So... do people actually collect consoles now?! To my understanding, the 60 Gig PS3 is the best in terms of backwards compatibility. Is that correct? If so, for someone like me that would be ideal. What advantage is there in owning a "limited" edition PS3? A limited edition game with a bonus disk, soundtrack, book, etc. is totally understandable, but a limited edition console? Well, might be good for Sony, but I fail to see any advantages to the consumer.

cheers,

-avatar!

I don't really think very many people buy multiple consoles to get all the limited ones or whatever.  I just think it's kind of cool when a limited console comes out at the point when I'm going to get one... like my Japanese Tales of Symphonia Cube!  That said, I still have no intention of getting a PS3 unless it's a 60 gig.  Shadow Hearts games not running properly on the 80gig BC ruined that thought for me.

theres nothing special to console collecting. people are doing it for years. you can find lots of saturn consoles with high prices for example. theres alot more, time for a search

Can anyone confirm if Norihiko Hibino is credited on any sites as a contributor to the score?  I was under the impression that he worked on it.

Don't think Hibino's involved with this one.  Nobuko Toda seems to have taken over the reins, but I'm willing to bet Metal Gear mainstay composer Akihiro Honda will at least offer up a few contributions as well.

If you haven't yet, check out the music clips in this thread.  It's sounding spectacular so far.

Oh snap, Solid Eye...... for the ears! 

SOLID EAR!
http://kotaku.com/379264/oh-that-mgs4-headset-is-real

Dude, I am SO walking around with this on me person. ;)

And an eyepatch too, right?

It looks like Konami and Sony are working more extensively on merchandise tie-ins for this game.

Someone doesn't sound too enthused about MGS4...

So, he basically asked himself THE question, and then replied like so:

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/461afec2_f … IBN3X9LvBi

Seriously though, I do like these particular passages from Edge's write-up:

"Instead, know that there’s no sneaking off for MGS this time – no diversionary origin story like Snake Eater, and no jumble of loose ends like Sons of Liberty. This fourth game, Guns of the Patriots, is fateful enough to leave almost no scope for another – a bang of a finale, not a whimper."

"Much like the tanker prologue of MGS2, this opening act drops you right in at the deep end with an experienced, equipped Snake but only pieces of a tutorial. The term ‘fan service’ sells short the incredible amount of series knowledge required to really penetrate MGS4, feel for its characters or marvel at the progress it’s made. A flank-speed journey with its own narrative mission to complete, it wastes little time on rookies."

"One thing’s for sure: as an event, it’s not Sons of Liberty, the momentous next-gen sequel to the most exciting, earth-shattering game on PS1. For all its action, much of which is extraordinary, it’s a somber, tonal affair, made almost entirely for people who’ve been there from the start. And as a marquee title, it’s not without potential to backfire. If players find it anachronistic, which they might, then what does that say about the PlayStation brand? If its visuals leave them in two minds, which they also might, what does that say about its hardware?"

"Take that with a pinch of salt, perhaps. Kojima’s being particularly modest today, joking at one point that cutscenes are “all I know,” and for a second sounding wounded by the complexity of a task so very nearly behind him. MGS4 is, you feel, a compromised game, with pervasive aliasing and nagging low-res textures, but a stunning presentation nonetheless. Its production values simply transcend the existing model for videogames, incorporating Hollywood-grade surround sound, a moving score by Harry Gregson Williams, electrifying cutscenes and a sense of closure better suited to The Return of the King than Halo 3."

Link is not working.

Guh.  You simply CANNOT link directly to Briefcase material, can you?

Kojima Asks:
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/angie_liu … er=&.view=

Seems that the total running time for MGS4 is revealed.  MCV reports that the British Board of Film Classification has nailed the game down at "545m 47s (9hrs; 5 mins; 47 secs)."

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/30306/Metal-G … 4-rated-15

Now, seeing as how this is coming from the BBFC, we may assume that this is strictly cutscenes alone - unless they're counting codec conversations as well?  If it's the former, that's pretty damned impressive, even for a MGS title.

