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Metal Gear Solid 5 dev defends Ground Zeroes length

"Are Journey and Dear Esther long?" Kojima Productions' Jordan Amaro asks.

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The length of a game isn't necessarily associated with its quality. That's the message Kojima Productions designer Jordan Amaro has for fans up in arms about the recent news that you might be able to complete Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes in just one sitting.

"Are Journey and Dear Esther long? [Voltaire's 18th-century writing Candide] is like a hundred pages at most," Amaro said. "Yet they are masterpieces of video game and literature. This smearing will not stain and affect what we're aiming to achieve with MGS, the game industry in Japan, or video games as a whole."

Journey and Dear Esther might not be long games, but they sell for $15 and $10, respectively. That's below what Konami is charging for Ground Zeroes, which ranges from $20-$40 depending on platform and delivery choice.

"I want people to celebrate the new MGS like we used to. I'm not dismissing their concerns. But this [issue surrounding the game's length] has been trumped-up," Amaro said.

The game is a prequel to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which is said to be "hundreds of times larger" than Ground Zeroes. Konami hasn't set a release date for that game yet.

The length of Ground Zeroes isn't the only part of the game drawing heated debate. It's also been revealed that the PlayStation 4 version of the game looks "slightly better" than the Xbox One iteration, a point that Metal Gear Solid series creator Hideo Kojima reportedly agrees with.

Konami has yet to confirm whether or not there is a resolution or frame rate difference between the two next-generation versions, but it wouldn't be the first time a multiplatform game was visually preferable on Sony's console.

This story has been updated with additional comments from Amaro and adjusted to reflect his intent.

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Paoksis

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they should rename it to Metal Gear Solid 5:Phantom Pain DLC

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Sheik2

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<< LINK REMOVED >> lol

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deactivated-5e7f8a21de9dd

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I don't pay $40 for a movie ticket...


2 hours of gameplay should be $15 at most.

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CaveManCobb

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<< LINK REMOVED >> The main story is about 2 hours but there is still other stuff to do in the game.

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Sheik2

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<< LINK REMOVED >> 2 hours of the main mission, the whole contect of sideops will have much more

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Brakkyn

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At least the price reflects, somewhat, the approximate length. But still, around two hours? I'd like to ask, "why bother?", and just skip straight to Phantom Pain.

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demon-returns

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So Let me see if I can get this math correct


If you're someone who gets the $40 version and then end uo buying MGS 5 Phantom pain for $60 whenever that comes out it means you've essentially spent $100 on the game.....and that's not even factoring how much it will be in total once dlcs starting coming out for the game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I love my metal gear solid and all but damn...... I'm not supporting this game if that's how they wanna roll. **** that shit

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Xristophoros

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<< LINK REMOVED >> true. just wait and pre-order the phantom pain. i can almost guarantee that they will include the ground zeroes portion for free.

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ZeroOriginality

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So the PS4 version will look a little better than the Xbox One version? No reason to get mad about it. What were people expecting?

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analogjunkie24

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Damn Facebookers. As if the comment section wasn't bad enough.


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SphinxDemon

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Lol of course it'll look better on ps4

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TERMINATOR-SSD

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honestly i still think its a cash in. Im a huge MG fan and im not bought by this regardless of length of the game, price etc etc. Something crys ''Cash-In'' about this.


im sure many others would of prefer to wait for a FULL blown game instead of buying this for a back story then buy the full game, I think i will wait till this is included in a special package or something but i cant see my buying this, yet. I can wait. Its MG for crying out loud. we ALWAYS wait for the games lol.

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raydawg2000

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so the video "clip" in this article is almost the whole game. nice...no need to buy it now.

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Sword-Demon

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Great game or not, I'm not paying $10 per hour of playtime.


I'll wait for the inevitable GZ/PP special edition

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ggregd

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It's too expensive for two hours, but the worst part is it's setting a horrible precedent by giving developers another excuse to shorten games and start charging for demos.

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Kryptonbornson

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<< LINK REMOVED >> People don't even finish games, why shouldn't they be shorter and cheaper?

