Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: When was Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots released?
In North America, a bundle containing an 80GB PlayStation 3, a DualShock 3 wireless controller, a downloadable game coupon for "Pain", and a copy of "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots" was released for US$499 on June 12, 2008, to coincide with the release of the standalone edition. Japan saw the release of the "Guns of the Patriots Welcome Box" that contains the game itself, a DualShock 3 controller, a Sixaxis controller, and a 40GB PlayStation 3 in either black, white or silver.
The VR Disc was also released in the PAL region as "Metal Gear Solid: Special Missions" on October 29, 1999. Unlike the Japanese and American versions, "Special Missions" requires a PAL copy of the original "Metal Gear Solid" in order to be played. This change was done since the original "Metal Gear Solid" was released in multiple languages in Europe and "Special Missions" determines the language it uses based on which version of the original game the player owns. When the "Special Missions" disc is loaded into the PlayStation console, the game will ask the player to switch the disc with the first disc from "Metal Gear Solid" in order to load voice and language data before asking the player to switch back to the "Special Missions" disc to start the game. This requirement renders "Special Missions" incompatible with PlayStation 2 consoles made prior to the SCPH-70000 model.
Grand Theft Auto is an action-adventure video game developed by DMA Design and published by BMG Interactive. It was first released in Europe and North America in October 1997 for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. It was later re-released on 12 December 1997 in Europe and 30 June 1998 in North America for the PlayStation. It is the first instalment of the "Grand Theft Auto" series, to be followed by 1999's "Grand Theft Auto 2". The series, which has led to five main entries and several special edition games over 16 years, has sold more than 150 million units as of September 2013. The story follows a group of criminals in three fictionalised versions of US cities as they perform bank robberies, assassinations, and other illegal activities for their respective crime syndicates.
"Grand Theft Auto IV" is the first title in the third generation of the best-selling "Grand Theft Auto" video game franchise developed by Rockstar North which was released on 29 April 2008. As the release date approached, Rockstar had been marketing the game heavily. Rockstar's marketing has come in many forms, including television ads, internet video, viral marketing, and a redesigned web site. There was even a mural of a prostitute named Lola painted on the side of a building in SoHo, New York.
In September 2004, IDW Publications began publishing a series of "Metal Gear Solid" comics, written by Kris Oprisko and illustrated by Ashley Wood. As of 2006, 12 issues have been published, fully covering the "Metal Gear Solid" storyline. The comic was adapted into a PlayStation Portable game, "Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel" ("Metal Gear Solid: Bande Dessinée" in Japan). It features visual enhancements and two interactive modes designed to give further insight into the publication. Upon viewing the pages, the player can open a "scanning" interface to search for characters and items in a three-dimensional view. Discoveries are added to a database which can be traded with other players via Wi-Fi. The "mission mode" allows the player to add collected information into a library. This information must be properly connected to complete a mission. "Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel" was released in North America on June 13, 2006, Japan on September 21 and the PAL region on September 22. In 2006, the game received IGN's award for Best Use of Sound on the PSP. A DVD-Video version is included with its sequel ("Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinée"), which was released in Japan on June 12, 2008. The DVD version features full voice acting.
The existence of "Wolfenstein: The New Order" was first acknowledged by Bethesda Softworks on 7 May 2013, through the release of an announcement trailer. Prior to this, Bethesda teased the upcoming project by releasing three images with the caption "1960". Though originally due for release in late 2013, the game was delayed to 2014 in order for the developers to further "polish" the game. In February 2014, it was announced that "The New Order" would launch on 20 May 2014 in North America, on 22 May 2014 in Australia, and on 23 May 2014 in Europe. The Australian and European release dates were later pushed forward, resulting in a worldwide launch on 20 May 2014. All pre-orders of the game granted the purchaser an access code to the "Doom" beta, developed by id Software. For the German release of "The New Order", all Nazi symbols and references were removed; it is a criminal offence to display Nazi imagery on toys in Germany. Following the game's release, MachineGames began developing "", a standalone expansion pack set before the events of "The New Order". It was released in May 2015.
"Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" is the sequel to the popular first-person shooter "", developed by Valve Corporation. "Global Offensive"s development began when Hidden Path Entertainment attempted to port "Counter-Strike: Source" onto video game consoles, prior to the end of their lifespan. During the development, Valve saw the opportunity to turn the port into a full game and expand on the predecessor's gameplay. "Global Offensive" began development in March 2010, and was revealed to the public on August 12, 2011. The closed beta started on November 30, 2011, and was initially restricted to around ten thousand people who received a key at events intended to showcase "Global Offensive". After issues such as client and server stability were addressed, the beta was opened up to progressively more people, and at E3 2012, Valve announced that "Global Offensive" would be released on August 21, 2012, with the open beta starting roughly a month before that. Before the public beta, Valve invited professional "Counter-Strike" players to play-test the game and give feedback.
