Oh. Well Then.

Not too terribly long, I got all bent out of shape over Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, since it was reported that the PS4/XBone versions were going to be digital-only and that's kind of a bad thing.  For reasons that I went into with a lot of words that ended up boiling down to "The Gaming world just isn't ready for this nigh-evangelised 'Digital Future' but more importantly I'm most definitely not ready for it, goddamnit" because I really really want to play every single MGS game ever always.  All of that remains true, of course, because Internet Infrastructure has not magically become better in the weeks since, nor is it showing any signs of magically coming to ultimate power any time soon either.  Unfortunately and fortunately.  (Since even if Infrastructure got better, I'd probably still be fucking stuck)

Good news has come out for everyone, however, as not only does Ground Zeroes have a release date for North America, but it has pricing and release details that are a bit different than previously reported for good ol' Europe.  First off, the game comes out March 18th, 2014 across PS3 and 4, the 360 and the XBone.  PC players...get to keep waiting for REVENGEANCE, I assume.  (Please buy it when it comes out.)  Much like Europe, there's a bit of a price variance not only between current and last gen platforms, but physical and digital as well.  The PS3 and 360 versions retail at $30 for Physical and $20 Digital which is pretty much what I figured would happen in that it's exactly the same as the European price, except they switched denomination markers.  Sorry Europe!

The good bit comes in, however, when you see that, yes, the Digital Versions for the PS4 and XBone versions of Ground Zeroes are $30 for some reason, but there are actual physical versions of the game as well which will retail for $40, a full $20 more for a prettier version of the game on a disk instead of a digital PS3 purchase.  In another complete 180 from previous reportings, there's apparently going to be something extra in the Physical versions, though if that's just the Next-Gen ones, I don't even know.  Regardless, there's going to be a box with a PS4 disk in it that has Ground Zeroes on it that I am going to one day stare at and debate whether or not I should purchase it.  On the one hand, I'm very, very glad that it's going to be something I -can- buy and play, but on the other hand, it's a prologue that could be shorter than the Tanker section of MGS2, and it's $40 when a digital version of the PS3 version is half that for reasons, and while I -want- to play it in stunning visuals with the Dualshock 4 and all that, I'll need to convince myself a little more.  Also, I'll be concerned about a package deal for Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain whenever that ends up coming out.  (Likely around a year later, I'm guessing)

Still, it's good to know that I have the option if I decided to go that route because I likely will because I have no will-power.  Though I have to wonder what the extra bit in the cases is going to be, because I highly doubt it's going to be the Exclusive DLCs mentioned for both systems.  The Deja Vu mission for Playstation and the Jamais Vu DLC for XBox both look great, even though I swing more towards the Jamais Vu one because REVENGEANCE, and it kills me to think that I -won't- get to play it.  It's...not the same as more REVENGEANCE, of course, but it's close.  At least Konami is still acknowledging the game and hopefully the hopes of a sequel will end up panning out, because I will buy the absolute fuck out of it.  On the other hand, more 'exclusive' DLC for the Boxed versions on top of platform-exclusive DLC?  That's...that's going a bit crazy with it.  Though we are not exactly surprised, I should think.

crazy conspiracy theory, "David Hayter Voicepack DLC" - it'll never happen, but goddamnit if we're not all hoping

Okay, This Trend Needs to Stop Before It Starts

It's been known for a while that Metal Gear Solid V would be yet another of the Cross-Gen titles coming out, releasing for both PS3 and 360, but PS4 and XBone as well.  It's also been known that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, the prologue to the actual meat of MGS V, The Phantom Pain, would be releasing beforehand due to it being a prologue and all.  That was roughly all the information that we knew to this point, however, and that finally changed today....kind of.

The release window has narrowed from "2014" to "Spring 2014" which is, of course, considerably more focused, but it's clearly still not ready for an official release just yet.  We also have prices....in a sense, and this is where things get a bit tricky.  Current gen prices for the packaged versions of the game (meaning PS3/360 disks) will be £30, which roughly translates to about $48, assuming they don't do that thing they do where they just exchange £ and $.  Current gen prices for digital versions of the game, however, will be £20, which roughly translates to about $32.  And then there's an entry for the price of the Next-Gen downloadable versions, which is the aforementioned £30 or ~$48.  So, what's the price for the Next-Gen packaged version?  Uhh..

Well, apparently there won't fucking be one.

It's already been confirmed elsewhere from the linked article - Ground Zeroes is going to be Digital-Only on the PS4/XBone and I have only one thing to say to that:  Fuck that.

Next Gen games are going to be fucking huge - Killzone:  Shadow Fall is just south of 40 GB as a compressed file (down from a hefty 290 GB) as an example - and I can't imagine that Ground Zeroes, the first Open-World Metal Gear Solid title is going to be an exception to that, prologue or not.  My thoughts on digital-only games has been well-covered at this point (even if I understand that it's a necessity -sometimes-, and can acknowledge that there are varying degrees of problem areas to it) but I think we can all agree that downloading 40 gigs is simply unfeasible for a majority of the people playing games out there.  Not only is there speed issues to consider (since we're not all blessed with the ability to pay for wonderful internet), but there is that whole pesky issue about Data Caps that has not gone away by some sort of magic or sorcery.  So it's at this point that I would like to ask Developers to kindly pull their heads out of their goddamn asses.

I'm going to reiterate the very point I made back when Microsoft assumed the internet was magical and ever-present around the entire goddamn world:  It's fucking not.  Internet infrastructure is actually pretty piss-poor in the United States (not to mention neighboring Canada and Mexico) since the farther out from a major city you get (not even the semi-major cities) there is a drastic drop-off in speed, capacity and what have you.  Everyone in the industry seems to forget this constantly, because, and I'm just guessing here, a lot of developers are based out of major cities.  I can see how it's possible that it's easy to forget what you -don't- have to deal with, but that doesn't make it any better.  Still, I think even some of these people would have an issue downloading 40-50 Gig games on the regular.  So hopefully this little idea of "Digital Future" stays in the future now as it has done so already, because we just are not ready for it yet.

I mean, seriously, Ground Zeroes is going to be fucking huge even if it's supposed to be a 'short' game are we kidding anyone thinking otherwise

On Heroes and Their Portrayals in Games

Mogs note:  There are various spoilers within about several games, each of which has a little heads-up beforehand.

One of the various things that have been rolling around in my head lately is thanks almost solely to the Neverwinter Nights 2 LP I've been reading over the past few nights, which I just finished last night.  Neverwinter Nights 2, for those who are unaware, is a game made by Obsidian using the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons and Dragons with all the trappings you expect from an Obsidian game.  It's buggy, flawed and rushed to completion, yes, but it's also intelligent and interesting in the way it goes about several types of things regarding party balance, morality and the story's take on that and more.  At least, in concept and theory it is, since there are all sorts of things that change based on whether your character is Evil or Good, Lawful or Chaotic, Male or Female, but where it falls flat is that even if you're playing a Lawful Evil character (as the LPer did), you're still getting treated as if you're a hero at the end of the game simply because of one bit of plot armor.  So it feels like a game where you -can- be Evil, and the game goes "well isn't that neat", though it expects you to be Good.

Of course, it's not an unfair thing to expect.  In games, when given the option to be Good or Evil, a majority of players swing towards Good for one reason or another.  Sometimes it's simply because we've been conditioned by games that don't offer such choices, sometimes it's because the benefits of being Good simply outweigh those of being Evil, and sometimes it's simply because games don't offer enough potential for Evil to make it truly worth it.  Whatever the reason, players will generally dedicate their first (if not only) playthrough of a game to the 'good' side when one is offered, which leads to things like inFamous:  Second Son making the Good Ending canon "because more people chose it", despite that....not being a very effective barometer for the reasons discussed therein the post under that link.  (With spoilers, be careful)  Everyone just expects the main character to be good because they're the main character, so of course they're going to be good.

That's why I chose to lead this post with a picture of everybody's favorite Badass, Big Boss from several Metal Gear Solid games.  Now, it's been long enough, I think from the original Metal Gear that I don't have to spoiler tag certain things about it, but I did sort of give you a little warning there.  As we all know, Big Boss is the Main Bad Guy™ of Metal Gear, whom Solid Snake eventually defeats and presumably kills.  (And we know it doesn't take and Big Boss is the inevitable Main Bad Guy of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake as well)  The reason this is important, of course, is because with three games that have Metal Gear Solid titles attached to them, we play as Big Boss (or, well, the man as he -becomes- Big Boss) and he is always portrayed as something of a heroic figure, even if the context isn't quite so kind.  What I'm saying, basically, is that he's never been portrayed as the Antagonist just yet, even though we all know he is eventually supposed to get to that point.  I can't even cry retcon as much and as loudly as I want to because the original Metal Gear games were provided with both the Subsistence version of Metal Gear Solid 3, but the recent HD remakes as well, as a clear intention for the player to get to know Big Boss as he will eventually be.

