In the new age of gaming media, one must be aware of who has the best interest of the gamer at heart. As well as giving everyone well informed analysis and reviews on who has the best bang for your buck, they must also realize when a controversy, really isn't one. The gaming media, along with its responsibility to inform you on the facts about one game and the industry, one must also not read too much into what a so-called controversy would contain. We, as gamers, must also take responsibility into what is being presented to us. Is the information worthy of us being suspicious, or is it making too much of a mountain out of a molehill?
In short, Konami is learning just who is their friends in the gaming media, and who are their enemies.
Within the span of a few weeks, Konami has had its marquee title, Metal Gear Solid 4, enthused into a few controversies, neither on which actually should've lived on more than what they did, and hopefully, these controversies are now dead in the water. One of the biggest potent controversies was the NDA scandal, in which certain aspects of the game, to keep spoilers from being leaked, were listed as restrictions. Reviewers were asked to not discuss certain aspects of the game. Most were reasonable, such as exact number of environments in the game, product placements to keep those that allow Konami to include the products within the game in the game, and several storyline specific elements. However, as G4's Adam Sessler pointed out, two very suspicious items were in this NDA: Length of cutscenes and installs. According to Sessler, it would raise suspicion that Konami wasn't too comfortable about information getting out about these two points because it may have swayed a consumer's choice of whether or not to buy the game. However one may perceive it, Sessler's comments were tame and didn't seem like someone who wanted to see this game burn to the ground. His views were responsible and, from the sounds of things, one who was more saddened than angry.
However, such cannot be said for a few others in the gaming media. Such is Electronic Gaming Monthly, who withheld their review of MGS4 because of the NDA. It would later prove to be futile, as Kojima Productions, in the wake of Sessler's comments, was quick to respond. Even if you cannot forgive Sessler's comments, one must realize that he still got the attention of one Assistant Producer Ryan Payton, who just a day after the podcast came out, sent an e-mail to gamer blog Kotaku, in which he emphatically killed the issue before it got out of hand. He basically said that he was too busy working on the game in order to pay attention to the rumors going out. He then explained, in detail, the reasonings behind the two most controversial aspects of the NDA.
The install times? “The game requires an eight minute install,” he said, “as well as a number of two to three-minute installs between acts.” As these installs take place, the story is still going on. Thus, reviewers were free to discuss the installs in general, but not exactly where they were as that was a spoiler.
The cutscene length? He said, “...reviewers are more than happy to comment on whether they're too long or short. We simply want reviewers to refrain from describing which scenes are long, thus spoiling some of the experience because players will know what to expect when a scene is unfolding.” This makes the most sense out of anything we've seen as an explanation.
The reason why it makes sense? The same way most things now make sense: This is unlike any story driven series that is out there. Metal Gear, especially the Solid line, is usually with a massive story to tell, and sometimes there are parts of the story where one would never even consider looking for one. Easter eggs are abound everywhere, and so many other aspects that creator Hideo Kojima could just add for kicks. Furthermore, Metal Gear Solid has been a perfect example of breaking the fourth wall. In all installments of the series, Kojima has had at least one intense sequence in which players experienced the game playing mind games with them. Metal Gear Solid 1 had the now infamous Psychomatis boss battle, where the game played numerous parlor tricks with your controller, memory card, and the screen itself. Solid 2 had an equally infamous sequence in which your colonel goes berserk, telling you to “cut the power, the mission is a failure” and then calling you every minute with a gibberish line of needing scissors or lines from past Metal Gear games, and in addition, the radar shows an AV model video, and the highly infamous “Fission Mailed” screen, all which made you think your game was going screwy. And while one may think Solid 3's sequence was more of an act of using game logic and what you did before instead of making you think your game was crapping out on you, The Sorrow's sequence definitely left some gamers in awe. One could only imagine what Kojima could want to try to go with next to mess with our minds. Simply put, in any of these installs or these cutscenes, that aspect that has ruled the Metal Gear franchise could begin, and a full disclosure of such would prove disastrous.
