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Metal Gear Solid turns 15 – here are 15 facts about the game

Metal Gear Solid released in Japan exactly 15 years ago today. Here are 15 interesting facts about this timeless game.

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Cardboard-Box-SmallWhen the game came out in Japan in 1998, hundreds of people lined up outside Akihabara game stores. All of the Premium Packages had been sold out shortly after noon.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallDuring the production of the game, the designers would use Lego pieces to put the levels together.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallWhen Yoji Shinkawa designed Snake, he looked at the existing character from the MSX games and went from there. Also, he based the character’s face on Christopher Walken, and his body on Jean-Claude Van Damme.

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Cardboard-Box-SmallSnake is a musher living in Alaska, and he owns no less than 50 huskies.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallInitially, Otacon was going to have a different design, described by Kojima as ‘a fat guy who seems to always be eating chocolate bars’.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallThe cigarettes Snake smokes are a special kind: they can be lit by bending the tip, and they leave no ashes.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallMeryl is able to sneak up on Snake after he tries to find her in the women’s restroom. According to Kojima, she was hiding under the sink basin.

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Cardboard-Box-SmallAfter Snake has been captured and put into his cell, there are three ways to escape: you can use ketchup to fool the guard in thinking you are bleeding, you can hide below the bed so the guard comes in looking for you, or you can simply wait until Gray Fox shows up and slices up the door.

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Cardboard-Box-SmallPsycho Mantis decides to help Snake with his last breath. The same way his mother died for him while giving birth. That’s the feeling he remembers at the end of his life.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallSnake’s real name, David, was inspired by the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Otacon shares his name with the artificial intelligence from the same movie, Hal. The fact that Snake’s voice actor is called David as well is purely a coincidence.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallAt the end of the game, Snake and Meryl (or Otacon) leave the island by snow mobile. The general consensus among fans about how it got there is that Gray Fox used it to reach the island.

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Cardboard-Box-SmallMetal Gear Solid is the only game in the series that has two different endings. While the ending in which Snake rescues Meryl is the official one, there’s certain information that can only be obtained by watching the alternative ending. This is where we learn Roy Campbell is actually Meryl’s father.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallIn 2004, Nintendo, Konami and Silicon Knights collaborated on a Gamecube exclusive remake of Metal Gear Solid, called Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. The cutscenes were directed by Japanese film director Ryûhei Kitamura, who is a friend of Kojima’s. The script is almost identical, although it is said to be closer to the Japanese.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallSince the release of Metal Gear Solid, the game’s story has been retold multiple ways: there’s a novel, a graphic novel, a digital graphic novel, and a radio drama. Currently a live action movie based on Metal Gear Solid is in pre-production. It isn’t supposed to come out until at least three years from now though.

 

Cardboard-Box-SmallMetal Gear Solid became a huge commercial hit, selling over 7 million copies worldwide, and became the 7th best selling game on PlayStation.

 

To conclude, after 15 years Metal Gear Solid is still one of the most beloved games ever created, and in all likelihood will continue to  live on as a classic.

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Source: Metal Gear Wiki, Muni Shinobu Webs, Joystiq, Wikipedia

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