Kojima Productions’ “next” project is…? (updated)

The mystery and intrigue started a few days ago with a cryptic email that 1UP received from a “source” with the subject line “T -3 days.” The contents were a URL link to what at the time was a dead area on Konami.jp’s website. Another clue was given in a Famitsu advertisement which only showed a two page spread of some wetlands, a pair of shadowed figures in the tall grass, a house off in the ominous distance and the date of May 18, 2009.

Today (May 14, 2009), the once dead area of Konami.jp’s website evolved into a repetitive Flash movie of the same wetlands in a different area, the ominous clouds now in motion and the sound of howling wind. If you are quick to spot, you can even see the cloud icons as the page is loading.

All we know is that something is about to go down and whatever it is, it’s Kojima Productions next project.

Guesses as to what this mysterious project is have ranged from something in the territory of Metal Gear Solid 3, to the obligatory Metal Gear Solid 4 finally going to Xbox 360 with the stormy images representing the fury fanboys will raise, and finally, Konami’s Tornado Outbreak which has recently slipped the lips of Gamefly. A search on Tornado Outbreak reveals practically nothing except articles on actual tornado outbreaks. Man, am I glad I left the Midwest. The Gamefly listing only reveals the title will be an Action-Adventure game for the Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Insert all Twister jokes in the comments below.

Tornado Outbreak has the lead on the theory boat right now, the stormy images and the title of the game match up nicely but maybe a little too nicely. It would be exciting to see Kojima pull his hand out of the MGS bag and come up with an original IP even if it means its a crazy storm chasing one. Something along the lines of a horror game perhaps?

The two figures in the Famitsu ad happen to take cover in an abandoned house only the house isn’t entirely abandoned and our two heroes find themselves battling both the elements and pursuers to stay alive.

Yeah, that seems more like a Kojima game to me.

Editor’s Note: It may or may not help but it you look at the page’s code you see the following keywords in the header (caps are theirs): Hideo Kojima, MGS, METAL GEAR, NEXT, game, konami, kojima game, KJP, Kojima Production. The name of the flash file is “kumori_15.swf.”

UPDATE: Looks like things have gotten stormy over at the Kojima Productions NEXT website. The once ominous clouds have become more menacing with full on lightning and thunder. With every flash of the lightning brings the unveiling of a giant, faded number “5″ and a countdown timer that seems to point to sometime around May 21 or 22, 2009.

This obviously has our guesses moving away from Tornado Outbreak and pinpointed on either Metal Gear Solid 5 or Silent Hill 5. Of course, if you are familiar with Kojima’s sense of humor, the mysterious “5″ may not be a five at all and instead could be an “S”, which could represent many things including something to do with the oft wished Snatcher. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

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