Thoughts on anything really, philosophy, religion, even the occasional litterature, but what I'm talking most about is video games and the industry in general. You can also find me on Twitter, DeviantArt and Youtube @crazycat690.
Now I probably wouldn't have made this video to begin with if it wasn't for the fact that when I've asked feminists why they don't look at these issues from a male perspective they've been quick to answer "well it's not a female issue, you fight for it you... You... MAN!". So, where we are.
And I can't stress enough that I don't claim to preach some objective truth, I'm open for discussion. I know I've made mistakes, yeah this video isn't perfect either, only arrogant fools claim to be perfect, please understand.
You can also find me on twitter @crazycat690
Sources for some of the things I talk about in the video:
http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Raiden
http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=9178
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10880647/Topless-women-campaign-to-Free-The-Nipple-why-on-earth-do-women-want-to-walk-around-topless-in-public.html
Finally we live in a world where Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is available for anyone who wants it (and can afford it, obviously). I've waited years to play this, naturally I felt compelled to get the Collector's Edition for this game as it's the end of an era of MGS games directed by the legendary Hideo Kojima.
I wanted to share some thoughts on the overall package, I'm likely to write a review of it at some point but as I'm not a professional journalist it's not something to be expected anytime soon or when it arrives to be particularly well written. Probably will be pretty biased as well, but, I digress... Lets start with what's actually included in this Collector's Edition!
The following things were included:
- MGSV: The Phantom Pain
- Collectible Steelbook
- Half Scale Replica of Snake's Bionic Arm
- Map
- MGSV: TPP Collector's Disc
- Additional Game Content (DLC...)
The Bigg Boss figurine was not included in the box but was bought from Play Arts Kai
Now I got the EU version, I'm aware that not everyone have gotten DLC codes in their box but I got them. Though only the Day One codes for the singleplayer worked (for now). I assume that the Metal Gear Online codes will work once it actually launches.
The arm is of course the main attraction among the other trinkets, it's really cool visually and the fingers are pretty flexible. My only complaint would be that the fingers are a bit, hm, "floppy", would've been nice if they were a bit more 'stiff'' so they'd be better for posing. Though it's not too bad as it is, at least it doesn't feel like you're breaking them as you move them around.
The map is also quite big, showing of the Afghanistan and Africa level, I haven't really looked into the details as I do want to leave some surprises for when I actually play the game.. But it's good, nothing to complain about as far as quality goes, pretty standard issue paper map. The rest is what you'd expect, well I don't exactly know what's on the "Collector's Disc" but if I were to guess it's some "making off"-thing, gonna check that out later at some point to make sure.
Overall I'm pretty happy with my decision to get this. It's a neat package that while it may have been overpriced (though today, what isn't?) is rather neat. I'm sure that whatever doubts over value there may be will vanish as soon as I've gotten more familiar with the game.
Also, here's my unboxing video if you care to watch:
I will be trying to stream as much of the game as possible via Twitch, I know that anyone interested in the game will be trying to avoid spoilers but I'm just putting it out there; http://www.twitch.tv/crazycat690
So quite recently it's become clear that Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, will be leaving Konami shortly after the release of MGSV: The Phantom Pain. There has apparently been a falling out between Kojima and Konami, since Konami keeps the Metal Gear IP this means that this time it really will be Kojima's last MGS game. What all this will lead to only time can tell.
I must say, these news are quite shocking to me. Konami have been publishing Kojima made Metal Gear games as long as I've been gaming, it's been a very important franchise to me so I for one will be following any coming events related to this closely. What is clear is that Kojima will have to move on after MGSV and that Konami will still continue to make Metal Gear games after Kojima has left, in fact they're hiring new developers right now to make a new Metal Gear series.
Personally, and I'm quite surprised to say this, I feel kinda positive about this. I mean, of course it's a shame when a creator have to give up his creation and overall when someone important is let go. However I feel that this could be good because Kojima can finally move on and do something new, I don't think he wanted to make Metal Gear games for the rest of his life anyway. Also, lets be honest, Kojima wouldn't have been able to pass on the franchise to another team without being very involved himself yet again. I am eager to see what he will do now, even if it's unlikely that it'll be the new Silent Hills that was announced last year...
Furthermore, while new Metal Gear games might lack the same attention to detail and complex story, the gameplay alone might be enough to make them worthwhile. I'm quite curious to see what a new team could do with the franchise, my only wish is that they leave Kojima's story untouched, sure a cameo or two might be fun but I don't really want to play as Big Boss or Solid Snake again in a game that isn't made by Kojima. So far Metal Gear have been like pizza, even when it's a bad pizza it's still good food. Hopefully that holds true.
