Glad to see those ESRB ratings are working out. Click through the link below for a few more.
lifemetercomics: 6th Grade Submissions! [Live Journal via GameSetWatch]

The official Halo Waypoint Twitter account brings word of Tojima's hire, the second—that we know of—former Kojiima Productions staffer to join Microsoft in its Halo-expanding endeavors. Ryan Payton, assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, joined the internal Halo team late last year.

Sounds like Konami and crew may have a little difficulty as of late in keeping their audio talent interested in sustaining their employment at the Japanese publisher. Regardless of Konami's musical staffing problems, we look forward to what the combination of all that talent and the backing of the Halo franchise will bring.

Matthew Kaplan of GameCritics thinks games have a lot of growing up to do, especially as the median age of gamers inevitably gets older. His essay argues that games, which often involve superhuman or at least athletic protagonists capable of amazing feats, rarely deal with the issues of aging and if so, typically as a limitation only.

But placing a game in the context of someone's advanced age would deepen both its story, its characters, and the relationships players form with them, Kaplan argues. He goes so far as offering Prototype as a theoretical example, and it wasn't at all as silly as it sounded at first.

This isn't an issue of inclusion to the degree that ethnic diversity is; the elderly, right now, don't game in huge numbers, of course. But there is a difference between growing old and evolving, and for games, including the elderly more would be the latter.

Ah, to be OId and Fragging: Roles for the Elderly in Video Games [GameCritics, Oct. 27, 2009.]

As the median age of gamers continues to rise, I wonder how this will be reflected in the character creation choices made by players. I can only speculate that concern over the seeming physical disconnect between the actions demanded of that character and those we consider typical of the elderly will cause even the oldest players to mold younger, more "able" characters.

Yet this is precisely why we need to re-examine what it means to be "able" or an active agent in an escapist fantasy. I ask that aspiring designers consider the following questions with regard to roles for the elderly:

1. Why can't physical trials reflect the obstacles inherent to growing older while still maintaining their end result of power in addition to experience/success? For instance, why couldn't Prototype's Alex Mercer be an elderly man or woman who must wrestle with the newfound power brimming inside them as it conflicts with what they previously considered to be an aging body? Certainly, that is a far more interesting set of physical boundaries for the player to immerse himself/herself in than simply playing as "generic, muscular young male X." I think the only game that did this even marginally well was Metal Gear Solid 4, but that game addressed age as a constraint more than as a natural characteristic of its protagonist (which makes sense, given that Snake's aging between Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4 was mostly artificial).

2. Why are the objects of desire in games typically younger males and females? Isn't an older man or woman worth fighting for? Relationships don't simply stop after youth.

3. What sort of interesting introspection and character development can come from the dilemmas faced by older men and women? Why can't a journey of discovery be just as compelling if the character doing the discovering is elderly? More pertinently, why is growing older considered the end of a journey rather than the beginning of one?

Of course, there is always the question of whether an idea for a video game is marketable. However, I ask that creators and storywriters not fall into the trap of stereotyping for the sake of pushing what the nebulous and questionable "market" considers "attractive." What I have found is most often attractive to gamers is that which most pleasurably defies their expectations.

And when it comes down to it, the word "pleasure" is at the heart of this issue. For all the patronizing glories we confer upon the elderly, we often associate growing older with a descent of condition, away from pleasurable activity and towards death. Surely the process of growing old is not always a pleasurable one, but there is nothing about old age that makes growing up and having fun mutually exclusive.- Matthew Kaplan

Weekend Reader is Kotaku's look at the critical thinking in, and of video games. It appears Saturdays at noon. Please take the time to read the full article cited before getting involved in the debate here.

Characters include two versions of Old Snake, Raiden, Liquid Ocelot, Otacon and the exclamation mark. Voice samples include Old Snake saying "This is Snake. Can you hear me?" The exclamation mark, of course, makes the MGS exclamation mark noise — something to annoy your friends with! Endless fun.

The keychains are actually capsule toys and available through capsule machines in Japan. It is possible to pre-order a full set for import if you like. If not, well, then don't.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Ration Sound Keychain Series 2 [NCSX via GameSetWatch]

Before you say anything, yes, we know Metal Gear Solid 4 has been out in select PAL territories for months now. Guess it's now out in more territories.

