The Official Twin Snakes Thread (screens inside)

[A Black Falcon]

... and?

[OB1]

Nothing.

But read this from ignxbox's "top 100 games of 2004" feature. This came at the very end of the article:

We'll have our final installment tomorrow as we conclude our look into the future of Xbox. What tasty bits will be revealed? Here's a hint: He's an Italian plumber with a thing for red overalls.

What the fuck does that mean? Mario coming out for the X-Box? Yeah right. Morons.

[A Black Falcon]

Some people at Nintendorks guessed something Conker-related...

[OB1]

It would be funny to see a Mario parody in the next Conker game...

[A Black Falcon]

Yes, it would.

[Private Hudson]

Originally posted by OB1
Oy, don't you know what cel-shading is, Hudson? Simply giving a model some flat textures ala Fear Effect does not make it cel-shaded. The textures have to move, always look a certain way when facing the camera so that it always has the appearance of a 2D cartoon.

Well that's not necessarily true. But I was merely asking a question. I've seen many people claim this as the first ever Cel-Shaded game, and I've never gotten verification. :)

[Great Rumbler]

Originally posted by OB1
It would be funny to see a Mario parody in the next Conker game...

It wouldn't surprise me if Rare did something like that.

[OB1]

Hudson, trust me when I tell you that Fear Effect most certainly does not use any type of cel-shading.

[OB1]

From ign:






















Looks great! A bit drab, but that's how the first game looked.

[big guy]

is is just me or does that look significantly worse than MGS2 on PS2?

[OB1]

I don't think it looks significantly worse, but it does look worse.

[Great Rumbler]

Really the only thing about Twin Snakes I can see that isn't on par with MGS2 is the textures, but other than that it looks pretty good.

[OB1]

The textures, the models...

[A Black Falcon]

Looks nice. Now just hope they add to the gameplay... :)

[Sacred Jellybean]

Whoa! It's a game I've been playing for a couple years now with better graphics! I better go out and buy it!

I second what ABF said.

[Great Rumbler]

I'm not sure if anyone has pointed this out yet, but Twin Snakes is Metal Gear Solid 1 and Sons of Liberty combined into a single game.

[Sacred Jellybean]

Whoa, you're kidding me... when was that announced? I thought it was just a MGS1 remake.

[OB1]

It is just an MGS1 remake, as far as I know. I haven't seen anything to prove otherwise.

[Great Rumbler]

I'll try to find something that says that, but I'm pretty sure it is. And why give it a subtitle like "Twin Snakes" if it was just remake of the first game?

At Nintendo's press conference, Miyamoto-san, Kojima-san, and Mr. Dyack together presented a lengthy video unveiling Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes to the world. Besides putting to rest all the speculation about whether Silicon Knights was really collaborating on the project or not, the video really raised more questions than it answered. Showing scenes from Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2, the video featured the cyborg ninja quite heavily.

Well, GamerFeed has the final word straight from the horses mouth, although it might not be as clear as we would like: "Hideo Kojima has achieved worldwide recognition and awards for the original Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and now he's rolling the essence of both games into one in this magnificent game. "

[A Black Falcon]

I haven't heard that it might include MGS2... that would be very cool. But I wouldn't take that quote as proof.

[OB1]

That would be cool. I assumed that the Twin Snakes title suggested that you'd be able to play both sides of the story.

[Dark Jaguar]

I thought Twin Snakes is just the perfect subtitle regarding what major revelation takes place in the game.

Didn't notice anything added to the gameplay? How about putting guys in lockers and the rail grabbing? There's the first person aiming thing too. They basically redid MGS using MGS2's engine. Oh and, I don't see a problem with the look. Seems to be on par with MGS2 to me.

[OB1]

Yeah I noticed that. That should make for some interesting gameplay. I just hope that the environments aren't completely identical to the ones in the original MGS.

The game looks almost as good as MGS2, but it looks like they're using higher res versions of the textures from the PSX game. That's my only problem with TT's graphics, the textures. They're very plain.

[A Black Falcon]

TS looks nice... lots of arctic stuff but that's more varied than an oil rig, by far. :)

And since its a way off it'll probably get better. Now how about those gameplay improvements...

[OB1]

The environments are far too clean and the textures too simple. It needs to look more... worn. Part of the reason why the original MGS looked so gritty was because of the pixelated textures, but it worked. They need to dirty things up in TS.

[Nintendarse]

From Nintendo's E3 site:

Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes™ combines the thrilling story of the original Metal Gear Solid® game with the jaw-dropping graphics and unparalleled gameplay found in Metal Gear Solid® 2: Sons of Liberty™.

So it's the original MGS game with MGS2 moves and graphics. I haven't seen it in motion, but the screens are hit-or-miss. Some of them are quite impressive, while others show off the simple geometry and textures. This makes for one tight development schedule if it's supposed to be released in time for the holidays.

[OB1]

The environments and textures are the exact same as the ones found in the PSX version of the game (although naturally the textures aren't as low res and pixelated as before). I really hope that's not how the final game will look like.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah... it should be improved and not just be the original game with MGS2 gameplay... I want new stuff! There probably will be... but we haven't seen it yet.

[OB1]

I'll be happy with MGS2 gameplay in MGS1 as long as the environments don't look the exact same.

[Sacred Jellybean]

Did you see the trailer? It was ]well done, but didn't show enough gameplay (and it was too dark). I hope they beef up the game's graphics more before release (when will it be released, anyway?).

[OB1]

I think it's coming out this winter.

