.

The trailer, which begins around the 4:45 mark of the podcast, is little more than people speaking in Japanese over a moody, atmospheric score. According to the Kojima Productions blog, this is the English translation of what they're saying:

Snake: War has changed. Our time has ended. Our war is over.

Campbell: Since the Manhattan incident, restrictions on military intervention in foreign countries have eased, fueling demand for mercenaries. Today, the world's wars depend largely on PMCs, private military companies whose businesses include supplying these mercenaries. PMCs have become a serious threat to the world.

Snake: The US has exported too much of its military power. Now she's paying the price.

Campbell: In total, they've got enough manpower to rival the US military. Based on our investigation, the five largest PMCs are run by a dummy corporation, which acts as a single mother company.

Snake: And the mother company?

Campbell: Outer Heaven.

Snake: The one world in which soldiers will always have a place…

The most significant revelation in this 90-second clip is the reference to Outer Heaven, a fictional region in Africa and a company founded by FOXHOUND chief Big Boss in the original Metal Gear. The original Outer Heaven was destroyed in that game, and references to it in subsequent Metal Gear games have only been fleeting, so the significance of its reemergence in Metal Gear Solid 4 isn't entirely clear. Perhaps the full trailer shown at the expo next week will reveal a bit more.