Of course, both halves of the game that we'll colloquially know as Metal Gear Solid 5 (Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes) will feature Big Boss yet again as the protagonist (for most of the games, I suspect, but not all), so maybe we will finally reach that point.  In all honesty, there's no getting around it - Big Boss has to eventually be shown in his fall from his past, his morals and his past ambitions to get to the point where he's at in Metal Gear 1.  Peace Walker (and to a lesser degree, Portable Ops) are a good start when you look at the context over the portrayal (namely the fact that you're kidnapping and brainwashing soldiers to your cause in building up what is eventually known as Outer Haven, with the caveat being that the cause seems noble), but it's not quite there.  I don't need Big Boss to grow a mustache and start twirling the end of it, of course, but there has to be a point where we look at Big Boss and collectively realize that "wow, this is Not a Good Guy™" before he is -finally- the Big Boss that we know him to be.

What's interesting in that realization is that it lead straight to another one for me.  One that does sort of bolster my confidence in the ability of it happening within the confines of Metal Gear Solid 5 somehow.  It's not much of a spoiler to say as much, but over the course of Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE (For which I have previously mentioned a fan survey suggesting a sequel that can be found on the main Metal Gear Solid website) you come to the realization that Raiden is honestly Not a Good Guy.  It's not even in the vein of something that I can call subtle, and it's only down-played by the fact that you're up against enemies who are pursuing what can be called an actively evil goal.  I do get confused as to who did what now when it comes to the game, but I am -fairly- certain that they more or less maintained a story that Kojima made for the game, even if there were certain changes made to it (such as setting it after MGS4, rather than before it).  Essentially, while it's not subtle and while it's in the confines of over-the-top awesome things, which REVENGEANCE is full of, it does give me confidence that we can be pointed to Main Bad Guy Big Boss over the course of MGS5, which I look forward to quite a bit.

The problem that I have with games in general is that there simply aren't enough games where you are playing someone who is genuinely Not a Good Guy by the end of it.  And even when we do, they're often of...dubious quality (apparently I have never written anything substantial about [Prototype] as I was going to link it here.  Huh.) which more or less defeats the point.  But I'm less interested at this point in games where you play someone who is a bad guy (like [Prototype]) and more interested in a game that actually lets you be the Hero for the whole game until the end where things take a turn and force you off the heroic path for reasons that are...well, understandable.  That in itself is rather difficult to accomplish, because you're dealing with extremes here - Good is Good, Evil is Evil and for the most part, they're generally all set up as things that are absolutes, barring the backstab that most games have to inevitably have.  And not without reason - while good characters do bad things and bad characters do good things, it's always presented as just that, not a redemption or a fall, but a faceted approach.

Honestly, it takes a lot of pacing and a lot of nuance to pull off, so it's no wonder most games don't even dream of attempting it, especially when it's easier and more dramatic to have an asspull Face-Heel Turn that is then conveniently explained away by a few plot points in a very loose interpretation of the events contained therein.  I think that is basically why I can't think of any examples that show off exactly what I want from a game along these lines, because there's not really anything that you -can- list off that fits into the archetypes.  There are a few examples that you guys know I like to throw around about excellent characters because they're Not Good Guys even if it is a bit spoilery.  Caim, from Drakengard, doesn't fit however because even though he is an antagonist in Drakengard 2 (and fucking awesome, and done with taking shit from anybody), honestly -everyone- in Drakengard 2 is an antagonist since the main party is trying to un-make the world (same as Caim) and the people trying to defend the Seals are unrepentant assholes.  And there is the stand-by of Kain from the Legacy of Kain games because the 'Evil Ending' of the first game is canon which sculpts the rest of the series, but Kain, similar to Caim, was never a Hero.  His entire story is revenge and selfishness, so the 'Evil Ending' obviously makes sense because he is Not a Nice Guy.

All I really want is a two-part series (or more, but at least two parts) in which you play as the hero for the first part and play out his fall from grace in a way that is entirely believable, and the second part, you play as someone who has to take him out.  I know this has to exist in some fashion somewhere, but I'm not sure if it's actually in the way that I'm thinking of it.  I also know that there's a lot of games that have a setting where the main villain is a fallen hero, but that doesn't really count because you don't really get to see the villain before he became as such.  You don't get to feel as the hero feels, and you don't get to understand, even if you disagree, with his fall.  And you will likely disagree with the fall, but it will be understandable.  Not something like "The Empire is also evil" or "I was tricked by a witch" or something like that, but just a genuine temptation from evil for something that is obvious and reasonable.  Someday, I will find these games and it will be an awesome day indeed, but until then I fear I'll just have to make do with my lovely anti-heroes which are neat all the same.

Jack the Ripper is still so awesome because REVENGEANGE is so awesome you guys

Why Won't They Make These - Alternate Canon Games

Whenever I use the term 'alternate canon', people seem to have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, even though it's sort of a self-explanatory concept.  Perhaps I'm using the wrong term, or perhaps it's a symptom of what I'm expressing here tonight in that not enough games out there properly utilize the idea.  Which, honestly kind of surprises me since not only is it a very versatile prospect by its own nature, but also because it allows creativity to sort of go wild since, well, if it goes off-rails "hey, it's not actually canon".  Perhaps I'm simply under-estimating just how attached people can get to the established and the expectations that come with that, but at the same time, alternate canon is something that celebrates the first part, while also taking the second into consideration, in a sense.

I suppose I should explain just what I mean when I say "Alternate Canon", since it's going to be a thing I bring up a lot in the post here tonight.  "Alternate Canon" is a game wherein it takes something established and drives it into a different direction than what you might expect.  Not a reboot, not a re-imaging, not 'a spiritual successor' or any of those types of things.  Just a story where something drastic happens that causes the established canon to forge a new route that is its own story and not necessarily that of the actual story on which it started from.  Pictured above is Yakuza:  Dead Souls which is the quintessential example that I can think of for this type of thing.

Yakuza:  Dead Souls takes place a year after Yakuza 4 resolves (I believe, that's kind of Sega's thing with the Yakuza games) and introduces a zombie epidemic to the otherwise simple, crime-ridden streets of Kamurocho.  It's all done in a way that, well, actually fits the series staples of story-telling and the already-established characters of the Yakuza 'world' as it were, react as only they could to the whole situation.  It is, in every sense of the word, a continuation of the established canon except for the part where zombies destroy Kamurocho and everyone has to scramble because of it and a lot of people die.  This is kind of obvious, but the existence of Yakuza 5 with a not-destroyed Kamurocho is proof enough that Yakuza still has an existing canon that runs directly into Yakuza 5, but Dead Souls sort of runs parallel along 5 now, as it is -also- a sequel to 4.

Let's take a look at Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE.  It is a direct continuation of Metal Gear Solid 4 which is a direct continuation of the rest of the Metal Gear games.  Even though REVENGEANCE itself doesn't exactly take a lot from the rest of the series, what it does take is rather undeniable and it is, of course, canon.  Let's all forget for a moment that we think we know what Metal Gear Solid 5 is going to be and pretend that Metal Gear Solid 5 takes place directly after 4.  In it, we play as Raiden who has opted out of his cyborg enhancements to simple robot prosthetics that bind to a sneaking suit.  In a return to form, this game would then be stealth-focused and take place in the events following 4's ending.  Now, this will not happen, nor should it, but I introduced it as an idea for a very deliberate reason.

If the above played out, we would then have two established Raidens, basically, where they are both part of Metal Gear Solid canon.  Being that the new game has '5' at the end, it would be labeled as official canon where REVENGEANCE would then be titled incorrectly as a spin-off.  Only, in my little fantasy world, Metal Gear Rising 2:  REVENGEANCE HARDER is also announced, continuing after the events of the REVENGEANCE which is, by extension, a continuation of Metal Gear Solid canon.  Therefore, we now have two storylines.  Alternate canon.  This is the kind of thing I'm talking about and, aside from the fact that MGS5 will probably be a lot cooler than a game where you play Sneaking Raiden again, it's not a bad situation to imagine.

I am deliberately not using the word 'spin-off' here because spin-off has something of a negative connotation when you're talking about story-related matters.  When you talk about a spin-off to someone, you say "It's just a spin-off, don't worry about the story", which immediately dismisses it.  Going back to Metal Gear for a moment with Ac!d, which is very much a spin-off and not Alternate Canon, since Snake in it is a very, very different character.  Ac!d's story is then self-contained and only important to both Ac!d games, which is why it's a spin-off.  They are very, very different things, even well-outside the realm of pedantry.

