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Stateside Producer Speaks of Worldwide Simultaneous Release, and the Opening Sequence of MGS4

Dec. 1 2:01 PM by Peter Kassel

During the Tokyo Game Show, Ryan Payton gave an interview to Kotaku giving greater incites to the production of Metal Gear Solid 4. Being such a massive title with the hefty goal of a worldwide release, the production work for each region greatly differs.

"We're going to have different game balance, different controls, different difficulty levels, different gaming styles for the international versions. It will be a different game from the Japanese version."

While Kojima is the painter of the masterpiece, it is really Ryan Payton who decides how the Western gaming community perceives it. Metal Gear Solid 4 seems to have a production structure that very much incorporates the worldwide audience that very rarely receives a product at the same time. While the change of production structure is an interesting clue about Metal Gear Solid 4 it is how varied Ryan Payton's contribution to the product that becomes extremely revealing, including some info on game play and hints at an extremely expensive opening credit sequence.

Payton spoke of why there needed to be so much balancing work for each region and how the game is taking shape.

"...we give you so many cool guns, because we give the over the shoulder aim, and because the game actually feels good with rumble and everything, people are killing PMC soldiers left and right. We want to make sure that people understand that there's a balance. Some sections are going to require traditional stealth game play and that you can't just go in guns blazing. It's still Metal Gear."

So it appears that the game feels fluid and powerful, and Payton is working to emphasize the stealth and faction aspects of the game to the action oriented Western player. There is a need to educate

"...some players who would just shoot every PMC they saw, without realizing that you can have alliances with groups."

Beyond that, Payton also is in charge of the opening sequence for the Metal Gear Solid 4. This new opening portion of Metal Gear Solid 4 is an interactive sequence of some sort, being produced by a top design company named Logan, which you might recognize from the ipod silhouette ad campaign.

"They're designing and producing our opening movie which is something that's never been attempted before in games. It's going to be the talk of the town when the game comes out."

While the structure of this new form of game play is yet to be reveled, the budget and groups involved with the project suggest something big.

"I can't give out number figures, but I know of some games that have as big a budget as we have on just this opening movie."

We'll just have to see if that investment is going to pay off.

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