Page 1 of 3

The ultimate Metal Gear History article on sale NOW!

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:34 am
by Szczepaniak
Hi all, I asked Snatcher if it was ok to post this, and he said yes.

http://www.gamestm.co.uk/pm/9

The above current issue of gamesTM, which is a UK magazine, has my Metal Gear History article printed in it, in the retro section.

I began work on it several months ago, handed it in, but due to the way mags are published, its only gone into print now. I have no idea how heavily edited it was, but it should have run at around 5-6 pages, with a huge comparitive chart of screenshots, but sadly Ive been told its been cut to only 4 pages with only a minimal of 5 screens. (one of which is the Micheal Biehn comparison pic)

Blame the editors for all that, I could have easily written a 20 page essay.

Anyway, if you feel kind enough, buy an issue, read it and give me some feedback. (or better yet, email my boss and tell how brilliant it is so I get commisioned for more work :D )

Once the issue is no longer on sale, I will post the text here for you all to read, and if Snatcher agrees, I will send him the comparison chart that never made it. (you can put the whole article up if you want once that issue is not on sale)

The article chronicles the entire MG history, even the obscure things such as the home made Metal Gear VMU game, the Snake's Revenge LCD game and even MGS bottles of wine. (I must have submitted over 100 screenshots, and they ONLY bloody used 5!)

It also lightly touches apon Ghost babel, MGS1, various unreleased versions of MG, and the mobile phone ports, as well as mentioning the fan translations. It also shows SR in a very positive light.

To what degree, I am not sure, since I havent read the edited version yet.

Actually, does someone feel like scanning the article and posting it up here? I dont even live in the same country where its sold, so cant get hold of it. :lol:

Anyway, happy reading, and I hope it does the series justice.
A "thank you" must also go to Kid Einstein and Johnny Undaunted, who over the years have posted some very interesting MG pieces of information that helped inspire me.


http://www.gamestm.co.uk/pm/9

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:22 am
by Szczepaniak
I have emailed a copy of the comparison chart to
aurbina[at]junkerhq[dot]net

So hopefully if he hosts it, you should all be able to see it soon. :)

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:43 am
by randomwab
I saw the very mag in town on Saturday, i shall get a copy when i see it next, could be an interesting read im sure

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 11:20 am
by Artemio
Here is the image:

I'll try and make a decent page to host it for a more general access, when and if you will..

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 11:45 am
by Szczepaniak
thanks :)

Sorry about the size, but I didnt want to reeduce the actual game screen resolutions anymore. Right now they are at the bare minimum without losing clairty.

I think it makes for interesting comparisons.

It was supposed to be in my article, but was cut at the last moment.

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 11:51 am
by randomwab
The IBM version looks very interesting, was it ever released?

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 11:57 am
by Szczepaniak
Yes it was. I played the version on the-underdogs website. The site thats hosts free PC game downloads. (can we link to it on JunkerHQ?)

It undergone some major layout design changes, and feels very different to all the other games. Despite looking fairly good, its definetly the most diluted port.

On old PC's it wont have sound though, due to the sound card compatiblity. Try running it in DOS-box, that might help. Also, I never worked out how to save, the whole thing is buggy under WinXP

Basically for the first MG:
MSX>NES>C64>IBM

But thats just my opinion, some people might love the IBM version.

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:00 pm
by randomwab
Cool, never knew about the IBM version, im on underdogs now, ill look for it

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:07 pm
by 87th
otaku84 wrote:Yes it was. I played the version on the-underdogs website. The site thats hosts free PC game downloads.
Thanks to that piece of information, I was able to make this-
Image

:D

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:09 pm
by randomwab
HAH, thats pretty random, you should sell it on ebay, and with the profit buy a rubber chicken, umm yes, umm....

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:13 pm
by 87th
Heh... I can see it now-
SUPER RARE- IBM PC METALGEAR- EXCLUSIVE ARTWORK- METAL GEAR
:lol:

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:25 pm
by 87th
Oh well, in the pile it goes.
Image
:)

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:30 pm
by randomwab
lol, yes, the pile, i have the shelf, but its everything Kojima, i have a few more items since this was took but theres the bulk
http://img186.exs.cx/img186/2546/imgp00734zv.jpg

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:46 pm
by 87th
Heh... I've got more, that's just a quick picture I took.
My Snatcher pile is really depressing though.
Image
:cry:

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:49 pm
by randomwab
LOL, well, your doing better than me, at least you have a snatcher pile, anything of snatcher at all, i got a lend of it and completed it and havnt bothered buying any versions of it yet, though i wanna get the Sega or Mega CD version

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:53 pm
by 87th
Well, you haven't seen my Policenauts collection, either (and neither have I).

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:55 pm
by randomwab
Hell, i wish i understood Japenese to play the game properly, i just bash buttons and watch the intros, though it is strangly fun....hmmm

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 3:05 pm
by thagen
That's a nice comparison. A little depressing though. A port of a port of a port, and the game gets a little worse each time. :sad:

Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 3:31 am
by Szczepaniak
Not really.

Technically the NES version was a remix of the MSX version. (at least I like to think so)

The C64 and IBM versions were ported directly from the NES version, not from each other.

There was also an alleged Amiga version, based on some screens on the back of the IBM box. They looked to be the most visually impressive of the bunch, but it was never released. (some speculate it was never fully developed and the screens were only mocks)

Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 8:46 pm
by Johnny Undaunted
otaku84 wrote:Technically the NES version was a remix of the MSX version. (at least I like to think so)
It's only a remix if you consider a badly recoded port with pointlessly redesigned stages a remix.

BTW, could anyone resize the images. They're becoming a real scroll bastard.

Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:08 pm
by Artemio
Johnny Undaunted wrote:BTW, could anyone resize the images. They're becoming a real scroll bastard.
Made them links, hope that helps =P (tried to fix the forums to display them in a better way, but was taking too much time)


BTW, 87th I loved that little Metal Gear in your image, the unimpressed one ^^

Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 2:50 am
by Szczepaniak
Oh come on, the redone sections (with the exception of the Jungle maze) are not THAT bad. :P


Sorry about the sizing issues though, the game screens were at their lowest resolution before anti-aliasing starts occuring or we lost pixels, which would have dulled the effect slightly I think

Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 7:30 am
by 87th
otaku84 wrote:Oh come on, the redone sections (with the exception of the Jungle maze) are not THAT bad. :P
They're kind of MetalGear meets Crash Bandicoot, though. :lol:
Snatcher wrote:BTW, 87th I loved that little Metal Gear in your image, the unimpressed one ^^
Thanks muchly. ^_^

Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 11:41 am
by Johnny Undaunted
otaku84 wrote:Oh come on, the redone sections (with the exception of the Jungle maze) are not THAT bad. :P
The redone areas wouldn't be that bad if it weren't for...

A) The several instances where you're spotted by an enemy just for entering a new area or leaving a truck. Defeats the whole purpose of being stealthy.

B) The corridor in the beginning of the game with the trap door in one side and two enemy soldiers on the other, which is impossible to pass unless you cheat and use a bug.

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 3:04 am
by Finalfantasy7
wow, i would love to feature your atricle on www.metalgearsolid.org :)

i can put up all your screens + the whole artcile you created. I would hate to see all that work go to waste