When it rains, it pours. Hideo Kojima, Konami’s legendary designer and director of the Metal Gear Solid series, should know: Any time he announces a new teaser, the down-pour of conspiracies and rumours is overwhelming. First the man threw us off at GDC ‘09, announcing a new Metal Gear Solid amidst a silhouette of what looked to be Raiden in the background. Then he posted a new teaser on his site – a scenic shot of rolling clouds and open grass with the words “Next” in the foreground.
If you head here, go to “Tools” and then “Page Info” in Firefox, you’ll find the following keywords associated with the page: Hideo Kojima, MGS, METAL GEAR, NEXT, game, konami, kojima game, KJP, Kojima Production. Even more interestingly was the media embedded in the page. Those rolling clouds and open fields? They come under a single Shockwave Flash application name: Kumori.
Kumori is Japanese for “Cloudy”. However, more explicitly, it’s also the name of a famous 15th century ninja: Kumori Iga. Check out this description of Kumori Iga and see if you can’t notice any similarity to another world-hopping ninja-like character from the MGS franchise:
“Soon after the outbreak of the war Kumori Iga left Japan for reasons unknown and travelled to China. After spending some time in the Henan Province he continued west following the old silk road. He continued following it until he came to Rome.
“Kumori Iga kept to himself during his travels, making sure his presence when unnoticed. His whereabouts after his arrival in Rome were unknown.”
So what does it all mean? Is this yet another piece in the puzzle alluding to the existence of Raiden in Kojima’s brand new project – one possibly separate from the main Metal Gear Solid lexicon? One thing’s for sure: The inclusion of “kumori” is more than just another expression for Kojima’s appreciation of the weather. We’ll find out on the 18th of May, the big date as advertised in Famitsu, to see what the connection really is between Konami, Kojima and Kumori.
11 Responses to “A New Detail in Kojima’s New Project: “Kumori””
Nicely put together…
+1 to you if it turns out to be true, which i hope it does.
hmmm….
On the one hand, I feel iffy about the fact that you interpreted a mere filename (appropriate named “cloudy”) as a sign that Kojima will make a ninja game. Because… let’s be real. WHAT ELSE WERE THEY SUPPOSED TO NAME THAT FILE??? (coolskyanimation.swf??? background.swf???)
On the other hand… I’m impressed at the extent to which you guys drove this speculation. =)
Interesting… This sounds to me like this is a new stealth ninja game based in a time period. Sounds awesome! It’s probably Kojima’s answer to Assassin’s Creed!!!
what the! … if it is the next metal gear it will be a Prequel a continuation
of the big boss’s story i mean look at the picure the colors and the atmosphere it looks like a classic photo from 60s or 70s its that simple !! there is no need to all that puzzle solving headache !!!
The announcmenet is tomorrow, I can’t wait.
or maybe a Whole New story about colonel campbell !!
Has anyone else noticed on this teaser site that if you watch lightning flash, the number ‘5′ flashes up with it?
MGS 5 for sure.
Well since the 5 flashes, and in Google Chrome, when the page finishes loading, right clicking the page and go to inspect element. There is a line near the top that says that its the Metal Gear.
so Metal Gear Solid 5 is a given.
I LOVED MGS 2 , and to see that Raiden just all-of-a-sudden dissapears and magically becomes a CyborgNinja drives me crazy… Their MUST be a new MGS game with Raiden as the star, I would SH** on the face of Konami if they didn’t do this… O_O I know that sounds insane but … Too many questions are still un-answered about Raiden’s happenings and I HAVE TO KNOW!!!
spoiler
old snake and raiden dialog :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPUlnl7C67w
Raiden: It even rained the day I was born.
Snake: Raiden, you were the lightning in the rain that day…
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