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tzolynski

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Bad games are hard to finish..... Like BF4 campaign that hurt so bad after a half hour i couldnt stand it. Multiplayer on the other hand when it works is great.. Conquest is a blast.

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jecomans

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Most articles I've read put the number of players that finish the game at about 1/4. I'd imagine some gamers run out of time, some find the game too difficult, some don't finish the campaigns of open world games, etc; but mostly I'd imagine it's an indictment of the quality of the game, not the length of it.

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tzolynski

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I only dont finish it if doesnt hold my attention... which can be challenge at times


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Kryptonbornson

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Most people don't finish any game based on articles I've read about achievement statistics. I think players can see for themselves on PS4 and you definitely can on Steam.

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bobbetybob

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This isn't a stand alone game though, this is a portion of a story driven game that has been removed and is being sold to us at an inflated price.

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Kryptonbornson

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@bobbetybob It's the part of the game they planned on releasing separate. They said this since the beginning. Besides, you want to wait another year for the whole game?

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Kryptonbornson

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It took me around 8 hours on normal difficulty. That game is hard.

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tzolynski

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Dont plan on hearing back from the facebook crowd they just speak... they dont speak back.

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Kryptonbornson

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I didn't notice it was Facebook until after I posted. lol

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Albelnox0

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Everybody knows this is a prequel for the real game right. Just wait till MGS5 comes out, if you don't want to play this. Simple solution.

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Kryptonbornson

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I'm just happy the game is coming out now. The main game will be a much longer wait.

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Grenadeh

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Story without prequel = story that makes less sense than possible.

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endorbr

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>Well it is a MGS game so the story probably won't make a lot of sense regardless...

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Grechin

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Geeze I remember I sunk about 300+ hours into peace walker...

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gamer6130

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Download the game on the ps3, and all will be well. At least that's what im going to do.

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tzolynski

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Facebook eruption!!! Storys dead.

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West123

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<< LINK REMOVED >> yup i dont know why we have to see the random facebook comments it just kills everything...since they cant see our comments

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Kryptonbornson

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Seriously? Everybody here thinks video games are worth less than movies?

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tzolynski

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Do you know what it costs have Jim Carrey in a movie?? its more for just him than to make a AAA title.

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Kryptonbornson

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@tzolynski @Kryptonbornson About $40 million back in the day. Regardless, we buy the movie tickets, then the DVD/Blu-ray and many movies have merchandising we indulge in that games don't--though I have had a Solid Snake figurine. $30 is fine for a short game of high quality. Any maybe they should do more to make money from their games than taking it all from early adopters.

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tzolynski

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<< LINK REMOVED >> words out of my mouth right there.

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Kryptonbornson

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I will buy a movie on disc if it's a really good movie. I often do the same if I've gotten the movie elsewhere and really enjoy it. Good movies have replayability which a lot of games don't have.

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tzolynski

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<< LINK REMOVED >> True but thats all by choice just like this. If i go see a movie in the theater i rarely buy it when it comes out on Blu ray and i dont wear my dumb and dumber t shirt or yoda mask to the theater either. Its all upon what people will justify.

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FlameBoyBen

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the arrogance of stating the game is as good as journey at double the price before release date...

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Grechin

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Is he seriously name dropping Voltaire's Candide to gamers? FYI You'd be much better off using Conrad's 100 or so page heart of darkness, seeing as how that's most video games' go too literature inspiration... By the way, yes I am pissed about David Hayter!

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doopydoogle

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Give us a $30 Phantom Pain upgrade option and all will be well

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Kryptonbornson

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They needed a real actor.

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jerusaelem

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Ahh...Konami, have you learned nothing from the past? If you want to charge $40 for a two hour Metal Gear Solid demo, you have to package it for free with a mediocre, mindnumbingly dull action/mech game like Zone of the Enders so we can at least PRETEND we're getting a deal. You can't swing a dead nine-tailed fox in Japan without hitting a shitty action/mech game. Buy one out, slap a ZOE 3 sticker on it along with a $40 price tag, slip in a "free" copy of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeros, and wait for the money to pour in!

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eze_sl89

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Zone of the enders is a master peace. A bit more of respect, kid. go play call of duty

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Kryptonbornson

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Buying it day one.

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