IMO, hype is bad, letting people know a game exists is good.

To me, over hype = disappointment.

Omniel

Hideo dreams of the golden ages! So what was all that "has changed" stuff then? Oh, I guess he was BSing...

You Are My Friend!

@Amazon_Chris: Blasphemy David Hayter is snake. That's like one of your parents having a different voice.

Rurik

@Amazon_Chris:

Do you understand Japanese? Because the voice acting could be worse in the Japanese MGS4 for all we know. Wait, but you couldn't possibly know that because you probably don't understand Japanese. Now why do you want the japanese voices?

DigitalHero

Ronald McDonald is looking for his shoes...

francoamerica

Sometimes I wish the game would have been hyped less. Maybe then we could have less whiners ragging on how it isn't "perfect" or not that good. The thing is, MGS iss not for everyone.

DustySword

@theEnemy:

I think Japan is different, in a way MGS is a hybrid of an american game and japanese game.

Omniel

@VladMalice: Nothing wrong with being 'Skinny'.

Skinney

Ah the eye tat boy is back.

HalcyonX12

@m0re:

I think what he means is, its planned to hype a game, the same time the game is in preconcept stages. it's just an automatic thing now, but this goes for anything, IMHO.

I agree with him, if what he means is 90% of a product is how much marketing can hype it, and make you want it, rather than the products having value. In a way, thats how western culture is, buying illusions, which is all marketing is, creating a temporay need for something you dont need.

maybe I'm thinking to deep about it. :P

Omniel

I guess some players in Japan haven't played one of the best games released.

theEnemy

Marketing.
Marketing has changed.

Crippl3

@Amazon_Chris: You're trying too hard.

futurebiblehero

Bah stop making ads and start working on ZoE3 already.
Im pretty sure the folks in Japan would also be happy about this.

Chibirazi

i borght the MGS4 bundle with the 80GB so tats how i got MGS4 i was waiting 4 a PS3 and this was my last chance 2 get a PS3 tat had PS1/PS2 Compatibility.

Mexico619

The Metal Gear Solid series has never sold that well in Japan. I don't think any of the games in the series has even sold a million in Japan.

jinryuu

MGS4 is such a wonderful game, i hope it continues to sell more, as it certainly deserves it and encourages this sort of quality and gameplay life then other big selling titles out there. *Ahem grand theft auto 4*

ryivanV2

@semiconscious: Primarily because if you took his word for it, his games are barely okay, not the near perfect that most others think they are.

smartboydan hates college

@semiconscious: Replace "kojima" with "every other annoyingly rockstar-esque game dev" and you have my personal mantra when it comes to these things.

Lightman

gamer rule #1: never, ever take anything kojima says seriously - he's so much more enjoyable that way...

semiconscious

I'm waiting for the inevitable re-release with extra modes that should be out sometime next year.

GrandfatherParadox

I don't get it. Did he mean that these campaigns hyped about how great a game will be before the developers even decided how the game will play?

m0re

Hm. I actually got a PS3 for MGS4.... and never got MGS4. More for a personal lack of funds-- everyone else I know that has PS3s got MGS4.

vid3oman64

Kojima still got US and Europe.

UltimateIdiot

This dude is so full of himself! ...and hes too damn skinny!

VladMalice

nice shoes.

sqoon

@Amazon_Chris:
I don't expect to see that happening anytime soon, though it would certainly be worth it.

darkfarmer

If they are in the bargain bins in Japan, I should import a copy for the Japanese voices.

Amazon_Chris

@PC+Mac Coexist:

Actually, I have both versions. I prefer the Japanese voices than the English, mostly Otacon. His English voice makes me wanna break my PS3, plus Snakes Japanese voice carries more emotion than David's.

All bout preference.

@Amazon_Chris:

They are available pretty cheap now, even the collectors edition is only $40.

wahlumsurfer

To me, MGS4 exceeded my expectations. But then again, I saw the first trailer and avoided everything else about MGS4 so nothing would be spoiled. I did listen to the KP Report with Ryan Payton though, and I don't think I've listened to a better podcast from a dev yet.

