Bullet Points @ timlongo.com

A few weeks ago I finally got off my ass and uploaded the slides from my short lecture at GDC 08. Yes that was many months ago, but better late than never. I really appreciate all the interest in getting a copy of the slides from those of you who asked and I’m sorry it took me so long to share them publicly.

Here is a link to the slides on the GDC site itself. They are in PDF format for general consumption. I tend to keep my slides simple and clear and they really only act as a framework for the talk. So if you didn’t attend or listen to the audio you may not get much from them alone. Though I did reveal the slide notes in the PDF to provide some help.

The real reason I’m posting these slides though, is that I never got a winner for the “mini-game” that I had embedded in my slides. Forget the content of the slides, have fun just trying to figure out the answer to the mini-game! Each of the “10 Keys” had an image of a key from a different famous game throughout gaming history. The first one to send me an email with the correct names of all ten games will win a free copy of a Tomb Raider game of their choice! I think Morgan Gray was the one who has gotten the farthest with 6 out of 10 correct answers which he figured out during the actual lecture. Go Morgan!

Hope you have fun figuring out the keys and GDC 09 is right around the corner!

P.S. So is the IGDA Leadership Forum. Check for them…

Well, sorry for the even longer delay this time. I actually finished MGS3 a few weeks ago and have not had a chance to post. I’m actually on to Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops for the PSP now. I’ve gone completely MGS insane apparently. But moving on to the main post…

I’m done! The goal of Operation Shadow Moses is complete. I’ve played all three of the first set of games and am prepared for MGS4 (which will be later on an under a different mission name, of course). I’ve never had so much enjoyment going back to play a series that I missed the first time. The amount of effort and care that has gone into these games was astounding not only for their generation, but for any generation, I think. Yes, the story is off the wall. Yes, the characters are nearly impossible to relate to, but yes, the series stands on it’s own and cannot be compared to anything else. More and more these days, as I am only scratching the surface of what it means to produce a game of such high standards as a Metal Gear, I am dumbfounded by the amount of craftsmanship put into the more influential games out there. I find myself stopping and just sitting there, in awe, of the shear amount of work that is involved. The attention to detail that I’ve been talking about all this time finally culminates in MGS3 in most every way and I just want to give up. I’ve been invovled in my fair share of large scale games too. But I find myself wanting to know what their production process is like, how they work as a team, how they make decisions, how they get the ok to move forward on shear insanity, and how they have the faith to continue under all of it. I look forward to MGS4 if for no other reason than to see the current gen version of this craziness.

I try to think of other endeavors in our industry that can match it all. Say what you will about the content, the themes, the style, it is hard to argue the point of craftsmanship. What can we really compare these games to? GTA? - Perhaps a series of games which put a lot of half done pieces into an ingenious context to make someting magical, but nothing beyond that. Final Fantasy? - A series that throws more at the screen than you can even remember in order to really convince you of greatness while you forget all the flaws after a hundred hours. Half-Life? - A series that is limited by it’s medium, which benefits from that focus but cannot flourish beyond those limitations to deliver deeper meanings. Mario? - Pure gameplay for the sake of gameplay without the resonance of a context that anyone really cares about apart from nostalgia or childlike delight. A toy. But how do you take a context, a style, a theme(s), an experience, a gameplay genre and on top of all of that give the player some of the best tools for gameplay expression without them even knowing it? You make a Metal Gear game.

A recent quote from Kojima which exemplifies how differently they think of their purpose as developers. Obviously he is talking about MGS4 but the point is to share the attitude:

“The heroes in most animations and movies don’t age. They are often immortal. Snake, on the other hand, has aged with the times. I made him this way because of the unique characteristics of the game medium. Snake is a fictional character, but at the same time he represents the players themselves because of the interactive nature of games.

I would like you to think that this good-bye to Snake is a good-bye to this era and represents closure to your old self. If there ever were to be a new Snake (might have a different name), he will be a Snake for a new era.”

It just seems like so often all we ever get from developer as spokesperson is how cool chainsaws on laser guns are or how pissed off we should be about lame game forum moderation. Eyes on the prize people! We are trying to keep our head above water in an industry that is taking it from all ends. We need to stop fracking around and use our medium for good and not evil. I know it might sound odd, but Snake really is a hero for a generation and he carries a strong burden on his shoulders like any good popular (or classical) hero should. I suggest you give him a chance and see what he can tell you. You may not want to take him seriously, but he sure wants you to try.