To finish this off, it's relevant to point out that this isn't the first time that this has happened, this could mean a big decline in quality (Resident Evil) or that the franchise end up completely disappearing (Mega Man). It's fair to be very skeptical about the whole ordeal, I know I am even though I'm curious to see what happens next. I suppose what I'm trying to say that good things can come out of this, a new take on the Metal Gear franchise, Kojima get to have his creative mind working at full capacity again... And we'll always have plenty of MGS games to replay until the end of times, with that, lets give Metal Gear Solid a good salute!
As 2014 is now over, (actually has been for days, might be late to the party) I thought I might as well name the games I enjoyed the most of last year. Number one will of course be my GOTY, going from 5 to 1.
5. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes; as it wasn't a full game I can't give put it any higher than nr. 5, but as it stands it does offer great content, even if it isn't much, and great replayability. It does what it set out to do perfectly, getting me hyped for MGSV: The Phantom Pain.
4. Far Cry 4; this left me a bit disappointed to be honest, still a great game though so it earned a spot on my list. I felt it was pretty much Far Cry 3 with better environments but a much weaker story. The fact that they didn't properly balance all the mechanics stopped me from enjoying it even further.
3. Assassin's Creed: Unity; I know this game gets a lot of hate, but I like it. Sure, there's plenty of graphical glitches and they're really pushing the online stuff, but there's so much in here to enjoy that I had to give it a high spot on this list. The side quests feel fresh and the assassinations are for the first time in forever pretty free.
2. InFamous: Second Son; the very first game I played on Ps4, and boy what a start! Once I got past just how impressive it looks, there's plenty of fun content to explore. After my first playthrough I couldn't wait to get back in there for the evil run.
1. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor; my GOTY of 2014! This game was surprisingly good, I was skeptical at first but I followed it closely, very glad it turned out so well. The gameplay is fun, the skill system is pretty unique and finally it has the nemesis system which allows the player to have completely dynamic and personal relationships with the bad guys of Mordor. Personally, I hope other developers take this system and implements it in their own games, it would be perfect for Assassin's Creed, just to name an example.
I like it, won't review it or anything... Just wanted to spread my personal joy over finally getting it. Why this late, I hear you ask? Well I wanted to get it for Ps4, and I got a Ps4 just a week ago... So there, played this game quite a bit and in my humble opinion it was worth it. Though I am of course a completely biased MGS fan.
E3 2014 just went by, they showed off plenty of good games but there was also few surprises. Sony showed some Uncharted, Microsoft showed Halo, and Nintendo showed Zelda.
I'm going to go over E3 briefly and from my own point of view now so don't expect some in depth analysis or anything, without any further delay lets start out with Microsoft! Their idea to show only games was great, it was entertaining to see game after game but they showed mostly multiplats and then CGI trailers for newly announced games. Oh and if you're not tired of Halo, good news, they talked a lot of Halo.
Then I watched the EA conference, they kinda left me puzzled. I understand that they want to show off games and all but they proved that you can show them off too soon. Do I need to see games so early in development that they miss all textures? No, not really. Hard to be excited for something that we'll know won't come out anytime soon. And while Battlefield Hardline did look interesting, I don't think it's a smart move to annualize the franchise considering they like releasing pricy DLC for about a year. I can't speak for everyone but I won't be spending 120 bucks for a game that'll last a year. Though since I never bought BF4 I might get Hardline instead.
Moving on, Ubisoft, they were a bit more fun and once again having the energetic Aisha Tyler return as host. Apart from the less interesting segments with those dance and workout games their show was pretty solid as they showed off good games like Far Cry 4, AC Unity, The Division and the newly announced Rainbow Six: Siege. Overall a strong conference.
I watched the Sony conference last, the first half hour was really entertaining with Little Big Planet 3 suddenly being announced and demoed. It slowed down for about 20-30 minutes halfway through when they spent way too much time talking about more boring and technical things. Overall it was a decent conference with games like LBP3, Bloodborne and Uncharted 4.
Final words, I didn't bother watching Nintendo's thing because I was kinda asleep at the time and they've never interested me much. Later I've heard that it was pretty good with many games shown off. Anyway, based on my experience I liked Sony's most, mostly because they showed off the three games I'm most interested in, MGSV, Gta V next gen version and Uncharted 4.
