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Fun fact. If you go to the "DARPA Chief" without grabbing the SOCOM pistol the scene changes slightly. Instead of drawing his gun on Meryl, Snake will grab the end of her rifle and keep it aimed square at his chest. I love it because it makes Snake's line "Can you shoot me rookie?" feel all the more ballsy.
Just to let you know, MGS1 came out on September of 1998. Im enjoying hearing this conversation on this game. I when I first played this game, my cousin and I were blown away about the code being behind the cd case.
I remember reading something once before about the MGS1 cast using pseudonyms because they weren't sure if video game voice acting was allowed by the Screen Actors Guild. They would all have been established actors, but at the time video game voice acting was relatively new and guild hadn't taken an official position on whether they allow it, so the actors decided to play it safe. I think David Hayter was the only actor to use his real name, but I'm not sure why he was the exception...
I recall reading or hearing this somewhere as well, perhaps in one of the interviews with the voice director floating around. Interestingly too, David Hayter uses his real name for the US release but for the European release he uses the pseudonym Sean Barker. This is a callback to the character he played in the live action movie Guyver 2:Dark Hero.
I think this was explicitly a non-union gig. Cam Clarke uses Jimmy Flinders for a handful of things, but they all appear to be non-union. All of Hayter's '90s anime dubbing work is under Sean Barker so that was probably non-union. Actually, I think the answer may lie in something like Star Trek Online as to why only two actors retained their names. Leonard Nimoy was the narrator for the game upon release, but it was a decidedly non-union gig. It wasn't until later in the game's life as it added more actors from the shows that it was required to go full union and any future voice actors used had to be in the union. So there may be an arbitrary limit of allowed union actors in non-union work with false names being used to circumvent.
I was in 10 grade. The day after this game came out EVERY kid in school was talking about it. After school that day to Media Play I went. and 20 years later Kojima is the GOLD standard still.
Yeah I was around the same age as you when this came out. The PlayStation is the first console I bought with money from my own job. My demo disc had Metal Gear Solid on it and I must have played that opening sequence from the Dock to the Heliport until you enter the Tank Hangar like 20 times in anticipation of getting the game. It’s basic by today’s standards, but the amount of things you could do, the story and graphics; there was nothing like it on consoles at the time.
I was also in 10th grade (we're old now guys lol). I remember using that opening cinematic to show people how awesome video games were getting. I had saved up my lawn mowing money to put together what I thought was a badass home theater setup, which consisted of a 26" CRT, a Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound system (with CD changer lol), and a subwoofer I got at a garage sale. Funny to think about now, but all my friends were blown away by how cool that cinematic was, and how movie-like it was with the sound system. I think it still holds up today
Liquid shooting down the F-16s is meant to make him look badass. Helicopters are extremely dangerous to fly in good weather, and he's taking off during snowfall. Yes, F-16s are capable of supersonic flight and no, a Hind is not. Also Shadow Moses is an island so wherever they came from the encounter happened over water, which means Liquid wouldn't have any geography to hide behind. And as if all that wasn't enough, he's outnumbered 2 to 1 Obviously this is fantasy but I love that Kojima sells it without even referencing the act just with Liquid's irrefutable confidence. Kudos to Cam Clarke who devours his lines throughout the game. My head canon is that Liquid flew low to avoid RADAR and was able to ambush and outmaneuver both jets. Just makes Otacon's compliment to Snake for shooting him down later all the sweeter
Air Force Intel guy here. Your head Canon is really the only possible solution f-16 are insanely fast and come with a lot of air to air heat seaking missle counter measures. He would have had to surprise them by masking his radar signature then either got lucky missile strikes despite the f-16 counter measures or an extremely luck machine gun hits. I belive the hind has 50 cals in the nose cone. While all of this is highly unlikely to work in a real world scenario, there is always the threat of "golden BB" that strikes the pilot or a vital component of the aircraft. Then your just sunk. I'm blanking on where I heard the story but there is a use case where a helicopter shot down a fighter jet I want to say it was in one of the Israeli wars. Also jets have been taken down by what we call small arms fire. Essentially dudes on the ground with rifles shooting at passing aircraft. That is more of a danger to helicopters and bigger logistical aircraft that can't maneuver very fast. There are also shoulder mounted heat seeking missiles called MANPADS that are also used to shot aircraft down. Those weapons play a bigger role in some of the later MGS games.
To Casen's point about the actors using Pseudonym's, that was down to the Screen Actors Guild's rules for recording video games being a bit iffy during that time, so most of the cast worked under a different name to still participate. Everyone used their real names from MGS2 onwards.
Yeah, this was *right* at the start of the era of videogames using actual professional voice actors and there wasn't a proper contract for videogame work through SAG at the time. Actors' unions tend to have rules about using your union registered name (which isn't always the actor's real name either) on a non-union contract. With some of the more already prolific actors in MGS like Cam Clarke you'll also see their non-union pseudonym show up fairly regularly in things like anime dubs (which also didn't have a SAG contract at the time).
Didn't they do something similar in Resident Evil? I remember reading articles where fans were trying to locate the actors in the intro movie but all of their names were made up.
The best year for video games in my opinion. Metal Gear Solid, Zelda, Starcraft, Fallout 2, Gran Turismo, Tekken 3, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Half-Life, Baldur's Gate, Pokemon Red/Blue etc...
@@ChocolatierRob This and resi 2 were my favourite games on the ps1. I was only 8 that year but I remember waiting for what felt like a lifetime after playing MGS on a demo disc. I had both games on demo discs that I had basically worn out playing in anticipation..I still go back and play them from time to time
The camera work was amazing in this game. I remember my aunt coming in the room as I was loading up and she thought I was watching a movie. She's not a gamer by any stretch but something about this game caught her attention where she actually would play it herself.
My brother leant me this game in 1999. My 6 year old self had his mind blown. Everything was so league's above everything else. The writing, the voice acting, the level of immersion and interactivity. Not to mention the soundtrack and cinematography. MGS2 is my favorite, but if someone tries to say MGS isn't a classic that deserves its legacy, oh bro, I'll throw hands lol
What I love about the Metal Gear series is that with the exception of MGS4, you play the bad guy. The unwitting pawn of The Patriots, taking down anyone who seeks to interfere with their control. The "bad guys" are the good guys being led down the wrong path by Ocelot because he knows they don't have the cunning to pull it off while he moves all the chess pieces into place to overthrow the system. Brilliant.
Meryl's frequency on the back of the CD case was a way to get around piracy, similar to using morse code to find Campbell's number after switching frequencies in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake where the manual had the morse code chart.
Pretty crappy anti-piracy technique, seeing as there's only 200 cobinations one can try. A nod to that sort of thing, perhaps, but not an actual anti-piracy thing, surely.
Speaking of Meryl's codec and renting from Blockbuster... I just wanna thank the absolute GOAT who wrote on pen and paper and taped it to the rental case when I rented my copy all those years ago. You are a true hero!
Vagrant Story was on my bucket list specifically because these guys covered it, but now that they said its mgs but fantasy settings, it's next on the list. Looking forward to playing it while going through those podcast episodes!
Military Aviation Officer here. In regards to your question about the Hind shooting down F-16s, this is extremely unlikely but technically possible under the correct circumstances. The advantage that rotary wing helicopters have is that they can fly low to the ground or other large fixtures that can mask them to radar making them effectively invisible based on their proximity to other things in the enviornment. This could allow an attack helicopyer that is properly equipped with radar and anti-aircraft missiles to avoid detection by figher aircraft until it is in a position to aquire and launch their missiles. However, in this situation the jets would also have to be flying very slow to allow the missiles being fired from the slow moving Hind to catch up. The aircraft's counter measures would also have to either fail or not detect the incoming missiles. Long story short, this is possible but all very unlikely.
