The moment we'd been awaiting for ever since Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots was announced at E3 2005 came on Wednesday evening, when we walked up to a PS3 running the final, ready-for-retail build of the game and ever so slowly pressed "start" with quivering thumbs. We were whisked from the title screen – a real-time scene showing a suit-wearing Old Snake in the graveyard from previous trailers – to the Middle East, where after only a few minutes we realized that Kojima has done it again: he's taken MGS in a new direction, with wild ambition, while still keeping sneaking the No. 1 priority.

No spoilers here; we're just as set as you are on having as little of the game ruined for us before we get to sit down and play it, good and proper. That said, make with the clicking and read our tale of 40-odd minutes with what will surely be a system-seller for PS3 after the break!

While we've known for some time that the "Gun Metal Gray" PlayStation 3 bundle -- featuring a shiny 40GB model, a matching DualShock 3 controller and a Limited Edition copy of geriatric sneakfest, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- would be available to Americans, we didn't know until now that it would only be available to Americans logging onto Konami's website. Online and inevitably scarce pre-orders for the $599.99 package will start on May 19th, so you'd better get clicking if you want Snake and Gray Box to face off in your living room.

No, we mean it. Judging by Konami's labyrinthine sign-up process for the Metal Gear Online Beta, you'll need at least several days to prepare a registration, obtain an ID, convert that into e-currency, trade it in for the microfilm, enter the password, steal the key code, write the secret URL on a postcard and summon Hideo Kojima in an arcane ritual.

Note: This bundle is different from the regular, $499 MGS4 bundle which includes an 80GB PS3 and a DualShock 3.

So, there's this game called Metal Gear Solid 4 ... it's apparently a big deal for the PlayStation 3. Well, above is the movie-style trailer (with movie-voice guy) for those interested in watching it. No pressure. Watch it, don't watch it. We wish there was more we could do to generate hype for this indie title made in some guy named Hijeo Koshima Hideo Kojima's garage on a shoe-string budget.

After the break you'll find three ads involving MGS4. It's really nice to see Sony taking an interest in this title. It warms our cockles to see a giant corporation give support to a game featuring geriatrics at war.

Sometimes April Fools' jokes become a reality. Hideo Kojima revealed today that Altair's costume, from Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, will be unlockable in Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4. Kojima said that players will have to do something special to obtain the outfit, but no specifics were given.

We now can't help but imagine all the other costumes Snake could dress up in. Perhaps a collaboration with Nintendo for a Mario or Kirby costume (only fair considering Kirby has a Snake outfit)? Konami could always just sell more costumes as DLC, sort of like the Ninja Gaiden fashion line.

The intro for Metal Gear Solid 4 is up and let us tell you: War, it has, like, totally changed. There aren't any real spoilers in the video above, so feel free to watch; unless you've been avoiding all media on MGS4 and its story so far.

For those who have been paying attention to the media and still know next to nothing about what's going on in the MGS plotline (join the club), sit tight and wait until GameTrailers' excellent Metal Gear Retrospective starts making sense of it all. With any luck, MGS4 will come with an optional, "Previously on Metal Gear Solid" opening.

[Update: Joystiq has independently confirmed the validity of the comments below. Kojima also said in the most recent audio podcast that the interview was given to an audience of 15 with intention of being translated into multiple languages. As a Japanese person, he understood the meaning of his words, but from a foreigner's perspective it was lost in translation. Special thanks to Patrick B.]

Something about Hideo Kojima's words regarding the PlayStation 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4 has seemingly gotten lost in translation. In his latest blog / podcast, the MGS series creator said that recent interviews, which have him expressing dissatisfaction with how MGS4 turned out, were misunderstood or mistranslated. According to Kojima (in yet another translation, ironically), his comments reflect a Japanese culture of modesty, as opposed to an American culture of bragging. (For the record, the press-heralded King of Hype honor is bestowed upon Peter Molyneux, a British man.)