Final Live Blog from MGS3 playthrough (from Lab to end):
• Costumes are fun.
• Pushing up his glasses. Attention to detail.
• Missing link. Metal Gear? “Legs are what we need on our weapons.” Of course they are.
• Philosophers Legacy. Best name for a shit load of money I have ever heard.
• The Father of Metal Gear - “Thank you for the compliment of my nice shoes.”
• Uh, The Fear. Er…why do they all blow themselves up when they die? Oh, right, it is Metal Gear.
• Will he please stop saying his own name over and over again.
• Fear was a nice combo of a few different mechanics though. Optionally even.
• Spider theme I guess. Bees and Spiders. The Fear = Arachnophobia?
• The End, father of modern sniping.
• Love that I could have sniped him the first time if I’d known.
• Or Wait two weeks in real time for him to die? Shit that is brilliant.
• Sometimes, it is actually very hard to see Snake on screen with the right camo. Even for me as the player.
• God rays to The End.
• Parrot from MGS2?
• What is up with his eye?
• He is one with the forest?
• Started raining during The End fight. Felt quite good.
• He freakin’ falls asleep. That is awesome.
• Now mist is happening? Great atmospheric effects over time.
• The End is so fun to search for. There are so may tricks to finding him and sneaking up on him.
• Thermal Goggles show his footprints! Ah, but your footprints mess it up if you backtrack.
• The jungle sound effects are very very well done.
• The videos for when you eat animals are hilarious.
• Rotten food needs to be cured!? I have a stomach ache!
• The End - “Spirits of the forest I thank you.”
• Nothing like sneaking up on the greatest sniper in the world and shooting him in the back with a shotgun to finish him off.
• The longest ladder climb in the world with a musical soundtrack underscoring your ascent!
• Ok…this ladder is too long. WTF.
• Yup, I just yawned while climbing this same ladder. Seriously.
• Now at the mountain top. The variety of locations is pretty damn good.
• Nothing like waiting for 2 minutes straight for the alert to turn off.
• That colonel looks a lot like Raiden.
• Eva - “Does it have to be one or the other? Love or Hate?”
• So are there guys that look like the dudes in HL2?
• So after the fury, are the cobras the fantastic four?
• Great fire.
• Once again Raiden is naked. Of course.
• Sokolov - “All I wanted to do is build space rockets…but it was not to be.”
• Raiden gets his junk grabbed again! Oh, and what is up with the the colonel and the kid?
• Love The Boss’s suit.
• That was the most brutal fight scene I’ve ever seen.
• Bag over the head…
• Slap to the face with red mark. Twice!
• Fuckin’ freaky shit with the Sorrow behind The Boss with R1 view.
• Why can’t I steal the weapons off of guys when I’m messed up?
• So Ocelot is the reason for the eye patch. Man, Snake is messed up.
• The great Snake fighting with a fork.
• The Sorrow and all the dead soldiers. Apparently each one you killed in the game is here in the ghost scene.
• The Sorrow - “You will be killed by your own sons.” “They live inside you.”
• Time Paradox. ‘Nuff said.
• Kill yourself to win!
• Eva - “Can’t even eat snake during a mission?” “I’d like to eat you.”
• Nothing like making a heart or butterfly out of C3 explosive putty. Only in this game would that occur.
• Eva as Raiden? = Player?
• Crazy bike scene at the end.
• More with the variety of gameplay. Bikes now escort. And an irritating escort as well.
• “When life ends, it leaves a lingering aroma.”
• What the fuck is the Boss talking about? Now she is barren? And now she is going into space?
• Cycle of war. The Boss was at Normandy. She is the last child of the Philosophers.
• What, she gave birth on the battlefield of Normandy and The Sorrow was the father?
• The Boss - “I’ve never talked this much about myself before. Thanks for listening to me.”
• Snake gets all the money.
• Player gets to execute The Boss.
• Drinking wine in front of a fireplace!?
• “…and you have to live.”
• 14:35:11 Jaguar

The Mission is over. Now it is time to live.

More delay on posting. In the middle of MGS3 now. Minor Spoilers below.

Freedom versus Continuity. A common topic and sometimes issue of any franchise. Prequels tend to be a solution to the problem when Freedom wins out as the main goal of the endeavor. That was Kojima’s choice this time. Whether he was looking for freedom or not I guess you couldn’t really tell. MGS3 is a prequel and so far (maybe half way through the game) there is a certain sense of freedom from the previous two that he has been able to accomplish. MGS2 left in such an odd state that if he has been saving up how to resolve that continuity all those years in order to allow 4 (just having come out this year) to finally resolve everything then I can’t blame him for doing 3 in the meantime. Why not take a game off with 3 and go back and fill in some backstory and origin histories for some characters. I’m sure it isn’t totally cut off from the story thread and I know some of the characters from 3 even show up all those years later in 4, but I have really been enjoying the prequel mentality on this one. There is almost a relaxing quality to being able to not worry as much about what is happening and where it fits into the grand scheme of things. With 2 I felt that I had to really search each scene for a deeper meaning and for the link to 1 and beyond and it got to be too much at times. There is a significant choice to be made when looking at continuity or the risk-free path of prequels. Yet there is a weird balance and expectation that even a prequel must fit in somehow as it obviously should explain why things got underway in the first place. There is such a thing as going too far though. Feeling the need to explain too much and fit too many things together in order to make the other stories seem cohesive or justified can throw things into eye rolling territory when you ask yourself the question of why they didn’t just leave well enough alone.

Again I bring up George Lucas (I don’t know why exactly, but I have been feeling the need to compare the two a lot as I play) who took the first three movies and added not one, but three prequels to the canon in order to try to tell the “complete” story. We all know how that turned out. But now I will bring up another example which, if it is true that it actually is a prequel, to me proves that the right amount of backwards exposition can be a very good thing if done well. With Shadow of the Colossus we saw a potential origin story of the Ico myth with very minimal exposition and hand holding. I don’t think it was ever totally confirmed that it was an official prequel but the pieces fit together. The amount of subtlety is perfect for the fiction and like MGS3 there is a release from having to continue the story from Ico so that we as players can come at the experience with a clean mind with only a hint of fiction from before. They chose the right time and right amount of information to bring you along but to still deliver a sense of wonder as well. MGS3, so far, is striking that balance quite well. What is more, when introducing such characters as The Boss (not to be mistaken with The Big Boss) we are not only introduced to new faces which still fit into the canon but new concepts and exposition which we are surprised and happy to know. Freedom with Continuity at the same time? Perhaps. We’ll see how it goes. I am still intrigued by the direction things are heading but as with any good prequel, I am still gaining new knowledge about an old concept. As long as it remains to be the right amount of knowledge.

