The New Snake Visits Kojima Productions’s Los Angeles Studio

Whether you like it or not, Kiefer Southerland is the new Snake. Not only he’s lending his voice to the rugged stealther for Metal Gear Solid V, but he’s also serving as the model for facial capture, and today he visited Kojima Productions' Los Angeles Studio.

[-Foxtrot]

and he couldn't look less interesting

[GameCents]

Big fan of Kiefer, honestly didn't care about MGS 5 until I heard he'd be the new Snake.
Sorry David.

[theDECAY]

That doesn't really sound like something a fan of MGS would say.

[ZBlacktt]

So this, just another fake clone posting above.

[GameCents]

I wouldn't know, have never been much of a fan of the franchise.

[Neo-Axl]

As a Metal Gear Veteran of 15 years, I can't possibly believe you wouldn't be interested in the next proper MGS game in the series because of David's voice.

He is Big Boss, he is Solid Snake, kinda like when I read Batman comics and the Joker appears, I hear Mark Hammil's voice as I'm reading, The very same with the Snake characters.. sorry about my rant, are you new to MGS by any chance?

[GameCents]

Yes I am, relatively. Thought it was obvious due to my lack of interest until Kiefer.

Not to say the game doesn't me otherwise, however Jack Bauer is what made me take a peek in the first place.

I have only ever the HD remasters.

[OrangePowerz]

That`s funny, because I`m a big fan of MGS and until I heard about Kiefer playing Snake (and some other things) I was interested in MGS 5.

[GameCents]

That's too bad that you feel alienated by the decision. Had the opposite effect on me as a non fan, new lease.

[JimRome]

You are five. Explains it all.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

David will always be Snake. Kiefer has enough money and jobs to work. Way to take food out of the little guys mouth.

[Baka-akaB]

Give the guy a break , maybe its a character he's thrilled to play and he's actually a good choice amidst a realm of celebs that could ruin it . I doubt it's necessarily about money , the 24 mini serie alone would set him for eons , if even in need .

I can understand being annoyed at the choice (i'm not i've always prefered the japanese voices personally since that's the version i first played - yeah i'm an heretic sue me) , but it falls on Kojima's shoulder

[Abriael]

Yeah, blaming sutherland doesn't make much sense. They offered him a job, and he took it.

[Eamon]

I personally don't blame him for taking the job.

But I do blame Kojima here. I listened to Kiefer say the iconic 'Kept you waiting, huh' line so terribly it was actually saddening.

Like a knife right into good memories. Really don't understand why Kojima obsessed with replacing Hayter.

[OrangePowerz]

There is the thing, MGS doesn`t need celebrity voice actors unless of course Konami just wants to boost their sales in the west by slapping a big sticker on the box saying "Starring Kiefer Sutherland".

[Baka-akaB]

Or maybe Kojima had a whim and wanted to try something else .

[Redempteur]

@eamon

"Like a knife right into good memories."

So you're fuelled by nostalgia ?

How about judging keifer how what he's done after this game ?Same for kojima , the guy hardly make games or change things/decisions "just because" if he did it , then he had a freaking good reason.

[-Foxtrot]

Thats what I was thinking....voice actors arn't big Hollywood actors, they don't get the money they do

They have all their films and TV shows....leave voice acting to voice actors

[-Foxtrot]

You know I'm not saying he's good enough for blockbuster films but Hayter does do acting....just that he's more into writting scripts, directing small budget films and voice acting.

He can act though, especially if it's doing the moves to a character he adores and has voiced for 15 years

[OrangePowerz]

Why does it need Kiefer? They can hire any actor who is great at motion capture for far less than what Kiefer will cost them and have Hayter do the voice. The same way the Japanese version will be done by having the voice actor doing only the voice. They did that for Halo by having someone do the motion capture for Cortana and the normal voice actress to the voice.

Kiefer is there for marketing to market the game better to the west and especially to the audience in the US not to make the experience better because that can be achieved for far less money.

[Redempteur]

@OrangePowerz
"Kiefer is there for marketing to market the game better to the west and especially to the audience in the US "

Seriously ?

Metal freaking gear need better marketing ? the franchise that sells millions already? the console seller franchise need better marketing ?

What a bunch of nonsense.

Snake voice was changed because hayter didn't fit in the plans for the next game , simple as that..

