Metal Gear Solid story is 'ham-fisted,' says David Jaffe
- Posted March 17th, 2009 at 12:33 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 45 Comments
Eat, Sleep, Play co-founder David Jaffe has listed Konami’s venerable Metal Gear Solid franchise as one of his favourite series of all time, though couldn’t resist poking criticism at it's storyline, branding the narrative as ‘ham fisted.’
“Metal Gear's one of my favourite series of all time, but if you really just strip the gameplay and the graphics out of Metal Gear and you just look at it as a story, it's a really ham-fisted, kind of cheesy story,” said Jaffe, during an interview with LAGTV.
He went on to observe that videogames industry tends to be heavily influenced by Hollywood films, adding, “It works great for Metal Gear, it makes Metal Gear a AAA game, but a lot of what ends up happening is we're so influenced by Hollywood in our industry that we end up making games that are so influenced by movies that when you acquire the rights to a video game and you say, 'What's the meat on the bones of this thing to turn into a film?' there really isn't a lot, because all we've done is make a game... our gameplay is really fresh and innovative, but look at Gears of War 2, one of my favourite games of the year, it's such a rip-off of Aliens, and those kinds of Michael Bay films, that it's not funny, from a thematic standpoint.”
Despite this, Jaffe admitted there are a few exceptions – games that possess a strong narrative may in turn lead to a successful movie adaptation, though went on to state it’s unfair to assume a good film will come from games, as “we don't have the stories to begin with.”
In terms of a film adaptation of God of War, Jaffe said he would personally like to see the project directed by Paul Verhoeven, who has previously worked on the likes of Total Recall and Robocop.
Comments
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teevanator |
teevanator- 12:39pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 4
4th, to spite you
4th better, BLu fighter! obv
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blu-fighter
- 12:43pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 5
5th!!! haha I am the greatest poster ever!
I WIN! 5th post!!!!!!!!!!!
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KZ3000
- 12:48pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 7
Metal Gear can really be well made for doing a decent hollywood movie. but it needs to be more focuced on main characters than some secondary ones also.
Its very hard to produce a decent film based on a game.
I know its true that this movies based on games turn to be very disapointing.
I just whant that this movies get done right and not some made up crap like Final Fantasy Spirits Within or Resident Evil movie Triology...
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ed_winchester
- 12:49pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 8
I think a movie would be good but very hard to pull off.
It'd need to be dumbed down enough to appeal to a wider audience but without losing too much of the game's storyline.
The difficulty is deciding which bits of the story are the most important bits to squeeze into 2 hours. Wouldnt be an easy task.
Oh and then cast Ice Cube to play Snake
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sithdarkess
- 1:02pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 9
I rather see gears of war movies over metal gear solid. even though I'm a PS fanboy.
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SillyHatMafia |
SillyHatMafia- 1:05pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 10
And God of War's story is any better? I dont care for any characters in the game besides Kratos, and even than only because he's a badass
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LegendaryAim |
LegendaryAim- 1:07pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 11
Jaffe STFU and come out with a game for us already
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Xdeth |
Xdeth- 1:11pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 12
@ 1 why even post if thats all your going to say.... you people who put that are fing retarded and usualy add nothign of worth to the topic please dont waist our time or yours.
While there are some parts of the MGS story that make me think hmmm.... I liked it and didnt think it was as bad as Jaffe makes it out to be. As far as a movie, I've yet to see a movie based off a video game that has worked or made the fans happy. With an epic title such as Metal Gear, I doubt they would be able to pull it off without pissing the fans off.
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Mo-green28 |
Mo-green28- 1:17pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 13
Im thirteenth YAYAYYYAYAYYYYYYY
Anyways Metal Gear Serious is better than most movie series I ever seen. Jaffe needs to lay off that "stuff"
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subwaydesign
- 1:24pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 14
every single person other than Kojima can, and WILL ruin MGS if they make a movie.
anyway, this comment form appearing on random, making me refresh the page 20 times to be able to use it is becoming a problem :( hope you can get it fixed! i'm on firefox 3
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Stevie |
XxSteviexX- 1:34pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 16
I disagree. Its complex and intricate. Everything fits into place. MGS is the kind of writing you'd be made to analyse in school for symbolism etc. A movie adaption should be CGI like Advent Children as live action would fail fail fail and it won't have to be an easy watch for new people to the series and include all plot points but still get enough attention from the fans to make it worthwhile. Just like FF7 Advent Children.
