“This will be my last mission, baby. I promise.”

Update 26.11.11 – PlayStation Official Magazine UK has released a quote from the interview and it is now clear that Kojima merely stated of Metal Gear Solid 5 that “I think we’ll probably have to make it at some point”. A storm in a teacup? Looks like it.

Original Story – Proving that Solid Snake’s swan song was about as genuine as John Farnham’s farewell tour, Hideo Kojima has confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 5 is in the works.

In a soon to be published interview with the PlayStation Official Magazine UK, Kojima claims that his stealth action protagonist keeps finding a way to survive despite his best efforts to bring his story to a close. Call me cynical (go on!) but I suspect the almighty dollar (or in this case, the almighty yen) probably has something to do with Snake’s remarkable durability.

Kojima fans are about to enjoy a purple patch, with the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection set to arrive in stores in February 2012. The developer’s cult hit Zone of the Enders titles will reportedly be receiving same treatment later in the year. Kojima is also working on mystery title Project Ogre and serving in a supervisory capacity on the long delayed Metal Gear Rising. In short, he’s a busy guy.

NanoBITES captures those small but important morsels of gaming information that otherwise might slip between the cracks.

ITEM! The developer behind the forthcoming Syndicate revival is already planning its next move. Starbreeze Studios CEO Mikael Nermark has informed CVG that the company has commenced work on as yet unnamed PSN game.

ITEM! We now know exactly how long we have to wait before we can play as a monkey wearing a jetpack. Developer Ronimo Games has revealed that its forthcoming multiplayer action fest Awesomenauts will arrive on XBLA and PSN in February 2012.

ITEM! Valve has revealed that aspects of its Steam service have been accessed by hackers. User names, passwords and encrypted credit card information may have been obtained by the miscreants. Check out Valve’s apology and advice to consumers here.

ITEM! Will Wright has offered a mysterious hint about his next project. The SimCity creator told VentureBeat that HiveMind will adapt to its players’ circumstances in a range of ways, an example being where they and their friends are located in the real world.

ITEM! SEGA and Arkedo Studios are collaborating on the curiously titled Project Hell Yeah! Details about the project are currently scarce. What system is it for? Dunno. Platform? Not sure. Release date? Can’t help you. What’s it about? Something about monsters, we think.

Looking for more nanoBITES? View previous instalments here.

Each instalment of the Black Panel Tweet Squad compiles the Twitter ramblings of a site contributor on a single topic. Be warned, these stream of consciousness posts provide a terrible insight into the psychology of our writers.

It was a day like any other. Deadlines loomed, study continued to take up my time and a growing pile of games screamed out for attention. Then that far too comforting “ding!” of a new email arriving in my inbox sounded. It was an exciting one this time. “How’d you like to review Dark Souls?” asked Erin. My heart skipped a beat. My interest in Dark Souls was high after my time with Demon’s Souls. What else was I going to say? I was naïve. I hit “Reply” as fast as I could. “YES!” I typed. Read the rest of this entry »

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to this evening’s entertainment. Tonight we have an amazing fight scheduled to take place. In the blue corner, weighing it at a mighty 15 kg and wearing black covered with blue neon lights is the PC. In the red corner, giving up some weight at a lean 6 kg and wearing beige with three flashing red lights is the Xbox 360. Tonight they are fighting for the Battlefield 3 belt, the right to claim superiority as the system of choice for Battlefield fans everywhere. So without further ado… LET’S GET READY TO  RUMBLE! Read the rest of this entry »