The fact that Otacon is an anime-nerd is vitally important (his name is, in fact, a variation of the word "Otaku" which loosely means "nerd" in Japanese) because that puts the whole story into a subject/object study both inside and outside of media. Snake, essentially, is the videogame avatar both to us (the player) and to Otacon—who is also a videogame player (as evidenced by the Sony PlayStation in his lab). The three-way relationship going on between the Player, Otacon, and Snake is weirdly fascinating. The player is Snake, but the player is also Otacon, since Otacon clearly represents the "audience" Metal Gear Solid is catering to. Otacon is the "fan" who normally would "be" Snake if he were playing a videogame or idolize him if he were watching an anime. This is made explicit in one scene where, during a fight, Otacon says, "What's with these guys? It's like one of my Japanese animes!" At which point he runs into a locker and watches the events as if they were an anime. The game clearly establishes Otacon as existing outside Snake's world, looking in. Yet we, as the player, are clearly established inside Snake's world looking out. And what are we looking out at? Otacon, i.e. ourselves, the assumed Otaku audience of the game. Their whole relationship is about them seeing themselves in each other. Snake sees himself (us) in Otacon, and Otacon sees himself (us) in Snake. The game is about "us," the similar parts of each, bringing them together. In the end, Snake and Otacon represent a subtext in Metal Gear Solid not unlike the subtext of Final Fantasy VII discussed earlier: the reconciliation of subject and object, of fan and fantasy, into a redefined post-modern whole where the media serves as both mirror and window.

Are these games saying that nerds can be heroes or that heroes can be nerds? Naturally, this all depends on the player. It all depends on his/her own level of neurosis and how much of it he/she brings to these games. For many, Final Fantasy VII is just another "save the world" plot, and Metal Gear Solid is just another macho action story, but for others they may be oddly compelling in the ways in which they slyly address modern anxieties and incorporate them seamlessly into their traditional escapist structures. Whether this is great art is certainly open to debate, but media is often so much more than art. It is often a clear window into the subconscious of the modern world, a finger forever pressed against the pulse of popular anxieties. The fact that the creators of this media my or may not realize it is simply part of the charm.