In any case, I'm calling it now: 2008 MOVIE OF THE YEAR. :)

The second link works, so I guess Yahoo banned direct linking.

So, now that the beta for Metal Gear Online has been up and running for a couple of days, has anyone had a go with it?  (the_miker, I saw you online a few times; what do you think?) 

I'll admit, it was absurdly difficult for me to get re-accustomed to the control scheme - particularly the camera that's based off of Subsistence.  And then they throw in all the new MGS4 elements, which at first felt frustrating, because it's so familiar yet so foreign at the same time.  I made the initial mistake of just jumping into matches before stopping by at training first.  It took a great amount of tweaking for me to get comfortable with the camera movement settings, the speed of the over-the-shoulder and first-person aiming, and the weapon switching options.  (For the record, I like having the aforementioned options set at lower speeds; anything higher than level three feels a bit too twitchy for me.  And I changed the L2 and R2 buttons back to the fast equip/de-equip function, rather than the new 'cycling' one.)  This bevy of options tweaking is something I hope carries into MGS4.

The online play itself is..... well, I'm not digging it a whole lot.  Maybe it's because I'm coming off of the fast, action-paced, and dare I say NIGH-UNBEATABLE Call of Duty 4 online experience, but MGO feels sluggish and a little less refined than what I'd like it to be.  Even for a title who's concept is supposed to be about stealth, coordination, and deliberately-slower gameplay, it's something I'm finding a tad boring.  The hit collision looks like it could use a touch of work, too; I'm still unsure how some of these players are constantly mowing me down, when I KNOW I'm taking clear and concise shots at them.  On the other hand, I see massive potential for all this to work; the teamwork concept, such as the SOP system and waking or helping down teammates could all result in a very cool experience.  I just hope Konami can polish things up for a tighter experience once the game actually hits.

Now, people are probably just beginning to realize that Konami's added a new mode on their server called "Sneaking," which actually allows you to play as Snake - and from what it looks like, it's his fully functional build in MGS4.  This, to me, is the most awesome thing about the beta, as it gives one a true hands-on look and feel at how MGS4 is going to play.  Snake plays quite a bit better than the online characters; he moves faster, for one thing, and he has more grip resulting in less recoil on weapons.  Plus, he's got access to integral features like the octo-cam and the Solid Eye.  Drop him in the Midtown Maelstrom area, the Middle East stage we've been seeing all along, and you practically have a genuine MGS4 trial version.

One more thing to note is that MGO is currently fluctuating between 30fps and 60fps in terms of graphics - particularly in the Midtown Maelstrom stage.  The moments when it's moving at 60 are very rare, but it's telling that the final game could end up running as such - which would be really nice indeed.

There's a whole ton of new videos and info following the game's completion party in Japan last night:

First 10 minutes of the game:

http://kotaku.com/390011/the-first-10-m … ar-solid-4

TV Shirts:

http://kotaku.com/390011/the-first-10-m … ar-solid-4

English Game Intro:

http://kotaku.com/389827/metal-gear-solid-4-intro-movie

New Trailer + 3 TV Commercials:

http://kotaku.com/389818/new-new-new-mgs4-trailers

Product Placement:

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/met … -so-1.html

Movie guy is trés-cheesy. :p  Other than that, the new trailer is insanely badass, though most certainly treading spoiler territory.  If you've been upholding a strict media blackout up to this point, I suggest you don't watch.

As if the Sony Ericsson didn't make enough appearances in films already..... though I've gotta admit, Vamp looks pretty smokin' using one. Looks like "Regain" is going to be the new Calorie Mate.  The iPod sounds like the most interesting idea; this one shot seems to imply that you'll be able to switch around music in-game, like MGO.  How cool would it be to have the entire collection of Metal Gear music at your disposal to play at anytime while playing MGS4?  You can switch from "Zanzibar Breeze" to Yell Dead Cell!" to "Battle In The Base," all on the fly!

Also, looks like the Altair outfit is going to be in the game after all.  An unlockable bonus, perhaps?

