Rumored teaser site for next Metal Gear project leads to yet
another countdown ending at 6 p.m. PDT on May 26--but hinting at news
at June 2-4 expo
One of the most common--and cost-effective--marketing tactics employed
by game companies is the so-called "drip campaign." As perhaps most
famously seen during hype tsunamis prior to the Halo 2 and the Xbox 360
launches, the method calls for the gradual release of small hints about
a big-name game property. The steady stream of informational bread
crumbs leaves fans of said property hungry for any news about
the game or console in question, leading them to seek it out on their
own--instead of having to be told about it with expensive ads.
For those eager for more news about the next Metal Gear game, the drip
campaign currently being orchestrated by Konami must feel like water
torture. As Xbox 360 Metal Gear Solid rumors swirled on May 13, the financially conflicted publisher teased a May 18 announcement in a two-page advertisement in Famitsu, Japan's top gaming magazine.
When May 18 rolled around, though, the teaser site
revealed a countdown clock ending at 6 p.m. PDT on May 21. Given that
the teaser site bore the fox logo of Kojima Productions and what looked
like the number "5," speculation that a Metal Gear Solid 5 announcement
was imminent went through the roof.
The fact that series creator Hideo Kojima himself hinted at a "Next MGS" in the final slide of his 2009 Game Developers Conference presentation
only provided more fuel for the rumor firestorm. Said conflagration had
buckets of metaphorical kerosene flung upon it this afternoon, when
word came that a "new Metal Gear" game would shortly be announced for a PlayStation platform.
This evening, though, those awaiting a Big Announcement about a new MGS
title were left wanting. At the appointed hour, the teaser site gave
way to...another countdown, ending at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26--the
day after the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the US. The background
for the site also changed slightly, going from a field of dead grass
under a cloudy sky to a wet field of damper dead grass under a rainy
sky with the odd lightning strike.
Requests sent to Konami asking about whether this was the last countdown had not been answered as of press time.
[UPDATE] Over the course of the evening, the site began teasing the
letter "E" and the number "3" after lightning strikes, raising
suspicions that Konami will make an announcement at the June 2-4 Electronic Entertainment Expo.
On Thursday, the publisher announced that its own E3 press conference
will be held at 3 p.m. on Wednesday June 3. (GameSpot will cover the
event live.) The site is also flashing the letter "S" and the number
"5," sustaining speculation of an MGS5 reveal, as well as the number
"9" and a lowercase "e"--which could also be the Japanese character for "snake."