Finally, there is the final aspect of continuity versus freedom in the fact that the farther a franchise goes the harder it is for new audience members to enter the fiction. TV shows suffer from this in an extreme way. Games do as well. Long running movie franchise like Bond or Batman (both of which have had recent “resets”). MGS3 is an odd hybrid at this point. Sometimes I feel like a new audience member would be lost but most of the time it is all fresh and new. The sweet spot for a franchise at this stage is to find a way to do both, and trust me, that isn’t easy.

Opening of the game to the Lab:
• The opening song is so classic Bond it isn’t even funny. But it is brilliant as a parody at the same time. You have to watch that opening.
• More Russian Cold War themes. Wise idea to go back to the 60s (prequel).
• “THE Boss, the mother of the Special Forces.”
• Great rumble design. I remember that from the previous games as well. Rare to even notice.
• Snake has the same mask as Raiden in the beginning?
• Awesome free-fall HALO jump opening.
• Jack? But what about David?
• The Boss - “Politics determine who you face on the battlefield.”
• The changing times.
• The Boss - “Only the mission matters.” She seems oddly conflicted. Am I reading more into it or is it just good performing (both on animation and VO)?
• Finally, a game where I can crawl through the grass in first person view!
• Convincing jungles to be sure.
• Zero - “If you just stand up and run around the jungle like an idiot you’ll be spotted.”
• The Sneaking in the Grass is amazing.
• Wind blowing you off bridge is great.
• Fun humor with Sokolov. Not too campy.
• Retro Ocelot…nice. Ocelot unit. The origin of Revolver! Maybe my favorite character.
• Combo of US and Japanese esthetics is much stronger in this game. Even if you look at the timeline provided in the manual, it calls out many American movies and events. More than Japanese even.
• The Boss - “He has not yet found an emotion to carry into battle.”
• Boss relationship is nice and complex.
• Nice touch with the bandana.
• The first Metal Gear?
• Volgin - “Remember the Alamo.” Said by a Russian guy.
• Excuse for a drone?
• Back to where we started. Oh boy. Re-use, re-use, re-use.
• The Boss - “Looks like death wasn’t ready for you yet.” She is quickly becoming my favorite.
• Speaking Russian? There was a reference that Snake’s Russian is quite good. The lip-sync is clearly off. So either they are implying that everyone is speaking Russian and they are dubbing or they never bothered to do English lip-syncing. The former would be quite an interesting choice. The later isn’t typical of Kojima as the previous games didn’t do that. I am hoping for the former.
• I love the Boss horse scene for some reason. Why the hell did she ride in on a horse? Another Western thing from Kojima? I predict it now…the next game follows the story of The Big Boss in the old Wild West!
• The way he describes the new gun is hilarious and so Kojima.
• The Eva scenes are classic as well. Good old womanizer.
• Adam and Eva and Snake, nice.
• The music for the Eva intro is spot on as well.
• Analog button zoom…great and rare touch. have always known there is analog button control on the controllers but have never seen anyone use it.
• Fun sequence taking out all the guys after Eva.
• Great and crazy motorcycle fight.
• The survival mechanics and UI are quite well done and fleshed out. I’m surprised. We’ll see how long it lasts.
• Never has walking slowly in water been so much fun.
• Theme of changing perspectives?
• WTF kind of game allows you to burn leeches off of your character with a cigar?
• Do I really need to be managing my inventory? I mean, come on.
• Quick sand too. First?
• Good old fashioned western duel with Ocelot. Another west reference.
• The underground caverns are a nice change.
• The Pain. Yet another crazy boss. Dancing in his Thai Chi way. Cool bee-themed abilities though.
• Boy, I looooove to walk through water really slowly. For a long time. Damn it!
• Ocelot juggling his guns now?
• There it is, someone wet themselves. Pee in all three so far.
• I don’t know what the End is all about, but I like him so far.
• Hmmm…what is the deal with The Sorrow?
• So I just realized I haven’t been using radar at all. Did they abandon it this version?
• The art direction is very good in this one. Consistent and different from the others. And amazing for PS2.

More to come…

P.S. This just in, as I found this out after I wrote this post. Apparently it was widely known that the main character in this game IS Big Boss and not Solid Snake. I don’t know what this does to my whole point about Freedom or Continuity but is must mess it all up in some way. Up to you to decide if you even care about any of it. I’d like to take a poll to see how many people even knew about that. Apparently it was widely publicized before MGS3 launched as well.

Sorry for the delay, I actually finished the game during the three days off (both 1 and 2 in three days isn’t bad) but didn’t get a chance to post until now. On to the post…

At some point in the past, while I was at Lucas, I remember George giving a interview that became somewhat infamous because he basically said (and I’m paraphrasing from memory, of course) that he has a story he wants to tell and that the fans really don’t factor into it. The prequel Star Wars films were tragic for the fans. Especially fans who worked for George like me. But in the end, it was really his call. Did SW become bigger than him? Yes, and maybe he should have done a better job keeping that in mind, but just because it became a pop-culture religion doesn’t mean he has to play along. It is still his own journey. I know I’ve gotten caught in the trap of letting business win over creative decisions a bit too many times in the past, so I have to hand it to anyone who plays that balance of personal and creative expression versus strategic business decisions. It ain’t easy. And I’m typically not one to defend George on this, trust me, but just this once it applies.