Totally off topic, but this's been bugging me for quite some time. My copy of MGS2 OST does not f---ing have "Yell Dead Cell!" on it. That was, like, one of my favorite tracks in the game! I've heard some say it's on another OST release, but don't know which? Any ideas?

Incomplete releases, I can't say this enough, piss me off enough to mount a clocktower and pick people off.

This one: http://www.gmronline.com/info.asp?CatNumber=KMCA-144

*gag*

What's next, a segment where Snake wirelessly blogs on MySpace and drinks a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee on the battlefield?

What Ladybug said.  I can't be leaving any of my comrades out in the cold, so this one's for you, Bluebird:

MGS2 - Yell Dead Cell!
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/angie_liu … ic&.view=l

Awwww yeah. That's the stuff. Thanks, Commander!

GameTrailers has started a retrospective on the Metal Gear series.  It's pretty good.  The first two parts which go from the original Metal Gear through MGS are here:

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/6748.html

Nice.  I only watched Part 2 so far, but GT does a really good job at objectively covering most of the key points for each respective game.   Hell, they even go into the various smaller details, like the switch for Grey Fox's voice actor between the original and The Twin Snakes, and not having to equip a card key to open locked doors in TTS.

Definitely a recommended watch.

Heads-up to the NYC MGS fans here. (That makes, like, me):

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/5851/file0658do2.jpg

Damn, this would make a wonderful souvenir.  I'm hoping I can make the appropriate arrangements to get out there.

Well, bollocks. If my store's launch is anything like the others I've been to, there'll be a bunch of doofy guys yelling and controller-swapping a previous entry in the series while the manager makes dopey jokes like, "oh hey guys, somebody hijacked the delivery truck HAHAHA." So needless to say I'll be bringing my DS with the noise-canceling headphones.

Oh, and I finally ordered a 60GB system. Seemed like it would be important to have on game day, y'know? I waffled for a day or two because of sticker-shock-good-god-that's-a-month's-rent, but I realized that the longer I put it off, the pricier the (discontinued) model I wanted would become.

*sigh* I most certainly hope I DO like it, Mr. Kojima.

P.S. No discussion of Yell 'Dead Cell' is complete until I talk about the best version of the tune:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/hwa9pz

OK, now I'm done.

'Grats, you.  No finer feeling than lifting the veil of system ownership uncertainty before a highly anticipated release, no?  Now, we need only play the waiting game..... 

60GB is a good size, too, considering that it's been revealed that MGS4 is going to require a 4.6 GB install:

http://metalgear.planets.gamespy.com/im … 4_4gig.jpg

Seems hefty, but ultimately trivial in the grander scheme of Metal Gear fandom.  Hell, MGS4 can take up all 32 of my available 40 gigs for all I care.

Dude. 90 minute cutscenes?! Ouch.

That rumor has been debunked already. Reviewers are saying that some cutscenes are long, but nowhere near 90 minutes.

Please explain how has it been debunked? That is, please post a link. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if it did have 90 minute cut scenes. I guess some people love that kind of stuff, but I prefer my games to be games rather than movies. To each their own of course!

cheers,

-avatar!

If I can beat the SNES version Aladdin in less time than it takes for a cutscene to play through, that scene is way too damn long. I'd like to see where those "rumors" have been debunked, too. I read that there were 90 minute cutscenes on a couple of different sites.

http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=187049

Debunked by a guy who actually played the game.

Though even if there were 90 minute cutscenes, I wouldn't mind at all.  Less than three weeks away and counting!

-Mike

Here's where I read it:

http://dailygamesnews.blogspot.com/2008 … scene.html

When was the last time anyone complained about the length of the cutscenes in a given game anyway? Oh yeah, that was Xenosaga Episode I <german subtitle here> right?

People complained about them being too many/long (I honestly didn't have a problem) and then we got that soulless piece of dreck that was Xenosaga II. Oh geez, now I depressed myself by bringing that game up I need to lie down...

This game really is reminiscent of GRAW2 (PC) too much. For some reason, this somewhat sepia-tone and decolored graphics as well as some of enemies really reminds me of it. It doesn't matter to anyone but me a great deal though.