The next installment of the Metal Gear series will be coming to multiple platforms one of which will be the Xbox 360. Since the days of the original PlayStation the Metal Gear series has launched on a Sony console and has consistently turned out to be blockbuster hits. Metal Gear Solid 4 was no exception as it had sold over 4.5 million copies by February of this year.

The new Metal Gear will be called Metal Gear Solid: Rising and will star Raiden, the slightly whiny androgynous blonde haired star of Metal Gear Solid 2. Before launch, fans were led to believe Metal Gear Solid 2 would naturally feature the star of the original Metal Gear Solid, Solid Snake, based on trailers and playable demos. In a twist that surprised many, Hideo Kojima had chosen to make Solid Snake playable for only a small portion of the game. The rest of the game starred Raiden and fan opinions were decidedly mixed.

In Metal Gear Solid 4, Raiden reappeared not as a confused soldier with issues but as a cyborg mech annihilating ninja that talked a lot less. Opinions of Raiden naturally improved and it appears it is this version of Raiden that will star in the next Metal Gear based on current images available on the web.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising will be coming to the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, and the PC. A launch date was not announced. The Metal Gear series becoming multi-platform is significant because the PlayStation 3 loses one of its premier exclusive titles. When the PlayStation 3 was struggling to gain any momentum, Metal Gear Solid 4 was one of its few exclusive blockbuster hits that could be considered a system seller.