On the 'Deepthroat' codec call section; Snake: Who are you? ???: Just call me "Deepthroat". Snake: The informant from the Watergate scandal? ???: Never mind about that. I never took that to mean he was the same person, instead it was a name to remain anonymous which carried over the 'inside government informant' vibe. Also I thought they dismissed it as such in the call, I pulled up a video clip since it has been many years distant. The language being "Just call me..." slight hesitation, "Deepthroat." combined with the subs putting scare quotes on the nickname. And then "Never mind about that." is why I'm still happy with my impression of it. *However* the delivery on the last line has shook me a little as it could totally work with your interpretation! Super enjoying these Analysis es es ess. I'll have to jump into one of the games I've not played soon and experience it in sync.
The whole diegetic mention of buttons in game dialogue, and the over-the-top and silly moments in Twin Snakes is somewhat explained in MGS2, where Raiden is a VR-trained agent, using simulations from the Shadow Moses Incident and the Tanker chapter of MGS2. Twin Snakes could be seen as an "update" from the previous Shadow Moses Simulator (MGS1), cranking up the legend status of Solid Snake by making him perform ridiculous feats. This whole theme of the games being unreliable narrators of the real events is further expanded in MGSV, with the quote "Facts do not exist, there are only interpretations" being one of the main motives of that game.
Also, the point of MGS1 was never really to make you feel like Snake - it was to have the player realize, acknowledge and develop a critical awareness of the fact that you're playing a game about a guy who basically kills people for a living. This is why MGS2 did the whole subversion thing with Raiden, because Kojima was frustrated that the point about Snake didn't land and fans started treating him like a hero when the entire message of MGS is that professional soldiers aren't heroes and you're not supposed to aspire to be like Solid Snake.
I did rent this from blockbuster and had to go back up to the store to look at the back of the case. The guy told us we wernt the first to have to do that. Hahah kinda miss stuff like that.
I recently played the game again and have a tip for the nuclear storage room where you can't use weapons. After you get the PSG-1, go back to the room just before it and equip the gun. Wait for a guard to be right in front of you on the other side of the door and shoot him. Kill him and enter the alert phase. Don't worry, the gas won't appear. Keep the PSG-1 equipped and use it to kill the other guards that come running but they'll be stuck on the other side of the door. You'll be safe. Once you kill all the guards, the alert phase will end and you can go through that room with no trouble.
@@hian That's also an option. Although playing it while growing up, I never liked getting caught in that room so I always avoided trying to break their necks.
I was one of those kids who rented this game from blockbuster, and spent an entire day out of my three day rental going through EVERY SINGLE codec phone number. The purity of those endorphins that were secreted into my brain when I finally got it right has been unmatched ever since. Truly a masterpiece!
I still think to this day that this game has a totally unique and unsurpassed atmosphere to it. This dark, grounded, techy, grey, blue, green style is just so damn appealing and cool to me. Art direction wise it is just a gorgeous game.
Videogame voice actors worked under psudonyms in the 90s. New medium, most didn't want to be tied to something that might fail. David Hayter didn't mind.
The point about Mantis during the scene in front of the elevator is pretty interesting. I've probably played MGS1 over 15 times and never really connected what he says to Meryl as being a direct reference to her opening fire on Snake, but more about her just dancing at the end of his metaphorical strings. Also re: the codec, I would especially recommend talking to Nastasha, as she is essentially invisible in the main plot but has a lot to say about Shadow Moses and the nuclear storage facility. The reason behind not being able to fire your weapons in the first floor of the building, while indeed just there to make the game harder, is explained in universe as that physically being the room the nukes are being stored in.
Damn I love MGS, getting so many nostalgic flashbacks listening to this, from Ocelot's badass intro to Meryl's butt being important. 7:02 I'd argue Ocarina had pretty above average camerawork for its time. Not anywhere near MGS, but it was far from just 'keyframing for showing'. Think back any time you learn a song, meet with Sheik, Ganondorf's many low-angle shots, or a boss is introduced (including Ganon's iconic intro), etc. Tons of beautiful moments in OoT, and quite a few are thanks to the shot choices. And majora's mask got even better at it. 30:14 That guard (johnny), with his butt censored, becomes a recurring joke in the series. While crawling thru the vents you can catch him taking a dump and commenting on Meryl's physique. 39:53 If you bought the "MGS Essential Collection" for PS2, the package came with a cardboard sleeve containing 3 DVD cases (MGS1, 2, & 3). On the back of that sleeve were descriptions for the 3 games, with 1 screenshot for each. MGS1's screenshot was...Meryl's codec! Also, if you bought the Playstation Classic console, which came preloaded with 20 games, the back of the big box displayed 1 screenshot per game...and you can guess what MGS's was. Back when MGS1 was on PSN, I believe digital-only players had to refer to the "software manual" that you can access from menu. If my memory is correct, the game's PSN store-page also had her frequency as one of the screenshots you could view before purchasing, but I'm only half-sure if I'm recalling right.
In my country (Argentina) we had a spanish dubbed version. It was so rare a game got that treatment. And it is a game that I played with japanese, english and spanish voices. And it stands out in every version. We enjoyed it at the same level of excelent quality
I remember reading a gaming magazine back during the early era of MGS and Syphon Filter, that had a humorous short story about Gabe getting into a confrontation with Snake. All I remember is at one point Snake is hiding in a cardboard box and Gave shoots him in the ass. If anyone else remembers this, please let me know.
That line between the cool and silly way to present some features in the caractherization of the protagonist and antagonists is what I call the John Carpenter style. Kojima takes from Carpenter that kind of features for his characters where they are cool but also have a silly thing to it. Like a Sombrero in McReady in The Thing or the eyepatch of Plisskin. That line divides also the sci-fi/fantasy side of the story and the realism of the world presented. And made us perfectly to accept all of this. It is a fine art of writing characters.
I think the whole Hind D vs the F16s thing was to demonstrate the almost supernatural super soldier like abilities of Liquid Snake that can achieve something that's otherwise impossible.
The MGS1 demo that came with my console on Christmas of '98 was the first PS1 game that I played, and might have been the first 3D game I ever played that wasn't on PC or in an arcade. I remember a sense of momentary confusion at why a movie trailer was on this demo disc followed by sheepish awe at the maturity and sophistication of this new risqué media. I didn't play the full game until four years later when I finished my brother's copy of MGS2 but it made as much of an impression as the copy of RE1: Dualshock I was gifted with my PS1. That demo disc also had Spyro, Tomb Raider III, Gran Turismo, shit was dope... I need to find a torrent of it for old time sake.
Being old enough to have played this when it was brand new, I can attest that the presentation of this game was mind blowing. Felt like a big step forward, and that games were being taken seriously enough for good acting, writing etc. But at the same time, still acknowledging that it IS a game. I personally love that, the “push select” stuff. Shows that while Kojima had aspirations of filmmaking, he wasn’t ashamed of making a video game. Oh and the flirting and the focusing of Meryl running? Yeah, Kojima is a horn dog. Sorry to be crass but, that’s him. Sometimes it’s playful, funny and maybe a bit sexy, other times it’s like . . . good God man, have a cold shower or something!
I can attest, having grown up on 2D FF games (and SNES in general), that watching the opening cutscene of MGS within a year or so if its release felt revolutionary. Like playing a movie.
In 98 when this came out I was shocked that it didn’t have loading screens. Also, the first scene I saw was the second Wolf fight. My friend had MGS and I was so blown away by that scene. I immediately went out and got it.
I was 11 years old and this was the first game i ever got Day one and played straight through…it blew my mind! Me and one other kid in class that had it would call each other every single night to talk about where we were at in the game and talk about how cool it was
Since you mentioned the Policenauts poster on the wall, there is also a PlayStation 1 that you can find sitting on a desk in the center of the same room. Or at least, the best that they could do. It's kind of funny that the PlayStation wasn't capable of accurately modeling a PlayStation, at least with everything else going on.
I played it in 99. A friend of mine told me about this game. And it blew my mind!!! 😎 It made me read Cold war books and with another friend we made it to the end and it was one of my fav gaming experiences ever. The next game I played was Ocarina of Time. Man what a load of great games we had those years!!
