Metal Gear Solid 5's knockout blow, Phantom Pain theory, Zelda Wii U update - Game Wire

Metal Gear Solid 5 has proved a big hit with the Phantom Pain scoring huge with fans on launch day

The NEWS NEWS BLOG brings you the top gaming reports from around the World Wide Web, including Metal Gear Solid 5's knockout blow, A Phantom Pain theory and Nintendo's plans for Zelda: Twilight Princess on Wii U.

 

UPDATE ONE: Metal Gear Solid 5 may have divided fans due to its ending and content structure but that hasn't stopped the game being an outstanding success for Konami.

For those worried by the idea of the Phantom Pain being a flop, the latest reports appear to confirm the opposite.

In fact, Metal Gear Solid 5, spanning all platforms, brought in more on in its first day on sale as Avengers: Age of Ultron did in the same time frame.

A lot more.

The Adobe Digital Index’s new report covering gaming trends says the latest instalment in the Metal Gear series smashed a $179 million globally, doubling the amount the Avengers' managed in its $84 million worldwide take.

“The gaming industry is a lot bigger than most marketers realize,” said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst and director at Adobe in the report.

“These games get more social buzz on opening day than most movies do, and the revenue for one of the top games this year outdid the highest-grossing movie start [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $91 million] by nearly double.”

It's a great comparison to make for a company who have had to deny that they are ready to pull out of the triple-A game market, what with the Phantom Pain costing around $80 million to make.

However, it should be noted when comparing these stats that the Avengers' release happened over several days - it made $5.4m in the UK on opening for instance - and that the overall Age of Ultron worldwide take has since risen to over $1.4 billion dollars in ticket sales.

ORIGINAL: Hideo Kojima, the highly creative mind behind the popular Metal Gear series has built a reputation for incredible gaming misdirection, creating campaigns in the past to keep title details secret.

He successfully managed to keep Raiden’s starring role in Metal Gear Solid 2 a secret until launch and some fans feel he may be hinting at a few other secrets connected with a Phantom Pain DLC.

Data miners have been scouring the game for new details, turning up references to a Chapter 3 for the game, named Peace.

Konami in the past have said that there is more to come from the Phantom Pain, although it is unclear if they meant a Metal Gear Solid 5 expansion or content for the newly launched Metal Gear Online multiplayer mode.

Fans have come up with a new theory surrounding the inclusion of a Chapter 3 DLC, and it comes from Kojima’s latest activity on Twitter.

Several new online messages from the director highlights third instalment in several famous media series, with some hoping this could be a reference to Metal Gear’s Chapter 3.

“THE KILLING on DVD. I've been wanting this for a long time. There was no Season 3 though,” he tweeted.

“Bought STAR WARS newspaper vol 3. It got posters of all series produced all over the world. 

“Watched TRUE DETECTIVE S2E3. Well designed indeed. Fresh to see Rachel McAdams smokes E-cigarette while driving.”

Konami have already commented on the rumours of Phantom Pain DLC, telling fans that they have nothing to announce concerning an expansion to the game at this time.

 

New information on the inclusion of playable heroes in Star Wars Battlefront appears to have been discovered early.

PC data miners have found new references to three well known characters who appear to be part of the new roster.

They include: Princess Leia, Han Solo and the Emperor.

EA recently revealed that there will be a Hero Hunt mode, where one player starts as either a Hero or Villain character depending on the planet you’re playing on, with seven other players spawning as troopers of the opposing side to take them on.

When a player delivers the killing blow on the current Hero or Villain, they get to take their place, including a short, cinematic sequence as you respawn.

The objective becomes surviving as long as possible in the boots of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, or whichever iconic character is up based on the pre-determined order.

Lead Level Designer Dennis Brannvall said of the new mode: “Hero Hunt is one of our fantasy-fulfilling game modes catering for those who want to divulge in epic, almost boss fight-like encounters with Star Wars characters

“With a player count of eight it’s a smaller and more direct game mode, and perhaps not as tactical as for instance Supremacy - but still not without depth.”

 

Star Wars Battlefront will have Hero hunts that could include the Emperor

Nintendo are reportedly planning to release a HD version of the The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii U.

Fans recently found two references to the apparent project, first a shop icon was found for the Twilight Princess hidden on the Wii U eShop, followed by a "Twilight Princess HD" reference on Nintendo's eShop servers.

It could provide the perfect stop gap for fans who are waiting for the delayed Legend of Zelda title heading for Wii U, some of which are worried that the unnamed project could be shipped over to the Nintendo NX instead.

It also failed to make an appearance at E3 this year, with Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime commenting at the time: “We could have scored a lot of points and showed some little tidbit of Zelda Wii U, but in our collective opinion the belief was, in the end, that would cause more frustration than benefit.

"We like to show content that typically will launch in the upcoming holiday and maybe extending into the first half of the following year. And at this point, the new Zelda for Wii U is not a 2015 project."