With E3 right around the corner, it’s no surprise we’re seeing new announcements from different game companies. In particular, Konami saw fit to hold their first annual pre-E3 event at the Sony Pictures Studio yesterday to showcase a few downloadable titles in the works and to make a few announcements. Having been invited, yours truly and fellow Pg! writer Chris Toruno headed out to Culver City to check out what Konami had in store.
In addition to inviting members of the press and gaming industry, Konami decided to share this event with its fans, broadcasting a live stream of the company’s big, pre-E3 announcements.
After an introduction by Shinji Hirano, President of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., the presentation began with some new information regarding Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater for the Nintendo 3DS. In addition to utilizing the 3DS’s gyroscopic capabilities, MGS 3D will also make full use of the dual touch screen, as well as the camera, which allows players to snap photos for use as camouflage for Snake. No word yet on a release date, however.
Following a presentation for Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, it was time for Konami to unveil a brand new title: a third-person shooter known as NeverDead. Revolving around an immortal demon hunter named Bryce, the game’s core mechanic will revolve not only around the third-person shooter element, but also Bryce’s immortality, such as being able to survive being completely blown apart and dismembered. From the looks of it, the game looked quite interesting and I’m eager to see how the immortality mechanic will work out in the long run.
After showcasing the NeverDead trailer, featuring an original song by Megadeth, another announcement was made regarding another of Konami’s long-time franchises: Silent Hill. Presented by Konami’s Tomm Hulett and film director Michael J. Basset, who is handling the follow up to 2006’s Silent Hill adaptation, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, we were given a look at the upcoming Silent Hill: Downpour for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Could this be the Silent Hill title fans have been waiting for? Fans can only hope.
To finish up the presentation, head of Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima addressed the audience. Although he will not be attending E3 this year, Kojima did have a few things to show off, including the upcoming Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for the PS3 and Xbox 360 (yes, you re, which will include HD enhanced versions of Metal Gear Solid 2, 3, as well as an HD version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. However, that was just the beginning of it.
Along with the MGS HD Collection, Kojima will be including a new feature in the HD re-release of Peace Walker known as “Transfarring”. Introduced by a rather hilarious Mega64 sketch, Transfarring will allow users to transfer their saves from the PlayStation Portable version of Peace Walker to the PS3 version, and vice-versa, so that players can take their game on the go. However, aside from just saves, Kojima plans to be able to transfer PS2 and PS3 level games between the PS3 and the Next Generation Portable using the Transfarring system so that gamers can take their home console games on the go.
Aside from the Transfarring system, Kojima also revealed that his lesser known mecha action series, Zone of the Enders, will be seeing its own re-release in the Zone of the Enders HD Collection, also for the Xbox 360 and PS3, the latter of which will also have Transfarring support. Could a Zone of the Enders 3 finally be in the works? Given that Konami and Kojima Productions are showing the series some love, along with the fact that a new multiplatform game engine known as the Fox Engine is being developed, I would like to think so.
Sadly, there was no real information about Metal Gear Solid: Rising was revealed, aside from a comment that the game was still on track for a 2012 release date. However, as the presentation came to a close, the display suddenly shifted to flames, which formed a familiar, stylized C that Konami fans might be familiar with. Contra, anyone?
That’s all we have for the actual Pre-E3 presentation. Currently, it is unknown if there will be anything else for Konami to announce officially at E3, but if it does, we’ll be there next week and will be sure to bring it to you. After all, who’s to say Konami doesn’t have a few surprises in store?
For our coverage on the various game demos on display at the event, stay tuned.