So this brings us again back to Kojima. Let me also say, even though I’m focusing heavily on the individual leader, I know that there are teams at play here and it really doesn’t boil down to just one person. But in this case I do get the impression that Kojima is such a driving force that he is really the main one delivering the messages. I also have never seen someone’s name in any credits list as many times for one product as I have with Kojima. Call it ego or maybe just call it a lot of hard work and passion.

The reason I brought up GL is to compare his plight to that of Kojima’s after MGS1. There were two ways he could have gone. Basically make a standard sequel to MGS1 that played off of what made it great and give us exactly what we wanted or use the success of MG1 to launch an unexpected sequel that is dense with commentary on what it means to play games (among other themes as well) which works on a much deeper level. Like George, he has a story he wanted to tell and a message he wanted to deliver and he delivered it the way he thought best for him. MSG2 takes the series into places that no one would have expected based on the previous game and then turns that on its ear and kicks the shit out of it. So much went on and so many themes and messages were in this thing that I could never write about them all in one post. You have to admire someone taking something so precious and potentially as powerful as the Metal Gear series and mess with it so much while at the same time utilize it as the perfect soapbox for messages that few, if any, games would ever or will ever address. The simple fact that it was received the way it was by the public and that we find out later that Raiden may be a metaphor for the player and how people hated him so much…players hated him so much, shows how almost brilliant this choice was. Like it or not, he got a reaction out of people. Some may have actually thought about what was being said, some may have gone further to interpret those messages, and some may have even applied some of their conclusions to their real life afterwards. This game stands up with stories like 1984 and any of the other classic dystopian stories about what is real and what is not and how our privacy is being betrayed and truth is defined by the ones in control of the information. After this game I am compelled to research more about the sub-text of the game. At the same time Snake even says toward the end that what really happened isn’t the point, just take away what you will and it is yours. It is a hard game to recommend to anyone for various reasons but like Aristotle’s The Poetics, as hard as it is to get through, everyone should do it.

All of Metal Gear Solid 2’s live blog notes (basically one long play-session, yikes!):

SPOILERS
• Opening credits show the shear madness of the high production values that Kojima’s crew puts together.
• They are always on the front lines of technology and art on the PS consoles. Far beyond what else is out there.
• Satellite Surveillance theme, interesting.
• Their full screen effects and smart art direction make it better looking than some current gen. stuff, frankly. Hardware power isn’t everything.
• Olga - “I’m a nomad too.”
• Underarm hair!
• The first boss is pregnant!?
• Very nice anims for putting guy in lockers. But why does he carry them that way? No one carries a body that way. Head toward the ground and feet in the air. Kojiiiiimaaa…
• Some weird camera relative stuff going on with corner cam. When the camera shifts focus it screws up player expectation. Hard problem.
• Revolver has his arm back!?
• Snake - “Ok, ok, all I have to do is press the action button.”
• Good guys have daughters, bad guys have daughters, people having babies. What is this I’m playing again?
• Things I learned from Otacon: Re-ripped denim jeans are not a part of the natural order of things.
• There is no way in hell someone could take a soldier hostage in front of all those marines.
• The rise of Russia as a theme once again.
• Ocelot - “Metal Gear only has room for one.”
• Shooting through the flying coat was a great moment.
• Aging DNA from Big Boss as theme?
• Uh, Ocelot has Liquid’s arm? Liquid’s Arm - “I live on though this arm!”
• Dead Cell took over Big Shell…oh crap!
• Opening for Raiden is just like MGS1.
• Raiden - “Did you say nerd?” Colonel - “Not nerd…node.”
• So, interesting that you are asked to put in your own name. I chose Frozen Snake. I don’t know why.
• Rose - “After all, I’m just a normal girl worried about Jack.”
• I slipped in freakin’ bird crap. How awesome is that?
• Vampires. Perfect addition.
• A bug came out of Snakes butt. Hmmm. Is he already dead? FoxDie?
• Snake - “War is a Video Game.” Mind control?
• Players were irritated with Raiden, but then, if he is a metaphor for the player then are they irritated by themselves?
• The music is still amazing. Especially the music for the intro of Fortune.
• Stillman - “He built an atomic bomb when he was only 10.”
• “Who dares, wins.”
• Stillman - “Bomb disposal is a face-off with your own mortality.”
• Another odd fourth wall break is that the node consoles are the only way to access the options screen.
• Rose - “Do you remember the day we first met?”
• Rose - “I’ve killed my soul by playing the victim.”
• Stillman - “I made the calibrations while I was in the pantry.” He sure did.
• Fortune - “You killed my father.” Well someone has to say that at least once per game.
• Getting to know a place really has its rewards. There is always that line that can be crossed of seeing it too much though. Once again this bomb nonsense to ensure reuse of areas. So far, I don’t mind it this time.
• There are all these small quirks about the game and its controls that just aren’t quite perfect. So much about the game is great but these small frustrations always bring you out of it. There is so much attention to detail put in there that they must have been intentional choices.
• So, uh, Fatman…well, he drinks his wine with a straw. Should we start there? I won’t spoil the rest of this guy.
• They use analog button functionality! Even for zoom button during cutscenes. Wow.
• La le lu li lo what?
• Escape from New York anyone?
• They have a knack for surprises./li>
• So how many brothers does Snake have, anyway?
• Jezus, the cinematography is amazing.
• Ah, someone lost their eye. Finally.
• That Vampire was just running on water.
• Snake - “A legend is nothing but fiction.”
• Alright, bird poop causing me to slip to my death isn’t cool.
• I hate that f’ing remote control missile in the duct crap.
• Did the President just grab Raiden’s junk? Oh, he thought he was a woman, that makes it ok.
• Corruption, conspiracy, information and truth control of the digital age.
• He predicted the corruption of truth via the manipulation of the digital information?
• “Without free speech there is no difference between submission and rebellion.”
• Yup, it’s official, this one is much more complicated than the last one.
• Uh, Vamp’s knife is right where his junk is. And he is still walking on water.
• The boss battles all have very similar themes from the previous game. Vamp in a small square room like Ocelot’s.
• Emma - “I just wear them for show.”
• Why the hell do I care about Emma’s childhood again?
• Ico escort with Emma?!
• He just made the franchise up as he went. Whatever he wanted it to be. Sheesh.
• Y2K too!? Hahaha…
• Nice sunset during sniper mission.
• They talk about trying to hurrying but still talk about all kinds of shit along the way anyway[.
• Great sniper sequence.
• Nothing like a Metal Gear to bring a brother and sister together.
• Why the hell is he carrying that damn parrot around!?
• Quite a turn of character for Raiden.
• Ok, I’m in the “stomach” of the Metal Gear and I’m naked holding my own junk. Never before and never again I bet.
• Colonel - “Turn the console off right now.” “Sitting close to the TV ruins your eyes.”
• The map of Arsenal Gear is the Japanese snake and the turtle.
• Colonel - “Honestly though, you have played the game for a long time, don’t you have anything better to do with your time?”
• Makes you think about killing in the game?
• Rose - “Find something to believe in.”
• Bringing in this whole “what is an illusion” theme toward the end supports what I’ve heard about Raiden being a metaphor for the player. That the characters are just something he made up in a virtual way. How Snake talks to him and how he is largely an observer of the events like he is watching a cutscene.
• Now I’m in the freakn’ “colon” of the Metal Gear?!
• A simulation of playing Snake.
• Saving the world from the conspiracy to live on.
• “Be nice to other people, but beat out the competition.”
• The build up of useless data.
• “So many great contrasts and tragic ironies.”
• Patronizing the player’s plight.
• “Too much power given to an immature individual species.”
• Selection for Societal Sanity = S3…Not Solid Snake Simulation.
• “You have to beLIEve me.”
• They make you feel bad for playing the game and fighting Solidus. But you have to to finish the game, right?
• Haha, Solidus - “I was the one who killed your parents.” One final thing to make you want to kill him.
• Colonel - “Start over…it’s up to you.”
• Snake - “You have things to do first, and people you need to talk to.” Instead of continuing the game.
• George Washington as a evolving consciousness. Uh…
• Snake - “We must pass on much more than our DNA. That is what I live for.”
• I won’t give away what is said after the credits this time.
• (12:27:50) Scorpion

