Kojima unhappy with Metal Gear Online, admits Konami ID 'not working well'
One thing did pop up in our readthrough: Hideo Kojima is unhappy with the number of people currently playing Metal Gear Online, the multiplayer portion of MGS4. Undoubtedly, the cumbersome Konami ID registration process, which requires players to write down multiple IDs and passwords simply to get into the game, became a significant barrier of entry.
"Honestly, officially, I can't say anything on Konami ID and Game ID. It's a company policy. But frankly speaking, the idea wasn't a very good one. The fact is that Konami's direction was that we create a Game ID and Konami ID for the online components, and now we're seeing that it's not working so well, and we have to think about how to turn it around. It was a concept of an online Konami group thinking, so there's not much I could do at the time."
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
drdre74 @ Sep 26th 2008 2:12PM
Yeah its a pain in the ass if you forget your pass words. It took forever to sign up the first time.
kentuckyfried @ Sep 26th 2008 2:58PM
it's not really hard to sign up for the two accounts, except when MGO first started and everybody and their mother tried doing it AT THE SAME TIME. This crashed the website badly.
My bigger complaint is that updates are difficult to apply for the same reason...Konami's servers get hammered, they crash, and all the players get irate when they can't get their updates and goods on time.
It would be good for them to throw in the towel and just use the PSN.
Averna @ Sep 26th 2008 10:23PM
Why they didnt use the, already in place, PSN system is beyond me.
Benjamin09 @ Sep 26th 2008 2:13PM
Yeah PS3's online play is sooo much better then xbox live since its free!
Devin @ Sep 26th 2008 2:16PM
Uh Oh.
Popfrogs @ Sep 26th 2008 2:36PM
I know not to feed the trolls, but to clarify Ben, Konami decided to do their own thing for MGO. They didn't use the normal methods of the PSN like _every single other game_ does.
They created their own halfway broken ID system through their website that forces you to create at least 2 accounts. They created their own in-game messaging system, ignoring the XMB messaging that every other game uses. Basically they cut Sony out of the loop in every way possible minus the network connectivity.
Hell, even updates don't use the PSN. You either use their jacked up Bittorrent thing or download via http.
This was an epic fail for Konami. Sony gave them everything and they took a big steaming dump on it, and engineered a terribly poor replacement.
ryan @ Sep 26th 2008 2:41PM
oh no he di-ent!
lorddshadow @ Sep 29th 2008 1:15AM
@ Popfrogs
i seriously lol'ed when it said that the torrent download is faster when more ppl are dl'ing it and the http dl is faster when less ppl dl'ing it and the http download took like 2 minutes and the torrent would have taken like 40. that explains a lot about the players am i right?
manbeast @ Sep 26th 2008 2:14PM
I wont lie to ya , the whole log-in process is a pain in the ass , its a great online game but not worth the time trying to remember your KONAMI id and password, hey KONAMI if its free online why are you making it harder for PS3 owners to log on and play a superb online game ?
Sporia @ Sep 26th 2008 2:24PM
Konami should hire a new online team becuase they fail in ever espect of online , Pro Evo 2008 online was 100% broken aswell , no idea how it passed testing but it was realesed and i had 3000ms ever single match , 50 patchs later and i get 1000ms nice one Konami....
Metal_Gear @ Sep 26th 2008 2:31PM
They are still suffering from that huge f**k up that was the release of an expansion.
They need to release a patch that allows us to use out PSN account for it instead, and add an option to link our old ID accounts with out PSN accounts. There, sorted, a game that will be easier to play and they wont have to set up an IP address lottery for you to buy the expansion.
DavidJuaquin @ Sep 26th 2008 2:35PM
I love MGS4 but I admittedly haven't bothered with the online play just because there's too many things to go through. I've signed up & logged on before but I've forgotten which name belongs to which ID and when I did log on my first time, choosing a game/server was slightly confusing. Call me a lazy American but hey after spending $65 for a game I just want to insert the disc and press start.
Gambit07 @ Sep 26th 2008 2:37PM
Made Zero sense. (get it? ahh nevermind)
ryan @ Sep 26th 2008 2:46PM
i know the MGS universe goes for very complex and deep concepts, but isn't carrying that over to your online experience a little too much?!
koehler83 @ Sep 26th 2008 2:47PM
That's why I have never played MGO. Its a real piss off because I have several buddies who would love to play MGO together.. but the online system is broken and none of us can be bothered.
Bad idea. It's absolutely not beyond fixing.. yet.. they choose not to have to pay to upgrade their servers. They'd rather just be able to say "Hey.. it's there. Feel free to use it, but we're not going to go out of our way to encourage you and incur further hosting costs."
magicfett @ Sep 26th 2008 2:54PM
@ Benjaxbot09 this is Konami not the PSN numbnuts.
