Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Three 2, Planet Terror, and where’s Snake.

Films watched:
Three Extremes 2


Inferior collection of short films, original was far better.

Film 1: Memories 6/10
Film 2: The Wheel 3/10
Film 3: Going Home 4.5/10

Planet Terror

Bats**t bonkers b-movie pretender. Go-go girls, zombies and gore.

8/10

I popped into HMV the other day and put a pre-order down for Metal Gear Solid 4, which after all is out in just over 3 weeks. I was surprised that the member of staff didn’t seem to know what the game was and had to look though her computer system for a minute before placing the pre-order. It then occurred to me that unlike the likes of GTA4, Wiifit, Rock Band etc., MGS4 has not been advertised at all in the shop.

Now I don’t tend to watch much in the TV these days, but it also occurs to me that I haven’t seen any other advertising for MGS4. Sure there have been articles in magazines a plenty, but nothing that would seem to reach out to a wider audience.

Now it could just be that the advertising will likely kick in soon, say a week or so before release, but if not this is utter madness. MGS4 is without a doubt the biggest exclusive game due out in 2008 for the PS3 and Sony should be shouting this from the rooftops. There should be offers in shops, the bundle being advertised ahead of release and just about everything to get the name of MGS4 out there in the wider domain. This should be advertised on a similar level as a summer blockbuster action movie.

If the online sign up for the MGO beta is an indication, then there is certainly a high level of interest out there for MGS4, but this is just the audience out there who would be buying it no matter what. Sony needs to attract more people to the PS3 and MGS4 should be the game to do this.

It also occurs to me that this is the first time in a Metal Gear game that you’ll be able to play as Solid Snake, since the prologue of Metal Gear Solid 2!

Everyone seems to go on and on about GTA4 these days… how many perfect 10/10 reviews has it had now? Whilst I will admit that GTA4 is a great game (not perfect, but great), MGS4 on the other hand, WILL BE EPIC! :)

1 comment:

Sinbad said...

I reckon they'll time it very close to the release - MS had big marketing deals (read: MS pays for the publicity) with both Rockstar and EA for GTA and Rock Band respectively, but I didn't see any TV ads for GTA until it was actually out, and haven't seen anything for Rock Band yet. I think with the amount of games out it doesn't make sense to advertise until the punter can go out and buy it.

With MGS I think it's especially true - I get the impression it's very much a game for the existing fans first and foremost, and not the sort of game to attract huge amounts of newcomers who have never heard of MGS before, like Wii Fit etc. Anyone who's a MGS nut already knows it's coming out, so there's no point advertising yet - anyone who's never heard of it will probably only be swayed if they can see it on the shelf.