November 05, 2004 - December 16th will be a rough day for Solid Snake (or rather, Snake and his lineage) -- the unstoppable nuclear-powered armament known as Metal Gear will strike not one, but twice on the same day in Japan. But it is not the end of the world as we know it -- it's the beginning of a glorious day for PlayStation gamer, as they will see two editions of the groundbreaking Metal Gear series launch on the same day.

On its official website, Konami today posted the launch dates for the PS2 and PSP additions to the Metal Gear franchise. The console edition, MGS3: Snake Eater, has been set for December 16th in Japan for a while now, but the news that the PSP Metal Gear Acid (also known in hip circles as Acid Gear, a strategy-oriented spin-off produced by several veterans of the Metal Gear series) is now set to be its partner on the same day comes as a shock. Though the game was one of the first projects shown for the PlayStation Portable (a semi-interactive demo was running on PSP debug hardware at E3 2004), the title was expected to be released later in the PSP's lifecycle. Instead, it is now due out just a few short days after the portable system's December 12th launch.

Some fans have been unsettled by the strategic turn taken by the PSP game -- although the approach to the gameplay follows in the tracks of the tactical strategy in the sneaky action series, those expecting a standard MGS might throw them for a loop when they get on Acid -- but the closer-than-expected launch date should help skeptics find the mood to taste a different flavor of Snake.

No date has been set for the North American edition of Metal Gear Acid -- it obviously will not ship here with the PS2 MGS3: Snake Eater since that game is due out on November 17th, long before the PSP is available anywhere in the world. But the early Japanese release should put Acid high on the list of possible US launch games.