General gaming |
- Sons of Big Bucks: Metal Gear Solid 4 and the Video Game Economy
- The Charming Anachronism That Is Metal Gear's Nuclear Tank
- Paths of Glory: Metal Gear's Portrayal of the Soldier
- PODCAST: Tune in to 1UP's Metal Gear 25th Anniversary Special
- Metal Gear Solid 2 and the Generation that Never Was
- Outer Heavens: What Metal Gear Went Up Against
- The Sword, the Helicopter, and the Revengeance Conundrum
| Sons of Big Bucks: Metal Gear Solid 4 and the Video Game Economy Posted: 07 Jul 2012 01:00 AM PDT
Feature 1UP COVER STORY  1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JULY 2 | METAL GEAR TURNS 25 Sons of Big Bucks: Metal Gear Solid 4 and the Video Game EconomyCover Story: An in-depth look at how MGS4 doesn't care who you kill and, in the process, talks about the trend toward gamification.D espite its reputation for over-delivery, Metal Gear Solid 4 challenges the player precisely because of what it leaves unsaid. Previous MGS games provided contradictions in message and action that created an exciting tension. They vilified war while valorizing warriors, told the player to kill and then dispensed rewards for not killing, required sneaking only to force discovery through cutscenes. MGS4 falls mostly silent on these fronts. It offers few, if any, opposites to reconcile. While we have no way to know whether or not these silences are deliberate, we find suggestions in MGS4's reliance upon a "war economy" context that the omissions have a purpose. This purpose is hardly insular or navel-gazing but relates uncomfortably close to the conversations about ultraviolence stemming from this year's E3 as well as the trend toward the "gamification" of non-game activities. |
| The Charming Anachronism That Is Metal Gear's Nuclear Tank Posted: 06 Jul 2012 09:50 PM PDT
Feature 1UP COVER STORY  1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JULY 2 | METAL GEAR TURNS 25 The Charming Anachronism That Is Metal Gear's Nuclear TankCover Story: Why the eponymous tank is often at odds with Hideo Kojima's vision.D r. Strangelove would have loved the Metal Gear. It's everything the good doctor could ever want in a doomsday machine--it's big, powerful, and most importantly, conspicuous. Based on its performance at Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land, it's more than capable of cowing the entire world with a fear of an nuclear attack. It's also very much the product of the Cold War--an era in which fictional superweapons like the Metal Gear thrived. That Hideo Kojima would think in such terms is not surprising. When Kojima set to work on the first Metal Gear in the late 1980s, the Cold War was still raging and nuclear war was still very much on everyone's mind. A bipedal tank equipped with nuclear weapons probably didn't seem too far-fetched in the context of the arms race of the time. Eventually, the evolution of modern warfare would render the idea of the Metal Gear somewhat obsolete. But Kojima would continue to bring it back through the years, even as his own ideas on warfare changed and evolved. |
| Paths of Glory: Metal Gear's Portrayal of the Soldier Posted: 06 Jul 2012 09:14 PM PDT
Feature 1UP COVER STORY  1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JULY 2 | METAL GEAR TURNS 25 Paths of Glory: Metal Gear's Portrayal of the SoldierCover Story: How Hideo Kojima threw a pitiable light on this heroic role.A ction heroes have to take their lumps; it's what makes them so admirable. The Die Hard series in particular wouldn't have reached its current legendary status without John McClane, the Joe-six-pack protagonist who reacts in a relatable way, curse-laden way to insane situations, and ends each of his adventures singed, beaten, covered in broken glass, and in desperate need of a smoke. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Hideo Kojima's heroes typically find themselves engaging with similar scenarios in the same fashion; after all, some very iconic '80s action movies informed the majority of his career, especially during the creation of Konami's flagship series. Solid Snake might be more of a reclusive loner than an everyman, but his creator still delights in torturing him (and his kin) both physically and mentally -- each iteration of Snake suffers greatly over the course of a typical Metal Gear game. But while John McClane's adventures end in satisfactory explosions and one-liners, Kojima's protagonists ultimately find themselves betrayed and abused by the so-called forces of good, all for the sake of allowing those in power to retain their supremacy. Where the Call of Duty series celebrates the excess of war and the strong feelings brought on by nationalism, Metal Gear takes a comparatively radical stance by portraying soldiers as ignorant and pitiable pawns, sent to die for reasons they must discover for themselves. Despite the series' obsession with all things militaristic, Metal Gear ultimately paints an anti-war picture by throwing a sympathetic spotlight on a role typically known for its stoicism and heroism, and by revealing the selfish machinations that inspire global conflict. |