In June 2017, Adam Isgreen, creative director of Microsoft Studios announced "Age of Empires: Definitive Edition" at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017. It features overhauled graphics with support for 4K resolution, a remastered soundtrack, and other gameplay improvements, and was planned to be released on October 19, 2017, but was delayed until February 20, 2018. "Age of Empires: Definitive Edition" was released through the Windows store and was met with mixed or average reviews and weighted score of 70 out of 100 in Metacritic. PC Gamer gave the game 60/100, calling the game "solid remake of a game past its time". GameSpot gave the game 6/10, praising its 4K graphics and upgraded soundtrack but criticizing old problems still persisting.
In early February 2013, during its quarterly financial call to investors, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the next "Assassin's Creed" game, due for release some time before April 2014, would feature a new hero, time period, and development team. On February 28, 2013, Ubisoft posted their first promotional picture and cover for their next "Assassin's Creed" game, following leaked marketing material days before. It announced the title of the game as "Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag" and featured an unnamed character holding a flintlock and a sword with a black flag in the back ground containing the Assassin's symbol with a skull. A reported glitch on the official "Assassin's Creed IV" website suggested the game will release on next-gen consoles and October 29 as the release date, which was confirmed by the first trailer for the game, released on March 4, 2013 (originally leaked on March 2, 2013, but was quickly pulled by Ubisoft).
1998 is seen as a turning point in gaming history because of the release of "Metal Gear Solid", as well as "" and "". The ninja-themed game "Tenchu: Stealth Assassins" was released several months before "Metal Gear Solid", making it the first 3D stealth based-game. The highly anticipated "Metal Gear Solid" transformed its modestly successful franchise into a large mainstream success. The increased power of the PlayStation console over previous platforms allowed for greater immersion in terms of both story and game environment. "Metal Gear Solid" has been credited with popularizing the stealth genre. The core elements of these games, such as avoiding confrontation, minimizing noise, and attacking antagonists from "the shadows", influenced many future stealth game series.
The Xbox's successor, the Xbox 360, was officially unveiled announced on May 12, 2005 on MTV. It was the first next generation system to be announced. It was released in North America on November 22, 2005. Nvidia ceased production of the Xbox's GPU in August 2005, which marked the end of brand-new Xbox production. The last Xbox game in Europe was "Xiaolin Showdown" released in June 2007, and the last game in North America was "Madden NFL 09" released in August 2008. Support for out-of-warranty Xbox consoles was discontinued on March 2, 2009. Support for Xbox Live on the console ended on April 15, 2010.
With the arrival of the seventh generation of video game consoles, the first "next-gen" "Grand Theft Auto" clones were released in 2006, beginning with "Saints Row" from 2006 and "Crackdown" from 2007 both introduced online multiplayer to the genre, a feature that had been requested by many fans. "Crackdown" attracted attention for being created by David Jones, the developer of the original "Grand Theft Auto", and featured the ability to develop the player character's superpowers in a semi-futuristic setting. Meanwhile, "" and "" entered the market in 2006, and attempted to apply the "Grand Theft Auto" formula to popular movie franchises. Still, reviewers continued to measure these games against the standard set by the "Grand Theft Auto" series. "Grand Theft Auto IV" was released in April 2008 and featured a large, detailed environment, redefining gameplay and even adopted the GPS navigation system seen in "Saints Row". The game broke numerous sales records, including the record for the fastest selling game in its first 24 hours. Since its inception, this genre has evolved to include larger settings, more missions, and a wider range of vehicles. In 2010, Rockstar Games published "Red Dead Redemption", an open world Western themed game. On the day of "Grand Theft Auto V" 's release on September 17, 2013, Volition released a free downloadable content pack for "Saints Row IV" titled "GATV", purposely playing the similarity in the abbreviated titles to promote their game due to the confusion raised on various social networks.
Following Bungie's split from Microsoft, 343 Industries – a studio established by Microsoft in 2009 – took the helm of the "Halo" franchise. 343 had already co-developed the "Halo Legends" animated series and had overseen production of "" and "". The next game in the series, "Halo 4", was announced at E3 2011 as the first entry in what would be a new series of "Halo" games, also known as the "Reclaimer Trilogy". The game included many staples of previous games, such as new or redesigned weapon types, an improved map-editing tool and expanded multiplayer options and maps. "Halo 4" was released worldwide on November 6, 2012, achieving record sales for the franchise. In a new addition to the series, a story-driven multiplayer campaign entitled "Spartan Ops" was released over the weeks following "Halo 4"s release, telling what happened after the end of the main game.