Thus, even though it seems more extreme than normal, this is a Metal Gear game. It requires a precise amount of care to not be leaked to anyone. Everyone and their grandmother will want to find out what transpires, every little detail must be under wraps about the storyline. No one wants to be spoiled about any game's story, but for a game in which story is 3/4ths of the game's importance, it requires certain things that maybe the NDA that was shown didn't cover. No one can possibly catch every detail. No one should be alarmed in this case. The content, does fit the context and the rules, fit the situation.
After Payton described the issues, as well as say that some of them were out of date and etched in stone that reviewers were allowed to bring up install times and cutscene length, albeit with responsibility taken when talking about those points, Sessler then responded, basically saying that he was satisfied with what was Payton said, and that he was glad that it was cleared up. This not only proved that it was now a non-issue and that Sessler was just someone who was pained more than angry, but it also proved that Payton should become Konami's employee of the month, or maybe the year. He basically made what was a blown-up issue, and made everyone that was running with it, look like damn fools. EGM, and Gamespot, one that also had extreme objections to the NDA, now have to explain themselves for what exactly they wanted to say. Were they just as puzzled as Sessler was, or was there something more? Were they satisfied with what Payton said?
Or do they even care? Remember, there is still a select group of people in the mainstream gaming press that would love nothing more than to see their scapegoat, the Playstation 3, get permanently destroyed. It's something that no one, this blogger included, wants to say about anyone. If the Xbox 360 or the Nintendo Wii were their scalded systems, then we would be calling the gaming media on that aspect, as well. This is no fanboy matter, as that label gets tossed around more times than we dare to count. However, during the half of 2008 that has past so far, we have all seen the Playstation 3 mature into something much more than the shell it once was. Sony has begun to live up to its promises, many of the features that were to be included are getting included, the features from the PS2 that we missed have been returning, game companies have begun to see the PS3 as more than a black box that couldn't, and now the games that may change the face of what has been so far the ugliest console war this world has ever seen before are beginning to hit store shelves. Metal Gear Solid 4, for all of what it is worth, will be the game that could in fact give the PS3 a lead that it can hold for a long time. We all have seen what this game is already doing to multiple shopping sites, including the supersite Amazon.com, whose servers “mysteriously crashed” on the 6th of June, the same day the site was officially beginning to accept orders for a PS3 80 gigabyte model bundle which includes MGS4, a Pain voucher, a Dualshock 3, and a model which supports backwards compatibility. While it is unclear as to whether or not the rush for the now sold-out bundle was a direct cause of the crash, one can easily suspect that the rush did nothing to help the site's servers.
The hype is clearly there, and those that hope that the 360 can win this generation's console war are not taking this lying down. Anything that the extreme lunatic fringe, those that think that their system must win every battle imaginable while doing their favorite maker's work for them while damning anyone else who dares to think their tactics are out of line, can do to take down this game is being done. The running of the bulls with the NDA is hopefully now dead in the water for them.
But will EGM or Gamespot, the latter continuing to be in continuous controversy with how much biased is in their reviews while the former we had praised for getting the Bioshock PS3 rumor correct before this issue began, decide that it's a dead issue, as well? We wouldn't be shocked about Gamespot. It had it's head up an orifice a while back. Anyone who remembers a little known game called Kane & Lynch can certainly tell you that.However, shock will come if EGM doesn't consider this issue dead. Only an acknowledgment of them being panicked about something they shouldn't have been should be suffice enough. It would be only fair since we gave Sessler the benefit of the doubt that we give EGM the chance to get their bearings back. But if they do not, then total awe will surely overtake us. Even Joystiq, who has appeared to be anti-PS3 for the longest time, seem to, with the effect of MGS4, begun to wise up and warm up to the idea that the PS3 might be in for one of the best years so far of it's early lifespan.