... but MGS3 is still my favorite. I've played it over 15 times now, and it's the one I got my friends into MGS with.

Laughin_Caulk

@LordCoCo1: Yeah, I remember the pleasant surprise I got when I saw Phantasy Star IV on a store shelf. I just had to hope I was lucky enough to have cash immediately on hand.

Hype does bring to mind how I initiated a zero-video media blackout after I saw the 2005 MGS4 teaser. I think I saw no more than 30 still images of MGS4 before I got the game.

normalmode

@Omniel: No, you're not thinking too deep about it. You're dead on. :)

Mobus

I think really what he says makes sense, it's not him being pretentious or conceited, he's just making what in my opinion is a valid point, games today get too much hype for their own good. I'm kind of tired of hearing about a game eons before it comes out, where are the good ole' days when I had no idea a game was coming out on my Genesis until it had been out for a month?

LordCoCo1

Off-topic: I'm actually playing Se7en in the background with one of the David Fincher commentaries (the one with Brad Pitt), and he makes in interesting observation that he's convinced that marketing departments are convinced that it's their job to 'save' the movie they're working on. The audio track has some great insight on how marketing developed the posters and how test screenings affected the ending of the movie (for worse).

normalmode

Video games have changed....

cowondinosaur

@Amazon_Chris: @Rurik: The Japanese voice acting IS worse. Even Hideo Kojima himself prefers the English voice acting, especially David Hayter as Snake.

PC+Mac Coexist

I can believe that it didn't sell nicely in Japan. Doesn't seem like the kind of game most of them like.

*cough* RPGs *cough*

Surfaced

@Amazon_Chris: they have it half off on amazon japan

ariete

He needs to put some jam on his shoes and invite his pants down for some breakfast.

gique

Yeah, the MGS games have never been particularly popular in Japan. I suspect its the lack of crazy hairdos or numbers on the screen.

Chupakun

@theEnemy: You're not implying that MGS4 is a good game are you? Please clarify.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@gique: congratulations! your comment is full of win!

arossthaboss

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): are you implying that it isnt? do clarify as well, sir.

TheIrishNinja

@Omniel: to companies, hype = $. lookit what it did for halo; sure it drove us nuts here, but theyre casting a wider net.

im uncertain what the goal of this article is; trying to point at kojima stuidos as guilty of hypocrisy? at least the end comment noted it was more konami than anything, and also unavoidable given its the series ending. also, is hype not more justified when its for such an established series?

and for what its worth, the constant pointing to MGS4 in japanese bargain bins doesnt feel like a strong argument. no, it didnt sell extremely well in japan, but was it expected to, given the ps3 base, previous series sales, etc? besides, if its creativity kojima spoke of, what does sales have to do with that? surely, wii play and other chart-toppers dont equate the pinnacle of creative gaming.

TheIrishNinja

@TheIrishNinja: I spent the last 30 minutes writing an extremely well thought reply to your question and Kotaku FUCKING LOST IT! I was logged out when hit submit and there was no way to get back my info so sorry if it seems like I don't care... that's not the case... I'm just really angry.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@Chupakun: well 800k in sales in Japan is FAR from a flop. But yeah, I hate how Dragon Quest rerelease-whatever on DS sells 2 million and this masterpiece hasn't broken 1million in Japan yet. Maybe they should've replaced Snake with a big breasted anime short skirted schoolgirl with lots of pantsu and HP points instead of Life bar....

Im loosing confidence on the japanese audience (not in the developers though) and their taste in games this generation.

Alex_Mexico

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): You're not implying that MGS4 is not a good game are you? Please clarify.

theEnemy

Sorry, but I fail to see the irony... That statement doesn't present creativity and advertisement as an either/or proposition. What Kojima appears to be criticising is the fact that the creative aspect is sometimes neglected when massive campaigns - and not the game's merits - become the primary way to sell a product.

