By some miracle of God I’ve managed to charm my way into the Konami press conference. I did so by making friends with I kindly PR rep named Marissa, and not relying on Alon’s shoddy bracelet making skills. So if you’re one of the constant few who continue to give me shit about not sneaking into the Sony conference (see here), now would be your opportunity to shut the fuck up.

The big rumor rolling around was that Kojima was coming stateside to announce that he’d be taking the wind from Iga’s sails and revamp Castlevania. In actuality he came to announce four new titles, three of which, were (of course) part of the MGS franchise. Metal Gear: Arcade was up first and based off what they were eluding to the game’s going to work much in the same fashion as the shooter style coin-ops of the early 90′s (ala Terminator 2: Arcade). They also mentioned something about it being in 3D, but I wasn’t really paying attention, as there were somewhere in the neighborhood of ten stupid-hot Japanese girls to my left. Oh, the rapture of the Shibuya crowd! *sigh* Moving right along, the next game demo’d was Metal Gear: Peace Walker, a direct sequel to MGS 3. Yay! More Naked Snake… To this, Kojima made it a point to push the fact that he’d be not only writing the script but also directing the PSP addition. Hmm, it’s at this point that I started to question a few things. One, how much is Sony paying him to help ensure that the PSP Go doesn’t flop as hard as the PSP’s initial release. And Two, how was a guy who’s known for his dedication to working on a single project going to be able to divide his time into two major releases (the other being the worst kept secret ever, Castlevania). I wonder…

Last of the three was MGs: Rising, which is being touted as the future of the series with Raiden taking the helm. Again, nothing was shown, it was essentially the exact same trailer we saw at the Microsoft press briefing two days prior. Finally, the big reveal! Obviously it was the new Castlevania that everyone had been talking about, we all knew it. But I’ve got to say that didn’t take away from the excitement in the slightest. The trailers been up for a while now, so there’s not much point in me describing it. It looks a lot like many of the action games of this generation, with most of the mechanics being lifted from God of War. I was actually hoping for a more unique look, like MGS4 in medieval times, but as always, my wish was not granted. Now, I don’t want to say the design is “cartoony,” because it’s obviously not. It’s just not as dark or Gothic as the DS incarnations. I mean if you’re wandering around a country that’s being oppressed by an evil vampire-lord, would it really be that bright or vibrant?

Aside from the visuals, we did learn some interesting tidbits from the video. First, the story will play a more integral part of the game. They’ve tried to make this more of a focal point with the last few 3D additions to the series, but they’ve always come out stale. This time with Foxhound leading the story, I have high hopes. After all, if they can make the MGS storyline tie together in a coherent fashion, well… fuck! They can just about make anything work. The game was also mentioned to have more of a sandbox environment, giving the player more  opportunity to explore the world surrounding Castlevania. We also learn that the main character’s name is Gabriel, and being a “revamp” I’m guessing he’s not a Belmont. Finally, were given a cast list, which I was very much into, enlisting the vocal talents of Jason Isaacs, Robert Carlyle, and Patrick Stewart. Captain Picard, come on!!! That guy captained a fucking starship, so I’m damn sure he can take on some vampires.

The trailer ended and Kojima stepped up to the podium one last time to introduce the “producer” of L.O.S… and the bottom drops out. I knew it was too good to be true! Kojima doing a Castlevania? WOW! That would be great!!! Yeah, it would be great, but its not going to fuckin’ happen. As it turns out, he’s sticking with his cash-cow and not the new Castlevania. In his stead, and simply under his company name, production will undertaken by MercurySteam, a new company out of Madrid. Time will tell on how this all plays out, 2010 is a long way away, and a lot can happen with this game before it’s finally released. So before I go spouting off and making judgment calls that I’ll regret later, I’m backing off and leaving you with a nice gallery.