Persona 4 is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for Sony's PlayStation 2, and chronologically the fifth installment in the "Persona" series, itself a part of the larger "Megami Tensei" franchise. The game was released in Japan in July 2008, North America in December 2008, and Europe in March 2009. "Persona 4" takes place in a fictional Japanese countryside and is indirectly related to earlier "Persona" games. The player-named protagonist is a high-school student who moved into the countryside from the city for a year. During his year-long stay, he becomes involved in investigating mysterious murders while harnessing the power of summoning Persona. The game features a weather forecast system with events happening on foggy days to replace the moon phase system implemented in the previous games.
Grand Theft Auto 2 is an action-adventure video game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 22 October 1999 for Microsoft Windows and the PlayStation, followed by Dreamcast and Game Boy Color releases in 2000. It is the sequel to 1997's "Grand Theft Auto", part of the "Grand Theft Auto" series. The open world design lets players freely roam Anywhere City, the setting of the game.
The first entry in the series "Tomb Raider" was released in 1996 for personal computers (PC), PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles. The Saturn and PlayStation versions were released in Japan in 1997. The second game, "Tomb Raider II", launched in 1997, again for PC and PlayStation. A month before release, Eidos finalised a deal with Sony Computer Entertainment to keep the console version of "Tomb Raider II" and future games exclusive to PlayStation until the year 2000. The PlayStation version was released in Japan in 1998. "Tomb Raider III" launched in 1998. As with "Tomb Raider II", the PlayStation version released in Japan the following year. The fourth consecutive title in the series, "", released in 1999. In 2000, with the end of the PlayStation exclusivity deal, the game also released on the Dreamcast. In Japan, both console versions released the following year. "Tomb Raider Chronicles" released in 2000 on the same platforms as "The Last Revelation", with the PlayStation version's Japanese release as before coming the following year.
"Planetarian" was released on November 29, 2004 via download over the Internet playable on Windows PCs, and was first made available only to Yahoo! Japan Broadband users. The game was opened up for general sale on December 6, 2004. Key released a CD-ROM version for Windows PCs on April 28, 2006 in limited and regular editions. An updated version of "Planetarian" compatible for Windows Vista PCs was released by Key on July 31, 2009 in a box set containing five other Key visual novels called Key 10th Memorial Box. Another updated version compatible for Windows 7 PCs called "Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet Memorial Edition" was released on April 30, 2010. The "Memorial Edition" also came bundled with the three previously released "Planetarian" drama CDs. An HD edition for Windows was released on July 29, 2016. "Planetarian" was released on Steam by Sekai Project in English for Windows on September 12, 2014, with later support planned for macOS and Linux devices. The Steam release was updated on September 17, 2014 to allow the user to switch to the original Japanese version of the game.
"Gears of War" was an immediate hit upon its release. On November 7, 2006—the day that it was released—it became the most popular game on the Xbox Live service, until the release of "Halo 3", overtaking "Halo 2" which had held the spot since its launch in November 2004. "Gears" was the second most-played game on the Xbox Live service throughout 2007. "Gears of War" sold one million copies in its first two weeks on sale making it the fastest-selling Xbox 360 game to date. By January 19, 2007, just ten weeks after its debut, over three million units of the game had been sold. It received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom. As of November 7, 2008, the game has sold 5.88 million copies worldwide. "Gears of War" was also the first Xbox or Xbox 360 game to sell out and reach the top ten charts in Japan.
The development of "Wolfenstein RPG" has been a long and difficult task involving id Software, Firemint Software and Electronic Arts and many months of development. Mobile version was released in late 2008. EA Mobile announced the availability of Wolfenstein RPG on August 14, 2009, a new take on the classic game originally created by id Software, on the App Store. Wolfenstein RPG is a worldwide release to all territories that host the iTunes App Store, including Germany. It is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch and minimum requires is iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later. "Wolfenstein RPG" is the fourth generation of our turn-based titles under EA Mobile John Carmack, founder and technical director at id Software said that, "The App Store version is dramatically better than on any other platform, with by an order of magnitude more media in high resolution graphics and audio, all rendered fast and smooth with hardware OpenGL graphics acceleration."
After "Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake", Kojima planned to release the third "Metal Gear" game in 1994 for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1994. Besides changing the console, the game was renamed, and its subsequent sequels were given the word "Solid" as the series started using 3D computer graphics. Since then, the games were designed to be more realistic to further entertain the players. "Metal Gear Solid 3" was initially meant to be made for the PlayStation 3, but due to the long wait for the console, the game was developed for the PlayStation 2 instead. As previous game's settings were indoors areas due to difficulties with the consoles, since "Metal Gear Solid 3", Kojima wished to drastically change it despite difficulties. Since "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" had several plot points unresolved, it was originally meant to leave it to players to discuss them to come to their own conclusions. This has led to consistency issues in the English versions of "Metal Gear Solid" and "Metal Gear Solid 2" as they mentioned plot elements that were further explored in "Metal Gear Solid 4".
