Get to around the 1:49 mark of the clip and you'll see that somebody on the Chrome team likes their coffee. And their Kojima Productions crew. And we also find that Snake would be far more punctual, if only he subscribed to Google's particular brand of task management.

[thanks Re-l!]

That is according to Jeremy Bolt, who is Anderson's co-producer on Resident Evil: Afterlife. Visiting that film's set, the site ShockTillYouDrop.com says it spoke to Bolt, who "told us this morning that Paul W.S. Anderson is still circling video game adaptation Castlevania at Rogue Pictures and that they are waiting on a script."

"Bolt added that he and Anderson would like to adapt Konami's Metal Gear Solid for the big screen at Columbia Pictures," ShockTillYouDrop.com added.

You can check out Paul W.S. Anderson's filmography here but he ain't no Bergman. Please note that none of this confirms Anderson has anything to do with the Metal Gear project.

Paul W.S. Anderson Still Circling Castlevania [ShockTillYouDrop.com]

No idea on an exact release date or price, but don't expect this to be either widely-available or cheap.

3A Toys Metal Gear Rex [Toyark, via Tomopop]

That's according to a release from Japanese artist network pixiv—pretty much the overseas equivalent of deviantArt—which has tapped Kojima, Evangelion character designer and manga creator Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Twilight manga artist Ryuji Gotsubo to judge a Twilight: New Moon fan art contest.

Kojima, who I'd wager aligns himself with Team Jacob, is reportedly a "huge fan" of Twilight, according to the Anime News Network's translation of the release. He'll contribute his expert opinion as well as a signed copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, apparently, to the list of grand prizes.

If you've got some Edward Cullen fan art lying around—perhaps in the Yoji Shinkawa style—you might want to get a Japanese speaking friend to register with pixiv and submit it on your behalf. Otherwise, expect this contest to be an "only in Japan" kinda thing.

The more cynical of you may see this as an attempt to broaden the exposure of things like Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker to a very passionate fan base. But I'm betting you're way, way off. Way off.

Eva, Metal Gear Creators Judge Twilight Art Contest [Anime News Network via GameSetWatch]

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.

Here's what the eminent games designer had to say:

President Obama, who declared 'A World Without Nuclear Weapons' in Prague, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Has the era at last started shifting? The start of the Peace Walker plan? I hope that comes to be.

'Peace will not walk to you'

'You must both walk towards one another.'

Pretty bold plug of one's game, I'd say.

ノーベル平和賞 [Kojima Productions via Go Nintendo]

Written and directed by some guy named Giacomo Talamini, the fan flick claims to be totally non-for-profit and has CG graphics, military vehicles, exotic locales and even a gravely Snake voice.

The folks who made this picture have been working on it for years. Well, now it's done. You can watch it, even.

Full flick in the link below.

Metal Gear Solid Philanthropy [Official Site]

During a half-hour backroom chat with Kotaku and Kotaku Japan at the Tokyo Game Show on Friday, sitting beside Metal Gear character designer Yoji Shinakawa and a publicist cos-playing his next game's female characters, one of gaming's most celebrated creators amiably discussed his latest works, a curious detail of his past and his hopes for the future. Much of the conversation, covering all three eras, involved Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear series, of course, a series the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will continue but not complete.

"I think the Metal Gear story will not end until I pass away," Kojima said. "But, even then, young people of the next generation will continue the story as they would a classic. It's basically the story of a master and an apprentice."

Kojima's latest Metal Gear is Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, a portable adventure that supports multiple players and tells the pivotal story of the master, Big Boss, who would become the nemesis for the hero of the next generation, Solid Snake.

"In Metal Gear Solid 3, Naked Snake became Big Boss, but, in reality, he's not really the Big Boss yet," Kojima explained. "Eventually he's going to become the enemy of Solid Snake. I want to tell the story of how Big Boss began and what changed him."

Peace Walker is the game that will tell that story, a PSP experiment that finally puts Kojima in direct charge of one of these portable adventures of his Metal Gear heroes. It's also an early test of a theory he has. "I basically think that the future of gaming is less about platforms and more about cloud-computing, with a super-computer and people connecting to that," he said. "We wanted to experiment with the idea early on with Peace Walker and have a portable game."