In early March, Kojima was quoted as saying (via translation) that MGS4 was too big for a 50GB Blu-ray disc. Then, in April's Edge magazine, Kojima was quoted, "The original vision [for the game] was to go ten steps further, the reality was just one step, which isn't to say we didn't progress." Our Japanese translator is on permanent leave, so we can't confirm the translation yet. Mind you, we all know what ten steps further in Metal Gear Solid would look like.

Grand Theft Auto IV? 10! Halo 3? 10! The Orange Box? 10! And Metal Gear Solid 4? 10, of course! The UK's Official PlayStation Magazine has given Snake's stealthy send-off full marks, sticking a nice, round "10" at the end of a lengthy justification. "Ultimately, this is a game for fans -- and you should be one," writes Paul Fitzpatrick. "As for Snake? It turns out his last stand really is his finest hour."

Yes, we know. "No game is perfect!" You're right. "10 doesn't necessarily mean perfect!" That's true. "The promise of next-generation technology is finally paying off with increasingly immersive, detailed and hitherto impossible experiences!" Could be. "Snake's last stand is only an hour long wtf?!" Okay, you are an idiot.

We can't wait for more reviews to roll in, if only to see further evidence of Kojima stubbornly sticking to his comically over-the-top guns. You can cry about cutscenes all you want, but the man is finishing his story.

We've really been enjoying Gametrailers' well-researched and engaging Star Wars retrospective, so we were happy to see this morning that they had turned their attention to everyone's favorite sneaky soldier with their Metal Gear retrospective. The first episode, seen above, covers Metal Gear, Snake's Revenge and MG2: Solid Snake.

It's a good way to refresh before Metal Gear Solid 4, but we hope the narrator is prepared for when he has to start recapping Metal Gear Solid plots. (Exploded brain washes out of microphones, right?)

Not one to sit back and let the Sixaxis suffer into extinction, Sony Japan will carefully package the feathery gamepad into a trifecta of new Metal Gear Solid 4 bundles. Dubbed the "Welcome Box," the new limited edition bundle will be offered in three standard flavors (Clear Black, Ceramic White and Satin Silver) and will include a 40GB console, rumblin' DualShock 3 and copy of MGS4 -- oh, and yes, one's very own Sixaxis. The Welcome Box (shouldn't it be "Goodriddance Box?") will be made available in concurrence with the worldwide release of MGS4 on June 12 for a reasonable ¥49,800 (roughly $470). Comparatively, the "Hagane" Grey MGS4 bundle will retail for ¥51,800; and so essentially, Sony's offering a savings of ¥2,000 (about $20) to folks who adopt a Sixaxis. Too bad no Welcome Box's been announced for North America. We'd so love to join the cause: Save the Sixaxis!

Can we just say: "!" ... Um, we don't want to draw any premature conclusions here, but is Kojima suggesting MGS4 will feature playable, completely remade segments from Metal Gear Solid? Can we get another: "!"

We can sense something epic is brewing here ... we're just not exactly sure what. So, anyone catch a glimpse of that so-called "child trauma" that may be pushing Snake (that is Snake, right?) to keep shoving a gun barrel in his mouth?

We weren't surprised to read in this month's Edge Magazine that Metal Gear Solid series creator, Hideo Kojima, isn't entirely satisfied with his latest creation. Why? That's just the nature of being an artist, especially one as famously exacting as Kojima. Every sequel to the Metal Gear series is another iteration; another re-tuning of an increasingly polished gameplay experience. So, when envisioning the fourth (and final?) chapter in the Metal Gear Solid saga on a brand new and as-yet-untested piece of hardware, Kojima shot for the moon, looking to "create something revolutionary." When confronted with the limitations of the actual PlayStation 3 hardware (it's human after all), Kojima says "we weren't really aware of what the full-spec PS3 offered – we were creating something we couldn't entirely see."

