Cutscenes, Konami, Shame, Sessler

This week, Adam is commenting on the bizarre requests made by Konami in regards to early reviews of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
He makes many valid points!

[pwnsause]

he does have many good points, the actual problem is review points getting docked for something minor as this.

[LenHart]

sessler is saying the right thing

go sessler

However most websites will give MGS4 a 9.5 or a 10 or something closer to 10

[sonarus]

Some reviewers are allowed to talk about stuff while others are not. Why do they keep saying the 90min cut scene thing like its fact. In fact Gamepro who is allowed to talk about it already disproved the rumor.

I like how all these game journalists all feel the need to take a stand now lol. The only people that deserve credit for it is EGM...everyone else is just following suit. If you want to review the game badly then do so...but because of cut scene length and install times (which are ON THE BACK OF THE DISC) you want to hold your review back...then that is just a little foolish to me...but whatever. I will continue to smile at all the other whore reviewers looking for hits and feeding MGS4 with 10's

To Sessler's credit, some fair points were made. I feel that if the cut scenes are too long then i guess as reviewers they feel the need to include that in the review. MGS4 is a story driven game. If you are not prepared for a story then it probably isn't for you. Skipping the cut scenes though an option takes away from the fun.

Despite his points though, I still don't see why the game media all of a sudden has this dying urge to reveal the cut scene length. Konami should just remove the NDA and move on. Then they announce it...no one cares and we all move on with our lives

[LenHart]

However cutscenes are what make up most Japanese games

taking off cutscenes which 90% of MGS fans would find to be pleasant is just unacceptable

I dont think we need reviews from 1up and Gamespot. do we? I think KONAMI should freeze the reviews of those sites forever. It is waranteed that those websites would be giving MGS4 a mediocre score so no need for their reviews

********BTW people do give me some bubbles

[Omegasyde]

Well put.

First off Adam Seller "CRIES" about every little thing. Its actually ingrained into his personality. Every review (PS3/360/Wii) he mentions a negative thing in which most people think its not a big deal.

Cut scenes should not be evaluated into a damn score. ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE OPTIONAL. I am not playing fanboy, but I think <EGM etc>. who refuse to obey these guidelines are acting like little kids.

The Install should also not be evaluated into a Score. Is evaluating Installs now in the same boat as graphics, sound, story, and gameplay now?

What's next EGM decides to factor in how you can or can not change contrast levels?

Or Better yet, how there isn't the option of more than 5 save slots?

OR <EGM/ETC> How about the starting difficulty of game?

I am sure they will start demoting game scores now if there is not online multiplayer..... Ridiculous reviewers need to get off their power trips. The gamers and advertisers really created too big of a monster.

[Timesplitter14]

LenHart. Are you LionHart from the Gamespot Forums?

[v1c1ous]

that's who

[Timesplitter14]

Well it's just that LionHart has become some kind of legend over there. He knows absolutely everything about Metal Gear

[ATLRoAcH]

...are actually interesting. I hate to do this but I think everyone missed it so I'm going to bring my comment discussing it over here. I feel like a lot of people missed this in P:ToM. I don't think P:ToM was limited in what they said. P:ToM said some cut scenes reach the 45 minute mark and not 90. Anyway I'm going to copy and paste that comment.

[So? They're not suppose to talk about some things that could spoil something (certainly understandable) and installs. Well P:ToM's review may be excluded from (at least some of) that. That may be what they meant by world exclusive. I don't know. They did mention something about installs. Not much but I'll read and quote for you:

"Surprises begin right from the moment the game starts (after the install process, which also happens before the start of each new act). Just flick around the "channels" and enjoy!".

Thats word for word. It doesn't talk about the "channels" or installs after that, thats it. I don't know if I'm comprehending this right but it seems like it progressively installs the game data as you get further in the game. So if like you're only on act one it won't use as much space as when you get to act two. On the other hand maybe it deletes act one's data and replaces it with act two's. I'm not sure. I'm not saying that this means the data size will be huge or anything. This could be a good thing if it only installs the data you need depending how far in the the game you are. It would just slowly reach the full amount of space the data takes up. I'm sure each act is really long and these installs will be short. Maybe the game only uses a little bit of space at a time so people with really low space don't have to delete things to be able to play the game. Maybe I'm wrong on this altogether. I don't know.

