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Gamers can now fully immerse themselves in the 'Metal Gear Solid' universe even before the release of "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots".

How?

The speculation going on for a while has finally been confirmed by Konami. The company has officially confirmed that "Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection" will be launched for the PlayStation2 (PS2).

"Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection" brings together three classic titles of the series: the original Metal Gear Solid PlayStation Edition, along with the Director's cut of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence in a commemorative package.

Available in Japan for some time now, "Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection", rated M for Mature by the ESRB, will soon start selling in North America for a suggested retail price of $29.99, exclusively for the PS2.

Recently, Konami had announced a cell phone-based title, 'Metal Gear Solid Mobile'. The game is touted to be the first fully 3D Metal Gear title with graphics that are claimed to come pretty close to PS2 quality graphics.

The mobile phone-based 'Metal Gear' is scheduled for launch by the end of February, and will be exclusively available on Verizon's on-demand download service for three months, then being made available on other carriers.