May 13, 2003 - At Konami's press conference today, the company officially unveiled and announced Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater, and conference attendees were privy to a twelve-minute trailer for the game. Afterwards, a short Q&A; session was held with series creator and director, Hideo Kojima, and a handful of new details were made public.

The title, Snake Eater, may seem a little strange at first, and after watching the trailer, the theme of consumption is further intensified, only causing more confusion and bewilderment. In the first few minutes of the trailer, the words "Eat or Be Eaten" are shown. Then "Eat or Die." Lastly, "Hunt or Be Hunted" is displayed onscreen. What does this all mean? Well, we don't know exactly, but Kojima did mention that Snake would be able to hunt, and eat, fish, snakes, and other as of yet unnamed animals. The celebrated developer also made known that Snake would, over time, develop likes and dislikes in regards to food; continuously eat one type of animal, and Snake is bound to acquire that taste. How this is related to game is unclear, but knowing Kojima's quirky, yet irresistible gameplay elements, as well as the numerous references to food/eating, we're pretty confidant that eating will in fact be an integral part of the game.

Further enforcing this assumption are the words "Stealth and Survival" that grace the lengthy trailer to the game. We all know that stealth is part of every Metal Gear game, but the word "survival" in combination with the jungle setting and two scenes of Snake eating animals, makes us wonder just what Kojima has up his sleeve.

When asked about Snake Eater's place in the timeline of Metal Gear, Kojima was incredibly tight-lipped, but the press kit for the game, as well as the opening transition scenes in the trailer both feature maps of Russia, as well as the symbol found on the Russian flag. Your guess is as good as ours as to the reference, but Russia is another common theme in several Metal Gear games, so let the speculation begin.

As for technical features, Kojima confirmed that Dolby 5.1 would be supported throughout the game, in cutscenes and during actual gameplay. A good thing too, as the gameplay footage shown seemed to heavily accent the ambient nature sounds surrounding Snake. Also, Kojima spoke briefly on the difficulties of creating a game set in a natural environment because of the uneven and sloping grounds. But he assured us that his team was working on the issue.

In closing, Kojima talked briefly about creating an online version of Metal Gear Solid. He mentioned that the graphics engine used for Sons of Liberty was not suitable for such a game, as the environments are almost completely indoors. So, almost as test, his team created a completely new graphics engine for Snake Eater that would feature outdoor environments. An engine created with elements from both the Snake Eater and Sons of Liberty engines is what he would like to use for an online Metal Gear game. And in case you're wondering, yes, Kojima did confirm that an online Metal Gear is something that he is interested in doing.

To watch the full, twelve-minute trailer for this incredible game, click here. And don't forget to check out our new, high-res screenshots of the game here.

We'll have more details and impressions of Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater as the E3 conference commences.