What do you guys think? It doesn't matter to me. This just seemed interesting thats all. I can't wait to play MGS4.]

Maybe they didn't want people to know there is an install before each act (if thats correct I'm not certain). I don't know but this is what I got from it.

Oh, and to let anyone know, the installs and everything can't be that bad because at the end of the review they said "It truly is difficult to find fault. I was too hooked into the storyline to consider the occasionally lengthy cutscenes as a distraction from the real game." and they didn't find fault. No mention of any faults.

[jwatt]

I totally agree with Adam in that by Konami telling reviewers not to mention certain things, it's now getting more attention. I think most hardcore gamers already know about the cutscenes anyway, I mean most reviewers already mentioned that the cut scenes are lengthy I don't think it's a secret.

I just feel like now, reviewers are not going to take it easy on mgs4.
I can see it now "So you going to tell us how to review your game, here's an 8.0 for mgs4 that'll teach ya".

[morganfell]

you have to love this poster:

"Well mr sessler there was no enlightenment. I will say that if the clowns at EGM think it is so important to be able to mention the length of a cutscene then henceforth (hear ye hear ye varlot and all that) henceforth every single review needs to carry a cutscene chart that shows how long the cutscenes are in every game.

Now some will say, it is only important when the cutscenes reach a certain length. Who determines the proper length? Let's see. White beard? No. Robe and throne in the clouds? No. Penchant for haphazard destruction including dropping a roof on some peasants as they grovel through a hymn? No. Everyone gets equal treatment across the board.

In reality I say let these people cry. If they don't like the rules then no soup for you. When they do the work to build a game instead of waiting on someone else to work so they can go into attack mode then they can dictate the rules."

then this good point at the bottom:

"I think what game publishers like Konami are rapidly realizing is that the internet has given a voice to tens of thousands of people who don't necessarily deserve one...and that a few of them work as gaming journalists."

[The Lazy One]

He isn't judging length of cutscenes, and he isn't commenting on install times.

He is talking about the suspicion Konami aroused by publicly disallowing people from mentioning things that have little to no impact on spoiling the game.

You can't honestly tell me that if you saw an article about a non-PS3 publisher doing this that you wouldn't think the same exact things everyone else thinks.

[JasonXE]

viewing the vid objectively knows that unless they're viewing it from the fanboy perspective. aka- hey, he's bashing konami which is indirectly bashing MGS4!! Let me (unknownly to himself) misconstrue what he said or take something out of context to somehow defend my beloved mgs4/ps3 exclusive.

Instead of discussing what he actually said, it's turned into a gaming media is out to get us. Our attention should be about konami limiting reviewers to say certain key points that we should know about.

[ikkokucrisis]

Keep biting the hand that feeds you and you'll starve to death.
A very slow and painful death at that...

Also, when you change the rules EGM, there are consequences that come with that.

[harrisk954]

about the reviews that have been released is that they are all (with the notable exception of Eurogamer) 9s and 10s (more heavily leaning toward the 10s). That means that the reviewers did not detract from their scoring due to the length of the cut scenes. Most actually commented on the unbelievable cinematics that makes MGS more akin to movies than video games. Therefore, if a reviewer wants to detract from a score due to cut scenes in the game, then they are perfectly able to do so and COMMENT IN THE REVIEW that they took points away due to the length of the cut scenes without giving the exact time that these scenes take. They can say something like:

"Although the game is a masterpiece in every respect, we found that the length and number of cut scenes detracted from the experience. We prefer to play our games rather than watch. We are unable to tell you the lengths of the cut scenes at this time, but will update this review after the game's release. Suffice it to say that we were unhappy with this aspect of the game."

(The same thing goes for install times as well.)

But, not one reviewer even came close to this type of statement. They almost universally loved the cutscenes and have made the game one of the highest reviewed games of all time. So, obviously the limitations imposed by Konami (for whatever reason) should have no effect on a reviewers ability to give a review of this game!

[Condoleezza Rice]

I thought he was interviewing Crecente on the matter.

Anyways,Konami aren't the first nor the last.So get ready for more publishers and reviewers being outed in the not too distant future.

[rucky]

Konami knows how nitpicky these American review sites are about these things. It's either too short or too long, fun multiplayer but singleplayer's an afterthought, too cute, too gory... MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!