(Yes, Kojima believes that cloud computing, the technique of users engaging with digital content that is stored and processed far away, is on the rise, "more of a longterm thing before cloud computing is the mainstream of games." But, no, said Kojima, who has seen his words turned into hyperbolic headlines, "That's not the main part of this article. That's just my idea on the future of gaming.")

We moved to discuss the importance of cardboard boxes as they relate to Peace Walker and his own past.

In Peace Walker, up to four players can participate in missions co-operatively. Among the co-op maneuvers available, two players can hide together under the series' signature cardboard box. "I think the cardboard box is what represents Metal Gear in a way, of stealth," he said. "This time I wanted to emphasize the co-op part through the cardboard box by having two people in it." (Read more about how the game's co-op works in Kotaku's Peace Walker preview.)

The cardboard box has been an unlikely device for Kojima to utilize to think about things differently. Long before Solid Snake or Big Boss ever hid under a box in a Metal Gear game or trailer, their creator did. He was young. "There was a story in Japanese literature called the Box Man, and, kind of an as an homage to that story, I used to hide under cardboard boxes when I was little. That Box Man book is basically about hiding under a box and looking at the world through that box and having a different point of view. I wanted to experience that, though I'm not sure if it worked."

Few who have followed Kojima's work would say he has failed to see the world a different way. He is a fan of a different stripe of video games, saying the only games that interest him at TGS are the non-Japanese ones: Uncharted 2, Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin's Creed II. (Well, he admitted, he liked Konami dating game Love Plus, too.) He is the designer of a different kind of game, maintaining a standard of dramatic storytelling and quirky gameplay unique to the Metal Gear series.

And, with Peace Walker, he's hopeful to promote a different kind of multiplayer emotion.

Multiplayer games was originally cut-throat, the developer explained. "In multiplayer gaming, especially in online gaming, first it was about competition with each other. Then the next level was co-op. But it wasn't really about friendship. It was about benefiting from your teammates, a give and take kind of thing. But, this, time I want to take it to the next level and to give a feeling of sharing.

"I want players to feel the joy of helping each other out. For example, there's the game's life bar. When players are close to each other, it becomes one. Even if one player is dying or weaker, they can help each other. We want to express the strength of friendship through that."

Huddling under the box might bring the players closer too. But the box can't fit all four players supported by Peace Walker. Blame PSP memory restrictions, Kojima quipped. "I wanted to have it fit four," he said before naming a non-programming justification for fitting only two. "In reality, there is not a cardboard box that fits four people. Maybe if it's a next-gen console I can do four or five or 10 people. And then it probably doesn't need to be a cardboard box."

A Kojima mention of the next-gen platforms might stir memories of his other Metal Gear announcement of this year, the development for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 of Metal Gear Solid: Rising. While Kojima was happy to speak about Peace Walker, he chose to reveal little here at TGS about Rising. He referred to it simply as a "next-gen Metal Gear," a game he said is designed to apply his team's Metal Gear know-how to a revamped engine and new development system. He said the game is "far from completion."

One of Kotaku Japan's bloggers asked Kojima to react to some Japanese gamers' concerns that the developer's announcement of Rising at an Xbox 360 press conference was a betrayal of the PlayStation 3. "I don't make games for platforms," Kojima said. "I make games for players, and it's because of the players that I'm able to be here."

Kojima has a full plate of Metal Gear projects ahead of him to ensure he's busy. But I noted to him that some of our readers have clamored for Kojima to work on something other than Metal Gear. He gets the message.

"Not only the Kotaku readers but I myself am interested in doing something besides Metal Gear," he said. "But, right now, I am working on Peace Walker. Eventually, after the project is done, I might think about it."

He joked: "If you write that 'Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear any more' every day on Kotaku, and write to the CEO of Konami and tell him that, then it might be easier for me to make non-Metal Gear games."

That could free him from the Metal Gear box, perhaps. But from within it, for now, he will continue to see the world differently. With Peace Walker, he's got room for more.

