Konami has hosted what it calls a "production hotline" event, featuring some of the key creatives behind the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection and the upcoming MGS3 remake Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Hey: call these things Hotline Konami. You can have that one for free.
The key figure here is producer Noriaki Okamura, who's in charge of the company's attempts to revitalise the series, and a true Konami veteran who also worked with the old Kojima Productions throughout its lifespan. Okamura has a seriously impressive history: among other things he was key to Policenauts and had senior roles on tons of Metal Gear games. He even got a "special thanks" from Kojima in Metal Gear Solid's credits.
Okamura spoke about what Konami's hoping to do with Delta, and the following is a machine translation of some of his remarks (should Konami release an official English transcript, I'll update). The full event can be viewed (in Japanese) on Youtube.
"It is necessary to release a modern-style Metal Gear for today's game users, rather than the Master Collection," said Okamura of Metal Gear Delta: Snake Eater. "But MGS should remain MGS, so we will change the graphics and operability, but leave the other scenarios, sounds, and game design unchanged."
There's quite a sweet moment when a slide comes up about development progress on Delta, which says "we're doing well," before Okamura chips in: "We're doing our best."
The host asks how many of the original MGS3 team are working on Delta. "Not all of them, but many of them are still involved," says Okamura. "Some people are walking a new path. The number of people who don't know about MGS is increasing, so I want to do something about this situation, and I think it's our mission for those of us who remain at Konami to preserve Metal Gear for future generations."
Meanwhile, no less than David Hayter (the voice of Solid Snake and Big Boss in MGS1 through 4) has been bragging about playing the game itself. "Please don’t tell anyone… but I played the opening of MGS Delta up to the bridge scene the other day," said Hayter on X. "It was spectacular."