Konami in review cover up scandal

Sources: Konami Asked 'Metal Gear Solid 4′ Reviewers Not To Mention Cut Scene Length And Installation Time

While reporting MTV Multiplayer's week-long series about game reviews I've heard from members of the gaming press about restrictions publishers place on game reviews. I'm familiar with some of these. It's common for a publisher to specify plot details that they don't want revealed in reviews.

What I heard about print reviews for "Metal Gear Solid 4" was different.

I've been told by two gaming media sources who asked to remain anonymous that Konami representatives had been asking print reviewers to keep some technical details out of their reviews, namely the length of the game's cut-scenes and the size of the game's installation on the PlayStation 3.

Such details wouldn't have been plot spoilers, but perhaps the publisher was concerned that they would be viewed as negatives?

Konami representatives declined to comment to me about any of this, as did editors of a few major video game magazines.

A couple of weeks ago, gaming blog Kotaku posted back-to-back links about the two supposedly off-limits topics. The size of the game's installation was spotted on the "MGS4″ box. The other was a disputed report about the length of the cut-scenes.

So that technical information - accurate or not, I don't know - is getting out there. And that information about the game has been acknowledged by Eurogamer, which ran an "MGS4″ review that mentions both things.

Whether Konami really has put these limits on reviewers and if such limits are tolerable to game reviewers is something I can't answer. It's something worth keeping an eye on as print reviews of "MGS4″ start trickling out.

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/05/30/possible-mgs4-review-limits/

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=303619

They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. Cooldude224

It's like a mistake isn't it?

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"]They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. snakefist5000

It's like a mistake isn't it?

Yeah, backfire. Silly Konami.

They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. Cooldude224

No, the cutscenes are apparently amazing, just long. Some people might be turned off.

I think maybe we have been all wrong about the installation thing, sure the PS3 must do it because of the crappy read speeds of BD but I wouldn't mind the option of doing it on the 360 also. Even if it only makes the game 1% better hey, that's still 1% better for those of us with a harddrive.

If it's optional it could be an improvement over what we see now and it would give the 360 devs some experence with installations for when the next xbox comes out and has a BD drive in it anyway.

This may or may not be true. News from random blogs and forum threads can be created by anyone and are more often false than true.

They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. Cooldude224

IGN said that roughly half of the game's content was cut-scenes which I am quite happy about, but I can understand if a lot of people don't like it, though IGN did state that you could skip them and play through the game without watching any cutscenes and it would be fine.

I really don't mind the installations but the cutscene time is something I've always hated about the Metal Gear series and other Japanese titles. When I sit down to play a videogame having to sit through lengthy cutscenes annoys the piss out of me. Especially if it contains plotpoints that are probably important. They should have figured out how to work that into the gameplay by now.

Now I admit, nobody does it better than Kojima, except maybe Square. But he tends to go overboard and I think it's more arrogance than anything else. There are very few people in the industry that can get away with doing something like that.

90 minute cut scenes are lame when the voice over work sucks. (not saying it does, just saying it might)MrGrimFandango

Same voice over work as before, so we know it will be AMAZING!

LOL, at least Konami didnt try to pay the reviewersVaan7

where was it written that a developer paid for good reviews? Where's your proof. I see this claim thrown around all the time and have never seen prrof to the accusation

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"]They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. donwoogie

IGN said that roughly half of the game's content was cut-scenes which I am quite happy about, but I can understand if a lot of people don't like it, though IGN did state that you could skip them and play through the game without watching any cutscenes and it would be fine.

Paying $60 for 50% of a Game doesnt sound appealing to me.

I really don't mind the installations but the cutscene time is something I've always hated about the Metal Gear series and other Japanese titles. When I sit down to play a videogame having to sit through lengthy cutscenes annoys the piss out of me. Especially if it contains plotpoints that are probably important. They should have figured out how to work that into the gameplay by now.

Now I admit, nobody does it better than Kojima, except maybe Square. But he tends to go overboard and I think it's more arrogance than anything else. There are very few people in the industry that can get away with doing something like that.

heretrix

The way I see it, Kojima has a huge vision for his games, but once he starts putting this vision into a game, he sticks rigidly to it and won't alter it for critics, superiors or even fans of the series and when he's done, you will inevitably disagree with bits of the game.

[QUOTE="donwoogie"]

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"]They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. Cooldude224

IGN said that roughly half of the game's content was cut-scenes which I am quite happy about, but I can understand if a lot of people don't like it, though IGN did state that you could skip them and play through the game without watching any cutscenes and it would be fine.