Of course, the game doesn't call it torture. I think the term they use is "extreme interrogation tactics." But when is something "interrogation" over "torture?" Is it just how badly you beat somebody up, or does it matter what you're trying to get out of the person/NPC?

In Brink, this is what happens: you're playing as a military operative in a futuristic setting. During a firefight, you sneak behind enemy lines and happen upon an injured rebel writhing on the ground. An option pops up, prompting you to press X to interrogate the guy and it looks like if you select it, your character pulls out an iPhone-iish device. Your character then shocks the heck out of the guy until he screams, "Okay! I'll talk!" Then your objective screen updates and a new icon appears on the map.

In the grand scheme of violence in video games, it's not graphic. It's actually similar to what happens to Snake in the first Metal Gear Solid when Revolver Ocelot has him strapped spread-eagle style and shocks him (as the player, you press buttons to Resist or Submit — Submitting kills Meryl and I couldn't hit that button fast enough). The difference in Brink is that my character is doing it to someone else. So on a gut level, I don't want to call it torture because I'm the "good guy," right?

But then there's the Punisher game with interactive torture. That's torture because I think the game goes so far as to call it so, but as a player I'm comfortable with it because I'm playing as the Punisher. Yeah, he fights for justice, but he's not what people would call a "good" guy. So it's okay for me as a player to play as him torturing somebody because that's what the Punisher would do — never mind what I would do. Besides, they were probably bad people who deserved it anyway.

Now think about Red Faction: Guerrilla where you're playing on the side of a rebel faction. Like Brink, it's a wartime situation and gaining information is crucial to the success of missions. In one scene, explored by Stephen Totilo, an NPC sidekick "interrogates" somebody for said information. With knives. Is that torture? If you're not sure, apply the same line of questioning to Killzone 2 when Rico gets a little "extreme" when interrogating an enemy.

To confuse you even more on the subject of torture, think about situations where it's not about information — it's about control. For example, there's the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City mission, Death Row and the Ransom mission in Grand Theft Auto IV. In both cases, somebody is deliberately hurting someone else for revenge or just because they're violent by nature. That's really easy to spot as torture — but at the same time, in GTAIV, you're playing as Niko, the guy that hits a woman tied to a chair and then takes a picture of her. You don't really want to call that torture, do you? It's easier just to play it down as no big deal or write it off because it's not an interactive part of the game — so "you" didn't torture anybody.

Lastly, let's talk about torture being inflicted on you, the player. In these cases, you probably wouldn't think of what you're going through as "torture," (unless it's a Saw game), but by definition, a game is deliberately inflicting suffering on you. Example: Missile Command. The game is about mutually assured destruction in the Cold War era, but at the same time, it's a psychological exercise that tortures the player: by design, you cannot "win" Missile Command. Sure, a lot of early arcade games were un-winnable — but by forcing the player to realize that no matter how good you are at the game, no matter how many quarters you sink into it, you cannot save six cities from a nuclear holocaust, the game is deliberately messing with you. A more obvious example of mental anguish inflicted on the player would be Fable II — because it's not just that your character is being electrocuted, it's that you're losing all of that XP you gathered and racking up evilness (which is torture to a goody-two-shoes gamer like me).

So what's really going on in Brink? When I zap the guy with my iPhone-looking device, am I committing torture or just "extreme" interrogation? I didn't see an option to just question the guy before shocking him. I'm not sure if there were other ways to get the information that the subject had. I do know that if the game actually called it "torture," I'd be way less inclined to play as that class of character. For me, that would be the worst kind of torture: role-playing as a character that I want to play as benevolent, and then being forced to do something I'm not okay with because the game has other ideas about where the line between torture and interrogation lies.

P.S. You want the line clearly drawn? Check this game out.

Image Cred — GTAIV
Image Cred — The Punisher
Image Cred — Fable II
Image Cred — MGS

In France, at least. (And Germany. This latest escape is not to be confused with a similar cardboard box escape that happened in a German jail.)

Double murder suspect Jean-Pierre Treiber snuck out of high security prison of Auxerre, Burgundy in a cardboard box. The 45-year-old inmate packed himself in said box, reports Telegraph.co.uk, which was loaded onto a truck. Somewhere along the 100-mile journey, Treiber hoped off the truck and landed in freedom.