01:12:26 - VA's typically join the SAG-AFTRA after a certain number of jobs. At the point that they join, they'll stick to union based roles...unless they decide to book non-union gigs. The use of pen-names was typically done so that actors could continue taking non-union roles while still holding SAG status (booking non-union gigs as member meant violating the SAG agreement, and possibly having to pay fines and/or having their status suspended). It could've been this, but it's probably just as likely they might've done it to protect their reputation.
A couple of years ago David Hayter showed up on many podcasts, where he often talked about his VA work for MGS back then. I vaguely remember he mentioned some issues with the actor's guilds, which was why they used pseudonyms. He also mentioned that they basically recorded at somebody's home and on the original recordings you would still hear cars driving by the house. That was one of the reasons why they re-recorded everything for Twin Snakes. He even cut parts of his salary so they could get all the original VA's back (except for Grey Fox's, who has passed since). I believe he talked about all of this in an episode of the "Factory Sealed" podcast like 4 years ago
MGS Note: A Hind D shooting down an F-16 is impossible. F-16 is a supersonic aircraft that can fly at much higher elevations than a Hind D - it's actually absurd for Liquid to view those jets as "bothersome flies" with such confidence, since it's really like a bumblebee taking down a falcon. The point however is that just as Solid Snake is (as described in the manual and some codec conversations) "the man who makes the impossible possible," Liquid Snake is his perfect twin, and also capable of extremely unlikely feats. Big Boss could've done it with a World War 1 Bi-Plane, I'm sure. It's worth keeping in mind that these games -- as you've discussed in other episodes -- are abstracted from reality. The guards in the game are dumb and easy to manipulate, but in the *reality* of the game's *narrative*, Solid Snake is really sneaking into a base guarded by genius super-soldiers. Him taking down Metal Gears and outwitting NGSF and killing Foxhound is just as unlikely as a Hind D gunship taking down a fighter jet. They're a perfect match. BTW, this might seem nitpicky -- and this game gets it confused too -- but Zanzibar's canonical name is Zanzibarland. It's worth making that distinction -- the real life Zanzibar is an island off the eastern side of Africa, and a real world country (Freddy Mercury was born there, fun fact). That is NOT where Metal Gear 2 takes place though - Big Boss's Outer Heaven 2 was in Central Asia, and was properly named Zanzibarland [sort of how Somalilanders tend to distinguish themselves from Somalians, even though Somaliland is within Somalia, but it's also a separate government and a region with a very autonomous government separate from Somalia's.... point is, Somaliland =/= Somalia, and Zanzibarland =/= Zanzibar). The script for MGS1 doesn't get it right, but the rest of the series is consistent about that. If you pay attention to the card identifying character/voice actor, in MGS1 you notice DARPA chief and Cyborg Ninja share a voice actor (not the case in Twin Snakes though, different actor portrays Cyborg Ninja). General Note: Sorry I couldn't pay for this month's Patreon guys -- had to take 8 weeks off work to study for the bar exam! Will be subscribing back up once I got some cash flow. Learned some exciting news the night before the exam: Tactics Ogre is getting *yet another remake* that is, apparently, coming out in November (fun that's also when I'll get the results of the test lol). [Very interesting to hear this one is nixing the class-based leveling system from the PSP version and returning to the individual character leveling system from the original. I had a bit of analysis on how the leveling systems in Matsuno games tends to reinforce the themes of the story.... I'm very curious with how the revamped gameplay will reflect on what I've previously said. Would be excellent opportunity for you to do yet another Matsuno game for the podcast when it comes out -- I'd love to see it, anyway. keep up the good work
Additionally, although it was tested the Hind was not armed with any air-to-air weapons or the kind of software it would need to use its cannon in an air-to-air role.
It's funny that you mention that it would be a real pain to figure out Meryl's codec frequency if you rented the game. It was intended to be an anti-piracy measure that would annoy and possibly dissuade people who didn't buy the game from continuing past that point. It also of course perfectly hit rental customers too.
When I originally played it I didn't realise what the game was telling me, I was 10. It turns out if you keep opening and closing the memory on the codec enough times her frequency pops up on there. That's how I solved it my first time. (Originally I thought he was talking about the optical disc he gives you so I did it whilst it was equipped but found out later that wasn't a requirement.)
@@Mikimarux DUDE! I had the exact same experience as a kid. I was wondering how many other people knew this. In my case I didn't even have the CD case because I was playing an actual pirated copy on a modded system. Definitely didn't deter me from completing the game.
I've heard the argument that the games seem to imply that they are all actually VR representations of the actual missions. Thats why they mention game buttons, there are in game limitations on what you can do (I.E. in bosses my Fortune in MGS2, you can just run up and hit her, there's an invisible wall), and so many things seem gamified and are referenced like the unlimited ammo bandana. So the VR Missions are like basic training before they go into the actual VR espionage training. Thats also why every major game has a code name; Shadow Moses, The Big Shell Incident, Snake Eater, Ocelots Insurrection. Its just the name of the VR training after the event that took place.
39:59 I DID rent the game from Blockbuster back then. Fortunately they printed the frequency on the inside cover of the generic case the game came in; where they'd normally put a brief description of the game and some basic controls. Thanks, Blockbuster. We miss you 😭
Snake is not the commander! He is the grunt in the field, and he was dragged out of retirement. The man flirts with with all the women because he truly does not give a crap.
Revolver does know who the cyborg ninja is during their interaction. He says to the ninja "Can't you even die right." Back in the day if you didn't technically need the back of the CD case. If you wasted enough time eventually Meryl would call you and you would be able to progress. It's how played the game initially because i rented it.
It's not surprising that Meryll wanted to be a soldier since she was a little girl as she comes from a military family. The Metal Gear world is also one where action movie cliches and sci-fi tropes are real, so it's a lot more exciting that in the real world.
Ocelot not knowing who the Ninja is incorrect. In the cutscene it's (likely intentionally) vague as Ocelot calls out "Can't you even die right!?" after noting the optical camouflage, which could be aimed at either Snake or the Ninja. He then just runs away.
Not sure if it was mentioned in another comment, but in the MSX/NES versions of Metal Gear the key cards acquired were all separate and had to be tested individually on each door. Combining them into one card that could be upgraded was a huge difference, and a great one at that with the explanation as a bit of a hand-wave.
Hello, just wanted to say I seem to remember reading there was a union strike at the time and that's why they used different bames, because some actors could not work officially at the time under their real name.
There’s some funny dialogue in MGS3 that implies Snake came up with the NATO reporting name of the Mi-24 Hind by comparing it to the Mi-8 Hip which was already well known at the time. I love when Kojima puts these little details like this in his games.
Can we talk about the Twin Snakes version of the Kenneth Baker cutscene? Cause it has the most hilarious change where Snake legit looses it and threatens to shoot Baker out of frustration cause he doesn't remember Meryls frequency. It's the most out of character moment ever in the remake and that's saying a freaking lot lmao
Speaking to the voice actor credits (as they are listed), it kind of reminds me of the old NES end of game credit roll, where VERY rarely, would you see the actual name of "who did what" (programming/music/animation, etc.) and if the name was listed, it typically was just the initials. But usually - it would be a nickname, or maybe something relating to an interest that the person had. I can't remember the reason for it (I THINK it had something to do with the "viewed/accepted level of professionalism" behind videogames as a "career" at the time - but that is just speculation on my part, because I really do not know), but I do remember that Konami (in particular) was notorious for doing this. I mean... back in the early days of the internet, trying to find out whom exactly it was that composed the soundtracks for the original NES Castlevania games, was next to impossible. Even with the official soundtracks, in the liner notes, the individual composers were never listed. The closest they got to "acknowledging" them was, "Konami Kukeiha Club". So, I don't know. It's very interesting. Especially when you consider that, during the same era, Square, was so upfront about exactly "who did what" in the very first Final Fantasy. Anyway. Loving this series!
I think a key theme of Metal Gear Solid - and a lot of really influential Japanese media - is the anti-nuclear weapons message. As the only country where nukes have been used on civilians, creative reactions to the horror and trauma of the attacks runs deep in the cultural psyche. You can see it in Miyazaki (Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky) and throughout the Metal Gear series. It's a theme that frames all the events that happen throughout all the games.
