by:	July 26, 2009

WARNING: This article reflects the views and ideas of Xbox Evolved. This article is purely speculation. You've been warned that this article is full of theories, and not entirely confirmed. At ease! Enjoy!

The big upheaval!
The Xbox 360 has had a pretty decent run so far, but the one title that many gamers wanted and expected was a Metal Gear Solid title. Typically exclusive to the PlayStation brand other than a few exceptions here and there, rumors of a title coming to Xbox 360 have been strong ever since the launch of Xbox 360. The first hints of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Rising were given in the form of a slide show given by series creator Hideo Kojima at the annual Game Developers Conference earlier this year.

There was a teaser website, and it began as a dark stormy-like background that over time turned to dark, with each timer ending resulting in a letter change. While people were speculating about the possibilities about what the game is about, various leaks were made through magazines leading up to the announcement; some adverts in magazines revealed little details including the teaser itself and eventually, Raiden himself. By the end of April, the teaser changed again, this time the clouds cleared, but a new timer was revealed. The timer ended about the time Microsoft was kicking things off at there E3 2009 conference and the rest is history.

Recently Konami released a QA session with series producer/creator Hideo Kojima used mostly for an upcoming PSP title, MGS: Peace Walker and this is what he had to say about the teaser site:

Kojma:
5 = it is an MGS5 class game
S = Snake
巳 = snake in Kanji
E = E3
R = Raiden
3 = 3 from 360 and E3
6 = 6 from 360
P and S = PSP and adding 3 makes it PS3

Aside from the Snake and Raiden visuals, we featured a total of 10 "symbols" and when all of these are rearranged, they form connections to the announcements that we made at E3.

The first symbols that appeared were the number "5" and the letter "S" for Snake that represented Peace Walker which, to me, is a "5" class title. "巳" not only hints at the lowercase lettering of "E" for E3, but it is the kanji for the word "snake." Also, the symbol that appeared at the very end is the kanji "日" and represents a sunny background and the sunrise that links to RISING.

The "RISING" of "METAL GEAR SOLID RISING" implies "the sun rising," "the sun shining," and "the sun shining on Raiden" that was revealed in the visuals on the home page. In addition, "RISING" also represents how "METAL GEAR SOLID" will be taking the next step up.

Going back to the symbols found on the HP, they also link to "the day of 360" and also to each of the titles that we announced at E3. When each of the symbols are rearranged, I think you'll be able to recognize E3, PSP, PS3, 360 and others. So everyone, how did you like it? Were your predictions on the mark?”

For those of you unfamiliar with Kojima-san, he is one of the most influential developers out there. Along with Kojima Productions, he has helped pioneer new methods of story telling in gaming, as well as help bring Hollywood production values into the industry, making videogames a more respected medium.



Check out the next page to get into the real dirt about MGS Rising.