Another not quite perfect example would be the announced "Tyranny of King Washington" DLC for Assassin's Creed 3.  From what I've been lead to believe, not only does the mini-story tell of an entirely different historic setting in which George Washington doesn't go along with the whole "President" idea and instead becomes King of America, but it takes a different approach with the actual Assassin's Creed story.  While using, presumably, the same build-up, the DLC tells of a Connor who does not join the Assassin order, yet history as we know it remains more or less unchanged....until Washington crowns himself King.  As a Warrior of his tribe, not an Assassin, Connor rises up with the goal of overthrowing the tyrant King of America.  While I'm loathe to call it a continuation of AC3 since, apparently, AC3 just didn't happen for the events of The Tyranny of King Washington to take place, it runs along a lot of the same lines, so I'm pretty sure you're getting where I'm coming from.

While this is a bit spoiler-y, it is also the best example of just what I'm talking about, so I unfortunately have to bring it up, but in a way that will spoil as little as possible.  Now, a search of this blog will turn up the fact that I really really like Drakengard.  A secondary search of this blog will also turn up the fact that I really really really like Nier.  Now, not only are these two games made by the same developer (Now-Defunct Cavia, RIP) with the same director, which is apparently -very- important, but Nier is actually a sequel to Drakengard.  Now, notice that I said 'a sequel'.  Remind yourselves, for the moment, that Drakengard 2 is a thing that exists and is, also, a sequel to Drakengard, as the 2 would suggest.  How is this possible, you might wonder.

Drakengard, in a sense, has two different story-lines that are covered over five different endings.  Ending A is the 'canon' ending from which the unholiness that Drakengard 2 (with a different director) spawned from, whereas Endings B-E unfold in an entirely different way that sort of build off of each other while also ending up quite different in their own rights.  Essentially, the characters, the story bits that don't have anything to do with the -specifics- of Endings B, C and D, are all canon to Ending E.  Where Drakengard 2 is a sequel to Ending A, Nier is a sequel to Ending E.  It's not said -quite- so explicitly in the game, and requires a little dot-connecting, but it -is- intended, and it -is- 'canon'.  So, in effect, Drakengard is my perfect example of "Alternate Canon" which is kind of what this whole thing was about.  Being that Nier was friggin' fantastic, it sort of shows that the idea has merit of use.

While I don't think it's ever really going to become a thing that's done a lot, I -would- like to exist in a world where I can come up with more than two and a half examples of Alternate Canon as I see it.  It might have a too-strict set of guidelines, and it's hard to actually support two storylines in a single franchise, but when such a thing is executed well, it's phenomenal.  If you need an example of that, perhaps you really need to re-introduce yourself to Legacy of Kain.  Immediately.  It's an entirely different thing than what I've been talking about all night, but it does that whole 'two storylines' thing wonderfully and is similarly something that I'm bewildered hasn't become a thing in the time since.  That, however, is a subject for a different night.

I Tried to Celebrate The Season Today With Games

Last night, for reasons unbeknownst to my own mind, I went to myself, "Self, you know what you really need to do?  Download the Metal Gear Solid 4 patch." and so it was.  Truthfully, I'd been -wanting- to do just this since it was announced and much more when it was actually released, but I've just never gotten to it.  And while I have other games I -need- to play, I figured it was a good time to catch up, what with REVENGEANCE on the horizon and all.  So I downloaded the patch last night and, since there was other stuff to attend to, I simply turned off the PS3 when it was done.  "Tomorrow is MGS4 day", I said, fully intent on realizing that goal.  I started wondering to myself just how far into the game I was going to make it today, feeling confident in my MGS abilities to kick ass, take names and speed through.  Then I played today, only to find a rather startling revelation that shattered me to my very core.

I was terrible at MGS4.

I didn't use to be.  In fact, I would say that I use to be pretty good at Metal Gear Solid games.  Peace Walker saw me as a pretty formidable foe, I should say, as I would go through entire levels without regard to anything resembling a problem.  I was one with the CQC and the Fulton system and through it, entire armies trembled and wept at my feet before being judged worthy of my ranks.  I have fond memories of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 as well; most notably being the accomplishment of sneaking up on The End for his camo.  So, again, I should say that I have been a good Metal Gear Solid player in the past.  Perhaps it's just rust, perhaps it's that I simply don't like the Chapter 1 area, or perhaps I just wasn't feeling it today.  It did get to the point, unfortunately, where I was so frustrated with my lack of cohesive ability that I simply decided to move on to something else.  Perhaps I will try again tomorrow or so, restart and just get a feel for the controls, the style again, hopefully awakening my abilities.

In the meanwhile, I thought "Well, what the hell am I going to do now?", and for a moment I pondered.  Then it struck me.  "Self,"  I said, "Self, you have just the game for this occasion and you've actually been saving it for this time of year!"  Indeed, I had truly forgotten all about it and it was just happenstance that I remembered today, but I did, and I do believe that's the point that matters.

Way back in October, when the Halloween PSN Sale was in full swing, one of the heavily discounted items was Costume Quest, specifically as a full bundle.  This bundle included the original game, but it also had the only DLC pack that came out for the game, titled Grubbins on Ice.  Where Costume Quest as a basic experience was themed towards Halloween (hence its inclusion in the sale), Grubbins on Ice was billed as a more Christmas-themed romp which, having never experienced Costume Quest before I played it, let alone the expansion, seemed just fantastic to me.  I mean, I've said it before, but I -love- Christmas things in games and whenever someone is willing to include them, I'm more than happy to enjoy it.  So even with the tepid response I held towards Costume Quest, which I attributed to a sour mood, I venerated its expansion as a thing that I wouldn't partake in just yet.  A present to myself to be opened at the appropriate date, if you will.

Upon opening that present, I found that I was greeted with the equivalent of socks, possibly basic white, though I suppose they just might have been a fancy black pair.  They were socks, nonetheless, which basically means it was not what I was expecting at all, and...it wasn't very exciting, nor satisfying.  While I can't bring myself to say that Grubbins on Ice was a disappointment, as that feels akin to punching a small child with puppy dog eyes, I'm not going to say I was enthralled, nor could I even muster up a basic interest in it as I played.  Betrayed once again by expectations, I suppose, but in this case, my expectations weren't exactly unfounded, nor were they outrageous, and it's a little disheartening that my meager hopes for the title couldn't have been met.

To say that Grubbins on Ice is a Christmas-themed expansion pack to Costume Quest is to say that a taxi cab is a perfect vehicle for jumping a shark pit.  Depending on the framing of the situation, yes, you are absolutely right, but it violates the very spirit of what you're trying to say, because you know damn well it's entirely too vague to sustain itself.  Grubbins on Ice has snow.  It has a sort of kind of maybe Yeti-themed Christmas-like thing that is barely touched upon.  And it has....uhh....did I mention it has snow?  No lit trees, no wrapped presents, no sleigh, reindeer, or elves.  Nothing you commonly associate with Christmas is present in the expansion, and in fact, it simply relies on the exact same Halloween mechanics from the base game with not even a little bit of deviation.  You don costumes, none of which are Christmas-themed (the expansion adds Pirate, Yeti and Eyeball(?!) costumes) and you trick or treat while performing little quests around town.

Thee hours later, if that, I had beaten Grubbins on Ice and was no richer for the experience.  I believe I can safely say that, for all its charm, Costume Quest was only decent at best, and it squanders all the things it does well against the things it does mediocre.  It's unfortunate, and while I can't say I regret the purchase or the time spent, I can say that there was quite a lot of possibility there and it's a real shame it didn't end up better than it did.  Now that that's conquered, however, I'll have to find a new way to properly celebrate the season, as, well, I really want to.  It's been a good few days and I'm fully in the Christmas spirit with the fuzzies and all, so I want to make the most of it.  It only comes once a year, after all!  Now...what to play that has a Christmas theme...

Metal Gear All The Way Down

So, there was a lot of news that pretty much dropped at the same time that involved all things Metal Gear.  Except REVENGEANCE.  All that got, pretty much, was a handful of screens, maybe a new trailer, but I doubt it.  Which, I say I doubt it because I'm not going to look for it because I am pretty tired at the moment and, thus, lazy.  Regardless, even if there was another trailer, it can't really compete with the other news which is funny because the lid has been slammed on shut to one of the bits of news specifically so it wouldn't out-shadow Rising.  But that's neither here nor there and since I am still excited about REVENGEANCE, I decided to throw up one of the new screens in honor of it instead of throwing down the picture for one of the things announced.  I'm silly like that, I suppose, but also I don't particularly care about the other bits of news right at the moment since they're basically just announcements and only that.  No real meat to sink into or anything of the sort.

The first bit of news up is the announcement of Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops, which rounds out the recent social game explosion quite nicely.  I'm not sure if there's anything at this point that separates Social games from Cell Phone games, or if it's just supposed to be a better term to take away from the Cell Phone aspect or what, but there's been a Persona 4 one, a No More Heroes one and certainly a couple more announced lately, and it is a -thing-.  Not a positive thing, nor a negative thing I suppose, depending on your taste with mobile games, but I do find it a little funny that they keep getting made.  If only because it shows a very obvious disparity in how the developers listen to 'fans' and how 'fans' go about deciding things, righting things with their wallets.