Hello peeps from my favorite channel! A few things: My brother wanted to be a soldier while he was younger. Kids only see the cool side of it, not the ugly one. Meryl actually explains this in game. Meryl can hear Darpa chief trough the vents connecting the cells. (Dunno why she leans to the wall, prolly instinctively) The nuclear storage facility doesn't have warheads on all floors. The one where you use Nikita doesn't, so it's safe to shoot there. Only the top floor has warheads and is the place where you are not allowed. Soldiers patroling there should know better tho. I actually had Snake catch a cold and sneeze there while hiding on my first run, which resulted in them finding me. My mind was blown as a kid. Love all your analysis videos and I hope you use the codec during MGS runs, especially MGS3, as it has the best codec conversations. A lot to miss there. Stay the best!
40:03 The funny thing is that I did rent it from Blockbuster the weekend after it came out and I don’t know how I got past the Meryl section haha. I’m assuming I just looked it up on the Internet.
I played this game not too long after it came out, around 1999 or so. I was 11 at the time. I should NOT have been playing this game, and I should NOT have been able to understand a lick of any of it. But I did. And I did. And it was revolutionary. I legit felt like some kind of worldly political genius while playing this game.
About Otaku, I don't know if you could describe Solid Snake as an otaku, but Big Boss was definitely a weapons otaku, or a gun nut as you woul call them in America. Otaku in japan has implications of an unhealthy obsession and of being socially isolated because of that obsession. Fun fact about you discussion of how you confused the voice actor's name with the character's real name, Solid Snake's "real" name is said to be David, like his voice actor.
To Casen's point on Otaku: This was true 10 to 20 years ago, and might still apply in certain cases when talking to conservatives in their 40/50s and upwards. This is, however, no longer generally true. It's very common nowadays for Japanese in their 10s/20s/30s to own and use that label nowadays. On almost every Japanese SNS app I have and am active on you'll find both men and woman putting アニメオタク(anime otaku) in their profile blurbs etc.
Voice actors not always using their real names is kind of a common thread throughout the Metal Gear franchise, not sure why. Another example is EVA's voice actress in MGS3, who is credited as Suzetta Miñet, but that is most likely a pseudonym. Her real identity remains unknown to this day. There have been so many theories over the years who actually voiced EVA, but at this point, I doubt we'll ever know for sure. I personally subscribe to the theory that it's Jodi Benson, who is most famous for voicing Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid.
On the topic of the voice actors names being changed for the game, I don’t know the reason but one interesting thing I remember playing the demo for MGS is that in the credits during the opening scene, Snake’s voice actor is listed as “Sean Barker” rather than David Hayter. This is only in the demo for some reason
It’s really the specificity of Meryl’s childhood dream that’s phrased oddly; a child who admires their parents might want to be just like them, and in her case she had a soldier father… BUT, when a child in her position wants to be like their parent they’ll likely say: “I want to be a hero like my dad.” If you read Meryl as implying that she knew what her childhood dream entailed - be a soldier like dad - then yes, it’s unusual; if you’re contextualising it as her seeing her late father, who happened to be a soldier, as what she wanted to be? It’s not AS strange… but still, the context of the statement is a head-turned.
A couple of things. The Mil Mi-24 isn't the Hind D. There are later variants Mi-25 and Mi-35 which are Russian-made export versions used by NATO forces. Those are known as the Hind D, and Hind E respectively. So while they are Russian made, they aren't specifically for Russian use. That would in turn mean that possession of one wouldn't be so odd within the story. Also, I don't know if this adds any credibility to the F-16 confrontation, but from what I've heard they aren't as great as you'd expect. The F-16 was made as a cost cutting measure replacement for the F-15. While the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle was a tactical fighter, the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole fighter, so its mission use is more diversified than the F-15, and other fighters it was meant to replace as well. Be that as it may, it's been described as "the best damned good enough fighter money can buy". Between the F-15 and F-16 in air combat, the F-15 is still considered superior even today.
I think you have to watch twin snakes differently, it’s not a remake it’s more like a reimagine. It is totally aware that it is totally over the top. If i remember right all the cutscenes have been done by a famous japanese action director who is known for this sort of action
I was 10 playing this, after playing mgs2: sons of liberty. I was that 10 year old blown away by this 4th wall break. Will never forget that feeling of charm and care I got, knowing the developers had easter eggs like this waiting for all the fans.
Being a professional soldier was actual a dream of mine in elementary school lol But that was more like "I want to be like the guys in Delta Force"(which I played in elementary school), not just a random infantry-man obviously.
I did play mgs1 when it first came out. It was shortly after ffvii I also gotta say that mgs3 is one of my favourite games. I remember, at the time I wasn't really paying attention to news around gaming much, and it like kingdom hearts 2 I had no idea was coming out. Versus mgs2, where I was way more attentive to the hype around it. So, it was a very pleasant surprise to see it on the shelf at the rental place by my father's house
It doesn't seem that strange that Meryl dreamed of being a soldier as a child given the world of Metal Gear. Big Boss was elevated to a celebrity level by the Patriots specifically for that purpose.
You can't use any weapons including the guided missiles on the first floor. On all the other floors, including the one with the power panel, you can use anything you want.
Hey everyone! Just so you know, we're voting on the next game to be covered after Metal Gear Solid over on patreon. If you appreciate the show and want to support us, you can join in on all voting for the channel at the $5 level. www.patreon.com/resonantarc
The reason the voice actors have a different name is because Kojima gave them code names like the characters in the game.
The next game should obviously be Metal Gear Solid 2 😊😊
MGS1 came out in 98. You should know this. I wouldn't comment if you hadn't said 96 multiple times
Where can I find the video on 'Birth of the Hero'? I am very interested in watching it.
Fun fact. If you go to the "DARPA Chief" without grabbing the SOCOM pistol the scene changes slightly.
Instead of drawing his gun on Meryl, Snake will grab the end of her rifle and keep it aimed square at his chest. I love it because it makes Snake's line "Can you shoot me rookie?" feel all the more ballsy.
Really? Another thing I knew nothing about. How can this game continually surprise me after almost a quarter of a century?!
@@Nortic111 Same. My favorite game of all time and I still find things about it I never knew about.
Just to let you know, MGS1 came out on September of 1998. Im enjoying hearing this conversation on this game. I when I first played this game, my cousin and I were blown away about the code being behind the cd case.
I remember reading something once before about the MGS1 cast using pseudonyms because they weren't sure if video game voice acting was allowed by the Screen Actors Guild. They would all have been established actors, but at the time video game voice acting was relatively new and guild hadn't taken an official position on whether they allow it, so the actors decided to play it safe. I think David Hayter was the only actor to use his real name, but I'm not sure why he was the exception...
I remember seeing a did you know gaming that goes into this I think
Doug Stone (the voice of Psycho Mantis) also retained his real name.
I recall reading or hearing this somewhere as well, perhaps in one of the interviews with the voice director floating around. Interestingly too, David Hayter uses his real name for the US release but for the European release he uses the pseudonym Sean Barker. This is a callback to the character he played in the live action movie Guyver 2:Dark Hero.
I think this was explicitly a non-union gig. Cam Clarke uses Jimmy Flinders for a handful of things, but they all appear to be non-union. All of Hayter's '90s anime dubbing work is under Sean Barker so that was probably non-union.
Actually, I think the answer may lie in something like Star Trek Online as to why only two actors retained their names. Leonard Nimoy was the narrator for the game upon release, but it was a decidedly non-union gig. It wasn't until later in the game's life as it added more actors from the shows that it was required to go full union and any future voice actors used had to be in the union. So there may be an arbitrary limit of allowed union actors in non-union work with false names being used to circumvent.
@@stylestep111 That is so funny that he uses Sean Barker in the UK. That is the name of the character he plays in Guyver 2.
I was in 10 grade. The day after this game came out EVERY kid in school was talking about it. After school that day to Media Play I went. and 20 years later Kojima is the GOLD standard still.
