Hideo Kojima dropped by our neighborhood last summer to debut some Metal Gear Solid t-shirts and related apparel, but this … this is just way classier than a video game clothing line has to be or should be, and it’s great. Where are the relatable slogans and nostalgia-manipulating references to the series’ past? Instead, it’s just straight-up rugged and manly clothes.

Granted, these are just photographs and it’s possible the quality isn’t as good as it looks. And where’s the branded eyepatch?

Pics below:

Today in incremental developments towards SKYNET: Lockheed Martin is working on developing a totally autonomous spy robot that avoids detection by hiding when it ‘thinks’ it is in danger of being discovered. To do this, it creates an internal 3D map of the world around it using an invisible laser scanner, detects nearby footsteps and their direction using a microphone, and even models human lines of sight. In essence, Metal Gear Solid is coming to real life and becoming a spy robot.

New Scientist:

“Lockheed Martin’s approach does include a sort of basic theory of mind, in the sense that the robot makes assumptions about how to act covertly in the presence of humans,” says Alan Wagner of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, who works on artificial intelligence and robot deception.

But the level at which the robot’s software operates is probably limited to task-specific instructions such as, “if you hear a noise, scurry to the nearest dark corner”, he says. That’s not sophisticated enough to hide from humans in varied environments.

“Significant AI will be needed to develop a robot which can act covertly in a general setting,” Wagner says. “The robot will need to consider its own shape and size, to have the ability to navigate potential paths, [to be aware of] each person’s individual line of view, the impact that its movement will have on the environment, and so on.”

The U.S. Department of Defense is interested.

(New Scientist via /.)

Hideo Kojima may be responsible for hour-long cutscenes and some of the only gameplay to this date that rewards the player for being sneaky rather than murdery, but we fans of the series know Yoji Shinkawa is responsible for all things art when it comes to Kojima’s most famous franchise, Metal Gear Solid. During an art exhibit at the Konami Style store in Tokyo, Shinkawa shows off his artsy chops and paints a portrait of Solid Snake in that famous MGS “blobby style,” with nothing but two strips of tape, a small tub of paint, and some weird white marker thing.

(Ice Block Films via Kotaku)

This Irish stand-up comedian, Dara O’Briain, does a whole bit about Snake, the main character from the famed Metal Gear Solid series. The weird part is, it’s actually pretty funny. It’s only not safe for work because of a few curse words, so either turn down the volume or plug in some headphones.

I’m surprised and proud that the audience is laughing at jokes as specific as these. “Not toggle maps!” This guy knows what’s up.

(via Kotaku)

Listen, we didn’t want to say anything, but sometimes, you can get a little funky. We know, you’re generally considered a very clean individual, but with a sedentary life style of eating dead rodents, and only shedding every few months, things can get a little rank.

It’s okay. This is the trade off we get for only having to feed you once a week and not having to deal with hair on the furniture.

Just don’t forget to clean between your… um. You know what, never mind.

A team of students at Carnegie Mellon’s Biorobotics Lab built a robotic snake, which they named “Uncle Sam,” that is able to climb trees and, most of all, be creepy. Check out the video below.