Whenever one of these social games get announced, nobody really seems for them, yet they sell, apparently, and thus more get made.  But with the amount of near-universal backlash these things seem to get when they're brought up, it doesn't quite seem like a 'vocal minority' situation here really.  I'm not particularly sure who is buying these, but it's equally hilarious when you have people arguing that handheld consoles (3DS and Vita currently) don't do well or shouldn't be regarded, because they 'only get watered-down console offerings' yet...well, I could move my hands at the images of these social games over and over in a manner to specifically call them out, but you couldn't see that.  Rest assured, I am doing it.  Not...currently, because I'm typing, but, you know what I mean.  Because if I am doing that to these screenshots, it is pretty obvious where I am going with this.

I'm not sure if the intention was thus, but what is pictured is very obviously something that looks an awful lot like an awful-looking Peace Walker.  I can hear you now:  "It actually doesn't look all that bad!", but, well, that's the thing about smaller images, they hide jaggies and blurries and such that you can see if you open the big picture and zoom it.  Depending on how big of a phone you're walkin' around with, well, it could be very noticeable, and that's just in stills, since we know things can go amazingly wonderful or completely pear-shaped in motion, depending on the factors involved.  Regardless, there's not a whole lot of information beyond what's in those two screenshots.  With the AP and such, one might wonder if maybe it takes on a more turn-based thing to reduce strain, or if that's just a thing and it's all wacky, but seeing as I'm not sure if these social games that have been announced stand a chance of coming out this way, I don't really care to expand too much without details.

I made reference to the joke already with this.  Now we don't have to make it.  Okay?

The next bit is probably just as divisive as the Social Game, but at least this is something that we'll definitely be able to get, or at least that's the -plan- of it.  That much is definite because apparently Columbia Pictures is making a Metal Gear Solid movie, like for realsies.  Avi Arad, CEO of Marvel Studios, was on-hand for the announcement, because he's apparently going to be at the helm of it, rather than just attached to it like the tenuous Uncharted, inFamous and such movies that may or may not see the light of day.  I mean, as far as I know, he hasn't officially been attached to any of those properties in theoretical film version, so I'm just saying his filmography might be a little misleading, if you look him up.  Still, it's hard saying that just because this whole thing is a bit more official than other video game to movie adaptations are in conception, that it'll be a real thing that happens, but I'd put money on the side of more possible than not.

Reactions, as I've said, have been divisive though more on the side that we've more or less been trained to err on with past adaptations, which means there's not a whole lot of good faith out there.  For one, it seems like it's just impossible, these days, to put out a video game movie, based on the last one being...what, actually?  One of the Resident Evil movies, apparently, and before that, Prince of Persia:  Sands of Time.  With Tekken, Street Fighter and Max Payne going before those.  Needless to say, it has not been a smooth road, nor even a good one, for Video Game movies, and nobody is really expecting anything to buck that trend anytime soon.  However, and this is where the only real hope comes in, some people think that if anything can do it, Metal Gear Solid can.  And you know what?  I am solidly in this camp, and it's for a few very simple, very obvious reasons.

Obviously, I am a big fan of the Metal Gear series; I've made no attempts to hide it nor should I because it is a fantastic series.  The main complaints levied at it lie pretty much on the story, which makes it seem like doing a movie which is basically a story with pictures and movement and acting and such is kind of a bad idea.  But here is also something that has been made abundantly clear with the past trends in popular movies:  Nobody cares about story.  You can tap-dance around it all you want and try and move goal-posts or call me ignorant, blah, blah, blah, but things that have been popular lately, things like Twilight (which admittedly seems to be waning a bit), are conceptually awful and play out worse than the roots themselves are.  Nobody cares so long as the acting is good, the actors themselves have at least one big name amongst them, and the movie itself looks good.  If you're Transformers, you can drop the first bit and very few people will care regardless, it seems.

While I'm by no means trying to put Metal Gear Solid's story anywhere near the caste of these 'blockbusters', I'm simply saying that things like Plot Holes, retcons and the other things that people lob at Metal Gear Solid's over-arching story like so many bricks at so many windows, none of them will really matter whatsoever when it comes to a movie.  Give people action, give people good acting, and the spy-drama roots of the story itself will carry it well enough that they won't care if something absurd comes out towards the end as the traditional twist.  In fact, that could possibly even add excitement to it for the inevitable sequel (that, let's face it, we know everybody hopes their movie will be that successful to warrant one) for the most part.  So long as there's nothing super glaringly wrong, I'm sure we folks, familiar with the series as we are, will be fine with it as well.  Provided it is a thing that actually happens.  Which, it has a good chance of that, I'd say.

The last bit and arguably the one to say anything about is Metal Gear Solid:  Ground Zeroes, which is apparently going to be an open-world Metal Gear Solid title running on the FOX Engine.  Just go ahead and re-read that, let it sink in a bit while also remembering that the above picture might just be an image from the game.  It is more likely that it is from the game with some touch-ups, but then again this is the FOX Engine which, as we know, does not fuck around with the graphics from what we've been shown.  Still, we haven't seen it in motion on one of our consoles, so I can't blame anybody who might be a little wary of thinking it came from the game, but let's just run with it.  Because it's nice to dream that the above is possible on the systems that we have now.  (Since, as far as I remember, FOX Engine is supposed to be something to bridge not only PS3/Vita/whatever else development, as it's a multi-platform engine, but it's also likely going to bridge this gen and next, but started on this one.)

What we have here is something that is pretty much as obvious as can be:  another Big Boss game.  Unless there's some sort of MGS2-style twist with after-reveal stuff, Big Boss is taking another outing in the video game scene (note the Militaires Sans Frontiers emblem and the eyepatch strings under the goggles) and pretty much everybody is super excited for it.  I'm....optimistic.  My situation is a bit weird on the games, I admit, since my first one was Metal Gear Solid 2.  After which I played the first which was a wholly different game more or less, and then 3 and 4 when they came out, not to mention pretty much all the other iterations.  Except Twin Snakes.  As such, I've never really had -that- experience with Solid Snake himself (MGS4 was Old Snake, I kind of consider them different because I am a pedant), the one that clicks and feels perfect (I basically ruined MGS1 for myself by playing 2 first), and I've really been hoping that I could get that with a new game that comes out.  I can keep waiting, certainly with another Big Boss game to distract me in the meanwhile.

I've mused in the past that I have honestly no idea where another Big Boss game could really fit unless they just did a straight re-creation of Metal Gear 1, but the title "Ground Zeroes" does....bring something to mind.  Without spoiling the ending for Metal Gear Solid 4 since, after the trophy patch, I'd suggest it is a game that has re-upped its "Do not openly spoil" status, lest you look like a gigantic dick, I think there is something in MGS4's ending that is key here.  Something of a catalyst between two of the characters (Big Boss obviously being one) that could create a very obvious, very Major antagonist for the man, as well as giving the game the backdrop for another Peace Walker-esque Base build-up.  Just what that base will be, I have no idea, as I'm a little fuzzy on the timeline myself, and I could be completely wrong as I am often.  But that's what the sub-title brought to mind, so we'll just have to see when the game actually comes out.  I'd say it is probably the only other scenario that really has not been covered in a game yet for Big Boss.

Metal Gear Solid is kind of one of those things that I doubt anyone -really- can get enough of, despite the whinging of "Oh boy, another one?" that you'll get here and there.  Each game really has its own charm about it, and there's not been a one that could honestly be called 'bad', though I'm sure anyone could disagree with me on that for any reason.  Still, for each game that everyone dislikes, I'm sure that they have at least one iteration of the series that they do really enjoy and sometimes that's all you need.  Just that one, perfect, unspoiled game that does what you wanted it to do in a series that might not have done otherwise.  With any luck, Ground Zeroes won't be the last real game that we see come from it all anytime soon since, hey, we're looking at a new gen in a year or so, I'm sure.  It's definitely a series we want to see make the transition, and it just remains to be seen how it'll look after-the-fact.

Update!:  There is a sub-titled trailer now.  Everything is amazing.

 

Dig it.

Gaze Upon the Metal Gear Solid 4 Trophy List and Weep

So, just a few days ago, there was a Playstation Blog post that gave a 'full' list of Metal Gear Solid 4's trophies in the up-coming (for non-Japan regions at least) patch that was announced last month.  I say 'full' list because, as a person with a fairly discerning eye when it comes to trophies, I noticed that there were only 20 on the list, which is far, far fewer than I think most retail games would be happy with, much less Kojima.  And also missing from the list were the standard "Completed (Stage)" missions which seems to be a mainstay no matter what, which are generally Hidden trophies so that the player can't check the list and decide how much of the game is left.  Which is not to say that it helps with that, since said trophies are generally at the start of the list and after so many Hidden trophies, the visible list tends to start, so you can generally just count out how many hidden trophies are in a row, gauge how often they're giving completion ones to you and figure on a number that way to guess how close you are.  But....that's entirely more meta than it needs to be, and I think I've revealed too much.

