Konami Digital Entertainment has announced that the much hyped new Metal Gear videogame is set to be released for the PC, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 from Sony. The game has officially been named Metal Gear Solid: Rising (although the Solid moniker was said to be retired after the release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) and will feature Raiden as the main character.

Anthony Crouts, who is the vice president of marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, stated that “The Metal Gear Solid series is one of the most highly acclaimed video game franchises of all time. With Metal Gear Solid: Rising, the Xbox 360 community will finally get a chance to enjoy the action and excitement that this popular franchise is known to offer.”

Hideo Kojima even made an appearance at the Microsoft presentation at E3 to tell the world that the game he was creating was multiplatform, but did not offer more information. Probably the Sony presentation will be the venue used to show off a trailer related to the videogame and more details about it. It's still interesting to note that, after Final Fantasy XIII, Microsoft has managed to snag another of the series traditionally exclusive to the PlayStation 3.

Raiden was initially introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and some fans of the series have hated him since, as the release, without any forewarning, made gamers invest emotionally in him rather than in Solid Snake.

The character returned in Metal Gear Solid 4 and he will be the star of Rising, although there is rampant speculation that players will also get to guide Big Boss around. The next installment in the Metal Gear saga will probably function as a prequel or as a parallel story as Kojima said that Solid Snake would not be featured in any more videogames.