[LenHart]

MGS4 is a PS3 game and theres always a tendency for websites like Gamespot/1up/edge and eurogamer to downplay it by giving it mediocre scores

I think the NDA is applicable for GS and 1up. not IGN and other websites

However we dont want 1up/GS reviews . We just dont want them

[v1c1ous]

way to stereotype everyone. for all you know, it was konami of america that did this, with the japan branch having no issue about it.

but go ahead, keep on assuming.

[Superfragilistic]

It's not about MGS4, it's about Konami.

Konami's NDA's have compromised journalistic transparency and may have unfortunately damaged MGS4s rep beyond the hardcore audience that loves it regardless.

As Sessler says NDA's are common practice to ensure that reviewers don't spoil an experience for a player. What isn't common practice, and in his belief a first, is for a company to ask for technical information to be withheld from the consumer that may influence purchasing decisions.

In my view the whole thing is a massive stuff up by Konami and they should've just gone with the standard NDAs in the first place and they wouldn't have had this PR disaster!

[sonarus]

Yea because konami is the first publisher to do that right? I bet Rockstar and Microsoft didn't do it.

Konami should let the cut scene length go but game journalists are overreacting big time. The cut scene length and install time should have nothing to do with the score. GTA4 had a whole bunch of cut scenes but no one included it in reviews. Since when did install times start going into reviews? This whole thing is stupid on both sides.

Biggest site overreacting right now would be Gamespot. Haha their comments about being invited to play the game in Japan is the most pathetic piece of garbage i have ever read from them. Gamespot just keeps getting more useless to me

[Omegasyde]

I completely disagree.

Journalistic Integrity? You must be kidding me. Its few and far between especially with Advertizment Revenue from Video games keeping "gaming" sites afloat.

I respect your opinion but "they" must of pulled the wool over your eyes.

The day these sites/mags get completely honest is the day when Ads are no longer included, and biased employees are fired.

[The Lazy One]

I have never heard of any other company disallowing reviewers in such a way. Maybe in pre-launch previews, but I've never heard of it outside of plotline NDAs outside of this occurrence.

I think Sessler actually talked a fair bit about it at the beginning of the video. Kudos for watching with an open mind instead of just seeing "Konami bad" and instantly jumping to "everyone else does it too".

[LenHart]

You never heard companies do that??

But they ended up bribing reviewers

Lets face it.

Those 4 websites --1up/GS/EDGE and EUROGAMER are the only ones whose complaining about cutscenes

No one else is doing so

WE all know the cruel intentions of Gamespot and 1up. They shouldnt be allowed to review MGS4 --as simple as that

We dont want a 7.5 like what Ratchet got from GS / 7.5 for Motorstorm which was given by 1up .

GS and 1up shouldnt be allowed to review any PS3 game. as simple as that

[beavis4play]

he stated near the beginning- "i want to talk about the ban on talking about the cut-scenes and install of the game, WHICH HAS BEEN FAIRLY CONFIRMED NOW."

"fairly confirmed"????? that's journalistic integrity??? hey, in my book, JI is where they say something based on FACT!!!! not that they're "pretty sure" or "really think it's true" or some bogus, lame line like that.

all adam sessler did was show the LACK of journalistic integrity in gaming press. nothing against you 'frag, but let me know if you get story of konami, IN FACT, mentioning these spoiler restrictions to include cut-scenes and installs. they don't matter to me, but i'm curious,IF IT'S FACTUALLY TRUE, as to what they're (konami) thinking is.

[Bubble and Squeek]

@ beavis4play

I'll ignore the strawman you contructed.

But, please talk to some journalists before spouting off about a profession that you clearly know little about. Work on you reading [/listening] comprehension as well, for your sake.

[Superfragilistic]

@omegaside

I never mentioned integrity... the word I used was transparency. And as for wool over my eyes well I am "they" so perhaps I pulled it over my own! lol :)

@beavis

See above first ^. Secondly, the NDA has been confirmed to include restrictions on mentioning technical details including cut-scene lengths and episodic installs by numerous outlets including IGN, Eurogamer, MTV Multiplayer and EGM. Also you would do well to take heed of Bubble & Squeek's advice.

