Before Kojima Productions and Konami get Hideo Kojima that editor he so desperately needs, perhaps the company should hire someone who knows how to launch an online multiplayer game. The Metal Gear Online "Gene Expansion" was released yesterday and promptly melted Konami's servers, resulting in the closure of the game's MGO Shop and Reward Shop and difficulty logging in to the service. Some MGO players have reported paying for the new expansion and getting nothing in return.

Konami's solution to some of these issues was to restrict random IP ranges from accessing the shops, in an effort to lighten the load.

The company has also cancelled all Metal Gear Online "Survival" battles planned for this weekend, promising to have a new hamster wheel installed to power the servers as soon as is technically possible.

Metal Gear Online Support [Konami - thanks, Shakir!]

Silent Hill: Homecoming Gets Pyramid Head, PC Version

Earlier this week I watched a Konami rep play through a bit of Silent Hill: Homecoming while we were awaiting the coming of Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi. The quick play through showed off the opening moments of the game, with protagonist Alex Shepherd waking up in Silent Hill and setting off on the search for his little brother. The game looked rather nice in motion, and creepiness immediately ensued as Sheperd's little bro seems to have a penchant for scampering in and out of shadows, a staple of the horror genre since Uggok the caveman drew the first horror cave painting. Note to Alex: your brother might be more receptive to being found if you don't slowly walk towards him with an axe in your hands.

While the demo was cut short by Iga's entrance, two bits of news to come to light. Pyramid Head will indeed be playing a part in the game, and now the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game is coming to PC, as did Silent Hill 2, 3, and 4 before it. What will Pyramid Head do in the game? Not sure, but I'm ruling out the hokey pokey.

Metal Gear Online Expansion Dated

Liveblogging Konami's E3 2008 Press Conference

Hey, it's Konami time! We'll be liveblogging the Big K's entire presentation right after the jump. Here's hoping we see lots of Castlevania — will Konami surprise us with any other new announcements, or will we get our first glimpse of some of the things we've been hearing about thus far? Hang out after the jump, and we'll find out together.

E3 08 Instant Booth Tour

Ever since it was revealed that the new Castlevania game for the Nintendo Wii, Castlevania Judgment, would be a fighting game, one question has been on fans' minds. Is that really Fahey standing next to Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi, and why does he look so rough? I am hunching down to try not to tower over Iga out of respect, as he just spent several minutes answering my questions via translator. Questions like, "Why a fighting game?"

Igarashi's answer? It's not a fighting game. See? Simple.

Before speaking to Castlevania's Daddy Koji Igarashi earlier today, I got a chance to step into the shoes of the series prettiest little thing, Maria. Okay, their prettiest little female thing, though I did get a chance to beat up Alucard, the franchises prettiest little male son of Dracula.

As Iga said, Castlevania Judgment is not your standard 3D fighting game. You move in full 3D, almost as if you were playing in a room in one of the various attempts at bringing the platformer to into the 3D arena. There are objects to smash (and in Dracula's case, possess), power ups to be gained, and spectacular special moves to master, but at its core the gameplay is a very simple, pick-up-and-play affair.

Castlevania Movie Sees Belmont Armed With "A Fucking Sword"

After Dr. Henry Jones, modern pop culture's second-best proponent of the whip has got to be Castlevania's Simon Belmont. And with a Castlevania movie (sort of) coming up, just imagine the kind of stuff he could be doing with said whip! And yet, courtesy of a script review for the upcoming project, it seems the whip's been relegated in favour of a sword. And not just any sword:

Though I said Vampire Killer is gone from this script, Simon does wield what is described as a chain whip in two instances. However, it is nondescript and in one of the occasions is wielded as an off-hand weapon. So what is Simon armed with throughout the film? A fucking sword.

Oh dear. Nothing like setting off on the wrong foot with fans, is there?

Paul W. S. Anderson’s Castlevania [CC2K]

Konami has dropped details on the first Metal Gear Online expansion, known as the "Gene Expansion," on its official web site. The expansion adds some of what you'd expect — three new maps, two new playable characters in Meryl Silverburgh and incompetent incontinent Johnny "Akiba" — and a few things you might not. Included in the expansion, which we don't yet see a price for, is the ability to play as customizable female characters, a "Survival" mode and a Reward Shop for spending your in-game points on new gear. Neat!

METAL GEAR ONLINE GENE EXPANSION [Konami - thanks, Tw3nty0ne!]

MTV Calls Konami's Rock Band Lawsuit "Surprising", "Baseless Litigation"

Last night, word broke that Konami, publisher and developer of trailblazing rhythm games Guitar Freaks and Drummania, was suing Harmonix. The Japanese company claimed that the developer of Rock Band was in violation of three patents held by Konami, seeking damages (read: cash) and demanding that Harmonix and parent company Viacom cease the use of its inventions (read: more cash).