Moving on, it was for this suspicion (and the fact that it was confirmed through Twitter in a tweet that I am not even going to begin looking for) that I held off on making a to-do about the list.  Since there is a friggin' to-do to be had about this list which I am going to do (Ha!).  But even more of a to-do with the hidden fifteen trophies since I'll be able to show them off as well as the visible list of twenty trophies, which comprises the much more satisfying looking list of Thirty-Five trophies in all.  I want to just go ahead and do the full list of trophies, visible first, then Hidden and get that out of the way so I can then discuss certain trophies in a little more detail.  So, since I'll be showing off the Hidden Trophies, and I'll bold it with extra clarification, do not read the list if you don't want to know what the Hidden Trophies in Metal Gear Solid 4 are.  Why would you not want to know?  Beats the hell out of me, but I'm quite fair when it comes to anything that might be a 'spoiler' of sorts (and being a hidden trophy falls under this umbrella) so I am just trying to be nice.

Bronze	You enjoy all the killing, that’s why.	Killed many enemies in one area, and vomited.
Bronze	Divine Wind	Caused a “divine wind” using the Tanegashima.
Bronze	Hands Up!	Held an enemy soldier at gunpoint and performed a body check.
Bronze	Emotion Control	Controlled an enemy soldier’s emotions using an Emotive Magazine.
Bronze	Hurt me more!	Shocked an enemy soldier using Mk. II/III.
Bronze	Drum Can Addict	Knocked an enemy soldier flying using a Drum Can.
Bronze	That Tune Is His Mind Control Music	Played Oishii Two-han Seikatsu and made one of the BB Corps dance.
Bronze	Overhead view — just like old times…	Used overhead view on Shadow Moses Island.
Silver	SUNLIGHT!	Obtained the Solar Gun.
Silver	I Just Don’t Fear Death	Caused ALERT status while wearing the Corpse Camo.
Silver	Where I Can See Ya	Located enemy soldiers using the Scanning Plug.
Silver	Ghost Photography Addict	Snapped at least 5 shots of ghosts on Shadow Moses Island.
Silver	FaceCamo Addict	Obtained 10 or more types of FaceCamo (excluding types obtained via password).
Silver	Can you feel my power now!!!?	Took control of an enemy soldier’s body using the Mantis Doll or Sorrow Doll.
Silver	Are you an Otaku too?	Viewed all model posters.
Silver	You’re pretty good.	Got kissed by Ocelot during the final battle.
Gold	Flashback Mania	Viewed all flashbacks.
Gold	Sounds of the Battlefield	Obtained all iPod® tracks (excluding tracks obtained via password).
Gold	I am THE expert on weapons, equipment and cutting-edge technology.	Obtained all weapons (excluding weapons obtained via password).
Platinum	The Legendary Hero	Obtained all trophies.

(Hidden) Bronze	Liquid Sun	Cleared Act 1 (Middle East).
(Hidden) Bronze	Solid Sun	Cleared Act 2 (South America).
(Hidden) Bronze	Third Sun	Cleared Act 3 (Eastern Europe).
(Hidden) Bronze	Twin Sun	Cleared Act 4 (Shadow Moses).
(Hidden) Bronze	Old Sun	Cleared Act 5 (Outer Haven).
(Hidden) Bronze	Laughing Octopus Doll	Defeated Laughing Octopus by non-lethal means, and obtained the Laughing Octopus Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Frog Soldier Doll	Escaped the Haven Troopers in the Middle East by non-lethal means, and obtained the Frog Soldier Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Raging Raven Doll	Defeated Raging Raven by non-lethal means, and obtained the Raging Raven Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Crying Wolf Doll	Defeated Crying Wolf by non-lethal means, and obtained the Crying Wolf Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Screaming Mantis Doll	Defeated Screaming Mantis by non-lethal means, and obtained the Screaming Mantis Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Handle with Caution	Broke off the most important part of a statue.
(Hidden) Bronze	Liquid!	Piloted Metal Gear REX and screamed at your enemy.
(Hidden) Silver	Crop Circle	Found a crop circle and heard a mysterious voice.
(Hidden) Gold	Infinite Ammo	Obtained the Bandana.
(Hidden) Gold	Stealth Camouflage	Obtained the Stealth Camouflage.

So it is...quite a list when you add in the Hidden trophies, really.  I mean, it almost doubles it in sheer entry size if not exactly adding quite as much content that is necessary to do.  No-killing the bosses is pretty simple enough, stage completions are a given, and the others are either optional things that are admittedly neat or just buying things (unless you're super awesome in your multiple playthroughs).  Though, the base list itself isn't quite that bad when you take the quick glance across it, mostly because at no single point does it say specifically "Earned the Big Boss Emblem" or anything of that sort.  The problem is....well......you still -have- to get that.  The Big Boss Emblem is the dick-kicker of everything professional about a run-through, especially for Metal Gear Solid because a Big Boss Emblem run-through means beating the game in under five hours with no kills, alerts, continues or restorative items used.  On The Boss Extreme difficulty level which is, of course, the highest one.

What trophies do you need the Big Boss Emblem for, I hear you ask?  Why, the Gold ones, "Sounds of the Battlefield" and "I am THE expert on weapons, equipment and cutting-edge technology" which is a ridiculously long trophy title, by the by.  So there is that at least; I've seen more offensive lists simply for the fact that they award something equally ridiculous with a Bronze trophy as a giant troll-face move.  You see, you acquire the Patriot (a machine gun with unlimited ammo) and the Big Boss song for the in-game iPod upon earning that Big Boss emblem.  And of course, you will likely only be ready for an attempt at the Big Boss Emblem after getting the next highest Emblems (Fox and Foxhound) because those emblems (and the ones you unlock by proxy) will unlock some neat things that will not count against your 'no special item' requirement since the special items in question are basically just the Bandanna and Stealth Camo.  Well, by neat things, I basically just mean the Solar Gun, since the charged shot takes dudes out pretty fast and gets you a lot of items without killing them.

Beyond that, after consulting my Metal Gear Solid 4 Strategy Guide from when I bought the game, I have discovered that you only unlock the "Snake Eater" track after unlocking all forty emblems that the game has to offer.  That is, at minimum, probably five playthroughs since some of them focus on directly opposite things:  Being seen versus being unseen, killing mans versus not killing mans, etc.  Plus some are difficulty dependent and this and that and it kind of makes my head hurt just thinking about it.  According to the guide, you can get the Fox Hound, Fox, Hound, Wolf, Octopus, Pigeon and Scorpion emblems in the first, Big Boss, Mantis, Raven and Little Grey in the second, Twenty-three assorted animals that I'm not listing individually on the third, Tarantula and Assassin on the fourth, and then it's just sweeping the last few of Centipede, Spider, Jaguar, Panther and Leopard in a few runs on the easiest difficulty.  They aren't interesting at all and just basically have different combinations of alert phases, continues and kills that are impossible to total all on the same plays for all five.  Given that there is no difficulty requirement, nor is it barring you from using special items, these last few plays are likely to be pretty fun, if you're not just completely goddamn tired of the game by that point.

I am....not surprised.  There are several other things that I am, but chief among them is not surprised.  Absolutely horrified, acquiesced to the fact that I will never get a Platinum trophy for Metal Gear Solid 4, ensured that my efforts to go against common sense will result in pain, and oddly willing to give it the old try are the other things, mostly, but yeah, 'not surprised' pretty much covers it.  I'm not...not really bitter, I would say, about the difficulty, but I am a little miffed at the delivery since it is just the slightest bit deceptive.  There is a slight bit of difference between outlining the goal to effectively warn the player and just saying "Get this" when the method to get whatever that is is overwhelmingly difficult.  Especially because I'm sure a lot of players will find themselves mired in far too deep in the end-task that, by the time they realize the full breadth, the full scope of the mission, it will either be a challenge that will quickly suck the fun out of what remains, or be the point where they violently rip the game from the console and shelve it.  So if nothing else, perhaps this was a bit of caution thrown your way before you plan on giving the list your own shot.

War. War Never Changes. MGS4 Does.

