About the timeline I think this one can't be done. Based on the info I found I think Kojima was fooling arround with us.

First Snatcher -> Policenauts.
Snatcher is set after policenauts however I read that in Policenauts the Napoleon character is talking about Gillian Seed if this is true then how is it possible. Since he hasn't talked to him yet since Snatcher is stated after policenauts.

MGS -> Policenauts.
In MGS you have these 2 posters of Policenauts and in the otakon cutscene we see some policenauts stuff. And Policenauts happens after MGS.

So in other words it's allmost like LOST HIGHWAY. (DAVID LYNCH)

Well, in Policenauts you mainly see a few mistakes in the timelines, also caused by some people who like to get frozen every now and then.

With Lost Highway... you simply have no clue what's going on

Other pages about the Time Line :

http://www.geocities.com/muni_shinobu/faq/mg_timeline.html
(and a french translation (?) at : http://mgworld.free.fr/index.php?page=Mgtemps)

A page that also describes Snake's Revenge:
http://www.psx2.com/features/metalgear1.shtml
Same Site, different page containing a Release TimeLine : http://www.psx2.com/features/metalgear4.shtml


Page about the Real ZanzibarLand : http://www.leukomtedoen.nl/zanzibar/

Quote about location of Zanzibarland taken from : Google Cache

Quote:

Zanzibar Land - a small republic just next to Russia, China and the Arab nations - founds a military government

and some info I found using o807kmpkuUJub173.ezboard.com/ffantasygamingfrm24.showPrevMessage%3FtopicID%3D27.topic+zanzibar+land&hl=en&ie=UTF-8' target='_blank'>Google Cache about MGS3



and please share a laugh about this quote from a dude who thinks he knows the truth about MG-series :

Quote:

For those of you who don't know METAL GEAR began on the NES, not on the PS1. And it was set IN THE JUNGLE!!!! An american scientist is taken prisoner and forced to work on the new experimental weapon: Metal Gear. Apparently the plot of MGS3 will call for Solid Snake to pack up and head for the jungles once again.

(taken from : http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=mgs&message.id=430)


that's all I could find for now... (hope it was of any use...)

MGS3 plays in the early sixties. I think you will not play with Solid Snake, but with his father.. Big Boss.

Unless Kojima uses some alternative universe again.
The data looks like it takes place in the 60's however this will not mean that the actually game will be.
We all know that Kojima can fool us again like he did with MGS2 and MGS2 substance.

I'm still quite convinced I'm right about the Big Boss theory

It was hinted at in the Power Unlimited preview (this month or previous) too..
It certainly is a very plausible theory!

I thought it was already common knowledge you're playing MGS3 with BigBoss....

Actually I think that both Snake and Big Boss are in the game. It seems to feature a story that covers a lot of time. There are obvious flashback scenes with Big Boss and most of the actual gameplay appears to still star Solid Snake. As I understand it a significant portion of the Snake-centered part is about Snake going through Wilderness Survival Training. Also, the camouflage system in the game features far more patterns than those actually available in the US military during the 60's era cold war. The degree of variation seen in screenshots and trailers didnt become available until really the 80's AFAIK. Unless they've decided to fudge the details a bit it seems that the game isn't only featuring Big Boss.

As for the original subject of the thread, my opinion is that these character linkages are more for fun and not really intended to indicate that all these various games occur in a single timeline. Ultimately, I think this is kind of like the issue of Ghost Babel's place in the metal gear series. Its something that can't be resolved until Kojima himself speaks up and explains it.

Looking at the way Hideo Kojima worked on the stories of Snatcher and Metal Gear I think some of the character linkages are more well thought of than 'just for fun'. Maybe it's just something I want to see though. However, look at MGS1. Grey Fox got tuned into a cyborg, an exoskeleton project. Am I the only one who thinks Gilian Seed must have been the scientist behind this project?

Since when is Gilian Seed a scientist? ^^;

He was involved with the Snatcher project, rite? (I really should play these games once again)

You might be right about the linkages, snout. I don't mean to discount the possibility, probably more in-depth work should be done to glean exact details from the games and compare and contrast them. For example, back to Ghost Babel in the MG series, the only real way that its been proven in some way to be in the main storyline are 5 exact quotes that Campbell makes in MGS2 that come from Ghost Babel.

If something like this could be found in the snatcher/policenauts/mg games then something definitive might be said about it perhaps. It may have been already, I don't really know. I plan on trying Snatcher out for the first time when the MG1 retranslation is done, so i couldnt comment on that aspect. Of course, it could be smart of Kojima to let it remain mysterious since it sparks such interesting discussion, fuelling the fan-base. ;D