@sonarus

In my industry experience, that of colleagues, MTV Multiplayer, Jeff Gertsmann and Adam Sessler, Konami is the first to restrict discussion of technical details such as cut scene length and installs. The Lazy One shares similar sentiments.

Further I feel you're missing the central point of this whole issue. It's not about the installs and cut scenes affecting the score, it's about allowing reviewer's to disclose such information to consumers who's choice of a game may be influenced by such (watch the video again). It's like saying the violence in Pulp Fiction should affect the score, generally it shouldn't, but it does affect what type of audience will go see it.

@ LenHart

Well I don't have a beef with you, but thankyou for the stark contrast between your attitude and that of your avatar. You're a comedic genius! ;)

[Cupid_Viper_3]

you need to inform gamers about install size?

WELL he does have a valid point, because we all know that there are ps3s out there without hard drives, and those ps3 owners will be totally screwed.(end sarcasm)

and i'm wondering if their sites also review pc games? if so, Im going to read their reviews on some pc games, and find out the install size on certain games, and by God, they better F*cking have them in there.

edit: also keep in mind that the DAMN install size being talked about, is on the back of the damn case of MGS4, so i call BS..... and i'm pretty sure, they could just say, LONG CUTSCENES, and be done with it. BUT NO, ITS PS3 EXCLUXSIVE, so we need to bash it, and actually have it down to the EXACT SECOND in length time..... i dont know about other people, but i enjoy the cutscenes, and letting me know how long they are is a DAMN SPOILER....

and i'm also going to read up on their review of GTA4, giving the fact that you couldn't do any of the main mission without cut-scenes, so i'm gonna there and see how long those cut scenes from GTA4 are.....(end sarcasm)

in case any of you miss my point, They dont have the install size in the pc games, and they dont have the length of the cutscenes from GTA4, a game which is basically 50% mission,50% cutscenes..... in other words, KONAMI didnt ask them to do anything that they were not already doing........... the only that really bothers them, in my opinion, MGS4, the biggest game, by Guiness world record holder developer, is ps3 exclusive, and for that, they are pissed for not being able to put it under a MICROSCOPE to justify their BIASED INTENDED SCORE.....

[Legion]

First off... PC games do have a required memory and such on their boxes. Even enough info to tell if your system has the specs enough to run the game. And most all reviews of PC games talk about outlandish install space needed or outlandish requirements of your system to play it at optimum level.

Now to compare GTA4 and MGS4 is apples and oranges. I've played GTA4 and the cutscenes aren't long at all. They are relatively proportional to action versus story setup that you see in most games of this caliber. MGS4 is hinted at having much longer cutscenes versus actual gameplay and odd to the point where you might feel that you are enjoying a movie versus playing an action game. For many fans this is a GOOD thing. For others this is an annoyance because they want a good story driven action game without having to sit through lengthy plot when they could be playing instead.

The only downfall that I see of the long cutscenes would be if you couldn't save or pause in between long cutscenes (i.e. I have to take a piss, I have to get to work!) I would hate to have to end a cutscene half way through that last 45min ~ 90min and find out I have to start at the very beginning of that scene. Some say... cutscenes shouldn't be a factor because you can skip them. Well that would be like skipping a story plot and then not knowing what the crap is going on with the story. (i.e. Why am I shooting this person when before the cutscene they were fighting side by side with me?)

To ask previewers to not mention install size or length of cutscenes in this particular case is just asking for trouble. And it appears like they got it. Never make public that you don't want possible unattractive things talked about. It just highlights that pimple on your nose.

[beavis4play]

but konami has said they put story spoiler restrictions on reviewers.(and i'm glad they did) they have not mentioned anything about cut-scenes and installs. also, only a few sites have mentioned anything about this. until konami comments on if and why they included CS and installs in restrictions; it's a non-issue to me.

[Legion]

I commented about GTA's cutscene versus play ratio. Where did I comment on it not having bugs or anything? It is definetly not a perfect 10 game but even with all it's faults you can't compare GTA4 with MGS4 when it comes to talking about cut scenes. GTA4 cut scenes are some of the best I have seen, especially in context with actual gameplay and not stopping the rythem of your gameplay. I would doubt that is the case with the longer much more drawn out cutscenes of MGS4?

I'm wondering how much actual GAMEPLAY MGS4 has? I'm thinking not many hours worth once you take the cutscenes out? But alas we will just have to wait and see.

