David Hayter coming back after all? Or did he never leave?

David Hayter recently changed his Twitter profile pic to Solid Snake, as well as tweeting this message:

"I know things about things you know nothing about."

Elsewhere, this "viral" video released on Youtube appears to be a man wearing a Phantom Pain/Moby Dick Studios shirt as well as the signature bandages over his face, claiming he will be voicing a character, and that he "would be the one you thought he was from the start" and then goes on to say that his identity would be revealed June 11th, a.k.a E3 prime time. It could be a fan fake video, but all this reeks of typical Kojima hijinks if you ask me.

Is the voice CG or real though?

To be honest I don't care if he comes back or not, I want to know more about the story and when I can play the game

#TeamRealVoice!

So it begins...

If the tweet and the video are indeed related, then they're not being very subtle about it. Might as well announce he's back right now.

If this turns out to have been a PR stunt rather than them just trying to hide the fact david hayter will voice young solid snake and not big boss, that will lose them a lot of goodwill I feel.

It's a bit too obvious if that's the case. The only good move from this is to announce Kurt Russell as Snake's new voice.

Hasn't that been the theory for awhile now? He was "honest" about not being asked to voice Big Boss (because he's indeed voicing Solid Snake?)

At this point, they just need to announce that Justin Bieber will be taking over as the official English voice of Snake and be done with it.

They're laying it on a little thick, I have to agree. I'll be really disappointed if it's revealed that David Hayter is in fact voicing Big Boss, though. It'd be no surprise to hear he's in the game somewhere, naturally as a younger Solid Snake or whatever, but I'm wishing for Kojima to stand by his guns and hand the Big Boss role over to someone else.

Hopefully it'll be a little more elaborate than even that in any case. Though after the super obvious 'reveal' that Phantom Pain is MGSV, maybe this'll all fall into place much like we're expecting once more and it turns out that Kojima has just sorta lost his touch.

Yeah, that is my hope as well. That he just reveals that he will be playing a young Solid Snake. That would be cool. Him playing Big Boss after all of this craziness would just be nuts. I was cool with the Mogren nonsense, but if they've been playing on this angle, that kind of pisses me off. There's a big difference between maintaining some fun mystery and flatly lying and misleading fans.

But that's a weird thing to decide to stick with. Why not go the extra mile and say "I wish Kojima would have stuck to his guns and let Moby Dick Studio take over". You can't "stick to your guns" or not if there was never anything to decide on. It's viral marketing. There are no "decisions". You plant the seed and watch it grow.

There have been exactly one "official" MGSV interview. Everything else has been viral marketing. Let the people market the game for you. And so far it's worked perfectly. Everything about it is everywhere, even when fake stuff is released, people don't know if it's real or not so they usually post about that as well.

Fuck there are too many quotation marks in this shit.

But all of the Moby Dick stuff haa a point, considering the obvious parables between the actual novel itself and the game. The Joakim Mogren character was also a reference to the game's own mystery bandaged fellow as well. Heavily implying that Big Boss is getting a new voice actor, only to then just pull the rug from under us and reveal ''nah, David's still snake lulz!'' would feel more like a mean spirited troll than anything.

Which, I know, Raiden and MGS2 ect. But Raiden's appearance was also more than just a somewhat cruel but also hilarious joke directed towards its fans after all. Of course it's perhaps still too early to judge whether David potentially carrying on the role could also serve some deeper purpose as well... Bottom line is I want Big Boss to get himself a new voice actor U_U The time is finally upon us I say!

Big Boss, young Solid Snake, Semi Old Snake. Whatever it is, i'm happy to see Hayter... back? In Metal gear. It just wouldn't be the same without him.

But Kojima is a troll and you don't know what to expect with him. :(

For all we know the game takes place in Silent Hill and is also a music game platformer.

MGSV, exclusively on the iPad.

@n7: Far as I'm concerned, a Kojima-directed Silent Hill rhythm game platformer is long overdue so bring it on!

Fuckin' Kojima! How can you not just love that guy? He doesn't give a FUCK, does he?