Kojima is telling you that he wanted something different, the creator himself of teh franchise explain his decision , and the best you can do is to scream marketing when the franchise doesn't need more marketing than he already has and the creator has a blank check & all the power within konami to do whatever he wants ?

Hayter fans are really a lost cause.

[Baka-akaB]

It's obvious , Kojima did the best he could voice wise at a time where budget was more limited .

His Movies obsessions and manias are obvious and widely known . It's very obvious that if he could have , he'd sign the biggest and still best suitable voices he could have afforded that could fulfill his vision .

I'm not at all claiming Kiefer is better (nor worse anyway ) .. i just doubt HAyter would be his very first pick , beyond tradition and habits , if he had more choices .

Personally i just see it as Kojima exploring a dream and venture of his further .

[Joe913]

You know David is a script writer he was a writer on a couple of the X-Men movies so I really doubt he is going hungry.

[kratos_TheGoat]

david!!!!!!!!!

[fossilfern]

I actually like Kiefer as Snake... And I have been playing since MGS1 so its not like I jumped on the bandwagon with MGS4 like alot of people...

[serratos27]

Give me a sec. Let me ask my child self what he thinks of there being a new Snake...
*holds self to stop the tears*

[NeXXXuS]

They're just taking away what the fans really want. AND WE WANT DAVID HAYTER!

[ZBlacktt]

Yep, Kojima should have did what he said he was going to do ( many times ). retire.

VVV sorry to break it you. But it's a cash cow now. If you were a real fan you would have read all the signs over the years. Of how Kojima wanted to be done with this game. He tried breaking away with other games. Only to have them not live up to what he is best known for. So he came back, with a spin off and now this. He wanted to stop working with David for some time. Recall the MGS movie? How David was left out of that as well. Even though David has experience in that as well. He is bitter that David is getting the press that he does off his baby.

[NeXXXuS]

No thanks. I'd like to have more Metal Gear.

[obelix01]

"Alot of good men died today, all for nothing!"

[NarooN]

Awesome WaW MP reference, lol.

[obelix01]

Lol yes.

[Bathyj]

I understand people are upset because change is hard but it's not not Hayter was ever a good actor or anything. He's just the guy they started with and you associate him with the role.

Kiefer on the other hand is a great actor and can do a good job. I guess this is Kojima trying to elevate game quality voice acting to movie quality voice acting. He hasn't steered me wrong yet so I'm giving both if them the benefit of the doubt.

[NeXXXuS]

Hayter should stay snake. It's just how it should be. He's the person that we've come to appreciate as the role of solid snake and big boss. I don't want to see someone else take such a legendary role when there's no reason to replace Hayter in the first place. It's like what they're doing now with the Justice League movie and replacing Christian Bale with Matt Damon as batman.

[Juste_Belmont]

Ben Affleck, not Matt Damon, is playing the next Batman. Also, wait and see how Kiefer Sutherland does. You may actually end up liking his portrayal of Snake.

[GameCents]

Christian declined. Not the same.

[kratos_TheGoat]

who is your favorite character btw... image they change your favorite character, i bet money you be piss off as well... david was perfect as naked/solid Snake why change him

[OrangePowerz]

Do you like The Simpsons or Family Guy? How about they change the voice actor for Homer or Peter?

[Baka-akaB]

Would probably sucks , but why should the creator behind it necessarily always cave to fans ? Sure he is ultimately paid by fans , but he is allowed his vision ... especially if he feel adamant about it . That's how the franchise was born in the first place .

Likewise people have the right to vote with their wallets if displeased

[OrangePowerz]

I know Kojima gave his reasons, but I kind of doubt the intentions behind using Kiefer. For me it smells like that move was done by Konami in order to market the game to the west and to increase sales not to make the game better. Konami is still paying all the bills and Kojima works for them. He isn`t independent and they can tell him what to do. I wouldn`t be surprised if they write "Starring Kiefer Sutherland" on the box.

It`s more like FOX telling the Simpsons guys to higher a big celebrity to voice Homer to increase the viewer numbers.

I play the games since the MSX and even got some MGS tattoos over time and there are several things about MGS5 that sound fishy to me that make me believe that Konami had their fingers in it and dictated Kojima what to do for the sake of better sales in the west.

Edit: Because I have no bubbles left @Redempteur further up.