[Nintendarse]

Silicon Knights, Nintendo, and Konami are trying to squeeze it into the 2003 holiday season, but my guess is that it will be delayed into the first half of 2004. However, Nintendo really needs a big mature game for the holiday season, so they might really push SK to move the development quickly.

[OB1]

Here's an interview from Nintendojo. It's a good read:

Kojima-San Interrogated

With Miyamoto, Silicon Knights, and famed Konami developer Hideo Kojima working on Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes exclusively for the GCN, Nintendo Power had a chance to interview Kojima-San, the Metal Gear braintrust from the heart of Tokyo.


Nintendo Power: Who's idea was it to remake Metal Gear Solid?
Hideo Kojima: Nintendo approached Konami with the offer. I had always been a big admirer of Mr. Miyamoto's work, but in 17 years I had never been able to work with him or work on a Nintendo system.

NP: Didn't you work on the original Metal Gear Solid for the NES?

HK: I made the original Metal Gear Solid for a Japanese system called the MSX, which was kind of like a personal computer. Konami later ported it over to the NES.

NP: What is it like to work with Mr. Miyamoto?

HK: It's hard to explain in words. Mr. Miyamoto is the reason for my success in the industry. We are a lot alike; we both run companies and are game creators and managers, so I think it is a good fit.

NP: Are you working closely with Silicon Knights?

HK: No, I keep my distance, but my team is working with them.

NP: Did you handpick your team?

HK: Which, my team in Japan or Silicon Knights?

NP: Both.

HK: Of course, I handpicked my Japanese team. When we decided to make the Twin Snakes for GCN, we first looked for a developer in Japan who could create a game that met our high quality standards, but we couldn't find one. When I called Mr. Miyamoto for help, he said "I have a team that I want you to meet" and that's how Silicon Knights got involved.

NP: How did you get started in the industry?

HK: I originally wanted to work in the film industry, but the Japanese film industry is a very closed place. So then I realized that you could still tell a compelling story through a video game.

NP: What makes a game fun to play?

HK: Great control. Sound, graphics and story are all byproducts. The control must be good for you to experience the game. I learned that by playing Mr. Miyamoto's games.

NP: Is Solid Snake based on anyone?

HK: The Solid Snake in Twin Snakes is not. The original Snake from the MSX Metal Gear game was based on Christopher Walken. (laughs)

NP: Really?! Have you ever met Mr. Walken?

HK: No.

NP: Beside the new graphics and sound, are there any big changes between Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes?

HK: The storyline is the same. People like the storyline of Metal Gear Solid, but they enjoy the gameplay of Metal Gear Solid 2 [Sons of Liberty]. So we try to blend those two elements. The polygon [cinema] scenes in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes have also been enhanced. We spent over two months doing motion capture and making sure that everything was correct, and we also brought in a Japanese film director to help us.

NP: Will Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes use the same voice actors as MGS?

HK: Mostly, yes. Most of the main characters will remain the same.

NP: What gave you the idea to create a stealth/action game?

HK: I had always liked adventure and spy novels. When I first started at Konami, they wanted me to make a war game. But war games require lots of enemies and bullets, and the MSX wasn't able to do those things. So instead I came up with a game where you had to sneak around and there were very few enemies, and if they found you the game was essentially over. The thrill and tension were very good. It's like in a movie where you are hiding from someone and you knock something over and they hear you - I wanted to create that. When I first showed the idea to my team, they were skeptical. They said "What fun is it to run away from your enemies all the time?"

NP: How did you convince them?

HK: I had the help of someone higher than me in the company. And once we started working on the game and the team saw the exclamation points appear over enemy's heads when they saw you, they quickly realized that this would be a fun game.

NP: Was there anything you wanted to do in MGS that you'll now be able to do in MGS:TTS?

HK: Not really. Mostly little details. It is much easier to get good bump-mapping on the GCN, for example.

NP: There is a strong anti-nuclear theme in MGS. Is that a personal issue for you?

HK: Yes, it is very important to me, although my team doesn't really care. (laughs) My parents survived the Tokyo bombing in World War Two - not the atom bomb, but the other bombings-and they would often talk about how bad it was.

NP: Which MGS character do you most relate to?

HK: Hmmm. Liquid Snake.

NP: Why?

HK: Do you remember that part in the trailer where Liquid says "I'm you! I'm your shadow!" Well, that's me. I've always been in the shadows and staying out of the sunlight.

NP: Will we see another Metal Gear game on a Nintendo system?

HK: Right now I am so busy with MGS:TTS and Metal Gear Solid 3 that I don't have any time to think about another game.

NP: Thank you very much.

Hopefully that closing statement doesn't completely dismiss the idea of an entirely *new* game for Nintendo's console. (wj)

Source: Nintendo Power

[A Black Falcon]

Very nice (and really long!) Denis Dyack interview... you should read all of it!
http://www.planetgamecube.com/specials.c...ile&id=454

Here's the most important point relevant to this thread, though.

Jonny: Can you say anything about the rumor that Metal Gear Solid 2 for GameCube will be included in this package?

Denis: Yes. That is not true.

Jonny: Not true.

Denis: That’s not true.

[Great Rumbler]

Denis: This is all real-time polygon demos. Like all the cinematics that you guys saw, those are all real-time, so you can actually move the camera around while that stuff’s happening too, in the game.

Jonny: You can control the camera?

Denis: Yeah.

Jonny: You can control the camera, or we can?

Denis: YOU can.

Jonny: Really?

Denis: Yes.

Jonny: That’s cool!

Hey, that's pretty awesome!