June 8, 2005 - The circle is complete. Sony and Konami's bizarre cross promotion, which started with the Ape Escape "piposaru" monkeys appearing in Metal Gear Solid 3, has come full circle with a Metal Gear Solid connection for Sony's upcoming Ape Escape 3.
The new Ape Escape title will feature, in grand Ape Escape tradition, a number of mini games. The MGS connection comes about from one of the included mini games: "Mesaru Gear Solid." This is a dastardly pun on the name "Metal Gear Solid" and the word "Saru," which is ape in Japanese.
Mesaru Gear Solid is set up like an ape-filled MGS title, complete with sexy posters (of an ape in a bathing suit) and a storyline. An army of special forces piposarus has stolen Metal Gear. They demand 10 billion bananas in 72 hours, or they'll use the weapon. The government decides to send in Solid Snake, but the Metal Gear hero is nowhere to be found. Colonel Roy Campbell decides to call upon his old high school friend, Hakase (the professor from the Ape Escape series), who comes up with a plan to end this monkey business.
Taking the role of main character is Piposnake (another pun, this time with Snake mixed with piposaru). Piposnake is a piposaru that has been fed the tactical data of Solid Snake. He's a Sneaking Ape who starts off equipped with a banana pistol, complete with a silencer.
Piposnake's first mission takes him to Fort Banana which he must infiltrate in order to find Metal Gear and save other piposarus who have been captured. The fort is full of enemies, who will attack if they spot Piposnake. Typical of an MGS game, your best bet is to hide from your enemies.
The codec has a role in the game. The mini game actually begins with a codec communication between Hakase, Campbell and Piposnake. A later codec call features Snake asking for a response. Will Snake have a role in the mini game?
Just to make sure we're on the same level here, this is not a joke. It's unclear how much play time the Mesaru Gear Solid mini game will offer, but one thing's for certain: gamers in Japan will get another chance at tactical espionage action (prior to the release of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, that is) with the 7/14 release of Ape Escape 3.
