Not two weeks gone I had occasion to lament the Zone of the Enders series’ conspicuous absence on the gaming scene, and were I of a mind to flatter myself immensely I’d suggest that Hideo Kojima himself must have heard me.  It would be as blatant a lie as they come, of course, but it sure would make me feel important, if nothing else.

But whether Mr. Kojima actually hears my prayers or not, it would seem that he’s begun testing the waters for a long overdue sequel to The 2nd Runner.

In the most recent episode of the MGS4 ‘Integral’ podcast the ZOE franchise featured front and center as a main topic of discussion, with the Kojima Productions team posing something of an open question to gamers: ‘[h]ow many people really want Zone of the Enders a sequel?’ At episode’s end those interested in another entry in the series were encouraged to post their thoughts, which the KP crew promised to read over and take into consideration.

Though by no means a foregone conclusion, that we may well see a third (not counting Gameboy spinoffs) Zone of the Enders is easily some of the best news that I’ve heard in recent memory.  The only person I knew to actually buy ZOE for ZOE (i.e. not just for the MGS2 demo), I personally spent more time with the game than the rest of my friends combined, and even now I still get the urge to go through it every so often.  And The 2nd Runner, despite a generally wretched translation – ‘in case of need, be prepare for turn left!’ – was a blast to play.  If Mr. Kojima can marry the action of the mainline series to something even approximating MGS4′s production values, then I think he’ll have the makings of a serious claimant for the throne that Armored Core 4 and its ilk occupy largely by default.

Speculation aside, though, I’m interested and then some to see what comes of the response to the KP team’s query – if you are too, be sure to let them know.

Source: PS3center (via Joystiq)