Back in ye olden days when Metal Gear Solid 4 was considered one of the only titles to own a PS3 for (which was faulty logic regardless) it wasn't as easy a title to recommend to anyone.  At least, that's what it seemed like, as everyone always had their own caveats for whether or not it was a good idea for a person to play the game, insisting that the content only catered to a specific group of people and it would universally be fairly awful to everyone else.  Glad to see that, like war, some things never change.  Regardless, as time went on and on, there were two things in the game that did make it a hard sell to certain individuals, provided they had not been party to playing it already by then.  Since everyone always seemed to have 'that friend' with a PS3, whom just let everyone play the games on it that apparently didn't exist since back in those days, the PS3 had -no- games, you see, which is of course utter truth and not rhetoric that eventually became something of a meme from being parroted off so many times.

Those two issues, of which I'm sure you know which ones I'm referring to, are soon to be a thing of the past as a budget version of Metal Gear Solid 4 is released to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Metal Gear Saga.  (I assume they're starting at the MSX Metal Gear games.)  "The Best" versions of games tend to be the equivalent of the "Greatest Hits" re-releases we have here in North America, of which I am sure you are familiar with, in concept alone at least.  I'm not going to bother finding out all the different terminologies or anything that are in the different regions or on different systems since we know the practice already:  re-release the game with a slightly less appealing box art (because it has to promote the fact that it sold fantastically) for a low price, generally $20-30 to encourage tail-end sales to bolster the to-dates.  I don't really think they herald changes to the game itself or anything like that normally, however, unless it's the type to pack in the DLC available for it or something.  But changing the game is exactly what Metal Gear Solid 4's "The Best" version is doing.

When the version hits stores, a new patch will be out roughly around the same time that updates all versions of Metal Gear Solid 4 to what's already on-disk for this one which includes the two biggies that have been strikes against MGS4 for quite a while.  The patch and new version adds Trophies to the game, which is something that everyone had rallied for as soon as Trophies became a thing and is only...er....a few years late at this point.  As well as that, it adds something that is definitely a near necessity, and is pretty much one of the few valid complaints people have had about Metal Gear Solid 4.  You see, with each act of the game, there needed to be an install beforehand that would help keep the game from loading every other moment and the like.  These installs did take some time and more or less broke up the mood, even though they weren't completely detached from the game itself and were disguised rather well as the "Go ahead and take a break" signifiers, as was implied by Snake using said time to take a smoke break.  Oftentimes consisting of several cigs.  The issue many derived from it was that it was rather unnecessary when, in theory, those could all have been condensed into one install in some fashion, and that's entirely too difficult to argue against.

Luckily, that's no longer an issue, as a full install option will be available as the second bit improvement the patch/new version offers.  I'm pretty sure patches are not a region-restricted thing, so it's worth noting that even though this is generally just talking about Japan's version of the game, there's absolutely nothing saying we shouldn't expect it to hit our shores as well.  As such, I'm going on believing just that and already trying to think of just when I could reasonably think to play Metal Gear Solid 4 again to give a good run at some of the trophies on top of just...well, enjoying the game once more.  Since it's a fantastic game, and one that I don't believe I have popped in much after the acquisition of my TV with an HDMI port.  Yes, I started my PS3 playing with an SDTV and I still thought games managed to look absolutely brilliant on it.  One of the games I fully enjoyed in that method was MGS4 and if I played it fully on my HDTV after I got it, I entirely forget the experience, so when I do replay MGS4, it should be...quite the experience, for sure.

So it seems that the question still remains:  Why the long, long, long wait?  I doubt it'll be a question that's ever answered in any sort of formal manner, so I wouldn't waste too much time on speculation and looking a gift horse in the mouth.  However, there -is- all sorts of speculation that one -could- do, and if I were the type, I would suggest that maybe it had something to do with MGO.  It certainly seems a bit strange that a little over a month after MGO goes offline, this comes out, but it could just be a step taken to renew interest in people who might have only been playing the game for MGO anymore.  I simply think that there could have been an issue with game versions and connecting to the MGO servers, since they were not PSN servers and that that was pretty much something that could've caused a lot of headaches.  Of course, I don't quite remember if MGS4 had been patched since its release and whether or not it had could certainly blow all sorts of holes into that theory.  Regardless, it doesn't matter a whole lot, as we have a great game still, along with two big reasons as to why we should give it another go, veterans and otherwise alike.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for Vita Has a Release Date

So, another sort of weird title in the future of the Vita officially has a release date and, unsurprisingly, it's the date that was leaked a little bit ago:  June 12th.  And also unsurprisingly, nobody is going to acknowledge that it's a fairly big boon for the system for several reasons, the most of which being that it's just a Vita title and anywhere you look will have you believe that they simply don't exist, because that gets in the way of the doom-saying and rhetoric and all.  Of course, there are a few valid points of contention to have with the Vita version of the Port which I'll get to eventually.  I will say, however, right up that the MGS HD Collection for the Vita is simply not a game that I'm going to invest money into this year.  It's rather unfortunate since I have, actually, been looking forward to the prospect of re-familiarizing myself with Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 in portable form, mostly for the convenience factor of course, but, well, therein lies the problem with the game:  It's only Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3.

"Only" is a pretty misleading word, of course, as both titles are the 'enhanced' versions of themselves, meaning Metal Gear Solid 2 is a game and a half with VR missions and Snake Tales, and Metal Gear Solid 3 is actually three games with Snake Eater as well as Metal Gear 1 and 2 - The 'good' versions, even.  I mean, any way you look at it, the game is full to the brim with content, but the problem here is comparative envy.  As we all know, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection's appearance on the Vita is not its first - it first appeared on the Playstation 3 and XBox 360 with the content outlined above as well as Metal Gear Solid:  Peace Walker, the port of a portable game, remastered in HD.  And therein lies the rub; the portable port of a collection of ports does not have the portable port ported in the collection of ports.  (Ports)  It boggles my mind in bad ways that you could release a collection of Metal Gear Solid games for a portable console and exclude the game that was made explicitly for portable gaming.

So, knowing that there is an entire game missing, one has to go on and wonder -why- and the answer is....well, pretty sloppy, really.  The 'fan' answer is that there's probably not enough room on a Vita cart because that's not actually a bad idea, and from my little digging, I don't know the min-max space of a Vita cart.  But in that case, you could just throw in a voucher code for Peace Walker and call it a day, right?  You still get all three games for your $40 (which, s'far as we can tell, is how much MGS HD Vita is going to cost, the exact same as the PS3/360 versions) and everything's all spiffy.  Of course, that's not the official response, as the official response is:  'Why port it? It's already on the PSN for download, and the Vita touches it up already'.  Which is...uh....well, first off, that's a less-than-friendly way about it, and second off, it's not.  I have my Vita right in front of me and I cannot look up Peace Walker for purchase nor download.  Yes, you can get it on the PS3 and transfer it over, but that's not the point at all.

Maybe they assume the people who want to play Peace Walker on Vita already have the HD Collection on PS3 (since everyone who owns a Vita owns a PS3, clearly) which came with a download code for Peace Walker's PSP version to make use of the Transfarring feature.  So they want to pay another $40 for two of the games on the go because clearly in the -months- that the Collection's been out on the PS3 and 360, they haven't beaten it yet and they really really need that 'on-the-go' factor.  So they figure "Hey, they have Peace Walker HD on PS3 already, and a code for Peace Walker on PSP, they'll download it to their Vita and go and be awesome."  Which is....where the second problem comes in.  The second problem being that Peace Walker can't Transfar to the Vita.  So if you follow everything as is, buy both versions of the Collection and play the PSP version of Peace Walker on the Vita 'as intended' (to prevent from using resources that are so vital elsewhere) you don't get to enjoy the -one- feature that is -most- important for the Portable game that isn't in the portable collection.

This is some pretty gigantic fumbling going on here, unfortunately.  Fumbling enough that's it's dutifully pushed the game off my radar which seemed pretty impossible honestly.  On one hand, I'm pretty relieved by that, since that's $40 that I can spend elsewhere, but on the other hand, I really wanted to play Metal Gear Solid 3 on my Vita sometime soon.  I still will -someday-, but I can only hope that E3 brings about some happy Vita news from Konami to kind of make up for this.  Since it's just a bad look no matter which way you go at it.  Regardless, someone without access to a PS3 or 360 would probably be best served picking the game up if they desire; like I said, it's not exactly lacking for content, so much as it's simply lacking for the content of its big brother version.

So Much 'Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!'

So, because I feel the need to counter yesterday's post full of happiness and rainbows to balance the universe, today I'm going to talk about a couple of bits that have just pissed me off.  Like, just straight-up, 'Who pissed in your cornflakes' type of things, because it is very cleansing to just talk about them and get them out there.  One bit because I just found out about it, and the other because I haven't talked about it directly since I found out about it and I figure it's about time I do that.  Because it's really gotten my ire up and I just need to really directly address it to have it out there and make it known.  So let's start, shall we?