Police had sealed off the roads and are trying to find the con using dogs.

One of the two strangled victims Treiber is said to have murdered is the daughter of renowned French actor Roland Giraud. Treiber has proclaimed innocence, and his DNA does not match the DNA on tape used to gag the victims. When he was arrested, Treiber's reaction was: "He bumped her off." He did use the victims' credit cards to withdraw cash from an ATM.

"One can either say he's guilty and that this is proof of his guilt... or one can say he's desperate," said Treiber's attorney, "that he no longer has faith in the justice system because he's pleaded his innocence for so long and hasn't been heard."

One could also say that the cardboard box actually works. Simple game mechanic this ain't!

Prisoner escapes jail in cardboard box [Telegraph]

Don't worry if you are baffled at times. Series creator Hideo Kojima gets baffled, too, scratching his noggin while figuring out plot points.

"I personally get confused too about the whole timeline and saga of Metal Gear Solid," Kojima told game site Eurogamer. "This is especially tricky when you create the future first and then go back in time to create something new. There are a lot of small aspects where sometimes it doesn't match completely."

Konami's Hideo Kojima Interview [Eurogamer]

"We've manufactured certain amounts depending on the title," a Konami spokesperson has told Eurogamer, "and they're being bought by wholesalers so will likely pop up in independent rather than chain stores."

The games currently available are:

Suikoden Tactics
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

While Silent Hill 2, 3 & 4 will be released soon. As they're old titles, Konami have even priced them accordingly, offering them for between £10 and £20 (USD$16-$33).

Bravo, Konami! May this serve as a shining example to publishers everywhere.

Konami confirms PS2 re-issues [Eurogamer]

Yeah, you guessed it; this time last year, people were buying millions of copies of Metal Gear Solid 4. This year? People aren't buying Metal Gear Solid 4 any more, and Konami had little else on offer to make up for it.

This time last year, the company's digital entertainment division (remember, Konami do more than just games!) raked in ¥44.9 billion in net revenues. That's including sales of console games, online games, card games and arcade units. But for the last quarter, that was down to ¥24.6 billion.

The gaming division's operating revenue is worse reading, down from ¥13.2 billion this time last year to just ¥1.5 billion in the quarter just passed.

Bear in mind this is just for the quarter; Konami's main breadwinner, Pro Evolution Soccer, won't be out until October, though it's decline in quality relative to EA's FIFA in recent years surely has Konami execs worried these bad numbers will continue throughout the year.

A listener of the Listen Up podcast recently asked the show's hosts to talk about the poor quality of game endings. The listener was blue over the arguably poor endings of Metal Gear Solid IV and BioShock.

The hosts debated whether they should lament the state of game endings or delve into the problematic staying power of end-boss-based design.

Neither.

They settled on a more interesting nuance: What about making the most exciting moment of a game not be the very last thing? Maybe that's a problem?

Here's Listen Up master of ceremonies Garnett Lee and Gamasutra's Christian Nutt on the last Listen Up at 1:49:40:

Garnett Lee: The exigency of making the game come together at the end and hitting the [development] milestones was what undermined building out the ultimate end of the game. They were working on the journey, they're building all this stuff. And then they get toward the end and they're like: "Oh shit, we've got to wrap this thing up. Let's wrap it up, get it done and get it out..."

...If you followed a classic story progression, the end of the game wouldn't be the climax. You'd have the climax prior to the end of the game and then you would have the rest of the run-out.

Christian Nutt: Ico had a denouement...

Indeed it did, Christian. And the denouement was playable, which is more than one can say about the long post-climactic-end-boss-battle of games like Ocarina of Time or BioShock or just about any Metal Gear.

Most games give the gamer little to experience after the final major battle other than a cut-scene or end credits. An exception — that doesn't satisfy what's being called for here — are open world games that continue after their story concludes do. They, in a sense, have denouements, just based on the fact that the player can roam a Fallout 3, Fable II or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas world after the final narrative confrontation. But that's not quite the classic way it's done.