Paying $60 for 50% of a Game doesnt sound appealing to me.

Depends on the game length I suppose. If the gameplay length in itself is very long anyway, then 50% cutscenes doesn't seem too bad. Obviously, if it is a 4 hour game with 4 horus of cutscenes, that would be a bit irritating.

we back to 90 min cs again lmao!

Edit: that 50% gameplay (its not 50, but I'll play along) is still longer then most games out there ;)

[QUOTE="donwoogie"]

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"]They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. Cooldude224

IGN said that roughly half of the game's content was cut-scenes which I am quite happy about, but I can understand if a lot of people don't like it, though IGN did state that you could skip them and play through the game without watching any cutscenes and it would be fine.

Paying $60 for 50% of a Game doesnt sound appealing to me.

You're getting about fifteen hours of gameplay and fifteen hours of cinematics. Plus you get all of the VR missions (I'd assume there are some) and online.

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"][QUOTE="donwoogie"]

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"]They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. dewmandew7

IGN said that roughly half of the game's content was cut-scenes which I am quite happy about, but I can understand if a lot of people don't like it, though IGN did state that you could skip them and play through the game without watching any cutscenes and it would be fine.

Paying $60 for 50% of a Game doesnt sound appealing to me.

You're getting about fifteen hours of gameplay and fifteen hours of cinematics. Plus you get all of the VR missions (I'd assume there are some) and online.

15 hours of cinematics :shock:. That is way too much for me. Thats longer than the 3 LotR movies.

So, that explain the 10/10 scores, they paid most reviewers

HAHAHA, the best PS3 game a FAKE !!! in reviews

Paid reviews are great, unless you are cought doing it !!!

So, that explain the 10/10 scores, they paid most reviewers

HAHAHA, the best PS3 game a FAKE !!! in reviews

Paid reviews are great, unless you are cought doing it !!!

kostmpekir

It didn't say that anywhere. :| Please read a news story before you make assumptions. They simple asked the reviewers not to mention cutscene length or the install, which we should have all known was coming, anyway.

[QUOTE="dewmandew7"][QUOTE="Cooldude224"][QUOTE="donwoogie"]

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"]They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. Cooldude224

IGN said that roughly half of the game's content was cut-scenes which I am quite happy about, but I can understand if a lot of people don't like it, though IGN did state that you could skip them and play through the game without watching any cutscenes and it would be fine.

Paying $60 for 50% of a Game doesnt sound appealing to me.

You're getting about fifteen hours of gameplay and fifteen hours of cinematics. Plus you get all of the VR missions (I'd assume there are some) and online.

15 hours of cinematics :shock:. That is way too much for me. Thats longer than the 3 LotR movies.

This game is going to be sooooooo f****** EPIC!

Is Microsoft asking Gamespot not to review NG2 also a scandal?????????????anthonydwyer

If the score is not good it may be a reason why a game has to wait until after it out for the review to be posted. Then again this is also Gamespot and they are normally one of the last to post a review.

I dont care what Konami does, this game is Metal Gear Solid 4, and Kojima was hands-on. How can they go wrong?

[QUOTE="anthonydwyer"]Is Microsoft asking Gamespot not to review NG2 also a scandal?????????????HarlockJC

If the score is not good it may be a reason why a game has to wait until after it out for the review to be posted. Then again this is also Gamespot and they are normally one of the last to post a review.

Yeah but like I said Microsoft have asked for gs to delay the review

So, that explain the 10/10 scores, they paid most reviewers

HAHAHA, the best PS3 game a FAKE !!! in reviews

Paid reviews are great, unless you are cought doing it !!!

kostmpekir

Are you kidding me?

Geesh, fanboys are so delusional.

[QUOTE="HarlockJC"]

[QUOTE="anthonydwyer"]Is Microsoft asking Gamespot not to review NG2 also a scandal?????????????anthonydwyer

If the score is not good it may be a reason why a game has to wait until after it out for the review to be posted. Then again this is also Gamespot and they are normally one of the last to post a review.

Yeah but like I said Microsoft have asked for gs to delay the review

And you know this how?

Isnt MGS4 getting praised for its story telling? If you skip the cut scenes then you would miss the story. Which is half of the game. Cooldude224

I thought on the first review they said it was roughly 10 hour cut scenes and 20 hours gameplay.

[QUOTE="donwoogie"]

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"]They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. Cooldude224

IGN said that roughly half of the game's content was cut-scenes which I am quite happy about, but I can understand if a lot of people don't like it, though IGN did state that you could skip them and play through the game without watching any cutscenes and it would be fine.