A novel adaptation of the original "Metal Gear" was published in 1988 as a part of Scholastic's "Worlds of Power" line of novelizations, which were based on third-party NES games. It was written by Alexander Frost. The novelization is not based on the game's official storyline, but rather on Konami of America's localization of the plot. The book takes further liberties by giving Solid Snake the name of Justin Halley, and by changing the name of Snake's unit from FOXHOUND to the "Snake Men". In Japan, a "Metal Gear" gamebook was published on March 31, 1988, shortly after the release of the game on the Famicom. It is set two years after the events of the original "Metal Gear" and is part of the "Konami Gamebook Series". A novelization of "Metal Gear Solid" was published in 2008. It was written by Raymond Benson, the author of nine James Bond novels. Benson also wrote a "" novelization, which was published in 2009. Critical reaction to Benson's novelizations has been generally positive, with Bookgasm.com writing that "Benson does a fine job translating the game to the page" with "Metal Gear Solid", and MishMashMagazine.com calling "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" "a great companion to the game". A Japanese-language novelization of "" by Project Itoh was published on June 12, 2008. The novel was translated into English by Viz Media and was released on June 19, 2012.
Grand Theft Auto III is an action-adventure video game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2, in May 2002 for Microsoft Windows, and in October 2003 for the Xbox. An enhanced version of the game was released on mobile platforms in 2011, for the game's tenth anniversary. It is the fifth title in the "Grand Theft Auto" series, and the first main entry since 1999's "Grand Theft Auto 2". Set within the fictional Liberty City, based on New York City, the game follows Claude after he is left for dead and quickly becomes entangled in a world of gangs, crime and corruption.
The "Metal Gear" franchise has achieved great success, selling over 53.8 million copies as of March 2018. "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" sold over 7 million copies worldwide, and is followed in sales by "Metal Gear Solid", "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots", and "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain", all with 6 million. According to Chart-Track, "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots" was the second fastest-selling PlayStation 3 game in the United Kingdom after "Grand Theft Auto IV". The PlayStation Portable games were met with notably lower sales, but it has been analyzed that this was because of the low sales of the console when the games were released. "Metal Gear Survive", the first "Metal Gear" game to be developed since series creator Hideo Kojima left Konami, sold only a fraction of the sales made by "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain".
On June 19, 2008, Konami released the "Metal Gear Solid 4 Database" onto the PlayStation Store in North America and Japan, and one week later on the European store. The Database is a downloadable application for PlayStation 3 that catalogs every piece of "Metal Gear" lore from all the canonical entries in the series released up to "Metal Gear Solid 4" in the form of an encyclopedia (browsable by alphabet and category), a timeline, and character relationship diagrams. Highlighted words in each article link to related articles, and it keeps track of which ones the user has already read. The Database automatically locks any items related to "MGS4", in order to prevent the leaking of spoilers to players who have not completed the game yet. In order to reveal these articles, the user must have a completed "MGS4" game save that was created on the same console and with a version of the game from the same region as their account.
"Guns of the Patriots" is set in 2014, nine years after the events of the original "Metal Gear Solid" and five years after "Sons of Liberty". The world's economy relies on continuous civil wars fought by PMCs, which outnumber government military forces. Soldiers are equipped with nanomachines that monitor and enhance their performance on the battlefield, controlled by a vast network known as the Sons of the Patriots (SOP) system. Liquid Ocelot, missing since the events of "Sons of Liberty", re-emerges from hiding to launch an insurrection against the Patriots.
After "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots" was released, Hideo Kojima started coming up with ideas for another game, "Metal Gear Solid 5". The game was meant to feature The Boss and her comrades, the Cobra Unit, as main characters. However, the lack of experience from the younger staff in charge and the lack of involvement from Kojima resulted in this project being scrapped. Afterwards, a member suggested turning it into a sidestory focused on Raiden since said character was featured in "Guns of the Patriots" and the staff agreed to develop "Metal Gear Solid: Rising". It was originally conceived to chronicle the series of events that resulted in the transformation of Raiden into his cyborg ninja persona in "Metal Gear Solid 4". "Rising" would have taken place during a point in the series' chronology at which Raiden had already begun his transformation into cyborg form, albeit with a different and somewhat more crude appearance from the one seen in "Metal Gear Solid 4".