What about going back to visit the home town your game started in? Or chatting with the characters who helped you slay the final boss?

Why is the climax the last thing you play in most games? That's a good question from Listen Up.

07-17-2009 Listen Up Podcast

My brother and I spent those sweltering days in Maryland, Thailand and Korea coming up with ways to torment one another and sometimes even have fun together. From the fabled pine cone wars faux fought in the nearby woods, to endless games of tag, cops n' robbers and spotlight, we never ran out of things to do.

I can't pretend that children today have those same sorts of childhood experiences. Many spend their days inside watching TV, reading books and even playing video games. That's not a bad thing, but it does lack some of the sweaty charm of a day spent running with friends.

Here, mostly for my amusement, is a collection of games meant to be enjoyed outdoors. I've taken some of my favorite video games and tried to turn them into the sorts of games you play with friends on the lawn, in a park or anywhere there's space.

Included are homages to Katamari Damacy, Super Mario Bros. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Frogger, and Metal Gear Solid. Enjoy, but don't blame me if you break something... even a sweat.

Instead of straining your eyes trying to read all of these, how about just downloading the PDFs instead?
Katamari StickWithMe
Pac-Tag
Leapfrogger
Dodge Space Invaders
Metal Hear Hide and Sneak
Super Hopscotch Bros.

Images remixed by Kotaku. Originals by Eleanor Campbell, Keith Ward and Robert Childress.

Katamari StickWithMe
Pac-Tag
LeapFrogger
Dodge Space Invaders
Metal Gear Hide and Sneak
Super Hopscotch Bros. Part 1
Super Hopscotch Bros. Part 2

In the upcoming thriller Heavy Rain, gameplay pushes the story forward.

Metal Gear Solid designer Hideo Kojima meet with David Cage of Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream. Cage calls the discussion with Kojima "very interesting".

"But yeah I believe that the only real challenge is to treat the storytelling differently, not through cut scenes but directly through gameplay," says Cage. "As you play you tell the story. And that's the most difficult thing to do, but also the most interesting thing."

Cage won't go into details about what was discussed, but was "pleased" to hear that Kojima had heard of Quantic Dream and Heavy Rain. He must be a pretty big fan of Kojima's work, no? "I certainly respect his work, definitely, although it's not the type of game I want to make myself," says Cage. "But yeah he's a huge star, I guess." Yeah, we guess!

Heavy Rain: David Cage Interview [Kikizo]

The incredibly talkative and very professional actor discusses the game and the MGS film with MTV:

MTV: Metal Gear Solid, is this something you've ever talked about doing as a film?

Bale: No.

MTV: Are you a video game fan?

Bale: Yeah.

MTV: What do you play?

Bale: That. Metal Gear Solid.

MTV: You play it?

Bale: Yeah.

MTV: How many hours does that suck out of you on a weekly basis?

Bale: You know what, no, I've kinda devoted my time to more constructive things of late. You know?

Things like the new Terminator movie.

Christian Bale Likes ‘Metal Gear,' Doesn't Like Talking [MTV Multiplayer]

In honor of Father's Day, we celebrate dads in video games: from the good to the bad to the "Luke, I am your father kind," that don't fulfill any fatherly duties beyond lopping off a limb. Join us now in separating the Bill Cosbys from the Darth Vaders.

Fathers in… Role-Playing Games
Much like mothers, fathers in role-playing games often are killed early in order to inspire the hero to leave home and avenge dear daddy (and mommy) and the rest of their destroyed village. However, there are some dads who stick around. When they do, they're usually playable support characters their son or daughter's active fighting party, or they show up in flashbacks and hallucinations to offer pep talks and parental criticism. Here are a few of these fatherly figures:

Jecht, Final Fantasy X – Father of Tidus: He's an alcoholic all-star blitzball player who insults his son to toughen him up. Instead, he winds up alienating him. Only after son and father find out they're dead do they make up with a manly high-five.

Kaim, Lost Odyssey – Father of Liram: Kaim believes his daughter is dead, but when he rediscovers her as an old, sick woman, he gets around to some parental duties like making funeral arrangements and babysitting the grandkids.

