MGS PRODUCTION INFORMATION & FACTOIDS

Profile Comparison
Solid Snake	Big Boss	Liquid Snake
Real Name : David Sex : Male Age : Thirties Height : 182cm Nationality : American	Real Name : Unknown Sex : Male Age : Deceased Height : 192cm Nationality : Unknown	Real Name : Unknown Sex : Male Age : Thirties Height : 183cm Nationality : English
So with the 10cm height difference, Solid Snake and Big Boss aren't exactly the same.

Two Of Three
The voice of Solid - Ootsuka Akio (大塚明夫), and the voice of Liquid - Ginga Banjyou (銀河万丈), are two of the three well known top three voice actors of rugged character voices, with the third one being Genda Tesshyou (玄田哲章). Fans of these voice actors should be very happy. Maybe in the future, a chance might occur for MGS to work with Genda Tesshyou as well.

Top One
The voice of Cyborg Ninja is the famous Shiozawa Kaneto (塩沢兼人), even though he hadn't done many strange character voices, he had already become the top voice for this voice type. A regularly appearing voice in Director Kojima's games.

Old Man
The voice of Colonel Roy Campbell is Aono Takeshi (青野武), the top man for serious thoughtful old man roles. There is probably no other voice actor that can reach his level.

Cinema Voice Over
Overall, the entire voice acting of the game sounds like a cinema voice over, both with the majority of the voice cast being professional voice over actors for foreign films, and also with the feeling of the entire voice over production. This is due to Director Kojima being a big cinema fan, or a movie buff.

Release Day
On September 3rd, the release day, game stores at Akihabara all had lines exceeding a hundred outside their doors. Just past noon of that day, all the Limited Edition Premium Package MGS units are sold out in all the stores.

Limited Edition Premium Package Box Contents
- Metal Gear Solid game. - Serial numbered dog tag. - Original T-shirt. - Exclusive pamphlet. - Music CD of previous games. - Exclusive memory card stickers. (Same print, different paper material.)

Solid Walken Van Damme Snake
Character Designer Shinkawa Yoji designed Solid Snake's face based on the image of actor Christopher Walken, and his body based on the image of actor Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Meryl The Actress
The heroine of the game Meryl also appeared in Policenauts, another Kojima game. But they are not the same character, but the same actress that played different parts in the two different games. Much like how real life actors appear in multiple movies. This is another way Director Kojima makes his games like movies.

Meryl Design
The design of Meryl in MGS is modelled off the design of Meryl in Policenauts. MGS Meryl is set to be a little younger. Appearance-wise, MGS Meryl doesn't wear the bandana and military pants, but still has the old FOX HOUND tattoo and big knife. Even the voice actress is the same Terase Kyouko (寺瀬今日子, then Terase Megumi 寺瀬めぐみ).

Meryl Connections
Meryl's partner in Policenauts is named "Dave".
Meryl's orange colored vest worn at the end of MGS is the same vest worn by Dave in Policenauts.

Meryl The Kid
Originally, Character Designer Shinkawa had wanted to design Meryl as a much younger girl, based off of Natalie Portman's character in the movie "Leon (The Professional)". But according to the script, Meryl will be equipped with a Desert Eagle, and it was really hard for Shinkawa to imagine such a young girl using a Desert Eagle. So he gave up the idea and made Meryl older.

Fat Otacon
Before Otacon's design was finalized after the image of Director Kojima, his earlier design description was "a fat guy who seems to always be eating chocolate bars."

Mei Ling Shinobu
Character designer Shinkawa Yoji designed Mei Ling based on the image of actress Nakayama Shinobu (中山忍).

Naomi Jaeger
In German, "jaeger" means "hunter". That is how Naomi Hunter got her last name. This is how the names of Naomi Hunter and Frank Jaeger (Grey Fox / Ninja) are connected.

Tank Or Robot?
The Metal Gear's description name is the "Nuclear-Capable Bi-Pedal Mobile Tank", but the REX looked more like a robot than a tank. This was due to it being designed by Dr Hal Emmerich, because of how much he liked Japanese animation and his obsession with robots.

Rex The Animal
The new Metal Gear model Rex is designed like an animal, like a tyrannosaurus rex, so it moving like an animal seems normal. But remembering that it is actually Liquid piloting the machine, so does that mean it is Liquid who has the animal movements in him?

Gun Maniac
Solid's weapons such as the SOCOM and the FA-MAS are weapons known only to gun maniacs. No games preceding had main characters using these weapons.

Socom
The official name of the Socom is the "H&K MK23 USSOCOM Pistol". USSOCOM is the acronym of "Unites States Special Operations Command". It uses 45ACP bullets, and is designed to be compatible with various kinds of attachments.

Famas
FA MAS is the acronym of the French name "Fusil Automatique, Manufacture d'Armes de Saint Etienne", or Automatic Rifle Made by Saint Etienne Arms Factory. (Sometimes also "Fusil d'Assaut Manufacture d'Armes Saint Etienne", or Assault Rifle Made by Saint Etienne Arms Factory.) First manufactured in 1973, then later adopted by the French Armed Forces in 1979.

