Well, today, with the IGN.ps2 crew, me and Shingoku took a trip to the Sony Metreon in San Francisco and finally got to test drive MGS2 along with many other San Franciscans along with many others who actually FLEW from other parts of the country to see it. Needless to say, the initial expression of these MGS2-ites was none other then shock, stun, and amazement in more ways than one. Before I get into impressions, how about the day first and how Sony does promotional get togethers right.The BeginningWaking up at a brisk 7AM, about the same time I generally wake up every other day for college and on a Saturday no less, I showered, threw on some clothes and waited for Shingoku to show up so we could go together and play some of that sweet Konami goodness. We arrived at the Metreon at about 9AM only to see about 5 other people standing in line, 2 of which had actually FLOWN IN from various parts of the country. Being 7th in line is pretty good as long as everything involves the first 10 people, and this day it would.
Waiting for about 6 minutes, a Sony representative stepped out of the store and asked if we were all waiting to play the demo. We all responded in a resounding yes and the Sony employee threw out 7 Playstation baseball hats and told us to pretty much go do as we wish and to hold on to the hats because they guaranteed us a play through of the MGS2 demo on the large screen 60" television with surround sound along with the IGN crew. That basically means, we can go goof off while others have to wait in line, and we get to experience it FIRST in the best way possible. How wonderful.
Leaving the facility, we returned at about 10.30AM and we proceeded to wait while the Sony people, and IGN, setup the game so that us first 10 people could experience the title properly. Me and Shingoku walked around for about 20 minutes waiting for the damn thing to start. Finally, they pulled away the black velvet ropes and let us eager gamers inside the "demo hall."
The GameI\'m not going to gush all over it like so many people have on this forum, but I will say that playing the game will change your perception of the future of games forever. I myself was willing to stand in line, play the game, and get right back in line afterwards numerous times just to play THE DEMO of this game and my God, that says a lot about it. I myself completed the demo on 3 consecutive occasions; Once on Normal, Hard, and then Very Hard where I experienced my only 2 losses of the entire day because in Very hard, if you are seen, the game is over.
I completed the demo in 4 minutes on Hard after playing the normal game only once and needless to say, I had to have more. Everything about it is amazing and everyone should AT LEAST give this game a whirl. During the first play through, which was hosted by the IGN crew, the crew gave us a tutorial on the game and the routes as well as the button configurations. Me and Shingoku were the only ones to move through the demo swiftly killing just everyone in our paths. I don\'t know if this is a show of the casual gamer, but it certainly was a show of our complete excellence when the time comes. /end self embelishment.
The FinaleAt the end of the play throughs we were given some teaser material for both ZOE and MGS2. I have scanned much of the material below for your enjoyment, but I must warn you, the files are rather high in size. Finally, at the end of the day, we were given the chance to speak with KCEA\'s regional translation director of MGS2. Nothing is really new about the game except for a few things:
- David Haytr is STILL unconfirmed as returning for Snake, but Konami is trying their hardest to get him.
- Although they have yet to get Haytr, the same directors for the voice acting as used for MGS is working on MGS2 so we can count on the same amount of quality for MGS2 as MGS.
- The game is on schedule for a fall 2001 release simultaneously in North America and in Japan.
- Which version the X-Box is getting is still unknown. Anything you hear about it is nothing but speculation.
- If you knock on a female poster in the locker room, you will alert the guards.
- Kojima is unsure of the future of Metal Gear, but as was said by the director of the translation "he is concerned with moving forward in his career."
- You can expect a full review of ZOE when the game releases in the US this coming Wednesday.
After the show, a drawing was held for a free copy of ZOE with the MGS2 demo, both Shingoku and I walked away empty handed with only the thrill of anticipation to fill the void.
Here\'s a few scans of the materials we were given from Konami. Please note, these scans are but 1/10th the actual size. After scanning the large 3 page gatefold picture of the Metal Gear Ray, the picture totaled well over 2000 pixels in length alone at 100dpi. Needless to say, they have undergone some retouching as well as lots of resizing. Enjoy them while you can. Thanks to Shingoku for the scans of Ray. Warning: Bandwidth Intensive!http://mrclean.gethits.net/MGS3large.jpghttp://mrclean.gethits.net/MGS2large.jpghttp://mrclean.gethits.net/ZOEinside1.jpghttp://mrclean.gethits.net/ZOEinside2.jpghttp://mrclean.gethits.net/ZOEcover.jpghttp://mrclean.gethits.net/ZOEback.jpgHope you had as much fun as I did! :)