Yeah I was around the same age as you when this came out. The PlayStation is the first console I bought with money from my own job. My demo disc had Metal Gear Solid on it and I must have played that opening sequence from the Dock to the Heliport until you enter the Tank Hangar like 20 times in anticipation of getting the game. It’s basic by today’s standards, but the amount of things you could do, the story and graphics; there was nothing like it on consoles at the time.
I was also in 10th grade (we're old now guys lol). I remember using that opening cinematic to show people how awesome video games were getting. I had saved up my lawn mowing money to put together what I thought was a badass home theater setup, which consisted of a 26" CRT, a Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound system (with CD changer lol), and a subwoofer I got at a garage sale. Funny to think about now, but all my friends were blown away by how cool that cinematic was, and how movie-like it was with the sound system. I think it still holds up today
Liquid shooting down the F-16s is meant to make him look badass. Helicopters are extremely dangerous to fly in good weather, and he's taking off during snowfall. Yes, F-16s are capable of supersonic flight and no, a Hind is not. Also Shadow Moses is an island so wherever they came from the encounter happened over water, which means Liquid wouldn't have any geography to hide behind. And as if all that wasn't enough, he's outnumbered 2 to 1
Obviously this is fantasy but I love that Kojima sells it without even referencing the act just with Liquid's irrefutable confidence. Kudos to Cam Clarke who devours his lines throughout the game. My head canon is that Liquid flew low to avoid RADAR and was able to ambush and outmaneuver both jets. Just makes Otacon's compliment to Snake for shooting him down later all the sweeter
Air Force Intel guy here. Your head Canon is really the only possible solution f-16 are insanely fast and come with a lot of air to air heat seaking missle counter measures. He would have had to surprise them by masking his radar signature then either got lucky missile strikes despite the f-16 counter measures or an extremely luck machine gun hits. I belive the hind has 50 cals in the nose cone. While all of this is highly unlikely to work in a real world scenario, there is always the threat of "golden BB" that strikes the pilot or a vital component of the aircraft. Then your just sunk. I'm blanking on where I heard the story but there is a use case where a helicopter shot down a fighter jet I want to say it was in one of the Israeli wars. Also jets have been taken down by what we call small arms fire. Essentially dudes on the ground with rifles shooting at passing aircraft. That is more of a danger to helicopters and bigger logistical aircraft that can't maneuver very fast. There are also shoulder mounted heat seeking missiles called MANPADS that are also used to shot aircraft down. Those weapons play a bigger role in some of the later MGS games.
Just to add, they allude the difficulty of the task throughout those opening codec calls, if i recall correctly.
On that Birth of the Hero motif, you’re literally code named “Naked Snake” in MGS3.
To Casen's point about the actors using Pseudonym's, that was down to the Screen Actors Guild's rules for recording video games being a bit iffy during that time, so most of the cast worked under a different name to still participate. Everyone used their real names from MGS2 onwards.
Oh, very nice. I get it now.
Yeah, this was *right* at the start of the era of videogames using actual professional voice actors and there wasn't a proper contract for videogame work through SAG at the time. Actors' unions tend to have rules about using your union registered name (which isn't always the actor's real name either) on a non-union contract.
With some of the more already prolific actors in MGS like Cam Clarke you'll also see their non-union pseudonym show up fairly regularly in things like anime dubs (which also didn't have a SAG contract at the time).
Didn't they do something similar in Resident Evil? I remember reading articles where fans were trying to locate the actors in the intro movie but all of their names were made up.
@@CasenSperry Their real names are in The Twin Snakes version
MGS1 didn't come out in 1996. It came out in 1998. Same month as Zelda 64 Ocarina of Time. It was helluva year for videogames.
The best year for video games in my opinion. Metal Gear Solid, Zelda, Starcraft, Fallout 2, Gran Turismo, Tekken 3, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Half-Life, Baldur's Gate, Pokemon Red/Blue etc...
@@AJDOLDCHANNELARCHIVE Don't forget Resident Evil 2.
@@ChocolatierRob This and resi 2 were my favourite games on the ps1. I was only 8 that year but I remember waiting for what felt like a lifetime after playing MGS on a demo disc. I had both games on demo discs that I had basically worn out playing in anticipation..I still go back and play them from time to time
Yes sir! Also Xenogears and Parasite Eve came out that year.
Starcraft also released in 98, hell of a year indeed.
When is the “State of the Workout” podcast, Mike? 🏋️♂️ lol
Mike is looking FIT
He is going for the diet douche Jake Paul look.
Mike is getting more Swoll by the week. Gonna rip the arms of his shirt soon.
Nanomachines, son.
The camera work was amazing in this game. I remember my aunt coming in the room as I was loading up and she thought I was watching a movie. She's not a gamer by any stretch but something about this game caught her attention where she actually would play it herself.
My brother leant me this game in 1999. My 6 year old self had his mind blown. Everything was so league's above everything else.
The writing, the voice acting, the level of immersion and interactivity. Not to mention the soundtrack and cinematography.
MGS2 is my favorite, but if someone tries to say MGS isn't a classic that deserves its legacy, oh bro, I'll throw hands lol
I played that same year too. After beating the game I became a diffrnt boy. Solid Snake became the gold standard of coolness!!
That opening quote got me too lmao, classic.
Thanks for another episode guys!
Meryl's frequency was actually an anti-piracy technique since early PS1 developers were beginning to get really worried about CD burning and stuff.
I guess... but I thought Colonel gives you the frequency if some time passes and you haven't called her yet.
What I love about the Metal Gear series is that with the exception of MGS4, you play the bad guy. The unwitting pawn of The Patriots, taking down anyone who seeks to interfere with their control. The "bad guys" are the good guys being led down the wrong path by Ocelot because he knows they don't have the cunning to pull it off while he moves all the chess pieces into place to overthrow the system. Brilliant.
Meryl's frequency on the back of the CD case was a way to get around piracy, similar to using morse code to find Campbell's number after switching frequencies in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake where the manual had the morse code chart.
Pretty crappy anti-piracy technique, seeing as there's only 200 cobinations one can try. A nod to that sort of thing, perhaps, but not an actual anti-piracy thing, surely.
Certainly short sighted, I think it works fine for the time but today you'd have to go online to find it.
The voice actor pseudonyms have to do with issues with the Screen Actor's Guild.
this was my original comment!
I remember metal gear being in the newspaper when it came out. So sick!
I have a 1998 hardback copy of Entertainment Weekly's "Year in Review" that has a whole section on Final Fantasy 7. Gaming was at its apex in the 90s!
"Good job... On making it worse" - wow that sums up my feelings about the majority of Twin Snakes absolutely perfectly.
Speaking of Meryl's codec and renting from Blockbuster... I just wanna thank the absolute GOAT who wrote on pen and paper and taped it to the rental case when I rented my copy all those years ago. You are a true hero!
Vagrant Story was on my bucket list specifically because these guys covered it, but now that they said its mgs but fantasy settings, it's next on the list. Looking forward to playing it while going through those podcast episodes!
Casen is spot on from what I understand. Even as early as Resident Evil 1, the characters' voice actors in the credits are listed only by first name
I know this is a trick actors in the union use to avoid union dues or something I dont remember.
The fight against Ocelot changes a lot in the Twin Snakes because of the first person perspective
Military Aviation Officer here. In regards to your question about the Hind shooting down F-16s, this is extremely unlikely but technically possible under the correct circumstances. The advantage that rotary wing helicopters have is that they can fly low to the ground or other large fixtures that can mask them to radar making them effectively invisible based on their proximity to other things in the enviornment. This could allow an attack helicopyer that is properly equipped with radar and anti-aircraft missiles to avoid detection by figher aircraft until it is in a position to aquire and launch their missiles. However, in this situation the jets would also have to be flying very slow to allow the missiles being fired from the slow moving Hind to catch up. The aircraft's counter measures would also have to either fail or not detect the incoming missiles. Long story short, this is possible but all very unlikely.
On the 'Deepthroat' codec call section;
Snake: Who are you?
???: Just call me "Deepthroat".
Snake: The informant from the Watergate scandal?
???: Never mind about that.
