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Unless you’ve had your head in the clouds for the last two years I’m pretty sure that most of you are aware that March 8th is a special day for us European PS2 gamers. Once again we will be able to slip into our urban commando gear, preen the mullet one more time, don the now famous bandanna and mutter those immortal words: ‘Snake… SNAKE?!’.
If you’re still scratching your head I’d better fill you in. March the 8th sees the launch of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (to give it its full cinematic title). Heralded by many as the ultimate game of all time (until the next one arrives of course) and the climactic result of movies colliding with interaction; the hype for this game is reaching fever point. You only have to poke your infrared goggled heads into the PS2 forum to see that every other topic is MGS2 this or MGS2 that. Even for X-Box and GC fans it’s undeniable that this game is going to pave the way for future games in the ‘tactical strategy’ genre.
Below are my predictions for March 8th:
8am and the anticipation will be bubbling up all over the country. Those lucky enough to pre-order their copies will be pacing up and down their hallways waiting for the postman to arrive, those who haven’t will be making their way to their nearest video game store. It will be the hour or so when nobody says much, just quiet reflection on how they have survived the last 3 years knowing that one day the sequel on everybody’s lips will be released. Even SR will be quiet, with the exception of Meka or Goatboy kicking off their daily rants. The calm before the storm, some might say.
By 9am shops will be open and postmen will have delivered. People will have copies of the game in their hands for the first time, and I guess I can only imagine the feeling something close to when I opened my Christmas presents as a young child to find I had that Evel Kenievel motorbike set I had wanted all year. For those who work on a regular basis, phones are being picked up all over the country and a myriad of excuses of illness being made to bosses, each one of them a blatant lie. Conversations between Goatboy and Meka revolve around how quiet the forums are, and who/what has annoyed them since they last posted.
10am and the National Grid are first to feel the impact as tens of thousands on PS2’s whirr into action and an equal amount of TV’s are switched on. Imagine the commercial break in Coronation Street (apparently most of the viewers put the kettle on then...) multiplied by a few hundred. A few hardcore chatters make their way onto the forums at SR, just to report ‘I got MGS2’ then slip back of into gaming paradise. Thousands of ‘START’ buttons are pressed, as gamers stand in awe of the opening sequence of the game. Goatboy and Meka talk about what they’re going to do on the weekend, along the lines of ‘Playing with my boys’ and ‘Taking the kids shopping’.
Midday and people begin to take their first break from sniping, crawling and generally being like a ninja with a gun. Gamers start drifting onto the forums, and the first reports are coming through. Thread titles like ‘OH MY GOD’ and ‘HAVE YOU DONE THIS (spoiler)’ are popping up in every forum (OK with the exception of WWF and Pokemon, but who uses those anyway?). People who were forced to go to work or school start posting about their annoyance in knowing that they have the game, but are unable to play it. Its short lived though, as everyone can’t wait to get back to the game. Meka and Goatboy are now excited its Friday and start topics about women kissing other women and ‘Man-boobs’.
Most of the afternoon will pass quietly, as fingers and thumbs tap buttons all over the country. As any gamer knows its so easy to not notice hour after hour passing before them, as you get sucked deeper and deeper into a game. As the evening begins, we will see a resurgence of the ‘First Impressions’ topics that appeared in the morning, as gamers return home from work or school. Meka and Goatboy will be remarking on the tedious and repetitiveness of MGS2 related topics on the forums.
By the night the first ‘I have completed MGS2’ topic will appear. Written by a Just Arrived it will go something like: ‘Me smahsed big boss at end wiv radar gun and end it good but u get to come back as a ghost and do it again and u can play it as naked toom radar bird too.’ Cue a barrage of abuse from everyone else lambasting this juvenile for lying when secretly what he says happens in the end is actually true. Also appearing at SR will be the first posts saying ‘MGS2 Sux’, which will be equally leapt upon by the masses. No one would dare say that about the game of games, surely? Of course there will be many people secretly thinking that, but not many willing to take the risk of becoming a Special Reserve outcast. Goatboy and Meka ponder the relative benefits and downfalls of starting their own cult and committing mass suicide.
For my predictions further into the future just take from Midday onwards and repeat until MGS3 is released in about 5 years…
If you’re still scratching your head I’d better fill you in. March the 8th sees the launch of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (to give it its full cinematic title). Heralded by many as the ultimate game of all time (until the next one arrives of course) and the climactic result of movies colliding with interaction; the hype for this game is reaching fever point. You only have to poke your infrared goggled heads into the PS2 forum to see that every other topic is MGS2 this or MGS2 that. Even for X-Box and GC fans it’s undeniable that this game is going to pave the way for future games in the ‘tactical strategy’ genre.