So what better way to celebrate the season of weddings than with a quick look at some of the best wedding dresses shown off in video games? A lot of video game characters we know and love have walked down the aisle over the years. Ken got married at the end of Street Fighter II, the entire plot of Dragon Quest V centers around a bride and it looks like Aya's getting down to marital business in the upcoming Parasite Eve: The 3rd Birthday.

But when it comes to that most important of wedding props — the dress — only a few video game characters and even fewer gamers really get it right. Here are a few fashionable examples:

Princess Peach, Super Paper Mario
Peach almost exchanged vows with Bowser at the beginning of the game, but even though the arranged marriage goes bust before the "I dos," Peach is rocking that puff sleeved gown with the opera gloves. Observe how the pink ribbon on the bouquet accents the gem in her crown, too. Classy.

Meryl Silverburgh, Metal Gear Solid 4
The cool thing about Meryl's dress is the story behind it. I fangirl'd out over spoke with Hideo Kojima at the Game Developers Conferences this year to tell him how much I liked her dress. He replied through his translator that the animators didn't really know what a Western-style wedding dress looked like, so they had an assistant go out and rent a dress to model for the animators. Good thing the assistant picked a sleeveless number — Meryl is way too ripped to pull off bell sleeves. And kudos on the tiara, but could we loose the gun?

Meryl Silverburgh, Metal Gear Solid 4
The cool thing about Meryl's dress is the story behind it. I fangirl'd out over spoke with Hideo Kojima at the Game Developers Conferences this year to tell him how much I liked her dress. He replied through his translator that the animators didn't really know what a Western-style wedding dress looked like, so they had an assistant go out and rent a dress to model for the animators. Good thing the assistant picked a sleeveless number — Meryl is way too ripped to pull off bell sleeves. And kudos on the tiara, but could we loose the gun?

Meryl Silverburgh, Metal Gear Solid 4
The cool thing about Meryl's dress is the story behind it. I fangirl'd out over spoke with Hideo Kojima at the Game Developers Conferences this year to tell him how much I liked her dress. He replied through his translator that the animators didn't really know what a Western-style wedding dress looked like, so they had an assistant go out and rent a dress to model for the animators. Good thing the assistant picked a sleeveless number — Meryl is way too ripped to pull off bell sleeves. And kudos on the tiara, but could we loose the gun?

Princess Ashe, Final Fantasy XII
With it's ruffled train and extreme gold accessory count, this is a gown fit for a princess. Sadly, though, the veil doesn't quite fit the dress. The length and tiered lace fringe work well, but the giant blue feathers on top and golden cheerios that seemed to be hot glued to the cap scream "I let my little sister decorate this."

Princess Ashe, Final Fantasy XII
Here's a veil-less breakdown.

Aidra the Katamari Bride, Real Life
Never mind the nerd factor, look at the detail on that dress in the vines and flower pattern. It's delicate, pretty and perfectly coordinated to her headgear. Plus the dress can double as a prom gown thanks to the modest cut and straight fall, if the bride should choose to let her potential future daughter wear it.

There are probably more weddings and even more gowns in more games than I've played. Leave a comment if you spot any. And before you start in on me about the default gown in The Sims 2, I'm not a fan; the Sims don't know how to accessorize.

Sent in by a Best Buy employee, and confirmed by other BB employees, it's an 80GB PS3 bundled with copies of two of the biggest games on the system: Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2. All that for the asking price of a standard PS3, $400.

It's one hell of a bundle. It's like getting a Wii with Twilight Princess and Mario Galaxy, or a 360 with Gears 2 and Halo 3. But perhaps more importantly, it's also one hell of a saving; perhaps Best Buy need to clear out their stock of 80GB PS3s for oh, I don't know, a new PS3?

UPDATE - Looks like some Best Buy stores are already selling the bundle early. Thanks Anonymous Bundle King!

Yes, the Metal Gear publisher is once again prefacing actual video game announcements with a warning that it plans to make said announcements, a move that has become a Konami trademark. Konami notes today that it will release "exciting" Metal Gear announcements all week long aimed at fans of the tactical espionage action franchise.

Don't expect all-new game announcements, considering that both Metal Gear Solid: Rising and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker recently had their existence confirmed. Instead, anticipate "game updates and other highly anticipated announcements" from Konami.

We doubt that Konami will embroil us in another Kojima Productions NEXT-style roller coaster ride of speculation and mental manipulation, but expect something of substance this week.

Well, scratch all that, because Metal Gear Solid 4 was a big hit for Konami and Kojima works for Konami. So no wonder he's back lending his name and expertise to a couple new Metal Gear games — instead of spreading his wings and trying new, unproven titles or revisiting old franchises. (Snatcher, Zone of the Enders, anyone?)