Paying $60 for 50% of a Game doesnt sound appealing to me.

That half is still like 15 hours...which compared to some shooters with like 7 hour campaigns including cutscenes, thats still awesome.

rofl, well they have failed. Weeks ago people knew that MGS4 was going to have lengthy cut scenes (heck I thought someone said one is goign to be 1.5 hours!).

Everyone already knows the install info as well....I'm not sure why this is news because it seems everyone has already commented on it.

[QUOTE="donwoogie"]

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"]They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. Cooldude224

IGN said that roughly half of the game's content was cut-scenes which I am quite happy about, but I can understand if a lot of people don't like it, though IGN did state that you could skip them and play through the game without watching any cutscenes and it would be fine.

Paying $60 for 50% of a Game doesnt sound appealing to me.

The other 50% is still a video game you know...

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"]90 minute cut scenes are lame when the voice over work sucks. (not saying it does, just saying it might)dewmandew7

Same voice over work as before, so we know it will be AMAZING!

90 minute cutscenes!???? WTF!???? The longest Cutscenes in MGS3 were less than 15 minutes...

[QUOTE="dewmandew7"]

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"]90 minute cut scenes are lame when the voice over work sucks. (not saying it does, just saying it might)Kratos_OMEGA

Same voice over work as before, so we know it will be AMAZING!

90 minute cutscenes!???? WTF!???? The longest Cutscenes in MGS3 were less than 15 minutes...

There isn't going to be a 90 minute cutscene, and Metal Gear Solid 3 was the worst Metal Gear. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was the best one, and for me the greatest video game of all time, and had a 45 minute or so cutscene.

[QUOTE="dewmandew7"]

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"]90 minute cut scenes are lame when the voice over work sucks. (not saying it does, just saying it might)Kratos_OMEGA

Same voice over work as before, so we know it will be AMAZING!

90 minute cutscenes!???? WTF!???? The longest Cutscenes in MGS3 were less than 15 minutes...

that 90 minute cutscene rumor has been debunked, but they said that the longest one is about 45 minutes

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"][QUOTE="donwoogie"]

[QUOTE="Cooldude224"]They must be pretty bad if Konami needed to cover them up. Pietrooper

IGN said that roughly half of the game's content was cut-scenes which I am quite happy about, but I can understand if a lot of people don't like it, though IGN did state that you could skip them and play through the game without watching any cutscenes and it would be fine.

Paying $60 for 50% of a Game doesnt sound appealing to me.

The other 50% is still a video game you know...

It's still 100% video game.... RPG,MMORPG say hello :D (what % of Mass Effect is text interaction?)

The ADD shooter line is over there, cliffy b saved ya a spot :P

rofl, well they have failed. Weeks ago people knew that MGS4 was going to have lengthy cut scenes (heck I thought someone said one is goign to be 1.5 hours!).

Everyone already knows the install info as well....I'm not sure why this is news because it seems everyone has already commented on it.

darthogre

kinda missing the point.

the point is that Konami specifically instructed the reviewers to not talk about those points, but that doesnt mean that we didnt find out the information a different way.

the way the mandatory installation was found out was that someone took a picture of the back of MGS4 box and noticed that requirement.

im not sure, but i think the cut-scene information wasnt told thru reviews, but thru blogs

Atleast they didnt pay for the great Scores. The game deserves every bit of it.

Yea that's probably to save them from people realizing that according to IGN half the game is cutscenes. That is a tad absurd for some people who just want to play.Vaasman

The IGN review said that if you don't like the story, just skip the cutscenes and the game is still worth playing:

If cut-scenes aren't your thing you can, of course, just skip right through them all. You'll be missing out on a great deal, but you will be able to cut right to the chase – or in this case, cut right to the sneak. Metal Gear was the original stealth game, but here, the mechanics of sneaking around and snapping necks are the most polished they've ever been: a refined control scheme, new gadgets, and just the sheer muscle of the PlayStation 3 take the stealth in MGS 4 to another level. Blend into the background with the new OctoCamo – an extension of Snake-Eater's camouflage system that obviates the need to mess around with menus and consequently works much more effectively. Keep track of threats with the stealth ring system (pausing or crouching to get a bead on nearby enemies). Use your Solid Eye to switch to night vision, or thermal goggles, or binoculars to spot important items. Survey the battlefield with Otacon's new Metal Gear Mk. II. And use the new Dreben Points system to scour the battlefield for salvage – salvage that can be exchanged for ammo, items and new weapons.IGN UK DUDE