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Tag Archives: Konami

Even Kojima (MGS4 Creator) Hates MGO

September 26, 2008 – 9:00 pm

The creator of Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima, recently had an interview with Thomas Puha of 1up and some interesting questions and answers popped up. The one of greatest note, aside that he couldn’t comment on trophies being in development for MGS4, was revolving around Metal Gear Online.

1UP: Are you happy with the amount of players playing Metal Gear Online?
Kojima: [Laughing] Not at all!
1UP: I think you know where this is heading — the Konami ID and Game ID registration processes are a pain in the ass and just too complicated.
HK: [Laughs more and shakes head] No comment! That’s, er, a difficult matter.
1UP: Understandably, the whole Konami ID and Game ID infrastructure is a Konami-wide initiative that you had to use, and we’ll see it in future Konami games like Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.
HK: Honestly, officially, I can’t say anything on Konami ID and Game ID. It’s a company policy. But frankly speaking, the idea wasn’t a very good one.

When you ask a creator if he is happy about an aspect of the game he created and he flat out tells you “Not at all” that is a very bad sign. He did not even try to put a spin on it or anything, just came out and said he did not like that entire aspect of the game. He does not go into detail, but plainly states that it was not a good idea and I am sure that anyone that has tried to play this game online will agree.

I am almost positive that the online portion of the game gives Kojima nightmares to this day. Wakes up in the middle of the night screaming in Japanese.

[Via 1up]

By Al Zamora | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Even More MGS4 Passwords

August 30, 2008 – 8:00 pm

Want to unlock even more cool stuff in Metal Gear Solid 4? Even more passwords were released this week. Here’s what you can get:

  • “dntkkhktmm” - Drebin FaceCamo
  • “mgo2play” - “Subsistence Action” iPod Song
  • “skynytktjp” - Scanning Plug S

Rock it out in the Extras menu. You know you want to. Do it.

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , | Comments (1)

Metal Gear Online Servers Updated

August 28, 2008 – 2:00 pm

If you’re still playing Metal Gear Online after all the debacles it’s faced (I’m not), you may be excited to know that Konami has done some server updates. The updates were made in conjunction with the PlayStation Network downtime from the other day. Here’s what’s new:

1)Players will gain 5 reward points when they have finished a round in the automatching lobbies “SNAKE:EX”, “LIQUID:EX” and “SOLIDUS:EX”.

*The lobbies “SNAKE:EX”, “LIQUID:EX” and “SOLIDUS:EX” are only available for users who have bought the “MGO GENE EXPANSION”.

2)A new Survival Lobby “MK2″ has been added.

There you have it. Most of the changes only apply if you bought the MGO Gene Expansion. After all the problems surrounding the Gene Expansion pack, I haven’t felt like putting in a bunch of time with the game. There’s plenty other great online titles to play. What about you, our dear readers? Are you happy about the updates Konami is doing to their servers?

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

Metal Gear Online Rewards Shop Opens for Business

July 31, 2008 – 2:00 pm

MGO Reward Shop Logo

Finally a glimmer of hope in the problematic world that is Metal Gear Online. The Reward Shop is now open. Finally.

This should have launched a couple weeks ago when the Gene Expansion came out, but server issues caused everything to go haywire. You can now check it out either on the web or in game (which is technically on the web anyway). Make sure you remember your Game ID and password… I don’t.

You earn Reward Points in official matches of MGO, so playing will get you some cool stuff. Somehow, I have a feeling a lot of people just don’t care.

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , | Comments (2)

Konami Won’t Sell MGO Expansion in 30 Countries

July 28, 2008 – 3:00 pm

Metal Gear Online Screen

Oh, Konami. The problems just keep piling up. Yet another one that could have been easily solved by using the PSN and PlayStation Store. The Gene Expansion pack cannot be sold in 30 countries (the PS3 is sold in these countries and they can purchase from the PlayStation Store).

According to Konami’s website, the following countries cannot puchase anything from their online store:

Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Gibraltar, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta & Gozo, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vatican

That’s a lot of places, some pretty large, that Konami is ostrocizing. The entire country of Russia? Come on now. I really hope Sony takes the initiative to force developers to use the PSN for online portions of titles. We need to avoid this type of thing in the future. The fact that all this is happening with a Game of the Year candidate makes it that much worse.

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , | Comments (8)

Metal Gear Online v1.11 Update Released

July 27, 2008 – 12:00 pm

Metal Gear Online Screen

Get ready for some long downloading if you want to play Metal Gear Online. If previous patches are any indication, this is gonna take a while to get to you.

Hopefully this fixes a lot of the issues people have been experiencing after the botches Gene Expansion Pack launch. However, it’s known that the Reward Shop is not working after this update.

Maybe Konami will get this straightened out sometime soon…

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , | Comments (1)

MLB Power Pros 2008 Phone Conference

July 25, 2008 – 11:00 am

MLB Power Pros 2008

Loot Ninja recently had the opportunity to discuss the upcoming 2K Sports title, MLB Power Pros 2008 with Robert Nelson the Producer of the game.

Power Pros is developed by 2K Sports and released on PS2 and Wii for the second year in a row in North America, but for the first time on Nintendo DS. MLB Power Pros uses MLB licenses for all stadiums and players and is a huge success in Japan.

Rob Nelson calls it “Blend of sim baseball, but has a look and design acceptable to new players.” Power Pros 2008 tries hard to be mixed for casual and hardcore gamers so that no one is left out.
Read More »

By Al Zamora | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (3)

No Fix in Sight for Broken Metal Gear Online Expansion

July 21, 2008 – 11:00 am

Metal Gear Online Screen

It only gets worse for Konami… The botched launch of the Gene Expansion for Metal Gear Online will continue to suffer as they can’t figure out what the problem is. Yeah, good times.

This is yet another perfect reason to have a unified service. Had this expansion (and all online aspects of Metal Gear) been handled by the PSN and the PlayStation Store, this issue should not have occured.

Sadly, I think Konami just lost a lot of MGO players permanently. Why dedicate yourself to a game that’s going to break every month?

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

Konami Exec Fails at Her Own Game

July 21, 2008 – 10:00 am

This lady is a Senior Product Manager, but has some of the worst microphone skills I have ever seen. She starts her talk by calling the crowd “lame”, that should get everyone into it. She also tells the crowd that they have drums set up for them to “bang on” right after she said the game was realistic. Overall this lady needs to be booted from public speaking and never allowed to play a video game in front of a crowd.

By Al Zamora | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , | Comments (4)

Metal Gear Online Expansion Release Botched

July 19, 2008 – 8:00 pm

mgo.jpg

Oh, Konami. You just can’t seem to get the online right with Metal Gear, can you? First we had all the issues with the Konami ID, then only getting one character, and now the Gene Expansion just released is causing major troubles.

The MGO Shop and new Reward Shop are both up and down (mostly down) with some players reporting having purchased the Gene Expansion but not receiving anything. Seriously, why can’t this all be tied into the PSN? Have everything on the PlayStation Store, not in some web page shop you have to access with the PS3 Browser.

To top it all off, Konami is blocking random strings of IP addresses from accessing the shops and even the game. Most people I’ve spoken with have had major trouble playing MGO over the past few days. If things like this keep happening, I’d expect people to stop playing Metal Gear Online completely. Why go through all the hassle when there are online games just as good that work easier?

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , | Comments (2)