One of the great aspects of being a Hideo Kojima fan is the fuzzy line between his fictions and the real world. There's the internet and MGS2; Guantanamo and Ground Zeroes; or even that time a real-life doctor attempting the world's first head transplant found himself at the centre of a Phantom Pain conspiracy. These games reflect our times back at us, sometimes by coincidence, and sneak into reality again and again.
Konami has now partnered with the prosthetics company Open Bionics "to release an official Metal Gear Solid 'Venom Snake' bionic arm for below-elbow amputees. The striking new design clips onto Open Bionics’ ‘Hero Arm’, which is the world’s most affordable multi-grip bionic arm.
"29-year-old Daniel Melville, who was born without his right hand and has been wearing a Hero Arm for over 3 years, is the very first recipient of the new Metal Gear Solid design. Daniel, from Reading, U.K., said: 'This is unbelievable. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted from a bionic arm. I’m an avid gamer and love Metal Gear Solid so much and to actually have Snake’s arm in real life is just insane.'"
Open Bionics' Hero Arm does not, sadly, have a stun punch feature, but each is custom-made and can be accessorised with magnetic clip-on covers. This is not the first time that Metal Gear Solid and bionics have crossed-over: several years ago Konami was also involved in an initiative to build prosthetics for James, who'd suffered severe injuries in a freak train accident. The BBC produced a documentary at the time called Metal Gear Man, which you can watch below.
Samantha Payne, co-founder of Open Bionics, said "this collaboration came about from a mutual appreciation of art, science, and technology. It’s pure joy to see this piece of engineering and art impact a person’s life.” Here's the Open Bionics site for anyone interested in reading more, and the Venom Snake cover is available now.
