With Solid Snake enjoying epic numbers in Japan, it's now time to take a look at the other side of the world. Chart Track reports the software sales figures for the week ending on June 14, with Metal Gear Solid 4 closing its firm grip on to the top spot. Lego Indy is like so last week now. Its multiplatform success on the PSP, PS3, Wii, DS, 360, and PC last week apparently wasn't enough to take cover from the Guns of the Patriots. And for a PS3-exclusive to bring a multi-platformer down at heel? That's definitely saying something! See Raiden do the happy dance in the full article.

This week welcomes the much-loved and much-awaited Metal Gear Solid 4 from Konami. No longer should we worry about broken street dates, because today it all becomes official. But Solid Snake is not the only superhero around as there's also Goku and the gang of Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, as well as the big, green machine, The Incredible Hulk. If you'd rather work on the sidelines, then Don King Present: Prizefigther is here as well to show you the ropes of managing in the boxing profession, as well as Total Extreme Wrestling 2008. More games await after the jump!

Remember Hideo Kojima and Jade Raymond's interview from a few months back? Well, we might have been musing about them coming up with a Metal Gear Solid - slash - Assassin's Creed hybrid, and now... well... Let's just say we're pretty amused. In this gameplay video, we see Altair running around a familiar-looking war zone, carrying his own rifle and trying to fight a couple of... nah. Sorry. No spoilers. Anyways, though the video appears to not take itself seriously (clue: April 1, 2008), you can't help but think if there's actually more than meets the eye...

Italian spies finally get their fair share of the action stealth genre as Artematica has announced that it will be reviving the 1960 cult comic book hero Diabolik by developing Diabolik: The Original Sin for the PC, PSP, Wii, and DS. The upcoming title will feature a fusion of the point-and-click adventure genre, coupled with several fast-paced action and stealth sequences. You can check out the full article for more details on this game after the jump.

Independence Day aside, July 4 marks the canonization of Saint Ulrich of Augsburg, Saladin defeated Guy of Lusignan, the abolition of slavery in the state of New York, and the day Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published.

But for otakus, hardcore and casual gamers, it could only mean one thing - it's time for Anime Expo. People who were able to join Anime Expo '07 definitely had a blast, but we can get our share of fun by looking at these cosplay snapshots from Siliconera.

  

On the left is what Siliconera brands as the best Final Fantasy related costume at the show. Looking at the detail put into it: the wings, and metal claw very close to Vincent's FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus look, saying so ain't a far shot. On the right is a bunch of Solid Snake wannabes, along with other cast from the Metal Gear Solid series. Props go to the Metal Gear Solid 4 version of Snake for looking the part, and we give special mention to the poor guy under the box.

More after the jump!

So maybe some of you weren't too hot about the Halo 3 McFarlane controllers. To quote a comment from lmxloco (Unregistered): "Eh, they look good and all, but they're a little too busy for my taste." Well, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. That includes Todd McFarlane himself. And to him, controllers are just the start.

McFarlane Toys has just announced a partnership with Microsoft to bring in Halo 3 action figures come Spring 2008. Not only are they going to include a 6-inch Master Chief in their line up. There's also going to be Cortana, Brute Chieftan, Jackal Sniper, and a bundle pack consisting of two Grunts.

Tagging along for the ride are, well, your Halo rides: McFarlane Toys will be releasing miniaturizes of the Warthog, Ghost, and Chopper as well.

Solid Snake is getting his own 12 inches. Marcus Fenix is getting a big head as a toy. Well, it's about time that Master Chief got his own plaything-version too.

When Splinter Cell starring Sam Fisher first came out for the original Xbox, critics touted it as the next big thing that could possibly dethrone Solid Snake and the Metal Gear franchise.

For some time, it seemed to go that way as Sam thrilled stealth fans with ninja-like movement in the dark and assassination-style gameplay. The next three installments, however, didn't quite surpass the first, prompting Ubisoft to re-think the whole concept.

Enter the fifth game of the series- Splinter Cell: Conviction which stars Sam Fisher as usual but with a radically different approach to the action. It was revealed that instead of hiding in the dark with your night vision goggles and picking off targets, Sam has to use blending and distractions using crowds in broad daylight to escape enemies. Oh, did we mention that you're fighting lawmen now?

The controls have also been revamped. Doing your business is now a lot less complicated than before with three buttons taking center stage. Aggression, interact and stealth commands will drive you most of the way, so old fans will have a new learning curve.

This caused quite a stir in the Splinter Cell following's ranks. Supporters questioned why the changes had to happen and a lot of them seems to have been displeased. QJ reader Bob says "they're taking the best part of the game away. Hiding in the dark made me feel like a ninja or something."

Still, Splinter Cell producer Mathieu Ferland holds his ground and explains "to us, it's a nice way to expand the brand because Ubisoft is a nice company and you can push it hard with innovation, especially in Splinter Cell, and sometimes when you want to push innovation you need to adapt your creative direction to fit the kind of gameplay you want to provide."

Ferland says that even if the concept behind Conviction's reinvention doesn't do well "you can always go back and do different things." He adds that having Sam in a new position, or a different character to explore light-and-shadow gameplay are among the possibilities. However, the veteran producer expressed his confidence that the new model will work and add depth to the distinguished franchise.

We've posted a whole lot of news on how the gameplay of this game has supposedly changed throughout development, and to accompany those news bits, we've provided screenshots and quotes from developers. Then, one day we posted a publicly released opening trailer for the game that showed a bit of Hadden in action. Good. And you guys got a bit more to work with.

We'll here's a rather handy video embed we found in YouTube.

Well, there, that's how gameplay feels like, if words from developers fail to sell the game to you. So far, the thing looks like a Gears meets Solid Snake meets Unreal meets weird character power from WildCats or some other Image comic from the 90's.

And some folks were starting to wonder where all those Dark Sector gameplay screenshots were coming from...