Metal Gear Solid 3 pachinko is a surprisingly complete remake, for better or worse

Related Articles

A Halo Infinite prequel is out next month as an all-new tie-in novel

July 10, 2022

A Halo Infinite prequel is out next month as an all-new tie-in novel

July 10, 2022

Digimon Survive drops a new gameplay teaser ahead of its release later this month

July 3, 2022

Konami has released a new promo video for its Metal Gear Solid 3 themed pachinko-slot machine (opens in new tab), and man! I wish that was a game I could play more directly than by feeding steel balls into a cabinet! The seven-minute-long video shows off a bunch more of what appears to be Snake Eater scenes fully rebuilt in the Fox Engine (which powers MGS5 (opens in new tab)), from Snake’s first confrontation with Ocelot all the way to his final duel with The Boss.

Skip to the two-minute mark if you get tired of listening to the Japanese narrator intensely describe pachinko features.

There are a bunch of minigames themed after moments from the game, including the aforementioned Ocelot fight and a chibi Virtuous Mission. But the breadth and quality of these scenes has led some to speculate (with varying degrees of sincerity) that this pachinko cabinet may be a tease for a full-fledged, regular-video-game remake of Snake Eater.

Look at that shit! Greatest pachinko machine ever. Also, Konami is clearly re-making MGS3. Look at the amount of footage.July 15, 2016

See more

Wouldnt it be cool if we actually got a MGS3 remake in the fox engine?Not with this Konami tho https://t.co/CjWmjOtzXcJuly 15, 2016

See more

Konami has said that it plans to keep making Metal Gear games (opens in new tab) even with series creator Hideo Kojima gone. And, if Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (opens in new tab) and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (opens in new tab) are any indication, these days it’s fashionable to let a new team of developers cut their teeth on an existing series by remaking one of the series’ most beloved entries.

Others theorize that these assets were intended for an unannounced MGS3 remake, until Konami canceled it and decided to use the leftovers for a pachinko machine. Which is a little bit distressing to think about, if I’m being honest. Oof, feeling a hearty round of existential dread coming on now.

Very worrying possibility that this is all re-used from a potentially cancelled MGS3 remake?July 15, 2016

See more

manI never watched that MGS pachinko trailer but I’m seeing these clips from it now and there’s no way this wasn’t a FOX engine MGS3 remakeJuly 15, 2016

See more

With the most optimistic and pessimistic interpretations addressed, it’s also worth remembering that pachinko machines are a really big deal in Japan. After Kojima walked out of the office like the Pied Piper of game development, it’s entirely possible that Konami just put together some cool MGS3 scenes with the staff and engine it had left, intending all along to use them solely in a super-complex ball bearing gambling machine.

Seen something newsworthy? Tell us!