Below are my predictions for March 8th:
8am and the anticipation will be bubbling up all over the country. Those lucky enough to pre-order their copies will be pacing up and down their hallways waiting for the postman to arrive, those who haven’t will be making their way to their nearest video game store. It will be the hour or so when nobody says much, just quiet reflection on how they have survived the last 3 years knowing that one day the sequel on everybody’s lips will be released. Even SR will be quiet, with the exception of Meka or Goatboy kicking off their daily rants. The calm before the storm, some might say.
By 9am shops will be open and postmen will have delivered. People will have copies of the game in their hands for the first time, and I guess I can only imagine the feeling something close to when I opened my Christmas presents as a young child to find I had that Evel Kenievel motorbike set I had wanted all year. For those who work on a regular basis, phones are being picked up all over the country and a myriad of excuses of illness being made to bosses, each one of them a blatant lie. Conversations between Goatboy and Meka revolve around how quiet the forums are, and who/what has annoyed them since they last posted.
10am and the National Grid are first to feel the impact as tens of thousands on PS2’s whirr into action and an equal amount of TV’s are switched on. Imagine the commercial break in Coronation Street (apparently most of the viewers put the kettle on then...) multiplied by a few hundred. A few hardcore chatters make their way onto the forums at SR, just to report ‘I got MGS2’ then slip back of into gaming paradise. Thousands of ‘START’ buttons are pressed, as gamers stand in awe of the opening sequence of the game. Goatboy and Meka talk about what they’re going to do on the weekend, along the lines of ‘Playing with my boys’ and ‘Taking the kids shopping’.
Midday and people begin to take their first break from sniping, crawling and generally being like a ninja with a gun. Gamers start drifting onto the forums, and the first reports are coming through. Thread titles like ‘OH MY GOD’ and ‘HAVE YOU DONE THIS (spoiler)’ are popping up in every forum (OK with the exception of WWF and Pokemon, but who uses those anyway?). People who were forced to go to work or school start posting about their annoyance in knowing that they have the game, but are unable to play it. Its short lived though, as everyone can’t wait to get back to the game. Meka and Goatboy are now excited its Friday and start topics about women kissing other women and ‘Man-boobs’.
Most of the afternoon will pass quietly, as fingers and thumbs tap buttons all over the country. As any gamer knows its so easy to not notice hour after hour passing before them, as you get sucked deeper and deeper into a game. As the evening begins, we will see a resurgence of the ‘First Impressions’ topics that appeared in the morning, as gamers return home from work or school. Meka and Goatboy will be remarking on the tedious and repetitiveness of MGS2 related topics on the forums.
By the night the first ‘I have completed MGS2’ topic will appear. Written by a Just Arrived it will go something like: ‘Me smahsed big boss at end wiv radar gun and end it good but u get to come back as a ghost and do it again and u can play it as naked toom radar bird too.’ Cue a barrage of abuse from everyone else lambasting this juvenile for lying when secretly what he says happens in the end is actually true. Also appearing at SR will be the first posts saying ‘MGS2 Sux’, which will be equally leapt upon by the masses. No one would dare say that about the game of games, surely? Of course there will be many people secretly thinking that, but not many willing to take the risk of becoming a Special Reserve outcast. Goatboy and Meka ponder the relative benefits and downfalls of starting their own cult and committing mass suicide.
For my predictions further into the future just take from Midday onwards and repeat until MGS3 is released in about 5 years…
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Time to see if this comes true.
Bah?
Is this guy okay? he seems o_O
Visionary.
Goatboy and Meka sit to one side and do indeed talk about man-boobs and women kissing women.
This is prophetic.
This is prophetic.
I don't doubt you're right.
Nintendo fan on evening of 8th March: "I played MGS2 round mates house. Its too hard and is rubbish."
X-Box fanatic on evening of 8th March: "I played MGS2 round mates house today. it only last 4 hours and the endings crap. Its too easy and by the way the X-Box is the best on account that its got a better graphics card and sound card*"
Note to any X-Box fantics- If a games crap, graphics and sound don't make it much better, especially when you need around £750+ worth of equipment to be able to use all the functions
Nintendo fan on evening of 8th March: "I played MGS2 round mates house. Its too hard and is rubbish."
X-Box fanatic on evening of 8th March: "I played MGS2 round mates house today. it only last 4 hours and the endings crap. Its too easy and by the way the X-Box is the best on account that its got a better graphics card and sound card*"
Note to any X-Box fantics- If a games crap, graphics and sound don't make it much better, especially when you need around £750+ worth of equipment to be able to use all the functions
I trust you mean of computer games?
Myst, why don't you give demonstrations for the customers?
Thats a little off my turf.. Cardiff Docks more likely.
But I'll be having it playing in the background all day...
Mocking me
boo hoo hoo
Ah well.
Mocking me
boo hoo hoo
Ah well.
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