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ElPulga |
xbacillusx- 2:07pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 20
The things is that the movie industry is slowing down and they want anything they can get their hands to make some profit. See all the comic book movies that are appearing or the remakes of all cartoons. And now videogames they still dont get it, transitions are really hard to make. The story works fine in the video games. Tho this things have been going for quite a while. He should and the other producers come up with original ideas instead of being lazy and try to grab anything already made.
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Alpha2
- 2:09pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 21
Any story can be good if you tell it right. That's the goal of every story teller is to tell a story that keeps peoples attention and locks them into that world. At it's core MGS is definately a bit hamfisted in it's attempts to de-romantasize war and death, but the thing is even in all that, the characters are still engaging and you want to see more of their lives. Why else do youthink people complain when you take the main character out of a game like MGS or even DMC, the lead characters carry these stories.
What it comes down to is this. you can make a great movie out of a video game if you respect the property. And that's not saying rip the game script directly to the screen but find the reasons why people like it and do that bigger and better with more polish. GoW is a revenge story, there is magic and gods in it sure and that's a major component but it'd just he another Kevin Sorbo story without the determined toutured raw emotion of Kratos and his need for revenge.
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JMelillo57 |
jmelillo57- 3:04pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 22
I don't think I ever heard "ham-fisted" before. If you don't want games "ham-fisted" make a better one. Problem solved then we don't have to listen to you anymore.
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edward_moffet |
edd- 3:36pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 24
i disagree but i can see why he would think that, David Jaffe seems to like the more.. brutal/blunt type entertainment... i guess what i mean is he's not one for subtleties he seems to enjoy the instant sensation of action and that's really evident in his work, he's also been quoted as saying that he's not one for writing stories either he doesn't prefer long epics and such (which is what metal gear is) MGS simply doesn't fit with in his tastes
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Overcast |
Gamenificent- 5:25pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 28
Bull, first of all I don't think Metal Gear Solid hammed it up really, it was supposed to be serious to a fault while still keeping a pace of humor. That comment "we don't have the stories for good movies" sounds idiotic. There are plenty of good stories in games and if you ask me some are so grand in nature they can only work in the video game medium. Take Lost Odyssey for example or even MGS-good movies can come from this game but because they would be adapted into movies you're not going to have the same experience of being in the world through that character's eyes and you're certainly not going to be able to stop and make codec calls or go on quest that take hours to complete to find a specific item to open up a new realm to a story. The average person isn't going to watch a movie that takes 12 to 60 hours to tell either so movies will always be horribly compressed if the game has a deep story like these.
Just like Alan Moore said the Watchmen movie was a close as they could get, there are only things the comic would be able to do. I thought it was a great movie but it is considerably dumbed down compared to the novel.
I just think it was funny that Jaffe was the one that said this considering how bad and cliched God of War was story wise. I graduated with a Masters in English and my classmates(that were gamers) and I were always talking about how weak and boring God of War in its narrative and concept.
Look at me I'm playing a mini game about sex, I'm so edgy. Please...
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iceveiled
- 5:40pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 30
It's true..like most anime the MGS plot is solid garbage. I'm sure it makes perfect sense if you're Kojima but to anyone else it's a bunch of nonsense. Maybe it's just the cultural differences between Japan and the US, but to me, japanese story telling is really bizarre and doesn't make a whole lot of sense when localized.
That being said, Jaffe is awesome. An obnoxious loudmouth, but awesome.
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Overcast |
Gamenificent- 5:45pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 31
@ 30 believe me when I say there are a legion of people who would disagree with you. I'm a black male from alabama and I understood the plot perfectly. I don't think it's a Japanese American problem myself. We all just see the world diffrently and have different perceptions about things. Don't assume everyone thinks like you.