The designer initially did not want to be involved with PSP title Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. "At first, I was just going to create the overall guidelines and concepts for the project, and leave it in the hands my excellent staff," says Kojima. "I was going to have a hand in the project as a producer, and make titles other than MGS. But, I set the game in the South American(sic) country of Costa Rica and created a story with themes about nuclear deterrence and the cold war. It looked as if it might be very confusing to young people, because of generational differences. So, in the end I finally said, 'I'll do it.'" Phew — because he obviously knows about Costa Rica and none of his other games are confusing. Peace Walker is in good hands.

Kojima was also dragged into home console title Metal Gear Solid: Rising as well, because "it's a completely different kind of action than what has appeared in the series so far". The MGS creator adds, "I'll be working more deeply on the project then a normal producer." Delightful if you're ready for more Metal Gear, not so much so if you were looking forward to something else. Fingers crossed that after these titles are released, Kojima will finally be able to move on.

Kojima Explains Why He Took on MGS: Peace Walker, Introduces "Love Box" [GameCenterOnline via PS3 Center]

When the game was released, there was talk from the designer about leaving the franchise — like there is every time he finishes a Metal Gear game. But he always comes back. There must be pressure for him to make more of these titles.

"Yeah, there's absolutely pressure there," he told Develop magazine. "Maybe if I quit Konami that pressure might be a bit better, but since Konami handles the business side of our operations, yeah, there's definitely a demand continue a series as successful as Metal Gear."

Kojima does concede that what players expect from a Metal Gear "might only be possible from Kojima Productions". The game creator, however, is possibly open outside studios tackling the series.

"I think in the near future it'll be like Holywood — there'll be someone who funds, and a creator. In the past the person who funded was the developer or the publisher," Kojima said, "but I think in the future they'll be a clear distinction between those who fund and those who create." For now, Kojima's employer Konami is funding.

New place for Hideo [Develop]

Konami's profit dropped 40.7 percent to ¥10.87 billion. According to Konami, the company's health and fitness segment faced depreciation. (Konami owns a chain of gyms in Japan.)

Though, its game division was healthy in an unhealthy economy. "In spite of this backdrop, Konami's Digital Entertainment segment recorded steady sales of METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS," the company stated, "which was released simultaneously around the world in June 2008."

For the next financial year, Konami forecasts net profit to increase 47.1 percent and sales to inch up 0.1 percent.

[Pic]

In honor of Mother's Day, we celebrate moms in gaming – from the bit parts to the big players. Some are examples of the best parenting you could imagine; and some are so evil, they're unfit to be called "Mom." Join us now as we separate the June Cleavers from the Joan Crawfords of video game mothers.

Mothers in… Role-Playing Games
Role-playing games have the highest number of moms of any video game genre. This is because RPGs have huge, sprawling plots with huge, sprawling towns and a huge, sprawling casts of characters who you may or may not encounter depending on how you play the game. In most RPGs, you see moms as non-playable characters in towns, in flashbacks depicting the hero's reason for revenge. Some RPGs even have them as playable characters or main villains. Sadly, RPGs are also the number one "mom dies" offender, as nearly every RPG features a plucky youth out to avenge a destroyed village that usually has within it a dead mother – or at least one that's been turned into a monster.

There are way more mothers in RPGs than we could count – especially if you're going through side quests, all PC RPGs, all Japanese RPGs that were never released in the US, Final Fantasy X-2 and every single optional flashback for every possible playable character. So we've populated this list with moms who 1) had the most impact on the game's main plot or that 2) appear in the game beyond a single expository cut scene. This leaves us mostly with moms who appear in Japanese RPGs; but be sure to apologize to your dead mother in Fallout 3 for us.

Mada, Dragon Quest V – Mother of the main character: Mada gets kidnapped and becomes the subject of his quest.

Matriarch Benezia, Mass Effect – Mother of Liara T'Soni: Benezia is enslaved and later killed by Shepard in battle, but she makes up with Liara right before dying.

Polka's Mom, Eternal Sonata — Mother of Polka: this country lady is very well adjusted to time loops and apparently never taught her daughter not to talk to strange 19th Century composers she might meet while wandering around at night.

Yohn, Suikoden Tactics — Mother of Kyril: Yohn is a mute demon trapped in the wrong world who sticks around to care for her son, even though he doesn't know who she is for pretty much the whole game.