Pankraz, Dragon Quest V – Father of The Hero: Pankraz travels the world with his son and eventually sacrifices himself to save The Hero from monsters. Alas, he can't save his son from being sold into slavery from beyond the grave.

Walter, Suikoden Tactics – Father of Kyril: Walter goes into exile to protect his lover and bastard son but decides to keep Mommy's identity a secret. He gets turned into a fish monster and attacks Kyril before another party member puts him out of his misery.

James, Fallout 3 – Father of You: Daddy dearest ditches you in Vault 101 and goes to find a cure for irradiated water. When you finally catch up with him, he sends you on a deadly quest and then bites it in the name of science. And, uh, saving you – that too.

Uriel Septim VII, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Father of Martin: Had several legitimate sons to stock the throne with heirs, but wisely kept a child out of wedlock just in case a Daedra Lord killed all of his other kids. Instead of fostering the boy to a vassal or something noble, Septim stuck Martin in the church to keep him out of trouble.

Best Dad… Pankraz, because, while he couldn't keep his son from being sold into slavery, he didn't hesitate to take on a horde of monsters to save him.

Worst Dad… Uriel Septim VII, because, really, it was bad enough for Martin to be born a bastard – even worse to have Daedra Lords come after you because of some dude you've never even met. Thanks for nothing, Dad!

Fathers in… Fighting Games
Fighting games have a high volume of fathers. Apparently, popping out a few kids is the thing to do after winning world martial arts tournaments. But no father in any fighting game seems to have thought the decision to become a father and a world martial arts champion at the same time all the way through: Either you're abandoning the kid at a young age so they invariably follow in your footsteps just to find you. Or – worse – you actively train them in your fighting style so they can grow up, follow in your footsteps and then kick your ass.

Raphael Sorel, Soulcalibur series – Foster father of Amy: Raphael got kicked out of his own family for killing some crazy noble and found the orphaned Amy wandering the streets of some French town. He took her in, raised her, trained her and went completely crazy trying to create a perfect world for her.

Frederick Schtauffen, Soulcalibur series – Father of Siegfried: Frederick left his infant son to go fight in the Crusades. While he was gone, Siegfried fell in with a bad crowd and wound up beheading his own father in a misguided act of patriotism.

Seong Han-myeong, Soulcalibur series – Father of Mi-na and wannabe foster father to Hwang: Teaches both children how to kick some serious ass, but winds up favoring Hwang with family heirlooms. When Hwang refuses Han-myeong's offer to adopt him, he tries to marry Mi-na to Hwang. Mi-na runs away.

Cervantes de Leon, Soulcalibur series – Father of Ivy: Somehow fathered the hottest thing in the Soul series and then tried to devour her when she comes looking for his sword, Soul Edge.

Heihachi Mishima, Tekken series – Father of Kazuya: Throws his son off a cliff to toughed him up, throws him down a volcano out of spite and basically does nothing but try to destroy his son for the entire Tekken series.

Kazuya Mishima, Tekken series – Father of Jin: He may not have thrown his son off any cliffs, but Kazuya's revenge aspiration against his own father eventually turns his son against him. Also, it turns his son into a flying demon thing.

Marshall Law, Tekken series – Father of Forest: Law sees more of the insides of restaurants than he does of his own son, but he stops at nothing to pay the hospital bills when Forest wrecks his motorcycle.

Lau Chan, Virua Fighter – Father of Pai: Abandons his daughter to fight in the World Fighting Tournament and has the nerve to act surprised when she devotes her martial arts career to kicking his ass.

Bass Armstrong, Dead or Alive series – Father of Tina: Two words sum up his entire parenting technique– over and protective.

Fame Douglas, Dead or Alive series – Father of Helena: Fame knocks up a world-famous opera singer and then doesn't marry her; but he does leave his daughter his effed up company, DOATEC, after being assassinated. Thanks, Daddy!

Raidou, Dead or Alive series – Father of Ayane: Raped her mother. ‘Nuff said.

Dhalsim, Street Fighter – Father of Datta: Dhalsim serves as a father to his entire village by entering the World Warrior tournament to raise money for them.

