Short answers, pulled from the story.
Metal Gear Solid was released in Japan on the 3rd of September 1998 and in North America on the 20th of October 1998. The game was available in a limited Premium Package edition that included a t-shirt, dog tags, and a 40-page booklet.
Hideo Kojima directed Metal Gear Solid and originally planned the project for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer before moving it to the PlayStation. The game was developed by a small team of twenty people that did not expand to full strength until September 1996.
Solid Snake infiltrates Shadow Moses, a nuclear weapons facility in Alaska, where the renegade special forces unit FOXHOUND has seized control. FOXHOUND threatens to launch the nuclear-capable bipedal tank Metal Gear REX unless the US government pays a billion dollars and hands over the remains of Big Boss.
The only way to defeat Psycho Mantis is to unplug the first controller and plug it into the second controller port. This mechanic allows the player to bypass the boss's ability to read the memory card and manipulate the controller's vibration.
Solid Snake and Liquid Snake are genetic counterparts created from Big Boss's DNA through the Les Enfants Terribles project. The government sent Snake on a mission to retrieve Metal Gear REX while unknowingly carrying a weaponized virus called FOXDIE that targets FOXHOUND members.