Gina , Chrono Trigger — Mother of Chrono: In one of the game's endings, Gina accidentally goes into the time portal, thus restarting the whole plot from the beginning.

Jenova, Final Fantasy VII — Mother of Sephiroth (sorta): Jenova is... an alien? We're not even sure she's a she, but "she" spends a lot of time in a jar and looks creepy.

Angeal's Mother, Crisis Core — Mother of Angeal: This small-town lady is very nice to all of her son's friends from the army, even the ones that turn evil and cause her matricide.

Queen Brahne, Final Fantasy IX — Mother of the real Princess Garnet and foster mother to her lookalike of the same name: Brahne gets fat, turns evil, tries to kill her adoptive daughter and later repents and dies in Garnet's arms.

Sarah Sisulart, Lost Odyssey – Mother of Liram: Sarah goes a little crazy and turns herself into an old woman when she thinks her daughter's been killed, but turns back into a hot nerdy chick when she finds out she has grandkids.

Seth Balmore, Lost Odyssey – Mother of Sed: Seth is immortal, but her son isn't, which is sort of weird for both of them. But they're both pirates, so there's some common ground at least.

Best Mom: Yohn… because she's selfless as only a mother can be.

Worst Mom: Jenova… because she's emotionally unavailable. And responsible for Sephiroth.

Mothers in… Fighting Games
Fighting games have a fair few mothers among their playable characters. The plot structure (or lack thereof) leaves room for all kinds of people to enter whatever world championship fighting tournament of the week is going on for various reasons that don't necessarily make any sense. So if you can have a panda, a geisha, a cyborg and whatever the hell Voldo is supposed to be enter a tournament for personal gain, a mother doesn't seem like such a weird contender. Here's a list of a few prominent mommies:

Sophitia, Soulcalibur series – Mother of Patroklos and Pyrrha: Sophitia is an Athenian who fights on behalf of the Greek God, Hephaestus, to regain Soul Edge. The sword entwines itself with her daughter's spirit, forcing Sophitia to spend eternity defending Soul Edge from anyone who tries to claim it. She's protecting her daughter.

Michelle Chang, Tekken series – Mother of Julia: Michelle fights in one of the Iron Fist tournaments to rescue her kidnapped mother and then adopts an abandoned baby named Julia. Then Julia goes on to fight in an Iron Fist tournament to save Michelle when Michelle gets kidnapped. Circle of life.

Dural, Virtua Fighter – Mother of Kage: Dural probably started out as a good mom when she was human, but then she got kidnapped and turned into an evil cyborg. That knocks her out of the Mom of the Year running.

Jun Kazama, Tekken series – Mother of Jin Kazama: Jun is the Chosen One, a wildlife activist, and a single mom. Over the course of four games, she somehow found time to save pandas, birth a son, thrash a bunch of her extended family and possibly fake her own death or perhaps dies for real when her house burned down.

Nina Williams, Tekken series – Mother of Steve Fox via in-vitro fertilization: Nina is a world class assassin who gives birth to a son while in cryogenic sleep. Though it appears she couldn't care less that she has offspring, she does neglect to assassinate him. That counts as maternal instinct, right?

Maria, Dead or Alive series – Mother of Helena: Maria is a world class opera singer who had an affair with the head of a sinister corporation. She later took a bullet for her bastard daughter onstage in the middle of an aria… what a way to go.

Crimson Viper, Street Fighter IV – Mother of Lauren: C. Viper is a working mother in the spy profession. Her life's goal is destroying the weapons produced by a sinister corporation, but somehow she made room in her busy schedule to have a daughter.

Justice, Guilty Gear – Mother of Dizzy: No one's really sure how it happened – least of all Dizzy, who was found abandoned at age 3.

Best Mom: Maria… because nothing says "Mommy loves you" like taking a sniper's bullet to the heart.

Worst Mom: Crimson Viper… because she's a workaholic. Did she even call her kid after fights? No!**

Mothers in… Action/Adventure and Survival Horror Games
Here's where the role of the mother in video games become complicated. Because these types of games usually have a more focused plot than fighting or role playing games, adding a mother usually means casting her in a narrow role that doesn't include speaking parts. Occasionally, these moms even wind up as antagonists by default. However small their part, though, these mothers sometimes make an appearance worth mentioning. Here are a few notable examples:

The Queen, Ico – Mother of Yorda: She basically had a daughter so she could sacrifice the kid and live a bit longer. I guess some species do eat their own young, but jeez…

Annette Birkin, Resident Evil 2 – Mother of Sherry Birkin: Depending on how you play the game, Annette either hid the G-Virus in her daughter's locket or cures her daughter of the T-Virus. Either way, she did abandon her kid during a zombie apocalypse. Poor form, Mom.