It's less a case of the PlayStation not being up to snuff (or, perhaps, of not living up to Sony's impossible-to-match marketing message) as it is with Kojima not being satisfied with technological limitations. He says, "The original vision was to go ten steps further, the reality was just one step, which isn't to say we didn't progress." We'll all get a chance to experience the technology that powers Metal Gear Solid 4 this Monday, when the Metal Gear Online beta goes live. Something tells us we won't be as dissapointed as Kojima is.

Check out the full ten-page MGS4 cover story in the May issue of Edge.

[Via Kotaku]

Getting us all one step closer to our very own direct Codec link with the Colonel, comes this Metal Gear Solid 4-styled Bluetooth headset for, well ... ostensibly for the PS3 but – seeing as how this is a Bluetooth headset – you could use it with your regular old cellphone. You and Otacon can talk about love on the battlefield for up to eight hours from up to 30 feet away from your PS3.

This headset should be in stores just in time for the game's release on June 12 and – considering how similar it looks to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Wireless Headset – it should come as little surprise that it will carry the same $59.99 pricetag. To paraphrase the great Solid Snake, "we don't believe in coincidences."

[Via Engadget]

There Will Be Snake, a simple little image mashup from Joystiq reader Ben C. We've had the strongest desire to say, "Now I'm sneaking your milkshake" every time we glance at the picture. Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Joystiq impressions: Fallout 3 (360/PC/PS3)
Poll: For which platform are you buying Grand Theft Auto IV?
Readers pick best webcomic: Make it double
Reminder: You can still win Sam & Max Season 2!
X3F Week in Review: April 4, 2008 - April 10, 2008

News
GameTap Thursday: Sam & Max meet the dark prince
Haze 'definitely' coming May 23, says Ubisoft
Rockstar stands behind Australian GTA IV edits, calls for '18' rating
Halo 3 devs take you on video tour of Legendary maps
Codies share design knowhow with automotive tech firm
Revamped PlayStation Store goes live April 15
PS3 firmware 2.30 adds DTS-HD Master, High Resolution Audio
Upcoming Lair patch to add analog controls
Episodic 'Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People' coming in June
Ugh: Metal Gear Solid 4 Limited Edition exclusively at GameStop
See the top 100 selling games of the past year
Final Fantasy IV hits North American DS on July 22
Mario Super Sluggers on deck for Wii
Mass Effect PC won't 'Bring Down the Sky' at launch
Boom Blox dated May 6th
BBC: Sony, MS wanted to "control" streaming video on their consoles
The SimCity Box starts construction in June for $40
GBC cult classic 'Toki Tori' coming to Wii Ware
'Gunmetal Grey' PS3 MGS4 bundle coming to America (!)
WoW: Wrath of the Lich King storms into alpha
Brazil bans Bully
Telltale launches Strong Bad site, trailers
Help focus test new Puzzle Quest game in LA
Homestar Runner's April 1 video hinted at Wii title
Infogrames CEO: Alone in the Dark will sell 2-3 million units this fiscal year
Spitzer wins GamePolitics' biggest political hypocrite poll
Nintendo tops 2007's Develop 100 list

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: Elebits 2 coming later this year

Culture & Community
Eegra hosting 1st Annual Game Makin' Shindig
MTV talks to black professionals in gaming
First VGA-graded games up for auction

Though Amazon already spoiled the Metal Gear Solid 4 Standard Edition box-art surprise three days ago, Konami just sent us the North American Limited Edition packaging featuring the grizzled visage of our favorite mulleted (and now mustachioed!) sneaker, Solid Snake and his arch-nemesis Liquid Ocelot. We've also got final pricing here: Standard Edition will go for an unsurprising $60 while the Limited Edition – packing two "making of" documentaries and the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots soundtrack – for $85.

But, what's this? That Limited Edition will be even more limited in North America, available exclusively at everyone's favorite (read: no one's favorite) game retailer: GameStop. Maybe, if you're really lucky, you'll get to purchase one of their "Limited Edition" pre-opened shelf copies, with free hand grease and hard-to-remove sticker.

[Warning: PDF "Read" link]