Metal Gear Solid 5 is what they call in the NFL “forth and short”. A GameSpot February 7, 2014 article focused on developers defending the length of Metal Gear Solid 5. Watching the Avengers movie could be longer than completing this game? But that characteristic matters not when gamers use their purchasing power for quality. Some games you can complete in a day are: God War 3, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2, and Batman Arkham Asylum. The IPO price for all those games just mentioned was $60. The next gen digital copy for MGS5 is $30.

The only thing I would call bollocks on is the fact that Kojima Productions didn’t look at length as a marketing liability. That’s why that diatribe by Massimo Guarini spewed out in a report. Having something neglected always brings out the worst in people.

The positives are Metal Gear Solid 5 has a high probability of being great (track record says it all). This game being discounted in the future from $30 is better than a starting price of $60. Seeing the financial savings for digitalis copies over physical ones is a positive sign for future next gen game releases. The digital format for MGS5 on the PS4 is 25% less than the physical copy.

Bringing back the point of media length, and how it doesn’t really matter. 20^th century TV went from 20 episode seasons, to paying 21stcentury cash for 21^st century ten episode box sets. All of the 20^th century TV episodes were back to back, now seasons are broken up. The Walking Dead starts back up tonight, after months of hiatus. Millions of consumers so far have supported this media tactic.

So how can this translate to games? Instead of a full game costing $60, developers could just cut the game in half and sell the first half for $40,wait a quarter, then sell the final half for $40. That type of media business mode will likely be tested in the future.