Amelia Croft, Tomb Raider series – Mother of Lara Croft: Like her daughter, Mrs. Croft has issues with touching ancient artifacts she probably shouldn't. Luckily, Lara learns from her mommy's mistakes and everybody's happy… until Lara has to shoot zombie Amelia when they meet up in Underworld.

Mrs. Sanderson, Chibi Robo – Mother of Jenny: Mrs. Sanderson has real marital problems that cause her to lock herself in a bathroom and threaten divorce, leaving all the housework to Jenny and her toy robot.

Ex-Mrs. Hopkins, Bully – Mother of Jimmy Hopkins: This woman lacks both fashion sense and parental priorities. She ditches her kid at a boarding school to run off on a honeymoon with a new husband and then sends Jimmy a fugly sweater at Christmas.

Maggie Monday, Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse – Mother of Andrew Monday: Like Jimmy Hopkins' mom, Maggie could use some priority adjustment. She lets her son's city get sacked by zombies and then becomes a zombie herself so she can marry Stubbs. This basically leaves Andrew with a wrecked city and a zombie for a stepfather. Thanks, Mom!

Ma Cipriani, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories – Mother of Toni: Toni never called his Ma while he was in hiding. Given that she dates guys who are into paraphilic infantilism, I can see why. Ma puts a hit out on her son and then calls it off in a fit of maternal pride when Tony finally becomes a made man.

Best Mom: Amelia Croft… because not even good moms get it right all of the time and how was she supposed to know that sword would teleport her, her husband would die and her daughter would be left an orphan?

Worst Mom: The Queen… because what she did to Yorda is way worse than what Joan Crawford did to her daughter. You think being hit with wire hangers is bad? Try being turned to stone.

Mothers in… Shooters
Here's where you barely see any moms at all. The shooter genre is reserved for masculine things like guns and aliens and spies and other stuff that doesn't leave much room for maternal influences. You'll find a lot of dads in shooters, though – but Father's Day isn't for another month, so sit tight.

*SPOILER WARNING: BioShock, F.E.A.R. 2, Metal Gear Solid 4*

Jasmine Jolene, BioShock – Mother of Jack: Jasmine was Andrew Ryan's mistress and a "dancer" which is 60s code for "prostitute." Even if she didn't accept money for sexual favors, she was certainly in a hurry to accept money for her freshly-conceived embryo. That's worse than the fairy tales where parents trade firstborn sons for magical enchantments.

Dr. Bridgette Tenenbaum, BioShock and BioShock 2 – Mother of all the Little Sisters and the Big Sister: Tenenbaum didn't give birth to any of the poor darlings, but her research created them. She eventually stepped in to foster them and shower them with toys and secondhand cigarette smoke to make up for the brainwashing.

Eva, Metal Gear Solid 4 – Mother of Liquid and Solid Snake (kinda): Eva would have gladly had Naked Snake's babies the ol' fashioned way, but the Patriots had other plans. She eventually serves as surrogate mother to the clone babies Liquid and Solid and starts calling herself Big Mamma to compensate for having nothing to do with mothering them.

The Boss, Metal Gear Solid 3 – Mother of Revolver Ocelot and the US Special Forces (which one do you think she's more proud of?): The Boss probably had no business leading the Battle of Normandy while nine months pregnant. But despite being a bad mom to Ocelot, The Boss wins major motherhood recognition as a Mother Goddess figure to at least half the cast of the Metal Gear Solid series.

Alma Wade, F.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin – Mother of Paxton Fettel, Point Man and countless telepathic clone soldiers: Alma became a mother at the tender age of 15 against her will. It's hard to tell if she harbors any feeling for her offspring conceived in captivity – bloodlust sort of obscures any tender intent. However, in Project Origin, Alma's grown up a bit and appears to have invested in being mother to the protagonist's baby, which she deliberately conceives.

Best Mom: The Boss… because out of this sorry lot, she's easily the best role model.