However, this isn't what happened with MGS4, which delivered plenty on the entertainment front. You even say so yourself, Bash, so how are Konami "guilty" again? They would have been if MGS4 had been short on creativity and quality, which is a tough case to make.

Antiterra

Sorry, but MGS4 is no Haze or TooHuman or Spore. It delivered. It delivered even more than hyped. Much more.

The game was enough of a shooter to put-off the Japanese crowd, I guess.
We don't buy copies for the multiplayer, so we share the game with 2-3 other PS3 fellows, thus its sales don't equal the number of PS3 owners; while almost each and every of us has played it.

somarix

@gique: Yeah, that man is flooding like New Orleans after a hurricane.

/too soon?

hodayathink: I like neo-noir lesbians

@gique: Holy shit that was great!

Trekka

@Alex_Mexico: Well, Japanese developers themselves also seem to be losing confidence in their home audience. They are making more and more games with the Western market in mind (MGS4 is a perfect example of that, most notably through Ryan Payton's involvement).

Bar a few exceptions, the Japanese market is not "where it's at" anymore in regards to innovation in gaming. For every Suda 51 game, you have eleventeen remakes and sequels. I'm not saying that all the Japanese best-sellers are crap, but they do tend to follow tried-and-true formulas with little to no ambition.
I mean, c'mon, No More Heroes hasn't even sold 50,000 copies on a system that everybody and their grandmother owns. For shame...

Antiterra

Kojima rockin' it gangsta style in that picture there.

Ladi

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): ah, that sucks!

Alex_Mexico

@Amazon_Chris:

...That right there is blasphomey.

akumaserge

What Kojima is talking about, I think, is that a lot of games are hyped so much that when consumers finally get their hands on them, none of those games live up to the hype.

MGS4 _did_ deliver. GTA4 _did_ deliver (this is my personal opinion). I often see movies get hyped to far greater extend and fail miserably (Indy 4 for example --yet again, personal opinion.)

GC-Tres

@akumaserge: Didn't realized that went twice... The first one didn't show up for me.

akumaserge

@Amazon_Chris:

...That right there, is blasphomey.

akumaserge

@Amazon_Chris: That's a good idea!

PENI_MASTA

@Alex_Mexico: I blame Nintendo :P. Yes, I really do.

somarix

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): Welcome to the club. This is kinda like posting with Internet Explorer back in the dial-up era. I always copy my whole reply before clicking the "Submit" button.
You gotta hate dynamic AJAX-like stuff, when the server part is overloaded, and the client part is forbidden from keeping a backup copy (clicking "back") >_<.

somarix

vieogaming is kinda dead now...For a gimmick like wii play to sell more than MGS4 is just as pathetic as it gets.

ShinobiNYC

Don't get me wrong, I think kojima is great, but sometimes he says some bullshit stuff. "The creativity of video games is now on the verge of crisis"... whatever.

Jel-op

Hideo Kojima is God.

And everything God says is true, you bunch of infidels!

Dijkie1337

It's because Japanese people don't like good games, apparently.

Anyway, in the rest of the world, I think MGS4 will continue to sell better and better as the PS3 gains more and more popularity. It's definitely one of the "staples" of the system along with Uncharted and soon-to-be LBP.

dowingba

Note: Everyone who goes off on ridiculous hyperbole about "David Hayter IS Snake" and "I bet you must know Japanese! How do you know the voice acting isn't worse" makes me roll my eyes again... and again... and again. You know guys, it is possible to appreciate both.

From playing through all of MGS1, watching Digital Graphic Novel 2 and watching a whole load of cutscene clips online, I would say the Japanese voice acting for MGS is _at least_ as good as the English voice acting. (Yes, I speak Japanese, not that I think it matters for evaluating this.) It's dramatically better for some characters (Raiden, Rose, Otacon) and... well, I can't think of anyone it's dramatically worse for. I guess Meryl's English voice seems to suit her a bit better.

As for Akio Otsuka as Snake - he's truly amazing, and perfect in the role. Contrast to David Hayter, who I loved in the previous games but found somewhat irritating in this one (come on, there was really no need for the painfully exaggerated scratchy old man voice).

