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If you're reading this, there's a good chance that we don't even have to explain exactly how strange the Metal Gear Solid franchise has been in the past. The latest and greatest, officially called Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, is no exception. The marketing efforts for this installment, which have included originally announcing what appears to be the actual game under a fake studio led by a man with his face covered in bandages, have been particularly strange. Regardless, we now know a bit more about the game thanks to last night's GDC reveal.

There's something to be said about building an entire video game around a horrible pun. John Earnest has done exactly that with Metal Gear Salad, a matching game spoof of Metal Gear Solid that's in the same vein as Bejeweled. See, the Colonel's hungry for a snack and, due to his diet, only a salad will satisfy. Snake will just have to procure all the ingredients in the right amount, matching up at least four of them together, in order to gain points.

Metal Gear Solid godfather Hideo Kojima started talking a lot about his next Metal Gear game, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, this weekend. After announcing the game at the celebration for the 25th anniversary of the Metal Gear franchise in Tokyo, Kojima flew to Seattle for a panel at PAX Prime, where he dished out details about how Ground Zeroes fits into the Metal Gear Solid mythos.

For years, fans of Metal Gear Solid have been comparing the video game's iterations to film. Since Metal Gear Solid 2, however, they've certainly had some points. Now, after many years of boasting, they won't have to compare the games to movies; it will simply be one in addition to being a game. The film was announced at a Metal Gear 25th anniversary event in Japan. Details are sparse, but feel free to get ridiculously excited.

We all know the Metal Gear Solid isn't done, even though Metal Gear Solid 4 tried really, really hard to end the series (and would've been a satisfactory send-off at that), and Konami likes to remind us about the continuing saga from time to time. This time, though, Konami showed off the Fox Engine, which is the engine being used to develop that next MGS. Instead of simply showing off the incredible visuals of which the engine is capable, they placed said visuals next to shots from real life and challenged us to pick which was computer generated. Left column or right column?

RISK has changed. Instead of little plastic army men and cannons fighting over South America, players can now be little plastic private military corporation soliders led by Solid Snake, Liquid Ocelot, everyone's favorite replacement Raiden, and other notable figures from the Metal Gear Solid universe. The game includes over 290 custom game pieces, 5 PMC armies, 8 Bosses, an Outer Haven battleship, Drebin' Shop cards, territory cards, PMC headquarters, a custom Outer Haven game board, and 7 dice.

Only 2,014 copies of the limited edition Metal Gear Solid RISK will be made, so fans should probably pre-order a copy, with pre-orders opening on October 3 and last until November 15, or until supplies run out.

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:

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)

It wouldn't be the holidays without some espionage action, right? After all, Santa manages to infiltrate millions of chimneys, snack on cookies and milk, and leave a bunch of presents underneath a tree without being noticed by the modern-day security systems many people have installed in their homes, or being arrested for breaking and entering. Luckily for us, Arthur Lee built two games in which heavy-footed, non-Santa folks like us could live out their dream of playing a Metal Gear Solid game about Santa Claus.

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)

Today's games are great, but they just don't carry the same immeasurable nostalgic value as, say, Chrono Trigger, Link's Awakening, or even Number Crunchers. Now Stockholm-based pixel artist Junkboy has hypothesized for Swedish magazine Level what it might have looked like had contemporary games—Arkham Asylum, Bioshock, Guitar Hero, Little Big Planet, Red Dead Redemption, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Soul Calibur, and more—existed in the golden age of 8- and 16-bit gaming. Of course, several of these games indeed had low-bit predecessors! Compare the full series of "demake" images to their modern originals, after the jump.

Hideo Kojima is a man of many talents: In addition to being the legendary game designer behind the Metal Gear Solid series, he's also a fashion plate. Following the release of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP a few days ago, Kojima showed up to New York City clothing store UNIQLO to show off a limited-edition line of t-shirts inspired by the game, which launched today. Kojima was at the store from 12:00pm to 2:00pm EDT, and in that narrow window, hundreds of fans showed up to get their Metal Gear Solid gear signed, check out the shirts, and get a gander of one of the great gaming masterminds of our time.

Geekosystem checked it out, and here's what we saw:

In a newly-released trailer for the PSP's upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, we're treated to gameplay footage of Solid Snake ... shooting dinosaurs. Including dragon/pterodactyl hybrids. With machine guns and rocket launchers.