On to MGS3…

More Minor SPOILERS

When is enough enough? This game (and I have yet to play the others) is probably the most complicated story I’ve ever seen in a game. The themes that he throws in there are so diverse and numerous that in the end it was hard to really tell what his main goal was for the vision. The gameplay was clear enough. As mentioned before it was successful at accomplishing the paradigm that was set up on the NES with the first Metal Gear but in 3D. Most of the time with the MGS camera you are almost playing a 2D game anyway. But beyond that, it was the lessons to be learned from the choices the characters were making. Despite the topics of Nuclear Politics, Nano-tech and DNA manipulation (to name a few) it turns out that the last moments of the game were spent on the unexpected theme of living life to the fullest and living it the way you want rather than letting your genes (or destiny) be written for you. I mean, what the hell is that theme doing in a military tactical espionage stealth-action game? If you stay until the end of the credits (which no one ever does these days) you get an FMV Nature film about Alaska playing behind the credits (Polar bears and all) and a repetition of the VOs reminding Snake to live his own life while watching a first-person view of film footage of someone on a dog sled as well (I guess he really is a “musher” after all). At the end of the day, I really just have to hand it to them as far as the complexity and density of the fairly short game experience. In most ways it is the complete opposite of one of my other favorite games, Shadow of the Colossus, which was focused on the economy and subtlety of narrative and context with a heavy amount left up to interpretation. Not so in MGS. Metaphor maybe, but subtlety, no freakin’ way. And for that I kinda love it.

From 1st Sniper Wolf to End (a day of sneaking):