I never took that to mean he was the same person, instead it was a name to remain anonymous which carried over the 'inside government informant' vibe. Also I thought they dismissed it as such in the call, I pulled up a video clip since it has been many years distant.
The language being "Just call me..." slight hesitation, "Deepthroat." combined with the subs putting scare quotes on the nickname. And then "Never mind about that." is why I'm still happy with my impression of it. *However* the delivery on the last line has shook me a little as it could totally work with your interpretation!
Super enjoying these Analysis es es ess. I'll have to jump into one of the games I've not played soon and experience it in sync.
The whole diegetic mention of buttons in game dialogue, and the over-the-top and silly moments in Twin Snakes is somewhat explained in MGS2, where Raiden is a VR-trained agent, using simulations from the Shadow Moses Incident and the Tanker chapter of MGS2. Twin Snakes could be seen as an "update" from the previous Shadow Moses Simulator (MGS1), cranking up the legend status of Solid Snake by making him perform ridiculous feats. This whole theme of the games being unreliable narrators of the real events is further expanded in MGSV, with the quote "Facts do not exist, there are only interpretations" being one of the main motives of that game.
Also, the point of MGS1 was never really to make you feel like Snake - it was to have the player realize, acknowledge and develop a critical awareness of the fact that you're playing a game about a guy who basically kills people for a living.
This is why MGS2 did the whole subversion thing with Raiden, because Kojima was frustrated that the point about Snake didn't land and fans started treating him like a hero when the entire message of MGS is that professional soldiers aren't heroes and you're not supposed to aspire to be like Solid Snake.
I did rent this from blockbuster and had to go back up to the store to look at the back of the case. The guy told us we wernt the first to have to do that. Hahah kinda miss stuff like that.
I recently played the game again and have a tip for the nuclear storage room where you can't use weapons.
After you get the PSG-1, go back to the room just before it and equip the gun. Wait for a guard to be right in front of you on the other side of the door and shoot him. Kill him and enter the alert phase. Don't worry, the gas won't appear.
Keep the PSG-1 equipped and use it to kill the other guards that come running but they'll be stuck on the other side of the door. You'll be safe.
Once you kill all the guards, the alert phase will end and you can go through that room with no trouble.
Or you could just go in and break all their necks in silence =P
Maybe I've just played too much MGS lol
@@hian That's also an option. Although playing it while growing up, I never liked getting caught in that room so I always avoided trying to break their necks.
I was one of those kids who rented this game from blockbuster, and spent an entire day out of my three day rental going through EVERY SINGLE codec phone number. The purity of those endorphins that were secreted into my brain when I finally got it right has been unmatched ever since. Truly a masterpiece!
I still think to this day that this game has a totally unique and unsurpassed atmosphere to it. This dark, grounded, techy, grey, blue, green style is just so damn appealing and cool to me. Art direction wise it is just a gorgeous game.
Videogame voice actors worked under psudonyms in the 90s. New medium, most didn't want to be tied to something that might fail. David Hayter didn't mind.
The point about Mantis during the scene in front of the elevator is pretty interesting. I've probably played MGS1 over 15 times and never really connected what he says to Meryl as being a direct reference to her opening fire on Snake, but more about her just dancing at the end of his metaphorical strings.
Also re: the codec, I would especially recommend talking to Nastasha, as she is essentially invisible in the main plot but has a lot to say about Shadow Moses and the nuclear storage facility. The reason behind not being able to fire your weapons in the first floor of the building, while indeed just there to make the game harder, is explained in universe as that physically being the room the nukes are being stored in.
Natasha is so underrated she's the only female character Snake never hits on and talks to like a bro. They have some great conversations.
It's unusual for you guys to roast a game this much, but I'm here for it.
Damn I love MGS, getting so many nostalgic flashbacks listening to this, from Ocelot's badass intro to Meryl's butt being important.
7:02 I'd argue Ocarina had pretty above average camerawork for its time. Not anywhere near MGS, but it was far from just 'keyframing for showing'. Think back any time you learn a song, meet with Sheik, Ganondorf's many low-angle shots, or a boss is introduced (including Ganon's iconic intro), etc. Tons of beautiful moments in OoT, and quite a few are thanks to the shot choices. And majora's mask got even better at it.
30:14 That guard (johnny), with his butt censored, becomes a recurring joke in the series. While crawling thru the vents you can catch him taking a dump and commenting on Meryl's physique.
39:53 If you bought the "MGS Essential Collection" for PS2, the package came with a cardboard sleeve containing 3 DVD cases (MGS1, 2, & 3). On the back of that sleeve were descriptions for the 3 games, with 1 screenshot for each. MGS1's screenshot was...Meryl's codec!
Also, if you bought the Playstation Classic console, which came preloaded with 20 games, the back of the big box displayed 1 screenshot per game...and you can guess what MGS's was.
Back when MGS1 was on PSN, I believe digital-only players had to refer to the "software manual" that you can access from menu. If my memory is correct, the game's PSN store-page also had her frequency as one of the screenshots you could view before purchasing, but I'm only half-sure if I'm recalling right.
It was the first game I played with top notch voice acting .
In my country (Argentina) we had a spanish dubbed version. It was so rare a game got that treatment. And it is a game that I played with japanese, english and spanish voices. And it stands out in every version. We enjoyed it at the same level of excelent quality
I remember reading a gaming magazine back during the early era of MGS and Syphon Filter, that had a humorous short story about Gabe getting into a confrontation with Snake.
All I remember is at one point Snake is hiding in a cardboard box and Gave shoots him in the ass.
If anyone else remembers this, please let me know.
That line between the cool and silly way to present some features in the caractherization of the protagonist and antagonists is what I call the John Carpenter style. Kojima takes from Carpenter that kind of features for his characters where they are cool but also have a silly thing to it. Like a Sombrero in McReady in The Thing or the eyepatch of Plisskin. That line divides also the sci-fi/fantasy side of the story and the realism of the world presented. And made us perfectly to accept all of this. It is a fine art of writing characters.
I think the whole Hind D vs the F16s thing was to demonstrate the almost supernatural super soldier like abilities of Liquid Snake that can achieve something that's otherwise impossible.
I never knew you could use claymores and C4 on the Tanker. I just used the grenades.
The MGS1 demo that came with my console on Christmas of '98 was the first PS1 game that I played, and might have been the first 3D game I ever played that wasn't on PC or in an arcade. I remember a sense of momentary confusion at why a movie trailer was on this demo disc followed by sheepish awe at the maturity and sophistication of this new risqué media.
I didn't play the full game until four years later when I finished my brother's copy of MGS2 but it made as much of an impression as the copy of RE1: Dualshock I was gifted with my PS1. That demo disc also had Spyro, Tomb Raider III, Gran Turismo, shit was dope... I need to find a torrent of it for old time sake.
Being old enough to have played this when it was brand new, I can attest that the presentation of this game was mind blowing. Felt like a big step forward, and that games were being taken seriously enough for good acting, writing etc. But at the same time, still acknowledging that it IS a game. I personally love that, the “push select” stuff. Shows that while Kojima had aspirations of filmmaking, he wasn’t ashamed of making a video game.
Oh and the flirting and the focusing of Meryl running? Yeah, Kojima is a horn dog. Sorry to be crass but, that’s him. Sometimes it’s playful, funny and maybe a bit sexy, other times it’s like . . . good God man, have a cold shower or something!
As a kid in 1999 I remember running around for hours searching every accessible area because I thought I must have missed a CD case somewhere...
I can attest, having grown up on 2D FF games (and SNES in general), that watching the opening cutscene of MGS within a year or so if its release felt revolutionary. Like playing a movie.
It's impossible for a HIND D to take out an F-16, let alone TWO F-16s... Unless you're Liquid Snake. Legendary soldier.
.... a Hind D?????
@@devilskind92 what's a Russian gunship doing here??
MGS released in 98
Resonant Arc "I'm going to swap down a couple of bothersome flies." - Liquid Snake
I was like hey its Wednesday I know I can count on a great video on metal gear lol
In 98 when this came out I was shocked that it didn’t have loading screens. Also, the first scene I saw was the second Wolf fight. My friend had MGS and I was so blown away by that scene. I immediately went out and got it.
