Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Kojima Productions Says "No MGS4 90 Minute Cutscenes"
Late last month, magazine PSW stated that upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 has 90 minute cutscenes — which, the magazine pointed out, could be skipped. Website GamePro fired back, confirming that the game does have "occasionally lengthy" cutscenes and calling the 90 minute cutscenes "a pretty big exaggeration." Magazine EDGE offered this in its review: "The cutscenes here are sure to invoke that thousand-yard stare, two in particular coming perilously close to the 90-minute mark." But what's the official word from Kojima Productions? Metal Gear Solid 4 Assistant Producer Ryan Payton tells Kotaku that the 90 minute cutscene claim is a "gross exaggeration."
he is surprised nobody has stepped forward to debunk this rumor. There are no 90 minute cutscenes in MGS4. The ending is long, but 90 minutes is a gross exaggeration.
And here he thought gamers liked long endings!
So there ya go, no 90 minute cutscenes and a lengthy ending says Kojima Productions.
Souce kotaku.com
Metal Gear Solid 4 or Marriage?
The Metal Gear Solid 4 ads are firing up on Japanese TVs. Above, the announcer says: "Combat or infiltration? Direct advance or detour? Hope or hopelessness? Chose for yourself. Metal Gear Solid 4 out. Gaming's counterattack begins." The second spot after that shows a young couple as the guy continues playing MGS4 nonstop. The announcer for that ad goes: "Metal or meals? Metal or phone? Metal or marriage? Of course, Metal."
Souce kotaku.com
Fishy Copies Of MGS4 Already In British Hands
For the past, oh, day or two, they have got a few "OMG I have MGS4" emails from readers. Normally pictures or videos of people in the UK who have managed to get hold of a copy of the game on eBay ahead of its June 12 release date. All of them pointing towards auctions just like this one. Normally, not so big a deal, as advance copies of games are often offloaded by shady writers. But journos aren't getting copies of MGS4. There are no advance copies. So how'd these guys in the UK get them? And why are they Australian retail copies of the game - as you can see from the MA15+ rating on the cover - and not the UK version? Think most of you can put two and two together on this one.
Souce kotaku.com
Cutscenes, Konami, Shame, Sessler
http://www.g4tv.com/thepile/videos/26259/Sesslers_Soapbox_A_Konami_Conundrum.html
G4's Adam Sessler chimes in on this whole Konami Metal Gear Solid 4 PR brouhaha. It's worth a watch — he makes many valid points!
Souce kotaku.com
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Say, Is Your GameStop Having A Midnight Launch For MGS4?
Why don't you check! GameStop have been sending out emails over the past few days, tipping customers off to the fact they'll be open at midnight for the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4. Only catch: not every GameStop will be open. Just some! And by some, I mean hundreds. Their list runs for 29 pages, so if your local store (or at least, a store near you) isn't on there, you may wish to consider your geographic isolation, and ask a friend via telegram or carrier pigeon to pick a copy up for you.
Souce kotaku.com
Up Close With Euro MGS4 Limited Edition Figure
Souce kotaku.com
Famitsu Gives Metal Gear Solid 4 Perfect Score
Eds Note: This has been confirmed as true.
Souce kotaku.com
Monday, 9 June 2008
Metal Gear Solid 4 News on Thursday
Right on Thursday 12th June 2008 I will do 5 news post on that day to celebrate the game comeing out.
More Metal Gear Solid Retrospective
Here's the fourth part of GameTrailers Metal Gear Solid retrospective, which focuses on Metal Gear Solid 3 and touches on Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops—two of the less successful MGS games.
Souce kotaku.com
Meeting Kojima (Only Signing Sleeves, No Pics Allowed)
Whilst he was waiting, he readied his Metal Gear Solid collection to get signed.
He went up on the platform where it was his turn to get his sleeve signed. He get his collection out, only to be told by some random HMV employee who was supervising the signing that he was only allowed to get the sleeve signed. He didn't know how to take it. So he just took out his sleeve, got it signed and shook Hideo Kojima, Yoji Shinkawa and Yumi Kikuchi (Raging Raven) hands. Which kind of made it better.
He wanted to take a quick picture of him with Hideo Kojima, so he shook Hideo's hand whilst his brother who came with him took a picture. For some reason, the man supervising the singing on the platform tried to stop his brother taking the picture, saying that no pictures allowed. But luckily his brother managed to take the picture before he could stop him. So now he couldn't take a picture of his brother and Hideo, which could be the first and last time they meet
Very disappointing. He traveled such a long way, carried a very heavy bag of MGS games for nothing? It could be the last time he meets the man, and he has already gone through a long process of waiting, might as well sign all the games and let him at least take a decent picture.