He was never "not back". All that previous jibber jabber was Kojima-style fucking with people.

This whole Kojima trolling is getting really tiring.

This is dumb you guys.

I am truly puzzled how anyone get any enjoyment out of Kojima games. Truly puzzled how people cope with games that are 'pure nonsense' in the sense of narrative or logic. My only explanation is people choke down Spaghetti-Os, Cracker Barrel is STILL in business, and people shove catheters up their 'wang' for fun too. The world is a sick sad place, so of course Metal Gear is still a game series.

All of that "pure nonsense" talk is mostly hyperbole. The stories can border on being silly sometimes, but they're also really fun.

I feel like Konami's pre-record went up on the Thursday before E3 last year and the year before. Is there a live Konami press conference this year? I'd really like to hear a couple of hundred people feign surprise (or interest) at the shock announcement that David Hayter is voicing Solid Snake in a Metal Gear game. I am not even being facetious, that genuinely sounds like prime Konami conference material.

Gross.

Catheters are probably really hard to work with and sterilize after the fact. Surely, any modern masochist would have moved on to bespoke urethral sounding rods by now.

Also; gross.

I really hope they announce it and David Hayter is in the audience and he just screams OH MY GOOOD NO FUCKING WAY in a way that makes it seem like he is both surprised but also just kidding.

I feel like there's still some big twist that Kojima is holding back. This stuff is fun and all but it's not exactly mindblowing.

YET

He didn't have that picture when he actually made that tweet, just fyi.

Also what Hollywood computer animated movies did David Hayter do voice work in? I don't think he has. I can think of another actor who has though, and he played another character that would make him a great fit for Big Boss.

This is some Kojima bullshit, he'll will be snake.

David Hayter is Kiefer Sutherland

I'm already sick of this game.

This might be a trollish comment but my sentiment is: I just dont understand WHY WOULD ANYONE care about MGS!?

It's awesome?

it would be the best thing ever if that scenario actually happened, would also add to the fucking with the audience if he also just starts crying also :P

Am I the only one that really doesn't care for how they are doing the weird viral videos with this game?

no of course its not... there are latin soap operas with better story telling than MGS.

Well, Kiefer Sutherland is a legitimate Hollywood actor, and we already know he's in the game.

See, I figured the craziest thing on my list was eating at a Cracker Barrel...go figure. ;-)

I've said this before and I'm sure I'll say it again:

You're falling for Kojima's marketing tactics again. This is all part of a very big, viral marketing campaign. And it's working. The gaming community is falling for it hook, line and sinker.

Of course Hayter is going to be in it. He was never not going to be in it.

...and trying to lead his own standing ovation for himself while the rest of the audience looks on, unmoved.

Just roll with all the sillyness.

And then Kojima starts laughing, and rips off his mask and HOLY SHIT HE'S ACTUALLY DAVID HAYTER. And then everyone's like "HOLY SHIT DOES THAT MEAN DAVID HAYTER IS KOJIMA!?"

And Hayter rips off his mask and and HOLY SHIT HE'S CAM CLARKE HOLY SHIT. LIQUID! And then Kojima-Hayter STARTS FUCKING FLYING, and screaming "LIQUID!", and Hayter-Clarke leaps into the air screaming "BRRRRRROTHERRRRRR!" and then they punch in the middle of the sky, while flying.

EVERYTHING TURNS TO WHITE.

The audience -- what's left of them anyway, I can't imagine how many have died from shock/excitement -- regains their ability to see, and they look up to the stage. There is a mighty robot on the stage, the likes of which have never been gazed upon by mere mortals. A machine of pure beauty, elegance, and horror. To one side, Kojima-Hayter. To the other, Hayter-Clarke. They hover inches above the ground.

We wanted something different... You wanted something different...

The sound echoes through the hall.

And so we truly give it to you...

Atop the machine, a new man appears. KOJIMA.PRIME. He seems to speak perfect English though that is only because HE IS COMMUNICATING THROUGH EVERYONE'S MIND. WOW.

We have toiled, experimented, studied, crafted, discovered... We have become smarter. Stronger. SUCCESSFUL.