The above is an imagine we're likely going to have to get used to because, as far as I can tell, that's the American Box Art for the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection in America.  Take a real good look at it, because there is something that is missing there.  Something that is very obvious, very glaring, and very, very annoying.  Clearly, the thing missing is any hint, nod, or showing of Metal Gear Solid:  Peace Walker which was, indeed, included in the HD Collection for both Playstation 3 and XBox 360.  You would think that, since Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 HD are being ported from their PS3 versions to the Vita, it would be a simple matter to port the PS3 version of Peace Walker to the Vita as well.  It's not really a matter of needing to figure out the way it handles Vita-specific functions, since Metal Gear Solid 3 is already doing that, going so far as to bring in Major Zero's voice actor to record new lines about these new functions.  I can only assume the same will happen for the NA version.

Could the information be false?  Quite possibly.  The only reason I'm not blindly shouting that I think Peace Walker will be included is because of the press release in this Joystiq post which very obviously seems to be American-centric.  Now, the Japanese version of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection only had Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, whereas Peace Walker HD was it's own, separate game.  Why?  I don't know.  I literally have absolutely no idea as of this post and I'm not too fussed to go off and research it.  Unless Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 were on their own disks in Japan, because I believe there's some regulation over there that they can't have more than one game on a disk or something.  Whatever regulation meant that they had to sell Ico HD and Shadow of the Colossus HD 'separately' or together but with their own cases.  If that's the case, then just selling Peace Walker HD on its own makes a little sense for them.  I cannot, nor will I attempt to make a case for why that's even remotely acceptable here when we literally have a product that is everything the Vita version of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is, but then some.  Unless it's a size/space issue, but if that's the case, why isn't there some sort of disclaimer about that?

This raises the question about the price of the Vita's version of the Collection as well, which I've yet to see a solid figure on.  I should hope that if it's only released as both games, we can look forward to a $10 reduction (making both games $15, rather than ~$13, which I can take), but I never take these sort of things at face value.  It also raises the question as to why, at this point in time, it doesn't look like an HD version of a Portable Game is going to be on an HD Portable system.  Like, this is beyond dumb if you look at it for what it is, so I can only hope for some clarification on the whole thing and soon.  I don't think "Just Download Peace Walker, you know, the PSP version" is sufficient as a suggestion either, especially, especially because as of this post, you literally cannot Buy, Download and Play Peace Walker unless you have a PS3, since you have to get it on there and then transfer it to the Vita, as it's not on the Vita's PS Storefront.  So really, I guess the ball is in Konami/Kojima Productions Hands at this point.  Hopefully they'll get us an answer relatively quickly.

So, if you're a faithful reader of this blog, you probably know what's coming because of the above picture.  This isn't new news by any means, but it's news that I need to pass out regardless because I have my own opinions on it and I really need to get them out in a way that is more effective than a couple tweets about it.  For everyone else, the above pictured is something from Warriors Orochi 3, which was something I was so excited about that I made an entire post about it being localized, citing the simple fact that it wasn't going to have English Voiceovers as something that I would just have to get used to because it could, in no way, dampen the excitement I had for the game.  Because I really really like the Warriors Orochi games for the simple fact that the blending of the characters and such makes for a very interesting story, something they're given real free reign on since it's all fantasy.

I was so wrong.  Now, I'm going to just go ahead and state the, er, 'facts' of the matter first off before I really get into my own editorializing and fact-spewing over the whole situation.  In the US, Warriors Orochi 3 is going to be Digital Distribution only for the Playstation 3.  That is the stated fact, nothing going to change it that is exactly, clearly the word as it is.  It will be available as a Retail (meaning on-disk) title for XBox 360 and, quite possibly, also be in their Games on Demand or whatever service; the one that sells full games that isn't Live Arcade.  That's not confirmed, it could be assumed given that it will be available (only) through PSN for PS3, but all we know is that 360 gets a Disk, PS3 does not.  Tecmo-KOEI states the reasoning for this is the 'strict' policy SCEA has about not allowing games to have a Disk Release if there is not English Dub present.  Which KOEI stated it would be without, y'know, hinting that it would cause release troubles.  Of course, SCEE has no policy because it covers too broad an area to restrict languages, so the only region that won't get Warriors Orochi 3 for PS3 on Disk is North America.

So, those are the 'facts'.  Now it is conjecture time and my conjecture is thus:

Bull.  Shit.

That is far fancier looking than I anticipated, but it is what it is.  There are so many goddamn holes I can poke in this line of reasoning that I don't even know where to start.  But I guess the obvious is the best place here:  Yakuza games since number 2 have been released in America, On-Disk, with Promotion, without having English Dubs.  Of course, the stand-by to knock that down is "It doesn't count, it's an exclusive franchise".  Okay, fine - What about Way of the Samurai 3?  Or, as the comments of the above article so helpfully point out, Agarest War Zero and it's sequel?  The PSP games that I assume are bound by the same rules as PS3 games?  All had Japanese Dubs only, (In the case of Way of the Samurai 3, I don't think there was even enough content to count as a 'dub') and all had physical media releases.  There are more, if not just as many, exceptions to the rule provided that it just doesn't count as a rule anymore.  So right there, without any outside interference, I call bullshit.

There is absolutely, positively, no denying that Tecmo-KOEI, specifically the KOEI portion off the company, has a vested interest in Sony.  More of their titles than not are Exclusive to Playstation Systems, by choice rather than regulation, and while it may very well be because Sony has a better market in Japan, it still counts and it's still obvious.  The several disgruntled 360-only people who are fans of KOEI's products will attest to this, seeing as they have gotten shafted out of a lot of games for little reason other than "360 doesn't sell well in Japan".  So, if you're trying to tell me that there is absolutely no way KOEI could use the clout they very obviously have to waive the oh-so-strict rule about No-Dub-No-Disk, then I call bullshit on that too.  At the very least, they could've just sweetened the pot with the DLC trick; keep it exclusive to the PS3 version of the game or at least just timed exclusive.  Bam, incentive to buy it on the PS3 rather than the 360 (which would in turn, give Sony incentive to let them have their game released on disk) is there, quick and easy.

So I reiterate:  There is absolutely no reason why Warriors Orochi 3 will be PSN-only in North America and it's killed my interest so much that I might literally just skip it.  I've looked into importing it from the UK which won't be -too- costly, but I really really just don't know if I'm willing to bother.  There are entirely too many games to be had this year, I was already wobbly because of no English VA (pretty much purely because I wouldn't get to listen to Jamieson Price as Lu Bu), so any extra hoops added just really start tipping me over.  And, aside from all that, given the way things are priced these days, I have absolutely no reason to think that the PS3 version will be cheaper for the simple fact that there is no physical media to it.  In fact, I would suggest it's rather naive to think that.

So, we'll see.  Regardless, I've gone and made myself extra grumpy now, so it's time to go listen to inappropriate music (K-Pop or something similarly vapid but enjoyable) and just try and relax.

At Ease, Soldier - Metal Gear Online is Retiring

As is always the case with online offerings for video games, they go up and eventually are taken down when the playerbase is small enough that they can't really justify keeping the servers up any longer.  The period of time between release and ending is always different, and for Metal Gear Online, the multiplayer experience that came packaged with Metal Gear Solid 4:  Guns of the Patriots, that end date is July 12th, 2012, exactly four years to the day that it first came out.  Or....July 21st, 2012 if you'd rather believe Joystiq over Siliconera.  (Protip:  Joystiq is sourcing from Kotaku, thus, don't believe Joystiq.)  Although, perhaps it's something different between the Japanese and North American versions of the game or some such shennanigans.  Whatever, I'm going with the 12th because that's much more thematic, okay?

This is a shame, in all reality, since Metal Gear Online had the potential to be really, really really fun, provided the perfect storm of things happened.  Either you played a game with all your friends (and indeed, managed to get in the same game with them) so you could just dick around, or you could find the one game out of dozens that wasn't hard-trenched into styles of play that you would never know exist unless you frequented Message Boards where these types gathered and launched into games from.  At least, that's what I'm assuming why there was a particular dearth of information on this 'Prison Escape" game type that I found myself playing on one of the few occasions that I actually loaded up MGO.  It was apparently more of an Role-Playing focused gametype in which you had a certain amount of the people be 'guards' who were allowed to use guns and stuff, and the rest were 'prisoners' who were relegated to being in a particular location and only allowed to use CQC.

All of the above was inter-personally mandated, of course, and as such was completely unenforceable, so you had to demand compliance to these rules or kick the people who didn't want to indulge from the game which, of course, required a vote.  It was a really, really simple matter to just really inconvenience these games and while I never did that myself, it happened in the game I was in, further confusing me as to what in the world was going on.  I left, obviously, to find a game that played Metal Gear Online as if it were Metal Gear Online, and while I'm not adverse to trying different types of things in MP games, really playing with the limitations put in place or the lack there of, I wasn't really too fussed to get shot to death yet again by a 'guard' after very nearly escaping the arbitrary building we were relegated to.