And lastly... they DID mention CS and installs... and their stance was, Don't Talk About Them. Why? Because they could only have a negative impact on a preview. Why would the load size of an install be a spoiler? Really... someone tell me? And how does telling you that the cutscenes are large... how does that spoil the plot? If everyone KNOWS the facts, but they tell you not to TALK about the facts... then don't you think that is just trying to lead a preview of the game? If you don't then you need to relook at what you are reading and maybe just read the back of the box, look at only the advertisements that they push for games and make your own choice on the matter using just their info?

[TrollLeader1]

every game gets them.

What's in your closet?

[v1c1ous]

its not MGS4 getting attacked.
It's not the content. heck, it's not even the length of the cutscenes like some of you guys are trying to make it out to be.

it's konami's restrictions on something that isn't spoiler related.

if you watch the video, sessler points this out. it's konami's incentive to make a questionable request, that would have otherwise been simply overlooked. it raises a lot of suspicions now.

so what happened? Konami themselves turned an anthill....into a freaking mountain.

[Omegasyde]

Your Correct partly.

Konami wants a perfect score and also realizes there should be some surprises to the gamer who purchased this game day 1.

God Forbid the ending of the game gets put on youtube like Halo 3 did 3 days before the game was even put on shelves.

Also Loading, installs, and cut scenes do get factored into some scores on sites. Did you read the Gamesradar Review?

They knocked the game for not having the ending THEY wanted.

gimme a damn break.

[sonarus]

Yes but do you think konami is the first?

Bottom line is these journalists are blowing things out of proportion. If konami issued huge restrictions, 75% of reviews would only say LONG CUTSCENES and won't even mention install times.

So why the big deal. Bottom line is for some reason konami felt the need to hold back pointless info and instead of these journalists recognizing it for what it is, they have turned it into a full blown scandal.

I wasn't really caring about this stuff till i read gamespot's statement. When they started talking trash about being invited to play the game, then i knew they were just being stupid. Sessler has good intentions and i recognized that but stop treating this thing like its a big deal cus its not. If konami came out and announced hey our game has long cut scenes and has a 4.6GB install, will MGS fans riot and burn down their HQ. In fact i am hoping konami officially announces this so everyone see's it was just blown out of proportion

I am telling you, this is just a ploy to give MGS4 bad press. Anyway the thing is there is no such thing as bad publicity

[The Lazy One]

Hitler wasn't the first one to try to kill a bunch of jews. That doesn't make him a good person.

[ikkokucrisis]

"Anyway the thing is there is no such thing as bad publicity"

Agreed, look at how well Assassin's Creed sold even after all the whining about the freezing issues.

[lodossrage]

You think Konami isn't aware of how America has been treating Sony games. ESPECIALLY exclusives?

And with even something as grand as Metal Gear, you KNOW the American media will try to find the tiniest thing wrong and attempt to role with it.

In fact the parties that are whining and crying about it (i.e. sessler and gamespot) are some of the parties guilty of biased reviews.

So in a way, I don't really blame Konami for putting a leash on certain publications and/or websites.

[InMyOpinion]

I thought freedom of speech was about writing what you feel like, not what someone(Konami) tells you is ok =)

[lodossrage]

But certain reviewers "freedom of speech" gets compromised when certain companies give "gifts" with the review copies of their games to influence the scores.

I'm betting Konami didn't give them any freebies is all lol

Basically, that's them giving the reviewer free stuff to "influence" what they write.

[Omegasyde]

LMAO what you call freedom of speech I call:

Bull@#%@ walks, Money Talks.
No pay, no play.

Jenzo you honestly think Install times and cutscene length wouldn't of effected the scores if they were considered?

[mistertwoturbo]

It's Freedom of Speech. Not freedom of writing.

[Bubble and Squeek]

Now that's just assinine.

[InMyOpinion]

You guys prefer reviews where they leave out certain parts of the game?

How would you like a review of Lair where they don't mention anything about the controls for instance?

If factor 5 did what Konami are doing that could have been the case.

[lodossrage]

Is the controls are part of ACTUAL gameplay.

Install times are not

Are you saying that you'd rather reviewers "spice things up" since they got "gifts". Thereby swaying their opinions?