• It is rare for a game to have so many items and gear to use and to actually have a purpose for each one at least in one significant sequence.
• Sniper Wolf’s breath in the cold. Nice touch behind a tree or pillar.
• Taking the drugs to calm you down. A Sniper boss at all was a risk. You see it all the time these days.
• MGS camera was a sort of institution on its own. Plus they had cameras for specific modes and locations.
• In-game cinematics and control. Great immersion.
• Ocelot - “We’re going to play a game Snake.”
• Hypno therapy? Theme in 4 as well?
• John Carpenter music all the way. Snake Plissken here we come!
• Holy crap, talk about stressful torture. No save game! I forgot to mention that I had to play the whole game with no save card (seeing that you need a PS1 card to do it and I don’t have one. So when I found out that the torture could end in “no continue” I was freaked. A couple times it was pretty close too. But I won.
• Patriotism and the Constitution. Does he have some commentary on the US in here or is it just the backdrop?
• Combo of many heroes. Bond, Plissken, Dirty Harry, G.I. Joe…the list can go on.
• Russia imperialistic themes too with Ocelot.
• Naomi - “Put the controller up to your arm.”
• Naomi - “You are like wild animals.” Snake - “We are animals.”
• DNA theme continues. Fate and memory found in DNA?
• Great re-use of space. Nice sense of complete setting rather than just a series of levels strung together. And, you essentially can go all the way back to the beginning if you want to. Rarely are older areas locked to you for very long. turns out later on they go too far though.
• Ticking bomb placed in inventory, how cool is that?
• Aiming is terrible.
• All this emotion in the middle of a mission!? Sheesh people.
• Fun variety with the rappel sequence.
• Octacon - “You are like a movie hero or something.”
• Even Octacon loves. Octacon - “Do you think Love can bloom, even on a battlefield?”
• Snake - “See you in hell…Liquid.” “That takes care of the cremation.”
• Wolf - “I’m sending you a love letter.” “It’s a bullet straight from my gun to your heart.”
• Wolf - “I watched the brutality and the stupidity of humanity through the scope of my rifle.”
• Wolf - “I finally understand, I wasn’t waiting to kill people, I was waiting for someone to kill me. A man like you. You’re a hero.”
• Best death scenes ever. Now these are bosses.
• The number of options in combat is so robust that it is clear why this created a new genre for 3D games.
• Snake - “Is Naomi there?” Campbell - “No, she is away…taking a short nap.”
• Let me tell you the history of nuclear politics and weapon development for ten minutes. Ok!
• Oh crap, this three states to the final key thing is bullshit. The perfect example of forced backtracking to the hilt. Ouch.
• Metal Gear Acronym? Metal Gear Code-name? There must have been at least 25 acronyms used.
• You know, the TNF receptors. And stuff. WTF.
• Liquid - “Snake, did you like my sunglasses?”
• Man, everyone in this story is interconnected. Talk about the Chewbacca factor.
• Liars change the rules of war. No place left for warriors of the old days. Why do you still listen to your superiors?
• Gulf War Syndrome was actually DNA manipulation…holy shit man.
• Otacon - “Snake, I’m a complete person now!”
• Meryl - “Snake.” Snake - “Meryl.” Snake - “Looks like we’re not going to have a love scene after all.”
• Halo Ending? Or other way around? I call foul on Bungie!
• Liquid is sure slippery. 4 or 5 coming back from the deads.
• Naomi - “Humans can choose the kind of life they want to live.”
• Snake’s last line - “Come on, let’s enjoy life!”
• Final captions about the state of the nuclear arms race and number of warheads. Hmmm. Hiroshima came up quite a few times in the game.
• A voice over with some spy talking to the President of the US about how he is Solidus and the third of the Snake brothers? W…T…F?
• (10:55:08) Komodo Dragon
• P.S. Naked Snake Briefing, history lesson from previous games, VR Missions. Camera control within the briefing. No one ever spends money on this shit!

An Ocelot, a Raven and a Mantis walk into a bar and fight a ninja (or is he a fox?). At some point, for me, the Metal Gear series become a cultural piece which I could never fully grasp. It is such an odd mix melodrama (which I appreciate in the right places), black ops (which I love anytime), Japanese sub-culture (which I rarely understand), and extremely well polished and usually fairly entertaining and even unique gameplay (amazing variety within one game for the time). Then it is all wrapped in this somewhat odd (and at times wacky) sensibility. I can’t understand if it is just Kojima or if it really is cultural. He deals with some fairly deep themes for any game let alone one from ten years ago, but then right after a theme is delivered Snake talks about someone’s butt. There is a stark contrast to the moods that you are brought through as a player and the contrasts shift very quickly from moment-to-moment. No wonder people write some much commentary and analysis about this series. And quite frankly, how does Kojima get away with it?

From the Tank Hangar to Meryl getting Sniped (late into the night):

Minor SPOILERS
• That Game Over screen! Maybe the most memorable of all time?
• Back of the CD case for an in-game clue? Crossing the fourth wall in games was rare.
• FMV mixed with the in-game cinematics. Done well.
• Boss battle in a small square room. But somehow it it is still interesting.
• First sighting of Cyber Ninja! I’ll never forget that either.
• First long-ass cinematic. I still love it.
• Similar themes as 4 (as I understand it not having played it yet)? Military establishment, Corrupted Pentagon, Nano-machines, Nuclear Arms race. Games just weren’t tackling this stuff ten years ago. Most still aren’t.
• Back up against the wall cam. That one feature began to define a new genre in stealth-action.
• Ah the melodrama…within a 10 minute codec. The chanting female vocals. I still love it.
• Cigs to get past lasers. See, they are actually good for something (smoking is still bad for you kids).
• Snake - “Stay the hell out of my way.”
• The music for Cyber Nina is great!
• Yea! First urination scene. Can’t wait for more pee and poo.
• Gray Fox!? OMG WTH are they talking about? Raise your hand if you remember the old Metal Gears.
• Otacon - “She has a very cute behind.”
• Meryl - “I don’t use make-up like other women.”
• Snake - “Because you have a nice butt.”
• Mantis - “Put your controller on the floor.”
• HIDEO error. This was all before Eternal Darkness. Messing with the player’s mind as well as the character’s. Breaking that wall in theatre is also a significant choice. Why not in a games too? There is even more interaction than film. As with Theatre, when you break that fourth wall, the audience is sitting right there to hear it.
• Quite a turn with Meryl trying to kill herself. Another first for gaming?
• What the hell is Mantis talking abut with passing on DNA as a need for humans? Another mini-theme? At times I wonder if the MGS games are just a way for Kojima to deal with his own issues.
• Mantis - “Humans weren’t created to bring each other happiness.”
• Mantis is the best boss ever? Reading memory cards, changing controller ports to gain the upper hand.
• Great sound effects for mantis. His last word was “nice” btw. Another intentional contrast I’m sure.
• Snake - “I ride dog sleds. I’m a musher.” Sure you are Snake.
• Great following in her footsteps sequence. Metaphor?
• Snake has issue with people and loss of Meryl is an good example? Nice sequence with her getting shot. Better than some actions films, even in low rez.
• Voice acting brings these blocky polygonal scenes into a polished professional place (yes that was 4 Ps). You could start to see where games could go.
• Blur, reflections, water displacement effects…all on the PS1.