Nikita
The Remote Control Missile is a regular in the Metal Gear series, and its main function this time is to destroy the electronic panel like before. But the new name "Nikita" is fictional for this weapon, and the name itself was taken from the main character's name of a certain movie.

Peace Maker
Revolver Ocelot's beloved gun, the "Single Action Army", is more widely known as the "Peace Maker" - the standard gun in Western movies. Its official name is the "Colt Peace Maker S.A.A."

Stealth Possibilty
On a TV program it was said that the US Army is in reality developing a stealth camouflage device, and images of it were even shown. Director Kojima figured if it's really in development, a prototype could exist. That is why the stealth camouflage devices in the game are all clearly described as prototypes.

The Snow Mobile
There are actually many suspicious points about the snow mobile at the end of the game. Maybe it really belonged to Frank? His real final present to Snake is the Unlimited Bandana?

Time Up
During the final jeep chase at the end of the game, even if the countdown timer reachs 00:00:00, nothing happens. It's just there for show, to heighten the sense of tension and urgency.

Questionable Rations
There are rations that can be picked up in toilets and dirty ducts. Even though HP recovery is a must, one must ask oneself, is it really okay to eat those?

Cigs

Snake's beloved cigarettes are called the "先折りタバコ bend tip cigarettes". As the name suggests, it can be lighted by bending the tip of it, and it can be put out by bending the tip of the filter side. It's specially designed to leave no ashes, thus eliminating the need for both the lighter and the ash tray. Only emitting small amounts of smoke is also one of its characteristics. The brand of the cigarettes is "Lucky Strikers". The "bend tip cigarettes" were also the beloved cigarettes of Jonathan - the main character of Policenauts. Furthermore, his cigs are the commercial product added with extra dry leaves, his original blend.

Miller is Busy at the Moment
During the Hind D battle, if you try to contact Master Miller, there will be no response. I wonder why...

Deep Throat
For a considerably long period of time, in the script the name of Deep Throat was written in English as "Deep Slaught". Blame it on the script team's mediocre English.

The Good, The Revolver, and The Ugly
Character designer Shinkawa Yoji designed Revolver Ocelot based on the image of actor Lee Van Cleef.

Torture Specialist
Ocelot is known as a "torture specialist". But isn't the point of turture to not let the torturee die? Ocelot seems to just like torture, maybe it's more fitting to call him a "torture maniac"?

Mantis The Psycho?
Supernatural mental powers are generally dismissed as fiction. But during the Cold War, extensive studies were made about it by both the American and Russian governments as a legitimate science. The FBI is even known to consult people with psychic abilities on its harder to solve cases.

Blame It On The Unimpressive Design
The only time we meet Decoy Octopus in the game was when he was disguised as the DARPA chief, so we never actually got to see his face. The only time we see Octopus' face was during briefing. This is either a waste of a perfectly good design, or the solution to an unimpressive design.

Dead Before Appearing

Decoy Octopus was modelled based on the image of comedian Tako Hachirou (たこ八郎 1940.11.23 ~ 1984.7.24). This is another reason behind Decoy Octopus' role in the game, how he's dead before he even appeared for you to fight him, it is a parallel with the real world Tako Hachirou, he died before the game was made, hence his death before his appearance. Need I explain the last connection? The word "tako" is Japanese for "octopus".

Enter the Mei Ling
Mei Ling's name originated from the beautiful spy character in Bruce Lee's movie "Enter the Dragon", named Mei Ling.

One Of Three
Japan is one of the top three countries of the world in terms of bi-pedal robot research and development. The goal is to create a bi-pedal robot that can walk at the same speed as a human. Not for military purposes.

Johnny Sasaki
The guard that was knocked out by Meryl, stripped of his uniform, and as a result caught a cold is named "Johnny Sasaki". Remember this name, he is going to do great things.

Exclusive Camera Angle
Crawl in front of the unconscious Johnny Sasaki and the screen will cut to a different camera angle. An exclusive camera angle to fully take in all of his sexiness.

Johnny Sasaki's Patented Pose
When breaking out of imprisonment after the torture sequence, knock out Johnny the guard and he will pass out in the same pose as when Meryl knocked him out and took his clothes.

Johnny's Origin
The name Johnny Sasaki (ジョニー佐々木) is the nickname of KCEJ programmer Hideki Sasaki (佐々木英樹).

Bugs
In the DARPA chief's cell, there are bugs coming out of the toilet. In Meryl's cell, there aren't. Why?

Jump Snake Jump
Snake's inability to jump makes the least sense at the staircase in the Communication Tower B, where the stairs are collapsed just above the ground level.

Sales Figures (1.20.99)
Japan - 756,000 copies. North America - 1,380,000 copies. Europe (England, Germany, France) - 770,000 copies. (Kojima Hideo MGS2 Development Diary)