[InMyOpinion]

Why would I want to see reviews "spiced up" by gifts if I don't like the way Konami are manipulating reviewers? It's just as bad.

Am I the only one in here who prefers honest reviews(even though they are few and far between)?

[lodossrage]

My point is reviewers haven't been honest for a VERY LONG time. This thing with Konami is just the newest instance. Rockstar, Capcom, MS, and Sega have been doing it for a long time. They send "gifts" to the reviewers to manipulate their "opinionated" reviews.

If Konami has given EGM or Gamespot gifts like the other companies, I guarantee you that they wouldn't be crying about Konami "restricting" them right now.

The thing is, the companies like Gamespot are exactly why Konami imposed the limit in the first place. And gamespot has no right to talk about "journalistic integrity" with all the crap that's been going on with them lately. Let us not for get why Jeff Grettsman was fired after all.

So overall, yeah I'd like HONEST reviews just as much as you, the next guy, or whoever else. But the fact of the matter is, that just doesn't happen nowadays. Especially in the american media.

[InMyOpinion]

I know m8, I wasn't saying the other ones are better. The whole "swag" thing is sickening. Be it Rockstar, Microsoft or whomever.

I just got the impression that some persons defended Konami for trying to manipulate reviews, which is just a sad thing to do.

[Timesplitter14]

That was pretty well said. I don't always like him but this time he got it right.

[Aclay]

Konami doesn't have any doubts about MGS4 when it comes to the cutscenes, that guy clearly doesn't know what he's talking about when he said that.

Maybe Konami doesn't want the length of the cutscenes mentioned because they want it to be a surprise and they want people to experience it for themseleves? Who knows. The Metal Gear Solid games have always been known for their highly cinematic integration and it's not like die hard fans of the MGS franchise even give a sh*t how long the cutscenese are because it's not an issue for the MGS fans.

To be honest, I think that if Konami didn't ask certain reviewers not to mention the cutscene length, those same reviewers probably wouldn't have said anything about it at all in their review. And when did the cutscene length in a game became so important that it just HAS to be in a game review?

[Timesplitter14]

I doubt it, honestly. For me, it's obvious they're afraid that it may bring down the sales

Remember I said "THEY"

[dburt]

Sessler rulez!
Game with a poor graphics, 90-minutes long cut-scenes and last-century story can not get 10/10.

[Obama]

no 360 game has better gameplay, graphic, and cutscenes than mgs4. None.

[LenHart]

GAYLO3 ran at 620p ..NG2 ran at 585P

MGS4 has EVERYTHING better than ANY X360 game

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

What does Haze and GTA IV run at on the PS3?

[LuHawk]

PS3 SUCKS

[LenHart]

GT5P looks better than any x360 game released till date and runs at 1080p at 60 fps

GTA4 was ported from x360 to PS3 .

HAZE is the first project for Free Radical on PS3

There are 32 games on PS3 which run at 1080p native

there are 5 ps3 games (rr7,GT5P ,wipeoutHD,NGS,WARDEVIL)at 1080p native at 60 fps . too bad x360 can never run games at that rez and that that FPS

[Halochampian]

he makes a lot of good points.

I dont understand why Konami wanted it to be shh.. shh. It boggles me. They should be happy with the cutscene length no matter how long they are.

and the install time... come on now. People are not gonna say hey.."That is too long... I dont want to play the game anymore."

[boJABER]

100% agreed

[kingOVsticks]

but still egm shouldn't of went on a b!tch fit because they couldn't mention install times and the length of the cutscenes. Adam made it sound like they were(are) minor features but EGM is reacting to it as if there were major things that needed to be mentioned in their review.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

I have:

20 Gig PS3

DMC4 - 5 Gig install
Oblivion - 5 Gig install

I also have many PSN downloadable games.

They want me to forfeit ANOTHER 5 gigs?

I DON'T HAVE ROOM!!!

[The Lazy One]

You guys have access to his PS3 and can confirm that he does in fact have room for all these things?

[Cupid_Viper_3]

and you have valid point. but i have question for you.