And about the site that Payton e-mailed. Kotaku has been well documented as not only being highly anti-PS3, but also anti-MGS4. We all remember how it first took Hideo's comments about what he felt about his MGS4 accomplishments out of context. No artist, regardless of medium, should be able to be completely satisfied with his or her work, they should always want to do better, to BE better than they were before. It's in the artist code for one to never be truly satisfied with anything they do. To them, the world itself should be viewed as a limitation. However, Kotaku then took Hideo's words about what had happened with his previous words, and then went about slamming them even more. Hideo was exactly correct when he said something about American media taking words out of context and making them look like something that it isn't and also spinning the meanings and what was actually being said. All one has to do to find proof of this is to look back in April and the “bitter” comments the now presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said, since those were treated the exact same way as Kojima's comments were by Kotaku. With this reporting of the e-mail (since they could've just as easily ignored that an e-mail came into their mailbox), it seems as if Kotaku is seeing what it has become, and has begun to turn a corner. It remains to be seen if they have really done so or not.
EDGE Magazine and Eurogamer, for what it was worth, is an interesting concept. When compared with other controversial high scores for games that didn't appeal to the gamer audience as much as they were first thought to have been able to, the lower 8 score for MGS4 seems suspicious. However, no one should confuse an 8 out of 10 with a 2 out of 10. 8 is far from a bad score. However, one should understand the gripe here. It's not that the game got an 8/10 to begin with. There is no issue there in of itself. It's how the score compared to the games that scored higher on the same site and in the same mag that didn't get as much positive reaction from the gaming public as MGS4 is presumed to receive. It's not the score itself that gave the suspicion, but the comparisons.
It's the other rumor, however, that has continued to be resurrected from the dead. A full 90-minute cutscene, apart from all the other cutscenes in the game, was rumored to be included in the game. Much trusted Gamepro challenged and then killed the rumor swiftly. Many others had then concurred that the issue was dead. However, long and behold, no one dared to even take that into consideration. In fact, many still talk as if a particular cutscene of that length (which was billed to be a non-exaggerated length) was confirmed by everyone. Even Sessler in his response to Payton's e-mail said he never thought this was true.
This makes the gaming public suspicious of the gaming media. What agenda are they pushing and then hiding by continuing to try to put confirmation to a dead rumor? Even the outlet that first said something about it, CVG magazine, has been documented as being highly pro-Microsoft, so much so that it seems that they are Bill Gates' personal lap dog, thus such information on any other systems' games coming from them should be taken with a grain of salt (keep in mind also that they have gotten several rumors about key games completely wrong). For this, the gaming media must take a step back and think of what they are doing to the gaming industry.
However, there is some fault that Konami takes, as well. They let this thing fester longer than it should have. The 90 minute cutscene rumors should've been killed off by them and them alone. They didn't have to reveal anything while still killing the rumor, even though the Gamepro editor that talked about the game in the rumor killer article on their site sounded like he knew what he was talking about. However, their former silence on the NDA issue only let the issue get more and more out of hand. Maybe the lesson that Konami has learned is that any rumor, no matter how small, can turn into a huge news story unless they act fast on it. The NDA issue should've been dead the day after MTV Multiplayer first reported the then rumor. Ryan Payton wasn't at fault here, he was only working on a big surprise for the MGS4 players. In the future, Konami needs to get these rumors killed, or controversies answered sooner.
