Metal Gear Solid 5 News: New Case To Turn Your SmartPhone into An iDroid On the Way

There's always a nice array of gear in any Metal Gear game. Even the 1988 NES game had over three dozen, impressive for the time, and with each subsequent game, we get more and more options. Peace Walker and the recent Ground Zeroes have sent players back in time so see what made Big Boss such an angry cyclops, but MGS director Hideo Kojima has no qualms about continuing to offer more "uniqe" gear and weaponry that have no place in the games' decades ago timeline.

One of the new gizmos players were treated to in the latter game was the iDroid, a device capable of producing a holographic map display, thus replacing the game series longstanding radar screen. It could also be used to call in for air support should Snake ever feel a bit helpless. The name is an obvious portmanteau of today's reigning smartphone operating systems, Android and iOS, and Kojima got MGS fans saliva glands in an uproar earlier this month when he tweeted a picture of a case that could turn smartphones into an iDroid replica.

You might think that Kojima's was a one and only, but we've since learned that it won't be long before Kojima isn't the only one to have the case. Sentinel Toys, a Japanese manufacturer of collectibles, will be releasing the case for both Android and iPhones. Even better is that each person who buys the case will also get a free download of the Ground Zeroes companion app. Then slap on an eyepatch and kill your mentor and you're one Kiefer Sutherland impression away from being Big Boss himself.

The bad news is that Sentinel is that for the time being at least, Sentinel is only offering the case in Japan this October for ¥7,500, or about $74. There's been no mention of the case coming to any other countries outside of Japan.

Disappointing, but I suppose importing it is always an option. Upwards of $70 is a lot to ask for a case, but the antenna on the case also functions as a stylus, and it features a working flashlight. Still makes the price a bit hard to justify, but I'm sure hardcore MGS fans won't mind. We'll keep you posted if Sentinel ever announces any additional locations for the case's release. Expect something more closer to The Phantom Pain's 2015 release.

Out now for PlayStation 3 and 4, as well as the Xbox 360 and One, Ground Zeroes is the first part of Metal Gear Solid V, acting as a prologue to The Phantom Pain. It takes place in 1975, shortly after the events of Peace Walker, but nine years before Pain. Expect it to work as something of an expanded tutorial, helping to show newcomers the ups and downs, as well as feature "Side-Op" sub-missions, and a few challenge trials with ranking and leaderboards if you're feeling competitive. The game will take place at a U.S. black site facility in Cuba dubbed Camp Omega.

You can check out reviews for the game here.