Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker sold out (and not in a good way)

Konami may have gone overboard with its forthcoming PSP game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The company has basically turned it into a game/advertising vessel. Players won’t just be experiencing Naked Snake’s latest adventures, they’ll also be learning how Axe body spray can heal you and getting a taste of the Monster Hunter series.

Konami and Hideo Kojima held a Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker event in Tokyo to reveal information about the game, but it seemed like the bulk of it dealt with all of the commercial tie-ins. While the Assassin’s Creed II collaboration doesn’t seem too farfetched, the other inclusions seem ridiculous and unnecessary. This is especially true since the game takes place in 1974 and many of these products didn’t exist then.

Let’s take a look at the list of product placements and tie-ins in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker that we know about so far:

• Assassin’s Creed II: Snake can jump into a hay bale and use it to move undetected, much like he did with the cardboard boxes from previous games. He can also pull enemies into the bale to dispatch them.
• AXE: Snake can wear an AXE t-shirt or use AXE body spray to heal himself.
• Doritos: Snake can eat them to heal himself.
• Monster Hunter: Snake can go on Monster Hunter style quests with a felyne companion from the series.
• Mountain Dew: Snake can wear a Mountain Dew t-shirt or drink a can to restore health.
• Pepsi NEX: Snake can drink Pepsi to heal himself.
• Sony: Snake has Walkman music players that can be used to listen to music from the game.
• Uniqlo: Shirts sold from Uniqlo (a clothing store) come with a code that unlocks shirts Snake can wear in the game.

Andriasang also reports that magazines like Famitsu and Dengeki may appear in the game as well.

All of the above in-game advertising applies to the Japanese version of the game, which comes out April 28, 2010. The North American version comes out June 8, 2010, and the European version follows shortly after on June 17, 2010. There hasn’t been any news whether or not the product placements mentioned above will be in the overseas versions, but I think it’s safe to assume that most will.

Read [1Up] Also Read [Famitsu] Via [Andriasang]