Kojima-Hayter and Hayter-Clarke begin chuckling. Their eyes are alight with the glow of electricity. From the back the audience can hear "DON'T DO THIS, KOJIMA!" The audience is too captivated, or horrified, to move.

Life has changed. War has changed. Technology has changed. The newest chapter in the Metal Gear mythology. METAL GEAR SOLID V. V HAS COME T--

A GODDAMN EXPLOSION. HOW DID SOMEONE BRING AN RPG INTO E3!? STEP UP SECURITY OH MY GOD IT'S HIDEO KOJIMA AND HE HAS A STINGER ROCKET LAUNCHER. Hideo turns around and shakes his head, solemnly. Another rocket shoots out. IT'S DAVID HAYTER. AND HE'S DRESSED AS SNAKE. THIS IS JUST SILLY.

"KOJIMA!" Hideo Kojima yells out.

HIDEO! KOJIMA.PRIME... sends.

"Snake!" Hayter-Clarke laughs.

"David!" Kojima-Hayter shouts.

David Hayter as Solid Snake harrumphs. "Hideo?" he nods to his friend, then to Cyborg-Hayter-Clarke and Cyborg-Kojima-Hayter (BECAUSE SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS IF YOU HADN'T REALIZED THEY'RE CYBORGS, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN DURING THIS CONFERENCE). "Kojima-Hayter," he says, quietly.

As they lift their Stingers, the massive robot lifts in sync with the cyborgs next to it. It stands, bipedal. A large bulwark shields Cyborg-Kojima-Hayter.

METAL GEAR SOLID HAS COME TO A NEW PLATFORM. ONE ACCESSIBLE BY ALL. WELCOME TO METAL GEAR SOLID V.

The rockets slam against the bulwark. The massive bipedal machine roars at the audience. At Hideo and David. Then, crashing through the ceiling, it leaps out of the hall.

V HAS COME TO REAL LIFE.

WELCOME TO OUTER HAVEN.

Everything goes black.

...metalgearsolidisaregisterdtrademarkofkonamistudios...

AND THEN A GIANT FLAMING WHALE APPEARS OUT OF NOWHERE AND BY THE WAY EVERYONE IS MISSING AN ARM AND HAS A WEIRD ROCK THING STICKING FROM THEIR FOREHEADS AND ALSO GARBAGE IS NOW ON STAGE. MAN. GARBAGE IS GOOD.

are my hopes too high?

should i scale them back a little?

Love it. Also, Kiefer Sutherland has voiced characters in several Hollywood CG animated movies, including The Wild, Monsters vs. Aliens as well as some normal animated movies. I think the announcement is him, whether it's as Big Boss or someone else.

Though I'm still not ruling out Hayter's involvement in some sense.

Nah man. MGS 4 lyfe.

I think I've reached the turning point, from all of this phantom pain viral marketing doublespeak being funny in its obviousness to being dumb. Call me when the game comes out.

I thought he was up his own arse before all this crap. After that twitter begging letter I though he was kinda pathetic and felt sorry for him. If it turns out it was PR bull from the beginning - guess I was right in the first assessment.

I feel it is a bit shit that everyone is guessing everyone of Kojimas 'tricks' long before they are revealed. My respect for his standing as a master manipulator of the message has fallen a great deal. All this stuff just seems super lazy and half arsed.

People seem to being seeing layers of depth to all Kojimas PR which isn't really there. The first guess seems to have been the right one every time. Phantom Pain is MGS5 - check. Hayter is still doing VO - check. Moby Dick Studios is made up - check. No mystery, nothing clever, just lots of people getting excited over some very lazy marketing. Hopefully the games will be much, much better.

I'm sure it would've been great if we were back in the magazine days, where you get news once a month and you don't have a message-board to talk about it on.

Sadly: we aint!

Congrats to them for sticking to their dumb joke thing though, I still think it's pretty funny even if it's not extremely cool.

I really hope that big boss after the accident isn't voiced by Hayter. The voice in the trailer was pretty great.