Remember that rumor saying that Ryan Payton of the Metal Gear Solid 4 team upped and joined the crew of Halo? Turns out to be true. Phil Spencer confirmed it today, just little over a week before the Tokyo Game Show starts. Incidentally, Microsoft also revealed that they have a big announcement in store for Halo fans at the event. Talk about building up hype. More in the full article.

A couple weeks back, we heard Ryan Payton expressing his thoughts that Japan was no longer the center of video game development. Today we hear how Sony Worldwide Studios big wig Shuhei Yoshida echoes Payton's thoughts, saying that Japan is starting to lag in its video game technology, especially when compared to the speed in which it's progressing in the US and Europe. Despite gaming feats like MGS4 or GT5: Prologue, there doesn't seem to be enough to go by with in game technology in in Japan.

Is there life after Kojima Productions? It was revealed late last month that Ryan Payton had left the MGS4 team to head back to the US... And now, we hear that he might have already been hired! Good for him, yes? Now, if current rumors prove true, Payton might be working with Peter Jackson on an upcoming Halo game. Guess the fight's not finished yet, eh?

Ever since the first ever Mario game was released, Japan has been the center of the video gaming world. Heck, two of this gen's consoles are based in Japan. However, Ryan Payton, (former) Assistant Producer at Kojima productions, believes that times have changed, and Japan no longer seems to be the center of video game development. Details in the full article.

Sometimes you just have to draw the line. And for Hideo Kojima, he just wishes for a peaceful time when people would stop harassing him about a Metal Gear Solid 4 port to the Xbox 360. Instead, all he wants is for people to see the game as it is and start looking forward to future projects (which I hope we hear about in the upcoming TGS 2008). See, there's more to life than ports and fanboy clamoring. More in the full article.

Over at the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots launch party, assistant producer Ryan Payton was cornered and was asked some intriguing questions about what's next for Kojima Productions and their celebrated franchise. Among those queries thrown pointed to Metal Gear Online and supposed MGS remakes for Xbox Live Arcade. His answers chronicled in the full article up next.