WHEN you bought your 20 gig ps3, DID you think that you'd never run out of space? AND HOW IS THAT KONAMI's problem?

secondly? are you also mad at those developers that have more games on PSN to download but you dont have enough space?

because up until now, I NEVER knew that you only had a 20gb ps3 and out of space. SO I'm guessing you're also fed up with MAC for their 2gb ipod, and your pc, and especially with ps1 and ps2 with your memory card being full and all.

my point basically, if and when you buy the game, you look at the back like everybody always does, and it will say :x amount of space required like they always have, and you will do what you've always done before, either upgrade, or delete the files you no longer use and need.

sorry but those are your options... and dont blame MGS4's install, or use it to validate THIS "JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY" crap. you get what you pay for, and apparently, you paid for, wifi, internet browser, six axis, blu ray, games (some with installs, some none) and 20gb of space, and that's exactly what you got......... again, i feel you, but you know what you got to do there buddy....

[Legion]

So how many people that bought a PS3 with 20gig really thought that they would only have enough HD for 3 games and a handful of downloads? Really?! How many?!!

I have over 60 games now and rarely sit down and feel like playing one game through the whole way. Some times I feel like some sports action, others I feel like some free roaming GTA4 action, even others I feel like some on-line multiplayer gaming. Why would I feel good about being forced to download a 5gig install on all the best titles just to play a game? What was all that extra space for on the Bluray again?

Obviously for MANY install is an issue. Konami new this and thought that they would force the hands of the reviewers by curbing talk about a negative aspect of the game. What they have done is isolate the game to it's fans (which aren't many) and made the non fans wonder why they should buy the game...? Me... I'll just wait for the book. (seeing that the movie came out first)

[g3nkie]

Ugh....I hope you know Konami isn't the first publisher to do this. All mediums do this. The difference of this of this case is that EGM decided not to put a review up of MGS4 and make a big deal of it. As for Sessler? He never liked the cutscenes in MGS. He always had crap to say about the cutscenes so whatever, all XPlay is anymore is stupid skits, Halo tips and stabs at Sony, so listening to them anymore is just stupid anyways...

[The Lazy One]

He didn't say anything about the cutscenes themselves. He didn't stab at sony, he didn't put on a skit, and he didn't mention halo.

PHAIL

edit: so then why make the ad hominem attack? That makes the better half of your post an off topic attack of him. way2troll.

[lodossrage]

He wasn't talking about THIS particular instance.

[g3nkie]

Hey moron. Watch Xplay and you'll see what I'm talking about....

[g3nkie]

Ya, because thats what I meant to do, is troll.....

[Lew_Ijgee]

Why b1tch about the situation. They have a review build of the game, and we have all seen to what that can lead. For example, reviewers changing scores because load times were very long in the review build but completely normal in the final release.

If the reviewers do not like the NDA restrictions then they should hold off on the review until the day of release when the NDA becomes obsolete.

These elements of the NDA, in my opinion, will not effect the overall quality of the game. The review score is an opinionated assessment of (you got it) the overall quality of the game. To feel that you can't review a game because you can't speak of how long/big is the install would be petty. Imagine if every review for an Xbox 360 game mentioning the possibility of RROD, or with every PC game review praising that your PC can be used to create games.

[MazzingerZ]

Don't know who that guy is but that video is proof of why Konami didn't want installs and cut-scenes length info be disclosed

Did this guy mention that cut-scenes are skippable? (which people that don't care about cut-scenes expect to be able to do, even if it doesn't make any sense)

did this guy mention that you can pause them?

NO. he didn't and that's exactly what KONAMI tried to prevent, many gameing sites, like Kotaku (even if the video is not theirs) are anti-PS3, they make full articles about how bad sixaxis works on GTAIV to write at the end "thank god they are optional", Konami knows that many sites would use this to bash the game without mentioning that cut-scenes are awesome or worthly, skippable, etc, etc

MGS Fans know that voice acting is top notch and dialogue awesome... non-MGS fans pictures a 90 minutes cheesy cut-scenes

I'm sure there's a theatre mode to watch unlocked cut-scenes similar (rather improved) to the one found in the other MGS game, there might be another features, but the thing is that KONAMI knows that if it allows to disclose that info regarding installs and cut-scenes length then KONAMI is also forced to release more info regarding that in order to calm gamers (newbies) down... which would spoil the game for many gamers as they want to discover those features by themselves

Do any of you really think Kojima would just put a couple of 90 min long-cut scenes in the game without giving the player options to handle them as it suits them better? I guess he knows that even the most hard-MGS fan have kids they need to take care of, go to sleep or go take a sh*t in the middle of a cut-scene

I don't care about the others, I know MGS-fans are getting what they expected a game for the fans...that reviewers can't come with their exclusives reviewes before the others is not my problem....I miss those days when reviews came after the game was out...when gaming sites even bought their own copies to review rather than expect review-kits from publishers

Just 7 days left!

