Wide Flank: Happy Gaming

Metal Gear Solid (1998) - Gameclub

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For this month’s Gameclub, Alon, Danny and Teddy talk about Metal Gear Solid (1998).

This was our hardest episode yet. What can you add to the pile of think pieces and criticism of one of the most beloved games of a generation? We do our best to use terms like postmodern and the 4th wall to describe our experience but not sure if we say them correctly.

There are some misses here: Why is it in 3D? Why can’t you aim in first person? But some of its flaws are its greatest strength, like why does Snake repeat back nouns to other characters as a question — “2nd floor basement?”.

This is a game with heart. It takes risks and may stumble more often than it succeeds, but Kojima won us over for life (at least Teddy and Danny -- Alon is still a work in progress).

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Timestamps:

  • 00:00 - Intro
  • 02:08 - Metal Gear Solid overview
  • 04:20 - What version we played
  • 04:51 - Our Metal Gear history
  • 07:40 - Our Kojima history
  • 13:05 - How to describe this game?
  • 15:07 - Game narrative synopsis
  • 16:56 - It’s bad, but also good!
  • 22:09 - The first postmodern game
  • 24:02 - 4th wall for videogames
  • 26:21 - Does a bounty of easter eggs make a game?
  • 32:06 - Holding hands when introducing a game
  • 33:50 - The critics are wrong
  • 39:45 - Kojima make a movie?
  • 44:54 - Not all the gameplay is bad
  • 46:22 - Boss fights
  • 49:40 - Should it be 3D?
  • 52:10 - Mechanics are good, if not gameplay
  • 57:40 - More 3D
  • 1:02:20 - How was the wall breaking
  • 1:07:00 - Translation and story
  • 1:14:00 - Nukes
  • 1:20:45 - Favorite lines
  • 1:29:20 - Sexism
  • 1:36:15 - Does MGS stand alone or lean on the sequels to make its mark
  • 1:43:20 - Movie vs game
  • 1:47:00 - Wrap up

    • Show Notes:

    • Escape from New York trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYYZFcvQfRg
    • Reformulating the 4th wall - https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/a-circular-wall-reformulating-the-fourth-wall-for-video-games
    • Translation story - https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/18/20696081/metal-gear-solid-translation-japanese-english-jeremy-blaustein
    • the 7 polygon penis in Hitman 2 made me gay - https://twitter.com/radiatoryang/status/1163590116440457216
    • Solid Gear Metal - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8iBBJE_MZ0


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