Regardless, there was some real fun to be found when you actually played Metal Gear Online as intended, and I do have quite a few fond memories of playing it.  No real stand-out times, really, just generally all the times I didn't suck at the game which were few and far between because, as I quickly learned, the people that played MGO played it because they were good at it.  While I'm not going to say it was prohibitive, it wasn't the easiest community to jump in and play with either and, being rather new to the online scene as I was (and still kind of am), it made it that much more difficult.  Though I suppose in retrospect, it makes my victories that much grander now, since not only was I overcoming the newness of it, but I was overcoming people who weren't as green as I was.  Though I guess the majority of it could be contributed to luck, namely of the beginner's variety, but still.

Regardless, there is apparently going to be some incentive to play up until you can't if you go by Siliconera's information.  According to them, the expansion packs and such that have been released for cost will be unlocked for free on April 24th, allowing for about a full month and a half of playing with these free toys before they're locked to you forever.  I'm not really clear on exactly what Expansion packs will be unlocked, but I would suspect all of them, unless some of them are simply taken down, rather than being sold or handed out for free which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  So perhaps playing as Raiden, Vamp, Ocelot or the other premium characters will be possible, or perhaps not, I guess we'll just see.  I'll probably keep an eye out for it, but likely won't join in the festivities myself; the community update downloads will likely be far too much for me.  Still, I hope everyone that wants to has a good ol' time with Metal Gear Online 2.0 while it lasts and we eagerly wait for Metal Gear Online 3.0, whenever that comes out.

Metal Gear?! 5?!

Metal Gear Rising might not be the only game in production at the moment with the words "Metal Gear" in the title, as the upcoming Official Playstation Magazine - UK reveals, though not on the cover in small font which makes me a bit fussed.  You'd think "Metal Gear Solid 5" would be a big enough deal to actually print on the cover in big giant letters, but what do I know apparently.  There's really not a whole lot of information beyond the fact that it exists, unfortunately.  Hideo Kojima, unsurprisingly, will have a big hand in the title despite previous claims that he would like to step away from the series (similar claims being made between 2 and 3 and 3 and 4 I believe), though I imagine he's going to ween himself away from it so he can work on his other projects that he's excited about; specifically "Project Ogre" which is mentioned vaguely with nothing beyond that.

If I had to guess, I'd say that "Project Ogre", whatever it is, is his first FOX Engine game made primarily for PS3 and Vita, though what it'll entail or revolve around is probably more up in the air than anything else could be.  If anything's clear about anything, it's that Kojima will make what he wants which is something to be commended, yet also means that it's impossible to really predict.  Between Metal Gear Solid, Policenauts, Snatcher, Boktai and his work with Castlevania:  Lords of Shadow, it's clear that he's got a -lot- of range, so you can't even narrow down the possibilities.  Whatever it is, it'll be distinctly Kojima and that's about all you can say for it beforehand.

As far as what Metal Gear Solid 5 is going to be, well.....that too is also as up in the air as anything could be.  I was under the impression (as I figure many others were as well) that Metal Gear Solid 4 would be the end of Solid Snake's story, which despite Peace Walker originally being branded as Metal Gear Solid 5, still makes sense.  As such with what's said about 4, I was also under the impression that Metal Gear Rising would be the Raiden answer to MGS, so a "Metal Gear 5" wasn't entirely necessary.  Thus with those two characters both (theoretically) tied up, does this mean another run for Big Boss?  There's still a lot of ground that can be covered with him, but I'm not really sure if I want another Big Boss game.  I mean, yes, I do, but I just feel like his explained story is good enough.

It's kind of another God of War 4 situation in that there's really no reason to continue the branding with any of the existing characters, yet to make a new character would undermine the reason for making it another notch in the continuity.  I just don't see a reason for Metal Gear Solid 5 in that I want another Metal Gear Solid game, but I don't want it called Metal Gear Solid.  Rising is fine enough, it's its own entity and has its place in continuity but you know that it's going to be an entirely different game.  As I imagine MGS5 just might be unless they (unfortunately) find a way to shoehorn another adventure of Solid Snake or Big Boss into the timeline which, I only say unfortunately because I imagine doing so will do more harm than good.

It's kind of like the difference between what I want and what I know what's 'responsible' and I want more Solid Snake and Big Boss, but I know it's not likely a good idea for more.  I think that's the point that I'm trying to make here and I mean, at the end of the day it's all just games so it's not like it's going to 'undermine' anything, including itself, by hashing out.  The most likely scenario for Metal Gear Solid 5 that I can see (without a new main character) is that it takes place as Big Boss right after Peace Walker and has the player setting up Outer Heaven proper which would probably rock out loud.  Even moreso if they go the extra mile and re-imagine Metal Gear 1, placing you into the boots of Solid Snake for the 'second act' as it were.  It would be awesome but wholly unnecessary narrative-wise since it just sets up a 'second beginning' for a character that was closed up fairly well enough.

But I would buy twelve copies is what I'm getting at, here.

Update!:  So, I guess this is all kind of unconfirmed as Joystiq had another article about this that suggests they did not, in fact, read the magazine that had the bold declaration on the cover before reporting on it.  Which is just fantastic, of course.  But basically, it states that Kojima says "We'll -probably- have to make MGS5 sometime" and that if/when that time comes, he would like to be involved, but not at the helm.  As he's said a few times now.  So, there's that, I guess.  GJ Joystiq.

Too Many Games

 

It's about that time again.  Fall time, that is; when everyone starts staying inside more and more, and as such, game developers release more games to give you more reasons to stay inside.  And I am just....just not ready at all.  I had wanted to start a backloggery for the longest time to get this all sorted, but for a while there, it was unavailable for new registrants while the guy running it updated the servers and dealt with some health issues at the same time.  I imagine he's gotten over them, as a little while ago, I noticed the site was back, but I hadn't ever bothered to register.

Well, at least until about five minutes or so ago.  Off the top of my head, I could think of 18 19 21 22 (would you believe that I've thought of more games this many times during the typing of this post?) games which are shown in my profile I have to finish, and that's without really going and looking at my stack.  That....that is a lot of gaming.  I might change a couple of those to Null (Like PSP2) since I'll likely be playing them for a time longer without really figuring on a 'complete' goal, but for the most part, these are games that I haven't even started, much less put anything resembling completion into.

It's.....it's difficult.  My main issue right now, in all honesty, is my PS3.  I do not trust the thing.  I feel like it's on its last legs for some reason (most of that being that whenever I turn it off after playing Darksiders, it does the three-beep "I was still doing stuff, you jerk" turn off, which, no, it is -not- doing stuff, the light isn't blinking) and honestly, if it breaks, I don't know what the hell I'll do.  I don't really have the cash to shell out for another $170 replacement, much less spend $250 on a brand-new one.  If I had $250 to spend, it'd be in an account labeled "Playstation Vita" anyways.  Given that I've been jerked around by a YLOD already and the bullshit accompanying it, it's not a thing I would like to go through again, and with summer being as hot as it is, I don't want to tempt that fate once more.

Is it any more avoidable by not enjoying my PS3 for the simple pleasure of looking at it and saying "Well, it's not broken at the moment"?  I'm not willing to say it is, really, since I hate not playing it.  And while I've had a few bouts of "Fuck it, come what may", with the fall/holiday crunch coming up, I can't really afford to be that gung-ho.  But on the other hand, I can't exactly afford to just let all these games that I paid for sit unplayed when there's just going to be more coming out that I will buy and, I guess, not play.  Thus, the Sisyphus image above.

I guess the upside is that my list of games I'm looking forward to with any sort of certainty of purchasing is rather short at the moment.  Then again, I haven't done a lot of research.  But I know that I'll have to track down Dynasty Warriors 7:  Xtreme Legends, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, and the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection.  Of course, the Zone of the Enders HD Collection is on my radar as well, but it's release seems a little less tangibly close than MGS'.  I'm sure there's plenty of other games that I want, but I'm reasonably sure, out of all the releases coming out relatively soon that these are the ones I 'need'.

And of course, this is neglecting the fact that there are games already out there that I 'need', off the top of my head, Dead Space 2 and Catherine, which I -would- like to purchase and play at least one of those before the end of the year, as my list of games that I've played from 2011 is....well, not up to par, and doing a top ten Games of the Year for 2011 series of posts will be a little difficult if I don't have 10 games from 2011 played!  (I think I'm up to six or seven currently.  Btw, did you know Ghost Trick was released this year?  I didn't, until I started thinking about the games I'd played this year.  I have -no- idea where it's going to place.)

There are worse things to complain about, I suppose.  But still, this is rather unfortunate!  Hopefully with the backloggery and Fall (and with it, colder temperatures) coming, I'll be able to kick my gaming into a higher gear and get through this list.  And now that you have the link, you'll be able to follow along as well!  I guess.  If...y'know, that interests you.