Well folks, it seems like the new console generation is taking root, what better way to celebrate this fact than to list my top 69 (...I'm incredibly immature) games on last gen? Do note this is just my opinion, though I'm mostly right so if your favorite game isn't on this list, though tomatoes.
First a few rules, it doesn't matter if they have or are getting Ps4/X1 ports, and HD versions of Ps2 era games don't count. PC games are also included, of course. I've judged the game on how interesting the content is, and how rewarding it was to play through said content. Finally, I've also allowed myself to select specific and several games from a franchise, since rarely is every game in a franchise of equal quality.
From 1-69:
1. The Last of Us
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Bioshock
4. Uncharted 2
5. MGS4
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Journey
8. Spec Ops: The Line
9. Far Cry 3
10. Fallout: New Vegas
11. Assassin's Creed 2
12. Telltale's The Walking Dead
13. Dishonored
14. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
15. Sleeping Dogs
16. Grand Theft Auto 4
17. InFamous
18. LA Noire
19. Max Payne 3
20. Uncharted
21. Call of Duty 4
22. InFamous 2
23. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
24. Bioshock 2
25. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
26. Batman: Arkham Asylum
27. Alan Wake
28. Batman: Arkham City
29. Bioshock: Infinite
30. Little Big Planet
31. Battlefield 3
32. Sly Cooper 3: Thieves in Time
33. Tomb Raider
34. Uncharted 3
35. Metro 2033
36. Guild Wars 2
37. Hitman: Absolution
38. South Park: The Stick of Truth
39. Dead Space 2
40. Metro: Last Light
41. Mass Effect 2
42. Heavy Rain
43. God of War 3
44. Resistance 3
45. Dark Souls
46. Rage
47. Crysis
48. Silent Hill: Downpour
49. Splinter Cell: Blacklist
50. Mortal Kombat
51. Fallout 3
52. The Darkness
53. Red Faction: Guerrilla
54. Saint's Row 2
55. Dragon's Dogma
56. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
57. Hotline: Miami
58. Trine 2
59. Dawn of War 2
60. Machinarium
61. Shank
62. Team Fortress 2
63. Borderlands 2
64. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
65. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
66. Yakuza 4
67. Just Cause 2
68. Torchlight
69. Skyrim
Phew, what a list. Here's a potato:
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I'm aware of the fact that games are still being released for Ps360, like Watch Dogs... So this list stands for today, 28.4.2014, and may change if it's really necessary.
Recently, Game Informer shed some light upon the prequel chapter to MGSV: Phantom Pain, info about the story, gameplay and length... What concerns me is that it was revealed that when they played through the main story bit it took them just under 2 hours. Not only that but afterwards they finished speedruns in about 5 minutes (when skipping cutscenes).
Look, I'm a huge MGS fan, always have been, I even liked MGS4 which I understand is a controversial opinion, but something isn't quite right here. The pricing for Ground Zeroes is ranging from 20-40 dollars, depending on platform of choice and digital vs retail. 20 dollars I kinda can accept, there is bonus missions and collectibles in there, but that price is only available for those who buy the digital version for Ps3/360.
As soon as you want the retail version on Ps3/360 or the digital version for Ps4/XB1 the price goes up to 30 dollars, then 40 dollars for the retail version for Ps4/XB1. Now I get that it's completely optional to go for the most expensive version out there but already the digital version for the Ps4/XB1 has a pretty daring price. 30-40 dollars for a 2 hour game is rather week, with bonus content or not.
Lets put this in perspective, shall we? Last year I bought Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon for 15 dollars, a standalone expansion to Far Cry 3. The campaign lasted about 6-8 hours while all the extra stuff, collectibles, clearing outposts and side missions added another 6-8 hours. That's a very good amount of content for 15 bucks. Now compare that to the 2 hour prequel chapter for MGS that you can pay up to 40 dollars for, am I the only one that thinks this kinda stinks?
I will still buy it, of course, since I want the full story for MGSV. Though I doubt I'll be buying it at release, I am yet to get a Ps4 and I do want the best possible version. I'll be seeing if I can get it on a sale or if they will still bundle it with MGSV: Phantom Pain later on.
"Well if you were going to buy it anyway then why rant?", simple, I just wanted to put this into perspective. A staff member from KojiPro attempted to defend the length by drawing comparisons to Journey and Dear Esther. Sure, they were also 2 hour games, however they were both also 15 dollars or less. I assume it's to late for them to change much at this point but I hope it doesn't become a "thing" for the future.