Best Dad… Bass, because he loves his daughter too much to let her dress like a slut – unlike Cervantes.

Worst Dad… Heihachi, because he throws his son off a cliff and into a volcano; and he imprisons his grandson. Somebody call Child Protective Services!

Fathers in… Action Adventure and Survival Horror Games
It's hard to feel warm and fuzzy about fathers in these types of games because they're almost always an antagonist. Even the well-meaning Dads who just want to protect their offspring usually wind up doing the opposite by turning evil, letting work consume them or by losing the family farm to a rival rancher. But, even if they're real jerks, they're still fathers and they deserve their due on this day.

Joe Hayabusa, Ninja Gaiden – Father of Ryu: Leads an entire ninja clan and raises a badass ninja son.

William Birkin, Resident Evil 2 – Father of Sherry: The guy's got no time for parenting – he's so married to his work he becomes the last boss.

Mr. Burnside, Resident Evil: Code Veronica – Father of Steve: Not only did he raise his son to be a whiny loser, but Mr. Burnside also thought it'd be a great idea to steal from the Umbrella Corporation, thus getting his wife shot full of holes and landing him and his son on a zombie-infested prison camp island. Great going, old man.

Harry Mason, Silent Hill and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – Adoptive father of Cheryl and possibly Alessa, depending on which ending you get: Harry probably shouldn't have picked up a strange child on the side of the road, but damned if he doesn't do his best to hang onto her – even when the monsters start showing up to kill him.

King Zora XVI, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Father of Princess Ruto: He loves his daughter, but is too fat and lazy to go save her when she goes missing inside a giant fish monster.

Talon, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Father of Malon: Talon is a narcoleptic rancher who makes a good living for himself and his daughter on Lon Lon Ranch; but unfortunately, he has poor taste in employees. Pro tip: don't hire somebody with the hots for your daughter.

Deku King, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask – Father of Deku Princess: Overprotective doesn't quite sum it up – this is a guy who tortures small animals when his child goes missing instead of looking for her himself.

Bowser, Super Mario Bros. series – Father of Bowser Jr. and seven other Koopalings: He lets his kids run wild with pirate ships and magic zappy wands. Not exactly parent of the year material.

Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong series – Father of Donkey Kong Jr.: He'd rather hang out with his nephew, Diddy Kong, than his own son. What does that say about his fatherly reputation?

Kratos, God of War series – Father of Calliope: He's away from home a lot, fighting wars and when he does come back, he kills his kid in a God-induced rage. She goes to heaven and he tries to visit, but that would kind of break the world, so he leaves her be.

Kento Marek, The Force Unleashed – Father of Galen, aka Starkiller, aka Vader's Secret Apprentice: He escapes the Jedi purges with his wife and young son and hides out on Kashyyyk. Vader shows up, kills him and takes his son to train/raise.

Dr. Light, Mega Man series – Father of Mega Man: Okay, so he didn't provide Mega Man chromosomes; but Dr. Light built him and raised him. So he's like both father and mother to Mega Man.

Nate Harlow, Red Dead Revolver – Father of Red: If nothing else, the old man sure taught his son to shoot.

King of All Cosmos, Katamari Damacy – Father of The Prince: His binge drinking wiped out the world, and he sent his son to clean up the mess. What a role model.

The Mourning King, Prince of Persia – Father of Elika: He makes a deal with the dark god Ahriman to resurrect his daughter, sends his men to capture her and then unleashes pure evil by destroying the Tree of Life.

Best Dad… Harry Mason, because he could have adopted some other orphan, but no – he went through Silent Hill for his Cheryl. That's a dad who cares.

Worst Dad… Steve Burnside's dad, because, while Kratos might've killed his kid, too, at least his daughter went to heaven instead of a zombie-infested prison camp island.

Fathers in… Shooters
Dads are the stars of shooters. Even if they're not the main character, they very often drive the plot even from beyond the grave. This is probably because a lot of cultures have a manly mythos of the son surpassing the father and it's bled right into the manliest of video games. Even with all that testosterone, there's room for really great dads. And some really awful ones, too.