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1solidsnake |
solid1snake67- 6:02pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 32
lol at number 2.
this guy wishes, he could have been on the project of MGS4, that's why he's kind of bashing it i think. seriously, i don't like god of war. never was into that game. MGS4 was epic and i hope there is a movie, i know it will be good. remember twin snakes? they made solid snake into an action hero in that game. better than the ps1 version the game was great. i'll be the first inline for an MGS movie. seriously, who is david jaffe?? i know wh6o hideo kojima is.
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biggboss911
- 6:07pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 33
This guy is completley stupid.... he probably didnt even understand the story.... Dumbass
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Dehshizknight |
Dehshizknight- 7:40pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 34
Seriously, the Metal Gear series is compromised of 7 games that make of the story (spinoffs like AC!D, Ghost Babel, etc. don't add to the story). Personally, I think it's the best narrative I've experienced whether it be a movie, game or book; bar none.
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el_rika
- 9:28pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 35
MGS stories are fantastic in both narrative and cinematography, especially MGS4 with it's immense thematic depth and intricate ideology analysis. Yes, they are cheesy and over the top, but since when is this a "bad" thing ? It is part of their unique charm. H ell, Slumdog Millionaire is as cheesy and as dumb as it gets, but it gets the Oscar because it is also brilliant EXACTLY because of this cheesy way of approaching the story. It is the exact same thing with MGS.
I'm sorry Mr. Jaffe, but have you considered the possibility that you may be actually missing the point ?
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ironflag55555 |
ironflag555- 11:00pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 36
he sounds like the same game over at fable 2. these two guys would make a good couple
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darthrazorback
- 11:51pm GMT - March 17th, 2009
- 37
I agree with him, 137%. MGS has one of the cheesiest stories, writing, and voice acting. It is terrible and boring... except for a few scenes. I have never wanted to kick in the screen more than while playing MGS4.. I HATED everything about it except the gameplay. :)
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starblinky01
- 12:39am GMT - March 18th, 2009
- 39
ok this is old news first off. and second off, jaffe wouldnt be happy with you posting this. He posted a blog after this one and burned all the gaming sites that posted his blog.
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cdx000 |
cdx00- 2:51am GMT - March 18th, 2009
- 40
Jaffe = idiot. He admitted this by his favoritism toward one of the most mundane and bland games of this existence; Gears of War 2. GoW2 is no more than Time Crisis that has derailed itself and you shoot bugs instead of humans.
A MGS movie would be terrific yet terribly long and yes, the lot of people who would see it would have no idea what's going on because their minds are inept. Those of you who cannot comprehend the MGS series history, find and download the video of the blu-ray that game with the collector's edition on MGS4; it's VERY informative. MGS has a very great and compelling story that would make a terrific screenplay if put into the right hands. 'til then, I'd rather such a terrific game go unscathed, as the current trend of games -> movies is absolute garbage.
Also, to grasp the MGS story, it's best if you don't rush through the game your first play or second for that matter. Watch the cinematics and DO NOT SKIP THEM. It's not that hard to follow.
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darthrazorback
- 4:02am GMT - March 18th, 2009
- 41
MGS4 is only hard to follow because it is insipid trash. So, only the biggest fanboy of MGS would want to follow it. Anyone with even half an ounce of taste would vomit all over MGS4's ridiculously camp and self absorbed cut scenes. At best, the creators of those cut scenes are quasi-artists.
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sonny23 |
sonny156- 4:52am GMT - March 18th, 2009
- 42
First off. To all of you saying how terrible the story is and bashing number 4, don't expect to understand the story and all the elements straight away ESPECIALLY when you have not completely understanding the story of the games before it... you know who you are. You don't watch the end of a movie and be like "wtf this makes no sense!?" or read the end of a book in the same way.
MGS4 is my favourite as far as the story goes, just because I loved how Kojima finished it off. I didn't find the story in any way cliche` or the same as other movies, nor as predictable as many others. In playing the games and understanding the story before hand, MGS4 really moved me, there were many parts during the game that actually sent chills down my spine! just because I had really understood what the story was telling.
Of course this is just my opinion but the MGS series is the best thing in all of gaming and nothing thus far has ever topped it (for me). The story, gameplay (Tactical Espionage Action,) the whole series unique in its own way, just everything about it together as a whole.
As the saying goes, don't judge a book by... (in this case) NOT READING THE WHOLE THING :)
(Coz i know a lot of people who did -.-)
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