Rumor: Kojima aims to release next game in 2009

Having tied up most of the Metal Gear Solid saga's loose ends -- an act that would leave most designers dead from inadvertent strangulation -- Hideo Kojima has allegedly been hard at work on several new titles. Previous reports have indicated that at least one will have a Western bent, and now the game designer's most recent comments seem to foreshadow a game that appeals to one of our most prominent traits: impatience.

According to an IGN translation of Japanese mag Famitsu, Kojima's next project could be out as soon as 2009. Which is like, this year. In a dialogue between himself and the Yakuza franchise's Toshihiro Nagoshi, Kojima allegedly expressed that at least one of his projects could be completed by the end of the year. The rest of his comments, however, were "a bit on the vague side."

Well, Mr. Kojima, we look forward to playing whatever you concoct next, whenever it comes out, regardless of what it's about and whichever platform it's on. Unless it's an iPhone music-and-rhythm strategy RPG starring anthropomorphic armadillos and set during the French Revolution. We hate those.

Update: 1UP has a more thorough look at the interview, in which Kojima expresses that his next game will be announced "relatively soon."