Eli Vance, Half-Life series – Father of Alyx: Eli lived the simple life of a scientist at Black Mesa Research Facility with his wife and young daughter. Then things explode as they often do in the profession and his wife dies. He eventually falls in love with another woman, but to his dying day, he never stops loving his daughter.

James McCloud, Star Fox series – Father of Fox: Clearly James did something right in parenting Fox; he inspired such filial piety that his son hallucinates him during boss fights.

Andrew Ryan, BioShock – Father of Jack: Andrew had Jack out of wedlock with stripper/dancer Jasmine Jolene and didn't get to spend any time parenting him. Mommy Dearest sold the embryo off to Andrew's enemy. Ryan Sr. might make a big fuss about a man choosing; but, the truth is, you can't choose your children.

Big Daddies, BioShock series – Father of Little Sisters: Big Daddies have no blood relation to Little Sisters and probably no soul, either. But they do what all good daddies do: protect the bejesus out of their babies with power tools.

Roy Campbell, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Meryl: He lies to his daughter and says he's her uncle for most of her life, but then relents and calls her his "pride and joy" at the most inopportune moment. Later, he gives her away at her wedding.

Jack Raiden, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Rose's son: To his credit, Raiden probably would have been a great dad if his wife had lied and said she miscarried the baby. But, since she did lie and tell him that, he let himself be turned into a high-tech version of a Ken doll and now his son is really going to have daddy issues despite his parents getting back together.

Big Boss, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Liquid and Solid Snake: Daddy must be so proud of his clone sons. One of them is a chain smoker with a terminal illness and the other one keeps trying to bring about a nuclear holocaust. He probably should have spent more time raising them instead of trying to kill one or both of them.

Adam Fenix, Gears of War series – Father of Marcus: Supposedly he's some kind of genius and like James McCloud he must've done something awesome to inspire filial piety that borders on insanity. His son winds up in prison for abandoning his post to save Fenix Sr. during an alien invasion.

Sam Fisher, Splinter Cell series – Father of Sarah: Sam is so devastated by his daughter's death he spends an entire game avenging her. Drunk drivers and assassins beware a bereaved father, especially one who's a secret agent.

Best Dad… Eli Vance, because he loves his baby girl without smothering her independent spirit.

Worst Dad… Big Boss, because one lousy man-hug does not make up for the sheer number of times he tried to kill his son.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions
Shinnok, Mortal Kombat – He's only Raiden and Shao Kahn's dad in that awful movie, Annihilation, so he doesn't count as a video game dad.
Homer Simpson, Don Corleone, Darth Vader – They've all got a presence in video games, sure, but their status as good or bad fathers comes from the shows and films they're from, not from the games they appear in.
Dr. Tenma, Astro Boy – Father of Astro Boy and Tobio: Like a lot of Dads, Tenma was married to his work until the day his nine-year-old son Tobio died in a car accident. Then, he turned his work into his son, created Astro Boy as the son that would never die. Unfortunately, he wouldn't age, either – so Tenma sold him to a robot salesman.
You, Fable II, The Sims games and Harvest Moon games - Just as with moms, even if you play as an upstanding paragon of parental vigilance as a dad, you're going to be guilty of neglect at least half of the time.

That does it for dads this year. Think we missed somebody important? Drop a line in the comments. And don't forget to call your dad on Father's Day!

Having long made a name for itself on Sony consoles, the next Metal Gear Solid title - Rising - will also be appearing on the Xbox 360, a move which Microsoft says levels the proverbial playing field. Microsoft VP Shane Kim:

I still think exclusive content is really important. First of all, in games, we've said for a long time that a key part of our strategy with Xbox 360 was a level third-party playing field. Now we've effectively done that with Metal Gear Solid coming to the Xbox 360.

The economics are such that third parties also have to support multiple platforms, and you can't ignore Xbox 360. It's the second leading platform.

Interesting that he so openly states that the 360 is in second place. But not as interesting as the fact that, some days, it feels like the entire world has forgotten about the Xbox version of Metal Gear Solid 2.

Microsoft's Future Begins Now: Shane Kim Speaks [Gamasutra]