Gamesugar

I’ve returned from Konami’s first Pre-E3 showing with a powerful yearning to sleep after a long day, but I’ll instead endeavor to string together some words for you Sugarfiends regarding the event – that’s just the kind of guy I am after all.

Members of Team Sugar attended the Toronto event, which consisted of video announcements simultaneously screened for audiences in several locations around the globe and online, which Konami cited as an effort to reach fans more directly before the more closed nature of E3 commands the thunder next week.

Snake Eater on the 3DS got the show started, with a new trailer showing Konami’s efforts to flex the 3DS’ bells and whistles with the title, not only with 3D but also with tilt controls for some segments of the game and a camouflage system that allows gamers to use pictures taken with the 3DS to make patterns.

As far as new IP’s, Neverdead put in an overdue appearance, while a release window pushed the title back to Winter. The E3 trailer focused on the narrative, wherein we learned that the immortal Bryce had tried to slay the Demon King 500 years earlier, and in his failure to get the job done was cursed with immortality while having one eye gouged out at no extra charge.

The game mechanics that allot Bryce immortality, specifically being able to reassemble his body parts regardless of how shredded he may become, also allow him to find different ways of fighting throughout the game according to Konami. A more detailed breakdown on exactly what those options will be was lacking, though at one point Bryce tore off his own arm, so we can only hope you can beat a demon to death with it after doing so.

Konami’s Silent Hill Downpour offered up a fresh trailer as well, one that finally found space and atmosphere to separate itself from Alan Wake comparisons and instill some optimism that the latest entry in the series can grow. The game simply hasn’t had a good spread of assets to differentiate its aspirations from other releases over the last year, and even with a shinier trailer, hands-on time remains ever essential before forming any long term hopes that Downpour could push the horror genre like all good Silent Hill titles should. Admittedly it was hard to stay focused on Downpour with Konami announcing HD revisions of Silent Hill 2 and 3 in one collection.

Revisits were a key theme of the announcements, especially favorable for 360 owners who learned that they will be offered a chance to play HD collections of both Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders. Coming to both the 360 and PlayStation 3, Metal Gear Solid Collection will include MGS 2, MGS 3 and MGS Peace Walker and release later this year, while the Z.O.E. collection brings the two existing entries in the franchise back for another spin in 2012.

Metal Gear was a gateway for Hideo Kojima’s word of the day, Transfarring, which will allow gamers to move their game from the PlayStation 3 to the PlayStation Portable and back again as their lifestyles demand, beginning with MGS Peace Walker – a concept easily expected to evolve with Sony’s new handheld.

With revisits of elder games such a dominant theme, it’s impossible not to note the lack of new titles on-hand today. Metal Gear Rising has pushed back into the mist of 2012, and any word of Hideo Kojima’s next project was lacking, aside from the fact that it will utilize his newly revealed Fox Engine.

These HD collections will work to fill the economic gap in Konami’s lineup for the remainder of 2011, and yet my cynicism is light to non-existent given the expense and rarity of a title like Zone of the Enders 2, and the fact that Konami can reach back to bring back titles that still stand to prove incredibly relevant today, which says plenty of good about Konami’s franchise strength. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for the announcement of new digital titles as well, a field Konami may not always dominate, but certainly has pushed to find relevance within.

Hopefully we can get some assets for everything shown tonight before long, but first I really need some sleep. In the meantime you can catch plenty of the fun for yourself via Konami, right over here in fact.

Did I mention the event ended with a familiar Contra-styled “C”?