Worst Mom: Jasmine… because she sold her only son to his father's enemy before the son was even born. That's like the opposite of mother-like behavior.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions
Sora's Mom, Kingdom Hearts — She has one line and the whole first part of the game is about her son trying to build a raft to run away from home. Clearly the parenting thing isn't working out.
Mother Brain, Metroid — "She," if that's what that thing in the jar can be called, is an alien with no maternal feelings whatsoever.
You, Fable II, The Sims games and Harvest Moon games — Even if you play as an upstanding paragon of parental vigilance, you're going to be guilty of neglect at least half of the time in these games.

At this point, you're probably wondering why Cooking Mama isn't anywhere on this list. Apart from the lack of a convenient genre into which to cram the game, there's no evidence that Cooking Mama is even a mother. Do you see her kids at any point in the game? For all the player knows, she's just calling herself "Mama" so she doesn't have to call herself a chef, the poor self-hating hash slinger.

That's all we've got for the best and worst mothers in video games. Think we missed somebody important? Drop a line in the comments. And don't forget to call your mom on Mother's Day!

**CORRECTION: C. Viper occasionally does call her daughter after fights. But the workaholic ruling still stands.

Hideo Kojima's swan song for Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, will be released on Sony Computer Entertainment's "PLAYSTATION 3 the Best" line on June 18 for ¥3,990 (US$41).

MGS4 went on sale June 12, 2008. Even though it's one of the biggest selling PS3 titles in Japan, MGS4 still hasn't reached the million copies sold benchmark in The Land of the Rising Sun.

By the end of last year, the game sold had 4.5 million copies worldwide.

On April 26, Kojima will be giving a lecture at the Ginza Apple Store in Tokyo in a speaker series called "Dream Classroom". The series is aimed at students and has well-known professionals talk about their work, influences and aspirations. Previously, the likes of composer Ryuichi Sakamoto spoke at the Ginza store.

Those attending the lecture will be able to ask Kojima questions, too. Those attending please resist the urge to ask about MGS4 on the Xbox 360! The Kojima lecture begins at 5:00pm.

Dream Classroom [Apple via Gpara]

ZoE spawned two three sequels as well as two anime. The first title was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2001 with a Game Boy Advance version, Zone of the Enders: The First of Mars, following later that year. A proper sequel, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, came out in 2003.

Kojima has expressed interest in a third ZoE title, but said he was too busy with Metal Gear Solid 4. That game is done! Adding fuel to the ZoE speculation is the latest Metal Gear Solid Integral podcast, in which the following question was thrown out there: "How many people really want Zone of the Enders a sequel?"

Konami's Aki Saito added, "If there's so many people wanting to see Zone of the Enders, why not put the priority on top, a little further up, you know, but we just want to know."

Saito even encouraged listeners to "make sure you write your comments and we'll check your comments out."

Kojima Productions: Do you really want Zone of the Enders 3? [PS3 Center]

First teased at GDC, it's a long, elaborate video showing an old friend doing...stuff. I won't spoil any of it. Just hit the link below and watch it yourself.

Then make of it what you will.

[Metal Gear April 1]

Kojima's a Mac user, and he's got a one-of-a-kind iPhone with his own mug on it. Hello vanity!

We assume (hope?) this is a gag on his part — but you never know. Kojima seems like such a humble guy.

Metal Gear Solid themed protective cover jackets for the iPhone and the iPod Touch are on sale at Soft Bank cell phone shops and Apple Stores across. They're priced at ¥4,500 (US$46.50) each.

小島秀夫監督、渡邊靖予プロデューサーに加え、"お兄さん"も登場 [Famitsu]

While "Chief Of I Can Do Whatever I Want" would have been an obvious choice, his new title starting April 1 is Managing Director Operating Officer and Studio Head of Kojima Productions. Hope those new business cards work out for you, Mr. Kojima.

Before the founding of his own studio within Konami, Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima was a company Vice-President. He stepped down from the business side in 2005 to focus on the game side, taking the title of Operating Officer and Studio Head of Kojima Productions.

人事異動に関するお知らせ [Konami]

Oh, sure. No one can deny the selling power of an endorsement from 4Players.de, and the Games-Hit thumbs up indicator is sure to move a few more copies of the PlayStation 3 blockbuster. And we know that Germany's USK ratings board likes BIG WARNING LABELS about potentially offensive content. But how about showing a little respect to your tactical espionage action elders, Konami?

Maybe it's appropriate that we can barely see Old Snake among the budget priced mess, but the savings on the Platinum version don't make up for the queasiness we're feeling.

Thanks, Kay.