Wait, is that a t-shirt with two guys wearing cardboard boxes? Is that a Metal Gear Solid t-shirt?!
For those of you that didn’t notice, I’ve been MIA for the last couple of weeks as my wife and I were on a two week vacation in Japan. cmfl3x held down the fort pretty well in my absence, and since I haven’t had much of a chance to do much gaming these past two weeks, I’ll post a couple entries on gaming related topics from Japan.
If any of you remember one of my earlier posts, I lamented over the lack of anything video game oriented that I could buy as an American visiting Japan. Well fortunately for me, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (originally numbered as Metal Gear Solid 5), was released in Japan at the end of April. This allowed me to partake in a little bit of a new major video game launch in the Land of the Rising Sun, even if I was about two weeks late to the launch party. Still, Uniqlo had me covered though. Read on for what this curious Japanese clothing store has to do with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
What is Uniqlo?
Uniqlo is a popular Japanese clothing store in Japan that is sort of like the Gap stores here in America. They sell all sorts of clothes for men and women from t-shirts to button shirts, etc. Uniqlo has even branched out internationally, and has a store in the United States in NYC.
While most t-shirts I saw in Japan were 2000-3000 yen (basically, $21-$32), Uniqlo has several “pop” t-shirts for 1500 yen ($16). This includes gaming t-shirts! I was sad though that I couldn’t get my hands on a Phoenix Wright t-shirt, as it was simply a t-shirt with the word “Objection!” splattered across the front like right out of the Phoenix Wright games. In any case, many of their pop-culture t-shirts related to video games and anime are exactly the style that I like: subtle such that fans of the same games/anime will appreciate your shirt, but not so “geeky” enough that women will run away from you when they see you wearing it. I am not a fan of t-shirts that say what game/anime they are about – and I’m glad that Uniqlo does a pretty good job of not partaking in that.
Uniqlo’s Metal Gear Solid 4 t-shirt line back in 2008
How are Uniqlo and Metal Gear Solid Related?
I remember back in the summer of 2008 when Metal Gear Solid 4 launched, Uniqlo released a line of Metal Gear Solid 4 t-shirts and some of them were pretty cool (at least, in my opinion). Of course, I never considered getting one. But I also remembered back during the Metal Gear Solid 4 US launch, Hideo Kojima was also signing stuff in the NYC Uniqlo store.
Is it no suprise then, that Uniqlo would be selling a Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker t-shirt line to accompany the game’s launch?
A typical Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker setup in several Japanese Uniqlo stores I saw
Uniqlo’s Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker store setup
While I thought that some of the Uniqlo Metal Gear Solid 4 t-shirts were decent, the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker t-shirt line is a lot better designed and more subtle. In any Uniqlo store I walked into in Tokyo, there was often a section for just Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker t-shirts, and a booth that displayed videos of the game and even a PSP that allowed you to demo the game. I guess Kojima and Uniqlo really like each other! In any case, I was loving the t-shirts and bought several myself:
Maybe 3 was one or 2 t-shirts too many, but I didn’t want to regret not buying them!
I don’t even know if I’m going to get a PSP for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker yet, but these t-shirts are practically putting me over the edge…
It was funny – one day I got into an elevator in Hiroshima and was wearing one of my new Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker t-shirts and another guy in the elevator was also wearing a Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker t-shirt. I got excited but the language barrier prevented me from really saying anything. I just politely nodded to him and giddily told my wife that the other guy in the elevator was also wearing a Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker t-shirt!
How About Those That Can’t Go To Japan?
Earlier I mentioned how that there is a Uniqlo store in NYC. Apparently, Hideo Kojima will be here during the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker launch to sign autographs in early June, and it looks like this store will also be stocking the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker t-shirt line! I guess that means I didn’t have to go all the way to Japan to get them, but in any case, I’m quite happy and definitely recommend checking out these t-shirts if you’re also as big a Metal Gear Solid fan as myself.
Man…those shirts are cool….I want.