MGS2 was the best selling MGS game with 7-8 million sold and the games released after that had lower sales. Combine that with the Japanese publishers having that stupid idea of having to appeal more to the western audience (see Final Fantasy 13, Silent Hill, Square unhappy with a game selling 5 million or Resident Evil 6 with Capcom saying they want to compete with CoD and many more) they will market the crap out of it in the west at any cost to boost sales.

[Baka-akaB]

Doubt away till your heart's content . I so far no reason to question Kojima's choices , however much of a zealous cult drone i might sound there .

You guys wanna advance marketing and some dictatorial mandate , fine . I believe it to be complete hogwash . The moment A guy like Kojima with his skills and fame feels trapped , he'll just bail elsewhere and (semi) retire like he claims every year .

Sounds more like every year Kojima is even taking over Konami as awhole , between his engine , his fantasies and projects and studios funding than anything else so far

[Redempteur]

@OrangePowerz
Untrue

First, kojima decides everything on those matters , including the cast.
NOBODY at konami can tell him what to do , especially on MGS , Better , kojima actually orders other konami teams.

Second , kojima himself doesn't agree with the western mentality you described...that's why he seeked another japanese studio to finish MGRising , instead of giving it to a western studio ( and konami has plenty of western studios to do the job ).In the rising revengeance video , he states that he wanted to prove that japanese were still good on that aspect.
Also In your example , square-enix is a fool , so much that themselves realised the errors of their ways..and this still has NOTHING TO DO on one voice actor changed..

Again , this isn't a corporate job or something , nobody currently can order kojima at konami ATM ..the guy has a blank check , several free pass and is even ordering and giving advices to other studios.Heck he decided on the fox engine and he himself pushed it on other teams.

Third , the star of the show never was one voice actor , there was always the whole cast of voice actors that were in the spotlight , it make no sense to change 1 and not the others if you're seeking only to expand your market share.

Fourth , Since MGS2 , it's "a Hideo Kojima game" not "A game with david hayter", kojima is the only master on board and will always will.

[ZBlacktt]

No care at all.... at all. This game is going to do nothing compared to what MGS4 did.

[kratos_TheGoat]

yes it will less movie plus open world can't beat that. mgs 4 was overrated best things about 4 was the casting, the graphic, and guns but the story was dull plus fun at the same time. 3 was 20times better then 4.

[ZBlacktt]

Strong meaningless opinionated reply from a avg gamer not really a fan of the series that followed it for 15 years. Typical.

[chrissx]

I think David should have been retained. Jack bauer does notin better

[solidt12]

I prefer David Hayter but I think they did a great job finding a alternative.

[thepatientgamer]

David Hayter was a boss, and we will never truly understand how Hideo Kojima's mind truly works, and how he came to that decision.

All we can do is have faith in Kiefer Sutherland, and, at least by the photos, he seems to respect Kojima, the staff, and the project as a whole. If there had to be a replacement, I'm glad it was Kiefer.

[My_Name_BTW_Is_Dante]

I wonder what character he's voicing. We already know it's not Big Boss or Solid Snake since David Hayter & Richard Doyle hold both of those roles. This must be some new clone that hasn't been talked about or Kojima must really just want to kill off this franchise so he can retire.

[e-p-ayeaH]

ha! youve done it again!

[Zefros]

i still think: Bigboss = Keifer and Solid snake = David.

[bigboss1990]

I reckon there's a few snakes in this game and there keeping it secret. You will see a young solid snake in this I bet. Or who's to say your not playing as solidus snake. Something stinks about this big time. You got to remember the Japanese voice actor voiced solidus in mgs 2 as well as solid snake in Japan. So I think it could be possible. It wouldn't suprise me if the real snake came I'm to the game later on with david hayter voicing lol they've told hayter to keep his mouth shut to hide the story. I bet ya.

[Scatpants]

David Hayter overacted like crazy and sounded cheesy most of the time. I'm glad they're replacing him with a real actor.

[Einhert]

Voice Actors are not real actors? what?

The cheesiness was part of the charm in snakes voice whether it be naked snake or solid, now he just sounds generic american.

[Scatpants]

No David Hayter is not a real actor.

[Einhert]

I really don't like the voice acting so far, Kiefer does not suit the role at all IMO and Big Boss just does not sound good to me, none of the voice acting really does especially after watching the english version of "Kept you waiting huh?"