NCL and Konami Developing Metal Gear Solid for GameCube

After Shigeru Miyamoto reportedly 'leaked' the scoop on MGS for GameCube, Nintendo and Konami today both confirmed the project's existence. Details inside.

This week, it emerged that a Metal Gear Solid title is in development for GameCube - it was even said that Shigeru Miyamoto mistakenly blurted out these details during his European tour, and that he suggested Nintendo and Konami were working together on the project.

Today, both companies revealed that there is indeed a Metal Gear Solid game in development. On Konami's web site, the publisher confirmed that the game exists on GameCube, but not many details are available beyond that. Konami's Scott Dolph again confirmed the announcement to Bloomberg earlier today.

If it is true that this was meant to be a surprise for this year's E3 in May, then this is a slight public relations nightmare - especially if it was Miyamoto-san reponsible for this early announcement.

While these confirmations have been made, it has not been confirmed whether Miyamoto himself is involved in the project, but what is known is that NCL have some kind of involvement in the project's development. It's not known if the GameCube version is a port of MGS2 or MGS2: Substance, or if it's an original title.

Hideo Kojima recently confirmed that he is working on Metal Gear Solid 3 - despite stating he did not want to do a third title himself upon completion of MGS2, and would prefer somebody else at Konami to head up the project. However, platform details for MGS3 are sketchy and it is not known whether this has anything to do with the GameCube project.

What is certain is that, with thirdparty support for GameCube falling at a faster rate that it did for Dreamcast within its first year, this announcement can only be a good thing for Nintendo's current generation console.

Adam Doree
Yet another E3 of the Metal Gear Solid theme tune playing non-stop, anyone?