MTV News received a response from an MTV spokesperson on the matter — which, in my mind, was shouted across cubicles — who said the lawsuit was "extremely surprising." The rep further noted that "successful products such as 'Rock Band' can often become targets for baseless litigation." We agree, especially when the entity filing suit is showing up extremely late to the party with its own stillborn excuse for a rock game. At least those poor unfortunate litigation lawyers will finally get a few bucks coming to 'em.

Further details on the suit at MTV News.

'Rock Band' Creators Sued By 'Rock Revolution' Publisher Konami [MTV News]

Konami Suing Harmonix Over Rock Band

Betty, file this under “surprised it took them this long”, could you? Konami’s lawyers in the US have filed a patent lawsuit against Harmonix (and MTV, and VIacom) in the federal court in Tyler, Texas. They allege that Harmonix’s Rock Band violates a pair of patents Konami obtained in 2002 and 2003, which relate to “simulated musical instruments, a music-game system and a musical-rhythm matching game”. For this, Konami seek justice. They also seek cash money. Loads of cash money. As well as an order blocking Harmonix (or Viacom) from using technology that violates Konami’s patents.

Konami Sues Viacom Over `Rock Band' Music Video Game [Bloomberg] [Pic]

Dance Dance Revolution X In Silhouette

On November 21st, Konami's Dance Dance Revolution will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Can you believe it? It's been ten years since DDR stormed arcades and home consoles. This year, it seems Konami is releasing Dance Dance Revolution X on the PS2 and in arcades as well it seems. As both commenter Riyu and arcade site Arcade Renaissance points out, the teaser page shows a somewhat different cabinet design. Nothing's really been announced by Konami, so sit tight for more details.

DanceDanceRevolution X [Konami Thanks, Riyu!]

Konami's Castlevania fighting game might not be exactly what fans were hoping for, but from this first batch of screenshots there's no denying that Castlevania Judgment for the Wii has a certain aesthetic appeal to it. Besides, trying to make an enjoyable traditional Castlevania game in 3D have failed miserably, so why not? Judgment could very well deliver the 3D versions of our favorite characters that we desire without us having to suffer through another botched attempt at recreating 2D greatness like Castlevania 64 or Lament of Innocence.

Comic Explains Why Solid Snake Never Gets Any Fox Tail

You'd think with the raw sexuality that Solid Snake oozes in every episode of Metal Gear that he'd be swatting away the ladies with baseball bat or, at the very least, tranquilizing them and moving their unconscious bodies to less conspicuous locations. It's not like he hasn't come across his share of foxes who could use some post-traumatic stress relief. Sure, there may not be a lot of time for love on the battlefield, but according to the philosopher Pat Benatar, love is a battlefield. Given that, we'd think Snake's romantic adventures would be a natural spin off for the series.

Kotaku reader Michal's comic, however, might help explain why Snake strikes out with the women of Metal Gear Solid in a spin on this theory about Old Snake's shortcomings. I guess, technically, it's NSFW, so proceed with caution.

Konami Confirms Elebits 2 DS

Looks like GameFly jumped the gun just a little bit, but at least they jumped it accurately. Konami has just officially announced Elebits 2: The Adventures of Kai and Zero for the Nintendo DS. It's the sequel to the original game for the Nintendo Wii, which I quite enjoyed, although I felt the could have done more with it. I just didn't think more would mean tossing it onto another system.

Still, the concept should translate relatively well onto the DS...in fact the touch screen controls could very well make the collecting Elebits mechanic work even better as you embark on a magical journey, using the Elebits' special powers to help you along the way. Featuring a ton of puzzles and four-player Wi-Fi connection multiplayer, Elebits 2: Electric Boogaloo The Adventures of Kai and Zero should be in stores sometime this fall.

Metal Gear Online Patched, Now Sneakier, Headshottier

Metal Gear Online players, you've now got two new additions to your Metal Gear Online gameplay. One is a new game mode, called Team Sneaking. This expands on the original "Sneaking" mode, and instead of just having Snake invisible, makes one whole team invisible. The other change is that hosts now have the ability to toggle "Headshots Only", which will punish any kill that's not a bullet to the head.

Metal Gear Online gets patched with new mode, host option [Ars Technica]

Some SIlent Hill Homecoming gameplay footage. To head your whining off at the pass: yes, the graphics look like a PS2 on a bad day, but this is supposedly taken from very early code. Yes, there's a narrator. Guy's from a Russian mag, Igromania. So he's speaking Russian. Just enjoy the fact you get double the subtitles and hear the game called "Saileent Heeeeeeeeeeeeaall" and you'll get through the next 13:29 just fine.

David Hayter Begged Konami To Change MGS4 Stuff

David Hayter isn't just some voice guy. He's a voice guy who's also a Hollywood screenwriter and has penned some big movies like X-Men. While Hayter did offer praise for Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima by saying he's "certainly learned things from him, especially about ambiguity and telling a story without giving all the answers", Hayter also pointed out creative run-ins he's had with the game designer. As far back as the original Metal Gear Solid, Hayter didn't always agree with Kojima's choices. What did Hayter think of Metal Gear Solid 4? Hit the jump for his opinion of where it went wrong — SPOILERS ahead!