[Mutley416]

Man I can`t wait for the long Cut scenes!!!! and Install times!!!!

But so far it`s been getting good scores so... Do not talk about the Install times and the cutscenes... ok, reviewers like to talk about whatever they want, that is the way journalist are. They like to write/talk. Konami is just being protective of his rather(50 gigs WOW) big baby-

This game could sell a lot of consoles for Sony.... but not with bad reviews-
I wonder if G4TV is gonna have the hype day Halo3 got?
Is Adam gonna talk about it with the wonder and hype he had with Halo3?

I really hope are so called journalists are not bias-
I Also hope people realize the amount of work that is put into those cutscenes-
And that MGS is truly a great game to lose ones self in, A thinking game, with puzzles stealth and story... Not a reload as fast as you can game-
friggin load times...LOL- Get Real-

[ikkokucrisis]

"I really hope are so called journalists are not bias- "

unfortunately, this whole fiasco has already made it even more obvious with whose being paid by whom to do what.

[mistertwoturbo]

Why do they want to tell people how long a cutscene or install time is so badly?

[boJABER]

bcuz thats their only way to bring the score down :D

[Avto]

I had it up to my neck with this sh1t I mean all Konami did is ask this fcukers not to talk about this two things and what did they do they turned this into world wide hysteria now everyone knows there are long cutscenes and loading times and now they say we can't review the game cuz there are things we can't say but they already said it so what's the deal it's really pathetic how they grip the last two things to give the game a bad score

[ikkokucrisis]

...how these review sites have people who support their actions.

They were given exclusive access to play an early version of the game.

A very generous offering, that was taken, thrown on the ground, and stepped on by EGM, 1UP, and Eurogamer.

[Rocko]

You go and prove me wrong. Your seriously going to defend this sh*t? Konami asking reviewers to keep this stuff secret is bullsh*t. The fact you fangirls find this acceptable says a lot about you...

[ikkokucrisis]

This Sh!t as you call it has been happening since long before this incident, and the only fact that it is making news is because someone that didn't get to double dip was crying about it.

The people that I hate the most are hypocrites, and as I've watched the spin on words and bias that have come from these websites, they are a hundred times worse than the game publishers that write disclaimers for their non-final game builds.

So who is defending who? To me it sounds like you are defending these sites that lie, cheat, and steal their way to the top.

[beavis4play]

notice i said konami rep? i haven't seen anything. i have seen konami statement saying they want to protect the story of game but nothing more.

[Bubble and Squeek]

I'll do that when you show me one document signed by Hitler authorising the holocaust.

Notice I said Hitler...

I haven't seen anything of the sort so therefore he couldn't have had anything to do with it.

----------------------------- ------------------------------ - ---------

Please also note, I'm not comparing Konami to the Nazis. I'm just pointing out how having unreasonably high standards for evidence to support a view iw, well, unreasonable. NDAs are publically viewable, because they are NDAs and it would be countr-intuitive for it to be otherwise.

Would you allow me to turn the question around?

Why do you not feel that the various publications are telling the truth? Why would they lie (real reasons. Not paranoid conspiracy theories)? And finally (and most importantly), because this story is likely to lose Konami sales and decrease their reputation in the game world.

Why haven't Konami sought legal redress? Libel, slander and malicious falsehood would all fit.

[ZonexFavel]

I didn't get to see the video yet but about the whole why people are getting upset about not mentioning it, I think it has to do with the customer. Most people might be fine with the big installs and cutscenes and I don't have a problem with the installs. But reviewers are suppose to give insight about the game so that the customer can make an informed choice. Just because you don't mind the facts about long cutscenes and big installs doesn't mean that's someone else's preference. So although some might review it lower because of this information I think a lot of sites went the route of not reviewing it because they wanted to give all the information to customers who want to make a choice before they buy. It might be on the back of the box but reviews can also influence pre-order decisions and for a game this hot a pre-order is most likely going to be mandatory.