10 years ago I remember rushing into a friend of mine’s office at LucasArts to go see the opening of Metal Gear Solid 1 on PSOne. It was toward the end of the console’s prime and I remember vividly watching that opening and being amazed at what they had done. The cinematic quality and attention to detail, the credits playing over gameplay, the specific and clear art direction, the amazing graphical tricks, music…voice…on and on. We really couldn’t believe it. Most of us that didn’t have the game or even the console went out right then to buy both. Kojima was a legend after that. So was Solid Snake. So, I decided while I’m taking some time off on my own I’d see how far I could get through the series (using the 20th anniversary edition). I never finished the first game entirely. With all the buzz over 4 and me feeling like I had a huge gaping whole in my play history I figured what the hell. I also figured it might be interesting to try to semi-live blog about it as I played. We’ll see how much of a success Operation Shadow Moses really ends up being.

Initial Bullets (opening sequences):

• That opening music brought it all rushing back.
• David Hayter’s voice couldn’t be more perfect. Or am I just remembering him as perfect.
• Shit this game looks dated. The usual “but when it came out it was amazing!” applies.
• Aahhh codecs. Cheap and simple. Great idea so far.
• Hmmm…a game where you are discouraged from shooting? How is that possible?
• Mice with exclamations marks over their head, classic moment.
• The incoming call sound from the codec, another classic.
• Mei Ling - “But Snake, what good are cigarettes out there?” Snake - “You never know.”

When someone talks about the influence of “The East” on game development they typically mean Japan. For many Western developers Japan is basically seen as the only “other” way of doing things. We often compare ourselves to many of the things that they are doing. They, of course, are the platform holders of the Nintendo and Sony systems and are home to some of the largest publishers in the world like Sega, Capcom, Konami, Square/Enix, etc. For me it often seems to come down to cultural differences as that is the aspect of the comparison that is most interesting to me. Why they do the things they do, why they like certain things over others, why their TV shows are so insane. It is just so amazingly intriguing, I guess. However, there is another East that game developers often overlook. Eastern Europe. I’ve been playing a lot of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (a game that I finally got back to after missing it at launch, thanks Steam!) and have enjoyed it tremendously. Though I’m not done with it yet, I think I have played enough to understand its sensibilities and particular brand of craftsmanship. There is a fine art to the game that is not US or European and it obviously isn’t Japanese. It is uniquely Eastern European and cannot be directly compared to anything else. Though people try to describe it as just another shooter, there are more elements at play there than just a feature set. Their feel and themes drive much more deeply than that and I find that I must always put them in the context of their creators and audience. Things are quite different over there in Eastern Europe. Politically, Economically, Historically. Obviously games or any other art form is going to be affected by its surrounding culture, no matter how hard people try to copy it. It just may be too complicated to boil down in such a way as to be able to replicate the same feeling. In fact, we really shouldn’t want to. We should enjoy those works of art for what they are and within the culture they were created and intended for to more closely understand their perspective.

STALKER takes place in the area surrounding Chernobyl. This is the setting for a post-apocalyptic story about loners wandering the wastes and one in particular who is searching for a forgotten enemy (you know typical stuff). The setting is the hard par though. Apparently, as I’ve seen from research on the web, they created a world that is very close to parts of the real Chernobyl exclusionary zones. Walking around there in this setting and context has a foreshadowed and ominous feeling that a game like Fallout (one of my favorites of all time) could never achieve. This really happened in Chernobyl’s case (to some degree) and at times it makes it hard to play on some level. Even Call of Duty 4 (Infinity Ward, CA) goes to that area in a legendary sniper mission and it just isn’t the same. They use it as more of a backdrop for an interesting mission rather than a world setting for a broken people. That is how Western developers think. I feel like I should know, I’m one of them. “What cool locale can we find this time?” Well for some people Chernobyl isn’t just a cool locale. In fact, the devs of STALKER (GSC Game Worlds) live near the exclusionary zone, or at least near enough. Yes there are sci-fi elements, but this is the content that resonates for them. Rarely do games remind me (or anyone) of tragic past events which embody our shortcomings as humans with self-made disasters like Chernobyl. This one, as I carry a modified sci-fi rifle and equip strange radioactive power-ups to survive, reminds me of just that. In CoD 4 it is just another setting for destruction and West meets East and wins.

The final thought comes from my typical cross-over medium of theatre. As my wife would tell you, my favorite genre of theatre is Post Modern Eastern European. Yeah, that is pretty specific and ridiculous, I know. For some reason though it resonates the most with me. Studying a lot about Polish theatre specifically, they used theatre as an outlet (like all other art at the time) for feelings and attitudes toward their situations. Poland was pretty much fucked for decades upon decades just because of their geographic location. They went through hell over and over again. Their theatre reflects this very strongly. Eastern Europe has had such an interesting history it is no wonder that its output of art has been so complex and yet so specific. When I play STALKER (and to some degree other Eastern European games like Crysis) I sense a similar feeling to what I love about Polish or Russian theatre. There is a longing for change within a world of desperation. Yes, usually it is metaphor but it is much more powerful in its honesty than some glorified US armed forces commercial where the Westerner saves the day once again.