I was 11 years old and this was the first game i ever got Day one and played straight through…it blew my mind! Me and one other kid in class that had it would call each other every single night to talk about where we were at in the game and talk about how cool it was
Since you mentioned the Policenauts poster on the wall, there is also a PlayStation 1 that you can find sitting on a desk in the center of the same room. Or at least, the best that they could do. It's kind of funny that the PlayStation wasn't capable of accurately modeling a PlayStation, at least with everything else going on.
Yes, and in Twin Snakes it gets changed to a Gamecube!
great stuff as always
I played it in 99. A friend of mine told me about this game. And it blew my mind!!! 😎 It made me read Cold war books and with another friend we made it to the end and it was one of my fav gaming experiences ever. The next game I played was Ocarina of Time. Man what a load of great games we had those years!!
01:12:26 - VA's typically join the SAG-AFTRA after a certain number of jobs. At the point that they join, they'll stick to union based roles...unless they decide to book non-union gigs. The use of pen-names was typically done so that actors could continue taking non-union roles while still holding SAG status (booking non-union gigs as member meant violating the SAG agreement, and possibly having to pay fines and/or having their status suspended). It could've been this, but it's probably just as likely they might've done it to protect their reputation.
A couple of years ago David Hayter showed up on many podcasts, where he often talked about his VA work for MGS back then. I vaguely remember he mentioned some issues with the actor's guilds, which was why they used pseudonyms.
He also mentioned that they basically recorded at somebody's home and on the original recordings you would still hear cars driving by the house. That was one of the reasons why they re-recorded everything for Twin Snakes. He even cut parts of his salary so they could get all the original VA's back (except for Grey Fox's, who has passed since).
I believe he talked about all of this in an episode of the "Factory Sealed" podcast like 4 years ago
MGS Note: A Hind D shooting down an F-16 is impossible. F-16 is a supersonic aircraft that can fly at much higher elevations than a Hind D - it's actually absurd for Liquid to view those jets as "bothersome flies" with such confidence, since it's really like a bumblebee taking down a falcon. The point however is that just as Solid Snake is (as described in the manual and some codec conversations) "the man who makes the impossible possible," Liquid Snake is his perfect twin, and also capable of extremely unlikely feats. Big Boss could've done it with a World War 1 Bi-Plane, I'm sure. It's worth keeping in mind that these games -- as you've discussed in other episodes -- are abstracted from reality. The guards in the game are dumb and easy to manipulate, but in the *reality* of the game's *narrative*, Solid Snake is really sneaking into a base guarded by genius super-soldiers. Him taking down Metal Gears and outwitting NGSF and killing Foxhound is just as unlikely as a Hind D gunship taking down a fighter jet. They're a perfect match.
BTW, this might seem nitpicky -- and this game gets it confused too -- but Zanzibar's canonical name is Zanzibarland. It's worth making that distinction -- the real life Zanzibar is an island off the eastern side of Africa, and a real world country (Freddy Mercury was born there, fun fact). That is NOT where Metal Gear 2 takes place though - Big Boss's Outer Heaven 2 was in Central Asia, and was properly named Zanzibarland [sort of how Somalilanders tend to distinguish themselves from Somalians, even though Somaliland is within Somalia, but it's also a separate government and a region with a very autonomous government separate from Somalia's.... point is, Somaliland =/= Somalia, and Zanzibarland =/= Zanzibar). The script for MGS1 doesn't get it right, but the rest of the series is consistent about that.
If you pay attention to the card identifying character/voice actor, in MGS1 you notice DARPA chief and Cyborg Ninja share a voice actor (not the case in Twin Snakes though, different actor portrays Cyborg Ninja).
General Note: Sorry I couldn't pay for this month's Patreon guys -- had to take 8 weeks off work to study for the bar exam! Will be subscribing back up once I got some cash flow. Learned some exciting news the night before the exam: Tactics Ogre is getting *yet another remake* that is, apparently, coming out in November (fun that's also when I'll get the results of the test lol). [Very interesting to hear this one is nixing the class-based leveling system from the PSP version and returning to the individual character leveling system from the original. I had a bit of analysis on how the leveling systems in Matsuno games tends to reinforce the themes of the story.... I'm very curious with how the revamped gameplay will reflect on what I've previously said. Would be excellent opportunity for you to do yet another Matsuno game for the podcast when it comes out -- I'd love to see it, anyway. keep up the good work
Look up J-catch. They actually tested this out with an Apache vs an f15 and the chopper proved surprisingly dangerous and had a kill ratio of 5-1.
Additionally, although it was tested the Hind was not armed with any air-to-air weapons or the kind of software it would need to use its cannon in an air-to-air role.
@@AshenVictor Source?
@@alialghamdi7153 that's interesting, I really wouldn't expect a gunship to take down a jet but if it's possible it's pretty cool
@@orcbrand Dude, it shocked the hell out of me!
It's funny that you mention that it would be a real pain to figure out Meryl's codec frequency if you rented the game. It was intended to be an anti-piracy measure that would annoy and possibly dissuade people who didn't buy the game from continuing past that point. It also of course perfectly hit rental customers too.
When I originally played it I didn't realise what the game was telling me, I was 10. It turns out if you keep opening and closing the memory on the codec enough times her frequency pops up on there. That's how I solved it my first time. (Originally I thought he was talking about the optical disc he gives you so I did it whilst it was equipped but found out later that wasn't a requirement.)
@@Mikimarux DUDE! I had the exact same experience as a kid. I was wondering how many other people knew this. In my case I didn't even have the CD case because I was playing an actual pirated copy on a modded system. Definitely didn't deter me from completing the game.
I've heard the argument that the games seem to imply that they are all actually VR representations of the actual missions. Thats why they mention game buttons, there are in game limitations on what you can do (I.E. in bosses my Fortune in MGS2, you can just run up and hit her, there's an invisible wall), and so many things seem gamified and are referenced like the unlimited ammo bandana. So the VR Missions are like basic training before they go into the actual VR espionage training. Thats also why every major game has a code name; Shadow Moses, The Big Shell Incident, Snake Eater, Ocelots Insurrection. Its just the name of the VR training after the event that took place.
39:59 I DID rent the game from Blockbuster back then. Fortunately they printed the frequency on the inside cover of the generic case the game came in; where they'd normally put a brief description of the game and some basic controls.
Thanks, Blockbuster. We miss you 😭
Great birthday gift to get before bed .
Happy Birthday fellow Leo!
Snake is not the commander! He is the grunt in the field, and he was dragged out of retirement. The man flirts with with all the women because he truly does not give a crap.
"My Japanese animes." BASED Otacon!
Revolver does know who the cyborg ninja is during their interaction. He says to the ninja "Can't you even die right." Back in the day if you didn't technically need the back of the CD case. If you wasted enough time eventually Meryl would call you and you would be able to progress. It's how played the game initially because i rented it.
They all want the Solid Snake. Never thought about the Moneypenny similarities.
"Being an Otaku is not something to be proud of"
Words to live by Casen. Words to live by.
Breath of the Wild had the birth of the hero moment like MGS1.
Yep. It's best example of that motif that I've seen. My video on it should be out sometime soon... ish...
It's not surprising that Meryll wanted to be a soldier since she was a little girl as she comes from a military family. The Metal Gear world is also one where action movie cliches and sci-fi tropes are real, so it's a lot more exciting that in the real world.
Casen's Otacon impression is on point.
Ocelot not knowing who the Ninja is incorrect. In the cutscene it's (likely intentionally) vague as Ocelot calls out "Can't you even die right!?" after noting the optical camouflage, which could be aimed at either Snake or the Ninja. He then just runs away.
Not sure if it was mentioned in another comment, but in the MSX/NES versions of Metal Gear the key cards acquired were all separate and had to be tested individually on each door. Combining them into one card that could be upgraded was a huge difference, and a great one at that with the explanation as a bit of a hand-wave.