| PODCAST: Tune in to 1UP's Metal Gear 25th Anniversary Special Posted: 06 Jul 2012 06:02 PM PDT The Games, Dammit! podcast recorded a special episode to commemorate Metal Gear's 25th anniversary. Join host Jose Otero, Jeremy Parish, GamesRadar's Sterling McGarvey, and Mark MacDonald of 8-4 Play for a deep analysis into the current state of the series. In between the main discussion, you'll hear special contributions from our devoted listeners and friends of the show, including guest appearances by Camouflaj's Ryan Payton, Greg Miller and Mitch Dyer of IGN, and more. Don't miss it! |
| Metal Gear Solid 2 and the Generation that Never Was Posted: 06 Jul 2012 04:20 PM PDT
Feature 1UP COVER STORY  1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JULY 2 | METAL GEAR TURNS 25 Metal Gear Solid 2 and the Generation that Never WasCover Story: The broken promises of gaming?s most ambitious demo.R ain pours down across a bridge bustling with traffic. A man comes into view wearing a poncho that billows in the heavy winds as credits slowly appear across the screen before evaporating. All that can be seen of his face is a semi-bearded chin, a long nose, and the ember of a cigarette that he pulls from his lips as he takes one last drag before flicking it into the grey of the raging storm around him. He suddenly takes off running, leaps from the bridge, and activates a stealth camouflage that makes him nearly invisible. A hidden bungee cord slows his dissent, and despite disabling his camouflage, the stranger safely lands on the deck of a ship that was passing below. He stands, his malfunctioning sneaking suit revealing his identity- the legendary Solid Snake. The title fades in across the ship and sky above him. This was Sons of Liberty. The opening cinematic to Sons of Liberty was everything a Metal Gear fan had come to anticipate and expect from the sequel. Showy, dynamic, and perfectly dramatic, the cinematic influences prevalent throughout the first Metal Gear Solid were front and center. As Snake leapt from that rain-soaked bridge, it was immediately evident that the legendary soldier of old was still the East-meets-West badass, equal parts Kurosawa Samurai and John Carpenter anti-hero, which everyone fondly remembered from the original MGS. Considering the opening is easily matched, if not eclipsed by the submarine propelled intrusion of the first MGS's beginnings, most would never argue it to be one of the greatest opening sequences in the history of gaming. Despite this, there remains no other opening cinematic that remains so perfectly ingrained in the farthest most verdant reaches of my mind's eye. All because of the playable demo it was attached to that released alongside Konami's Zone of the Enders.  |
| Outer Heavens: What Metal Gear Went Up Against Posted: 06 Jul 2012 04:05 PM PDT
Feature 1UP COVER STORY  1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JULY 2 | METAL GEAR TURNS 25 Outer Heavens: What Metal Gear Went Up AgainstCover Story: Nuclear-capable walking tanks are all in a day's work compared to the gaming contemporaries Solid Snake faced.T he Metal Gear franchise certainly holds some importance in the history of games, but to read about its accomplishments would make it seem like it was bulletproof. In some ways, yes, and in others, no. Every Metal Gear game, from the simple 8-bit originals to the most advanced sequels of recent years has been in the company of similar games that tried -- or at least were presented to be -- going for their proverbial throats. As you'll learn, it was relatively easy for Metal Gear to stand out in the beginning, but as decades went on, its marquee status morphed to a state where it now sits in somewhat dangerous territory. But no matter what your feelings are about Metal Gear games, you probably have some about the following competition through the years, as well. "Military" Games of the '80s |
| The Sword, the Helicopter, and the Revengeance Conundrum Posted: 06 Jul 2012 01:17 PM PDT 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JULY 2 | METAL GEAR TURNS 25 E 3 2012 didn't offer many surprises this year, but Konami delivered by not only showing off the long-delayed and deeply troubled Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance but actually doing so in a playable form. After hearing the unhappy rumors that have swirled about the game since it failed to show up in any real manner at last year's trade shows, I didn't expect pinch-hitting developer Platinum to have pulled the project together enough to offer something tangible in such short order. And yet, there we were. Revengeance takes a radically different approach to the Metal Gear universe than players are accustomed to, but the change of its title's suffix from "Solid" to "Rising" leaves the door wide open for that alternate world view. As the series mutated from stealth adventure to card game when it became Metal Gear Ac!d, "Metal Gear Rising" denotes something different, too -- in this case, fast-paced action. Oh, and cutting. In fact, those seem to be the two pillars on which Revengeance has been constructed: Fast action and cutting. Based on the E3 demo, those two concepts exist in uncomfortable opposition to one another, with the latter serving as a brilliant (and dare we say it? Cool) mechanic that completely disrupts the flow of the former. |
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