Regarding the allegation that Kojima prefers the English voice acting: The only source I've found for this comment has him making it way before MGS2 was released, i.e. before Raiden was badly miscast in English resulting in the entire English-speaking fanbase thinking of him as a whiny little bitch. It certainly says very little about MGS4, released a decade later.

MysteryPersonX

I guess he does kinda have a point. When mediocre games get outrageous and sickeningly huge ad campaigns, and it sells 8.2 million, people feel obligated to love the game. With that many millions of people buying the game, who is one person not to like it? They must obviously be wrong and have totally flawed reasoning. Really though, MGS4 could have been a total mistake and and a disappointing end to a great series, and because of its ad campaign, it would have sold just as well.

On the other hand, games usually sell well because they're good games, but when an ad campaign like say Bioshock, is so over the top, EVERYWHERE and is always on. Did it sell well because it had a big ad campaign, or because it was a good product?

Was it the dev team, or was it the marketing team that gave it the massive sales it got?

Talleh

That mans a proper pimp. With a sharp mind. I hope one day, my children will grow up to be like him.

Nelo-Risi

@arossthaboss: Nominate, nominate, nominate!

Brian Ashcraft

@TheIrishNinja:

Of course hehe. but from a developer standpoint, a developer would like to see thier product stand on its own in a way.Judging from Hideo Kojima personality, he wants to make a peice of art, marketing and the business side of the company want to sell it. Hideo Kojima is a rare breed, not just in games, but anything, a true perfectionist.

I respect Hideo Kojima, even though I havent played many of his games, for that reason.

Omniel

@seppukake: *knows the culture down to a T.*

seppukake

@dowingba: yes... Japanese people don't like good games, it's so obvious we're ignorant when it comes to quality games. God you are a genius who know has the culture down to a T.

seppukake

"the final product still hasn't sold a million copies in Japan"

Well it wouldnt be the first time this happens, Shenmue was a game that many thought was bound to dominate japan sales back in the day, yet it had a better run outside japan.

Shadowlayer

I think there's a lot of truth to this, that publishers push their games on gamers too early, long before there's really anything to show for it, and so people get frustrated waiting for the games.

JonDarkwood

I agree with Kojima's statement. What's even worse is that most of the gaming media buys into the hype and overrates high-profile games. MGS4 and GTA4 were both disappointments, in my opinion, but the incredible hype and fan support pushed many reviewers into giving them better scores than they deserved.

In his defense, it's possible he didn't have control of the hype machine for MGS4. Marketing departments operate independently of developers in many cases, and this wouldn't be the first time that a developer was unhappy about how their game was marketed.

Atrahasis

I saw tonnes of adverts for MGS..

Its true though some games get way too much advertisement.

flukielukie

I've only see this game on sale at SofMap--all other stores still have it marked at the MSRP. The game hasn't even been out for a whole two months yet, and investors/the public are all a buzz. This is insane.

I know expectations were (are still) high, but chill out for a bit. Stop watching the second and get some sleep, walk the dog, read a book, take a vacation or something.

Turning a profit on an investment doesn't always happen over night. Time and investments go hand in hand.

If we don't see much more movement come December, then worry.

American_N_Japan

Considering MGS4 is nearing the 4 million mark globally, I wouldn't fret at all. ;)

Of course, it's always disappointing when your home territory is the only one not to flip out over the game.

sascha23

Well, perhaps Konami should have advertised MGS4 as a OVA miniseries with game sections instead of a game, then it would have lived up to it's hype.

RaiderRich2001

MGS games have never sold that well in Japan, simply because they were designed for a Western audience ever since MGS1 Integral.

Kaminari

@seppukake: I say this at least once in every thread here:

"God I hate the internet."

dowingba

Hey I know what makes money! Multi-platform games! :|

GreyFoxV1

@futurebiblehero: Que? I want to listen to the Japanese voices. Might as well import the game if it's headed to the bins already

[kotaku.com]

Then again, that might have only been temporary.

Amazon_Chris