However, we're the ones that have been taught the greatest lesson of all from all of this, and so has the gaming media. We now know that there are agendas being pushed here, for better or for worse. The outlets that were doing the water carrying have now been, for the most part, exposed with this irresponsible reporting and checking of the facts. They are being watched for bias for any system. For the most part, most of the gaming media has came off the “bash the PS3 however you can” high, with many even going so far as to say that the PS3 will overtake the 360 in the weeks to come, and even preferring the PS3 over the 360 in some areas. While no one should believe that we hope that is a requirement, it is a truth right now. Some may honestly enjoy the 360 better. There is nothing wrong with that, either. The 360 has a ton of great games, a bunch of loyal fans, and an awesome online service. The 360 has helped shape this current generation in so many ways. No one should confuse this new high for the PS3 with any new rule that anyone HAS to like any one system over another to be creditable. We would call anyone on continuously trashing the 360 if it wasn't necessary (unfortunately, the 360 has run into a streak of bad luck lately, and momentum has shifted to its main competitor).
However, those that unfairly bash ANY system, whether it be the Wii, 360, or the PS3, or any one game with malicious intent of any kind, you are on notice. We learned a lesson that we cannot be like you, and do your work for you. We are YOUR checks and balances, and we cannot let you continue to just bash and bash and bash without any calling on your fact checking and fairness. No one is telling you you have to hate one system while loving another. No one is saying for you to never report any faults on one system, while completely ignoring those on another, or ignore the bright spots on one system in order to reach for something good to say about the other. This is, in fact, the opposite. There are pros and cons for each system, and as time goes on, the pros could turn into cons and vice versa. One system will not dominate forever. The mighty can, in fact, fall, and the weak can put on muscle. Thinking that they cannot, will make for a controversy, that no one can kill.
Good night, and good luck.
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Very well written and edited. Props for you bro and bub's.
There is a lot of flavor in what you write that is just nice to see and is rare in this industry. As much as I hate the fan boy argument I feel it also adds a lot to the industry. Hyping and bashing is fun and productive as well as counter productive.
There are very few sites I view for reviews. Gametrailers being a main fav of mine. However they are really slow about getting them out I feel they are the least biased of them all... I love all my systems(I own every one including handhelds) So it is hard to find decent sites but for the most part it's coming down to gamers intuition. Would you have bought Iron man without any reviews? Hell no. Hulk? Maybe if it's anything like the last one... Thank god for rental systems eh?
I am a PS3 fan mainly because I have more friends on the system to play with but I have never been a MGS fan. There are moments in the games I feel are amazing and you pointed them out (You forgot "The End" which I felt was the most intense fight ever though =P) most of the time when playing I am bored though. I hated MGS 2 the most on the PS2. I felt like I played for 5 minutes to watch a 10 min cutscene that a. Didn't give me much info and b. Felt like it was trying to show off something... or make something really lame look cool(A fat dude on rollerblades isn't that cool no matter how many flips and spins he does) Overall though I am looking forward to MGS 4 but not as much as many other games this summer like Fallout,Gear2 or LBP.
The defense force dedicated to MGS is strong and from how you have written I can see they are very smart. However I feel that all the bad press and what not will only reach a small number of people except maybe the G4 viewers. Even so Sessler basically cleared everything up on his show which I give him much respect for.
In the end I just want to say good written article and passionate. However there will be no stopping the flaming no matter what but just throw those morons on ignore. Game on bro and see you online.
To publications such as EGM, Game Informer,etc. we are merely customers. What is the best way to attract customers? Scandals and controversy. If there is one thing people like more than someone who succeeds, is when that same person fails. Just look at the main site to prove my point. What articles get the most hits and comments? Is it " X developer makes X game for 360/PS3/Wii" or "Shane Kim bashes PS3" and "PS3 leads 360 in worldwide sales"?
People feed on the negativity and its what journalists/blogs/websites look for in order to gain hits.
Your critiques are very well written and full of truth. It's to no surprise that this issue could've been taken care of earlier if Konami "was on the ball" with their product.
Hope to see more =)
I do agree that anyone who does a review (no matter who they are), has to take full responsibility for what they put up. I'm open to critics or who ever, as long as they can back up what they say.
My ONLY problem with what you have to say about our site, is that you include all of us. Well, that's the impression that I get.
I wish I could say more, and I will once I get back home from work.