I’m not one to spout off opinions on things like our national prison system. The truth is I have had thoughts about what is wrong with the very little I know about them, but seeing that I know so little I don’t think it would be fair for me to judge. The problems with the system is the last subject I would think of that would spark me to write this post, actually. In fact, the post isn’t about prisons in the end, but it is about one of my favorite documentary shows, a radio show to be exact, called This American Life. I’d been wanting to post about it for some time but wasn’t compelled to until I listened to an older episode recently that had a big affect of me. Every episode is great for its own reasons. They also have a TV show now on Showtime which is quite good as well. So basically this post is a big plug for Ira Glass and both of his shows and that if you like the thoughtful “slice of life” documentary style then you shouldn’t miss this stuff. The episode in question is no different.

The title of the episode is “Act V” and it is referring to the last act of the play Hamlet which I personally know all too well having both acted and directed the play and seen it more times than I’d like to say. Anyway, most everyone knows a little something about the plot, but needless to say there is a lot of talk about murder and in the final act a lot of real murder happening as well. Basically all the main characters kill each other at the end. Blood bath. The radio show episode is about a theatre director who goes into real prisons and does this last act of the play with actual prisoners over 6 months time. She auditions them, trains them, rehearses them and finally they perform. The wonderful thing about the show is that you can see over the course of the process how much they change in some profound ways. They make a great point that as many people as there have been who have played Hamlet over the years there is almost never an actor who has actually been a murderer. No one can really relate to this character at all. Except prison inmates. They are in many ways the perfect actors for this play. To hear them talk about their own analysis of the play and the characters and how it relates to their own life and wrong doings is quite profound (at least to me). Most of these guys have never been on stage let alone read Shakespeare. All levels of education and upbringing, etc. You can almost hear them being rehabilitated as the hour long radio show goes on. It just can’t be the case that our only solution for justice is to put someone in a cell for their entire life. I’m not saying I’m against the death penalty, but when you hear how these guys were affected by doing a simple thing like this play and how far they come over just 6 sporadic months of rehearsal, you begin to think that there must be many different forms of rehabilitation out there if we only thought more creatively. Yes, I’ll go ahead and say that it could be the “power of theatre” or some such nonsense, but you know, it kind of is.

Prisons, Shakespeare and Radio. Who knew. If you don’t listen to the radio show and you think it is up your alley, then check it out. If you get Showtime look for the TV show. It is only a half hour. If you subscribe to the weekly podcast you get the show for free each week for 7 days. I think it is often the most downloaded podcast in the country. The episode, “Act V”, can be found here. I think you may be able to stream the show for free from the web site too. There are going to be few times in life where these three unlikely things come together to present such a cohesive vision of possibilities. I dare say that this happens in almost every episode of the show. Thanks Ira.

Ghost
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.

HAMLET
Murder!

Ghost
Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, strange and unnatural.

HAMLET
Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift
As meditation or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.

More from the world of gaming through the eyes of my five year old daughter…

She was humming a tune this evening. Something she hasn’t quite done before. You know, when you get a song stuck in your head and you can’t get rid of it. It is funny to witness these kinds of moments for the first time in her life. So I get to asking her about the song. Turns out it was from a children’s music band that she listens to while riding in a friend’s car. So I start to ask her more about it to see what she really thinks of it. She says it is a song about bikes and that she likes how the singer asks the audience what their bikes look like. She seems to love that he speaks directly to the listener. I ask her some more fairly directed questions about how it makes her feel and what parts she likes, etc. But she really doesn’t reveal much more than she just likes it because it is about bikes. Now, I have to hand it to her, she has had some pretty profound thoughts of late. Things have come out of her mouth that amaze us on an emotional level. But with this song she was coming up short on her opinion of it. Or was she?

So, of course, I go directly to games after that. We haven’t played anything in months (I don’t bring up games unless she asks about them and she hasn’t been) so I ask her what her favorite game is that she remembers us playing. She says Animal Crossing. I ask her what she liked about it. She basically says that she likes the “animals and the people.” As I try to delve further into that thought she only really says that she likes to move the people around. I asked her what she liked to do in the game and it boiled down to just playing it and being in that world. Even pointed questions about how she felt playing it or when she brought up Viva Piñata (ñ = Opt + n, then n for those who don’t know how to type that accent) what was boring or scary or funny (as my wife joined in and added) came up with nothing more than descriptions of what she did in pretty general terms.

Overall I was suprised she didn’t want to talk more deeply about how she liked or disliked these experiences when she typically does with other experiences. Now it could be the types of games she is playing, those with no real linear stories. Or it could be she just isn’t ready to talk that way about entertainment. But I had a different thought which brought up a feeling I bet most of us have had about judging or being a “critic” of anything remotely artistic, “just let it be what it is.” We talk all day long at work about what we think of this game or that game and we rank them and judge each other’s ranks of them but why can’t we leave well enough alone and just enjoy it (or not) as is and let it stop there. I kept wanting Lia to be a critic and hear the five year old analysis of a song or a game but all she wanted to do was talk about what she did in the game and what the song was about. That was all that mattered to her. I guess I’m coming down to the point that maybe we should spend more time just enjoying experiences for what they are and maybe we can learn a few things from kids on how to do that without all this baggage of criticism creeping into whatever we consume. It might help us all move forward in some way. But as you judge this post I bet it won’t.