Excited for Hideo Kojima's next self-indulgent masterpiece? Good news for you, then! Konami has announced that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the PSP continuation of the MGS series, is due out in America on May 25, 2010, much sooner than most would have assumed. It actually puts it right near the Japanese launch, likely in an effort to prevent everyone from just pirating the game. Sure, it would all be in Japanese, but that might actually make more sense, since it's hard to be confused by a convoluted story when it's in squiggly lines you can't read.

Without going into the plot too much, Peace Walker's story follows a man named Snake, who is calling himself Boss. By the end of the game, he will eventually be betrayed by his bosses and fight a clone of himself on top of something really tall while discussing how "the world doesn't need soldiers anymore" because of giant mechs that shoot nuclear missiles. Or, at least that's my guess, it could actually be a musical for all I know.

No word yet on a demo for us in the Americas, but the Japanese one has been available for quite some time now. I heard it has quite a learning curve, being, you know, in Japanese and all, but if you get past the opening it's supposed to be pretty traditional, unlike the other MGS PSP titles. Kojima has said that this title is the true continuation of the MGS series, something we'll know sooner rather than later.