The sole issue with Snake's flirt on Mei Ling is that he's not supposed to be able to see her since codec is only supposed to be audio :D
Oh my god do I feel for your old room mate! What a fantastic genetic ensemble he must represent! I wish I could have met him lol.
Loving this podcast so far.
If/when you get to mgs2...
We're in for a hella long trip.
I think Meryl's soldier aspirations are inspired by her uncle
I was literally that " I want to be a soldier" kid and this game did it.
Hello, just wanted to say I seem to remember reading there was a union strike at the time and that's why they used different bames, because some actors could not work officially at the time under their real name.
There’s some funny dialogue in MGS3 that implies Snake came up with the NATO reporting name of the Mi-24 Hind by comparing it to the Mi-8 Hip which was already well known at the time. I love when Kojima puts these little details like this in his games.
Love your show, love this game. Little correction: MGS came out in 1998, not '96
Can we talk about the Twin Snakes version of the Kenneth Baker cutscene?
Cause it has the most hilarious change where Snake legit looses it and threatens to shoot Baker out of frustration cause he doesn't remember Meryls frequency. It's the most out of character moment ever in the remake and that's saying a freaking lot lmao
Speaking to the voice actor credits (as they are listed), it kind of reminds me of the old NES end of game credit roll, where VERY rarely, would you see the actual name of "who did what" (programming/music/animation, etc.) and if the name was listed, it typically was just the initials. But usually - it would be a nickname, or maybe something relating to an interest that the person had.
I can't remember the reason for it (I THINK it had something to do with the "viewed/accepted level of professionalism" behind videogames as a "career" at the time - but that is just speculation on my part, because I really do not know), but I do remember that Konami (in particular) was notorious for doing this.
I mean... back in the early days of the internet, trying to find out whom exactly it was that composed the soundtracks for the original NES Castlevania games, was next to impossible. Even with the official soundtracks, in the liner notes, the individual composers were never listed. The closest they got to "acknowledging" them was, "Konami Kukeiha Club".
So, I don't know. It's very interesting. Especially when you consider that, during the same era, Square, was so upfront about exactly "who did what" in the very first Final Fantasy.
Anyway. Loving this series!
I think a key theme of Metal Gear Solid - and a lot of really influential Japanese media - is the anti-nuclear weapons message. As the only country where nukes have been used on civilians, creative reactions to the horror and trauma of the attacks runs deep in the cultural psyche. You can see it in Miyazaki (Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky) and throughout the Metal Gear series. It's a theme that frames all the events that happen throughout all the games.
Hello peeps from my favorite channel! A few things: My brother wanted to be a soldier while he was younger. Kids only see the cool side of it, not the ugly one. Meryl actually explains this in game. Meryl can hear Darpa chief trough the vents connecting the cells. (Dunno why she leans to the wall, prolly instinctively) The nuclear storage facility doesn't have warheads on all floors. The one where you use Nikita doesn't, so it's safe to shoot there. Only the top floor has warheads and is the place where you are not allowed. Soldiers patroling there should know better tho. I actually had Snake catch a cold and sneeze there while hiding on my first run, which resulted in them finding me. My mind was blown as a kid. Love all your analysis videos and I hope you use the codec during MGS runs, especially MGS3, as it has the best codec conversations. A lot to miss there. Stay the best!
40:03 The funny thing is that I did rent it from Blockbuster the weekend after it came out and I don’t know how I got past the Meryl section haha. I’m assuming I just looked it up on the Internet.
I played this game not too long after it came out, around 1999 or so. I was 11 at the time. I should NOT have been playing this game, and I should NOT have been able to understand a lick of any of it. But I did. And I did. And it was revolutionary. I legit felt like some kind of worldly political genius while playing this game.
About Otaku, I don't know if you could describe Solid Snake as an otaku, but Big Boss was definitely a weapons otaku, or a gun nut as you woul call them in America.
Otaku in japan has implications of an unhealthy obsession and of being socially isolated because of that obsession.
Fun fact about you discussion of how you confused the voice actor's name with the character's real name, Solid Snake's "real" name is said to be David, like his voice actor.
40:00 it's an anti piracy measure, not a fourth wall break
To Casen's point on Otaku:
This was true 10 to 20 years ago, and might still apply in certain cases when talking to conservatives in their 40/50s and upwards.
This is, however, no longer generally true. It's very common nowadays for Japanese in their 10s/20s/30s to own and use that label nowadays.
On almost every Japanese SNS app I have and am active on you'll find both men and woman putting アニメオタク(anime otaku) in their profile blurbs etc.
It does say Meryl is 18 in an image in the briefing btw
Voice actors not always using their real names is kind of a common thread throughout the Metal Gear franchise, not sure why. Another example is EVA's voice actress in MGS3, who is credited as Suzetta Miñet, but that is most likely a pseudonym. Her real identity remains unknown to this day. There have been so many theories over the years who actually voiced EVA, but at this point, I doubt we'll ever know for sure. I personally subscribe to the theory that it's Jodi Benson, who is most famous for voicing Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid.
On the topic of the voice actors names being changed for the game, I don’t know the reason but one interesting thing I remember playing the demo for MGS is that in the credits during the opening scene, Snake’s voice actor is listed as “Sean Barker” rather than David Hayter. This is only in the demo for some reason
It’s really the specificity of Meryl’s childhood dream that’s phrased oddly; a child who admires their parents might want to be just like them, and in her case she had a soldier father… BUT, when a child in her position wants to be like their parent they’ll likely say: “I want to be a hero like my dad.” If you read Meryl as implying that she knew what her childhood dream entailed - be a soldier like dad - then yes, it’s unusual; if you’re contextualising it as her seeing her late father, who happened to be a soldier, as what she wanted to be? It’s not AS strange… but still, the context of the statement is a head-turned.
A couple of things. The Mil Mi-24 isn't the Hind D. There are later variants Mi-25 and Mi-35 which are Russian-made export versions used by NATO forces. Those are known as the Hind D, and Hind E respectively. So while they are Russian made, they aren't specifically for Russian use. That would in turn mean that possession of one wouldn't be so odd within the story.
Also, I don't know if this adds any credibility to the F-16 confrontation, but from what I've heard they aren't as great as you'd expect. The F-16 was made as a cost cutting measure replacement for the F-15. While the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle was a tactical fighter, the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole fighter, so its mission use is more diversified than the F-15, and other fighters it was meant to replace as well. Be that as it may, it's been described as "the best damned good enough fighter money can buy". Between the F-15 and F-16 in air combat, the F-15 is still considered superior even today.
I think you have to watch twin snakes differently, it’s not a remake it’s more like a reimagine. It is totally aware that it is totally over the top. If i remember right all the cutscenes have been done by a famous japanese action director who is known for this sort of action
I was 10 playing this, after playing mgs2: sons of liberty. I was that 10 year old blown away by this 4th wall break. Will never forget that feeling of charm and care I got, knowing the developers had easter eggs like this waiting for all the fans.
I assume the "silent" missile refers to it not having a trackable signature by conventional means.
Being a professional soldier was actual a dream of mine in elementary school lol
But that was more like "I want to be like the guys in Delta Force"(which I played in elementary school), not just a random infantry-man obviously.
I did play mgs1 when it first came out. It was shortly after ffvii
I also gotta say that mgs3 is one of my favourite games. I remember, at the time I wasn't really paying attention to news around gaming much, and it like kingdom hearts 2 I had no idea was coming out. Versus mgs2, where I was way more attentive to the hype around it. So, it was a very pleasant surprise to see it on the shelf at the rental place by my father's house
It doesn't seem that strange that Meryl dreamed of being a soldier as a child given the world of Metal Gear. Big Boss was elevated to a celebrity level by the Patriots specifically for that purpose.
Her "father" and father were also soldiers
@@Reddeth6332 Father? 😂😂😂
@@furrybproductions who she thinks is her Dad isnt her real Dad.
I wait for you guys to do the peak of MGS series MGS3 sometime in the future!
You can't use any weapons including the guided missiles on the first floor. On all the other floors, including the one with the power panel, you can use anything you want.
They used different names because it wasn’t covered by the actors union at the time!