Souce kotaku.com
Metal Gear Solid 4 World Tour Autographing Info
The MGS4 PR machine shifts into high gear as the Metal Gear Solid 4 World Tour 2008 kicked off in London on Monday 2nd June 2008. As they mentioned earlier, Hideo Kojima and Yoji Shinkawa will be signing game sleeves. The most recent (and final?) Kojima Productions Report podcast reports that actress Yumi Kikuchi and MGS4 producer Ken Imaizumi will be on hand as well. For those living in the States, Hideo and co. will appear at the New York City launch, while Kojima Pro's Ryan Payton and Solid Snake voice actor David Hayter will be at the Los Angeles one. The official MGS4 website has schedule info about the World Tour as well. There's a map, too. With flags.
Souce kotaku.com
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Metal Gear Solid 4 Shibuya Billboards
Pictures taken by Kotakuite Jonathan in Kichijoji.
Souce kotaku.com
EGM Refuse To Review MGS4 Because Konami Imposed "Limitations"
To recap: Konami are imposing restrictions on what publications can and cannot talk about when reviewing Metal Gear Solid 4. No mention of 90-minute cutscenes please, and while you're at it, no talky-talky about install sizes either, K? IGN are cool with that. EGM, refreshingly, are not. Due to "limitations Konami wanted to impose on our comments", the editorial team decided to refrain from giving the game a score, and in lieu of a "review" posted a lengthy roundtable discussion about the game instead. It's hardly a gloved fist on an Olympic dias, but it is nice seeing somebody do something about such an...unsavoury practice.
Souce kotaku.com
Pre-release MGS4 Reviewers Got "Pretty Long" List of Forbidden Topics
We had this up as a rumor and he said IGN UK's review of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots pretty much confirms it. "In return for letting them play Metal Gear Solid 4 before its release, Konami issued them with a list of things that there not allowed to discuss. This list of prohibited topics is pretty long, and even extends as far as several facts that the company itself has already made public." Might that be the length of the cutscenes (upwards of 90 -gasp- minutes)?
IGN doesn't say in a strongly positive review, but for that icky first paragraph. They wanted to do the write-up as spoiler-free as possible, which makes a lot of the verboten stuff something IGN wasn't going to mention anyway. Still, they acknowledge Konami's heavy-handedness, apparently beyond the pale of normal pre-release review requests.
By the by, IGN calls it "the ultimate Metal game. Without question," but it's only ranked by IGN UK so far, at 9.9. He thinks it's safe to say the US ranking will conform. This is one of those games that's pretty much review proof. Konami's micromanagement might piss off only the writers, but that doesn't mean it isn't also unnecessary.
Souce kotaku.com
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Rumor: Reviewers Can't Talk About MGS4 Cutscenes, Install?
Reviewers often have restrictions about what they can and can't talk about in reviews - in my experience, these have been restricted to plot details, which have an embargo date a little bit later than the general review does. But MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo has apparently heard from some gaming media sources who said that when it comes to Metal Gear Solid 4, particular details are off-limits.
I’ve been told by two gaming media sources who asked to remain anonymous that Konami representatives had been asking print reviewers to keep some technical details out of their reviews, namely the length of the game’s cut-scenes and the size of the game’s installation on the PlayStation 3.
Such details wouldn’t have been plot spoilers, but perhaps the publisher was concerned that they would be viewed as negatives?
Konami representatives declined to comment to me about any of this, as did editors of a few major video game magazines.
So, no one wants to talk about it - but, as Totilo points out, here at Kotaku we've already seen box shots that suggest a 4.6 GB install for the game, and information suggesting the game has at least some rather lengthy cutscenes, possibly even 90-minute ones. Both bits of information seem to have spread like a virus all over the internet already, so if this is true, what would be the big hush on Konami's part?
My theory, for whatever it's worth, is the big I-word: Investors. These folks buy stock based on how they think a publisher's major releases will perform. Largely, these guys aren't gamers, but analysts (who do tend to play some games) offer them a basic checklist of positive and negative traits based on market sentiment.
An investor sees popular words like "sandbox," "open world," or "player choice," and can guess a game will perform well. An investor who sees words like "90-minute cutscenes," "large install" or other issues has been taught that these are things we, the game consumers, tend to get up in arms about, to the point where we leave 500 comments on a post about 90-minute cutscenes. And thus, the investor loses confidence in the title's financial forecast. Of course it's not that simple, but those who deal in finance would prefer to believe there is a fixed "formula" for success.
And my guess - just a guess, mind you - is that publishers are not particularly worried about Wall Street types reading Kotaku on a daily basis, but instead hope that when investors or analysts do a quick Metacritic scan, they don't see anything that could be construed as a red flag.
Or it could just be the LaLiLuLeLo. Dunno.
Souce kotaku.com
So Far, The Lowest MGS4 Review Score
Some of you probably don't care about the reviews and are going to play Metal Gear Solid 4. That's fine. Others of you are interested in what the critics are saying.
