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Page 3: Cross-Promotion
Some controversy is brewing over the amount of cross-promotion taking place in Peace Walker. This is perfectly understandable, since it surpasses anything we've seen before. So the question becomes: what does this really mean for Peace Walker, or Kojima Productions in general?
In my analysis of the product placement in MGS4, I said the following: "Something is wrong with this product placement, and I fully believe it is due to Kojima giving up on the whatever integrity was left in the series. ... The soul has been sold, but this time it's the fans who are to blame. The cellphone is just there to let us know."
And I stand by that. The fans are the ones to blame for MGS selling out — at least that vocal percentage of fans who proved to Kojima that all people wanted was kills and thrills — and by now it's too late to turn back. In a way cross-promotion is being more "honest" than pretending that the series hasn't been tainted and derailed on some level.
With that said, for the "real" fans of the series, it's not a good thing that Peace Walker has cross-promotions crammed into its tiny PSP ass. It cheapens the game and can easily destroy whatever suspension of disbelief the player has achieved; especially when the promotion is anachronistic, out-of-place and uncool to boot. Even if they don't interfere with the story, it's a shame that we have to put up with it.
I think the more important question, however, is what it all entails. And in order to understand this better, we need to look at what the man himself says:
Game development is a composite reflection of the service industry. We are always thinking of ways to supply users with joy and surprises. Not limited to game development, but events, promotion, how we speak, and how we act are all considered as well. We strive to entertain 120% in interviews, writing storyboards, blogs, podcasts, and Twitter too.
Game designers need to have a sense of "hospitality." That is why I stay susceptible to other company's services in the Service Industry. People can be moved by professional "hospitality," and at the same time, be disappointed. One of the main reasons, in the past, Japanese games were accepted globally. -Kojima, Sunday 28th March 2010 (via Twitter)
Most likely, this was Kojima's way of pre-empting criticisms about selling out. He calls it "professional hospitality", and even accepts that people may be disappointed. Fast forward a few weeks and we read this, via 1up.com:
The producer also talked about why he chose to release Peace Walker, the official "new game" in the main Metal Gear Solid series, on a portable platform. "One reason is my desire to have people who haven't experienced the MGS series try it out," he said, expressing concern that the fanbase for the 23-year-old series could stagnate if something isn't done. "Peace Walker is an experiment to see if younger generations could enjoy MGS as well. It's also an experiment to see what MGS will need to be like in the future, when hardware platforms are less important and gamers will be able to play their title of choice anywhere they want. ..."
Ouch! Speaking as a 23-year-old fan myself, I take that personally.
However, he has a point. Why bother catering to the ungrateful "core" demographic if they're the ones who keep making stupid demands anyway? As much as I'd like to say that the majority of 23-year-old Metal Gear fans are intelligent and appreciate the deeper themes of the series, that's just not true. Younger fans probably won't either, but at least he won't have to work under such ridiculous pressure anymore.
And yet, oddly, Kojima is now saying this:
Regarding the collaborations, I have one reason for doing them. It's because I want to surprise the players. If the surprise and freshness were lost, I would stop the collaborations. It's different from Hollywood-style merchandizing.
Pardon me? I'm sorry sir, but either you're lying now, or before. Yes, he said that such marketing exists he wants to "supply users with joy and surprises", including "events, promotion, how we speak, and how we act", but what about "professional hospitality"? Clearly there is more than one reason.
This would bother me more if I hadn't recently figured out that Kojima realized the need to be duplicitous in order to please everybody else, while secretly staying true to himself; a theme represented in Snake Eater with Big Boss' inner conflict.
Inwardly, he can justify "selling out" by comparing it to a soldier who is asked to betray his alliegiances and ideologies in order to complete his mission. Do you obey, or rebel? He chooses to do both, by obeying outwardly, while rebelling inwardly. As long as the essential "sense" or "message" of the game is preserved, he no longer cares about whether he is perceived as a villain or a hero, or what he is asked to do as part of the mission.
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