• Metal Gear Solid 4 is, in most senses, the biggest Metal Gear yet. But the best? Maybe not. If the super-slick thriller of the first Metal Gear Solid remains Kojima's masterpiece, then this operatic monster is his magnum opus.
• Tune out the details, and Guns of the Patriots is a properly gripping yarn, full of thrills, spectacle, laughs, and even tenderness and pathos. You won't understand, but you will care.
• The new gadgets are superb, the weapons are expertly realised and much easier to get hold of, and there are always plenty of options, even if stealth is still usually the best of them. Hand-to-hand combat feels more natural. The environments are more complex, but nothing like as large or open as you might expect, and this is still a linear game.
• Despite Kojima's downbeat sentiments on the PS3, he has produced a technical and presentational tour-de-force. The visuals do have rough edges but the art, especially the character art, is flawless, somehow maintaining extravagance and understated cool simultaneously. Harry Gregson Williams' music, whether providing scripted excitement or dynamic accompaniment, hits all the right cues, and musters a memorable, delicate theme. And the surround soundtrack is clearly a labour of love and extreme dedication, probably the best in gaming to date...
• In Guns of the Patriots' incredible, cathartic, climactic scenes, the lines are blurred so much that you can barely tell whether you're playing a videogame or watching a film. To some that might sound like an insult, but to Kojima and his fans, it's nirvana, something for which the series has been striving for ten years, and it could not be a more appropriate note to end on.
• An unbelievably lengthy and self-indulgent epilogue — you can't call it a cut-scene, it's an entire film in its own right, and a deeply boring one too — is how Solid Snake's career comes to a close. Too bad, but no hard feelings; you can ignore it if you wish. The drawn-out sentimentality is fitting, in a way. Snake may have started out as a gruff, two-dimensional cliché, but he bows out very gracefully in Metal Gear Solid 4, assuming the mantle of the world-weary samurai, or the enigmatic nameless cowboy from a spaghetti western, as if it were always his.
• You could not ask for a funnier, cleverer, more ambitious or inspired or over-the-top conclusion to the Metal Gear Solid series, but it's definitely time to move on.
Eurogamer gave the game an 8/10 for whatever that's worth.
Souce kotaku.com
PAL PlayStation Store Update
The PAL PlayStation Store update's got more meat on its bone this week. While its lacking in videos, trailers and demos, it does manage three full games, which is nice. One of them, OK, it's very, very late. Almost a year late. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. The others are the original Rayman along with MediEvil: Resurrection, given a third lease of life as a downloadable title.
Games and Demos
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Rayman
MediEvil: Resurrection
Expansions And Add-Ons
Army of Two: Veteran
Game Videos
Metal Gear Solid 4: E3 2006 Trailer
Overlord Raising Hell
Super Stardust HD
Themes and Wallpapers
Prince of Persia Prodigy Arabesque Wallpaper
Prince of Persia Prodigy New Prince Wallpaper
PixelJunk Monsters Wallpaper
Souce kotaku.com
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Kojima Signing MGS 4 Sleeves At London HMV
As a means to get a leg up on their busy, busy Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots launch duties, series creator Hideo Kojima and lead artist Yoji Shinkawa will be appearing at the HMV on Oxford Street in London, England on Monday 2nd June 2008 19 days before the game releases. Rather than signing copies of the game itself, Kojima and Shinkawa will be signing exclusive HMV sleeves that will slide over your copy of MGS 4, available with your £5 deposit on the full game. Autographs will begin promptly at noon, with sleeves available from 9:00am.
While he suppose it would be much more appealing to have them signing copies of the game on launch day, it is nice to see Kojima and Shinkawa taking the time out of what is sure to be an extremely busy early June schedule to show the UK some MGS lovin'.
Souce kotaku.com
Metal Gear Solid 4 Box Says 4.6 GB Installation
Yes, Metal Gear Solid 4 is apparently joining the pre-installation club! The game will be added to the growing list of games (like GT5 Prologue, We Love Golf, Devil May Cry 4, Haze, GTA IV, etc) that require PS3 hard drive installation. According to the display copy MGS4 boxart, the game needs a 4.6 GB installation. So all you other installation games, be sure to give MGS4 a warm welcome!
Souce kotaku.com
MGS4 Has 90-Minute Cutscenes [UPDATE]
As Metal Gear Solid 4's release date draws near, more and more info about the game's expected to spill out. Some of it from people who have played through the thing already. People who sat through a lotta cutscenes. Some of them up to 90-minutes long. Nintety. Minutes. Sure, you can pause them, and skip them, but ninety minutes? Bring popcorn.
UPDATE - CVG say it has 90-minute cutscenes. GamePro beg to differ, saying that "sounds like an exaggeration", though in saying that they fail to provide a "corrected" figure.
Souce kotaku.com