Either way I don't want to pay for a new character slot that is why I don't play the thing. If I wanted to pay for online play I would have an xbox or two for when the other is being fixed.
jarhead906 @ Sep 27th 2008 2:31AM
I lol'd hard on that one.
I'll make sure to add that to my list of Xbox dissing comments.
Flame @ Sep 26th 2008 2:56PM
I honestly love MGS4 ( my favorite game ) but having that whole process of logging in is pretty annoying. Also, why in gods name wouldn't you use PSN for the online experience (expansion, IDs, updates). This mistake still doesn't stop me from playing MGO ._.
Nathanical @ Sep 26th 2008 2:58PM
I really liked MGO, but i never play it, mainly because its a pain in the backside to get into. If they were to make it alot easier to get in, infact, if they made it like every other game to get in, id play it ALOT more.
HAAS599 @ Sep 26th 2008 4:12PM
same here.
I feel like I can play 2 rounds of COD4 before a round of MGO even starts.
Nick @ Sep 26th 2008 3:12PM
It really is a shame that MGO is so crippled because it is very fun.
Konchu @ Sep 26th 2008 3:26PM
Simple solution somewhat mentioned above is fix this to work with the PSN logon I suggest do it around the release of home with home specific features.
I personally don't get why they did this I think after the success of a unified logon was established as desirable it successful on the xbox and xbox360 and successfully adopted by the PS3, no other PS3 devs have went against this so why go against this. Im sure it had to do with control concerns but if you look at games like GTA4 they were able to still run there own servers that integrated into the game adding extra features. And PS3 still allows for dedicated servers in games such as resistance even the 360 has started to with at least Frontlines and maybe Shadowrun.
Twinturbo120 @ Sep 26th 2008 3:27PM
I think they really did screw up on this. I mean WHY? to have another user name isn't worth 7 bucks it should be free this isn't freaken 360
RasenganFury @ Sep 26th 2008 3:29PM
One thing i hate in MGO is the responsiveness. Sometimes another guy and i will be shooting eachother, I'll run behind a wall to take cover and a few seconds later i will die. And whenever someone gets a head shot with a sniper rifle i die twice.
Dahk @ Sep 26th 2008 4:34PM
Dood it all depends on your situation.
As for the dying after hiding behind a wall, either someone shot you while hiding, or you just lag like hell lol.
But if someone shoots you with a Mosin Nagant, then you die ONCE, but someone gets an EXTRA kill because its tranquilizing.
j.howlett @ Sep 26th 2008 3:34PM
i think konami was trying to keep their games some what connected but made it to complex and unnecessarily annoying. it's has shades of social club of rockstar but that's optional.
Darkage @ Sep 26th 2008 3:37PM
Note that he says MGS5, that would imply that we would still play as Solid Snake.
Dahk @ Sep 26th 2008 4:32PM
Not sure how true that is, considering the majority of MGS2 was Raiden-based =P.
What it DOES imply, is that the story still involves Solid Snake in some way, which still says a lot, since... well, basically what happened at the end. I don't wanna be a spoiler for anyone lol.
kentuckyfried @ Sep 26th 2008 6:03PM
I think he's just referring in general to whatever MGS' successor project is going to be, it won't necessarily involve Snake and it would be dumb for them not to continue the franchise in some way (at least in spirit, with a different name and intent).
Fane @ Sep 27th 2008 4:59PM
Also, you played as Naked Snake in MGS3 (which really should have been called Metal Gear Solid 0 or Metal Gear Naked).
Darkage @ Sep 27th 2008 7:16PM
All the MGS games add to the story of Solid Snake, so maybe the next game will be another prequel, but with a loose Kojima influence, they'll probably do something wildly different.
dicknjane @ Sep 26th 2008 4:32PM
MGS4 = died in one month. MGO is dead. sorry it wasnt the "phenomenon" you all hyped it to be.
ryan @ Sep 26th 2008 4:58PM
I....uh, i have no response to that. haha. MGS4 was pretty cool, but like most MGS games I just play it once and forget about it.
Invisible Robot Meat @ Sep 26th 2008 5:39PM
Actually MGS4 is epic, MGO not so much. I'm sorry that you turned out to be a dipsh!t troll.
Fraser JK @ Sep 26th 2008 4:49PM
The minute I heard of the stupid Konami ID thing I didn't even consider the online portion of MGS4 as part of the game.
That's why we have PSN ID's!
alex @ Sep 26th 2008 6:45PM
I hate to be a 360 troll but I could not resist. What do you expect when you make an unregulated online service that allows publishers to do what ever they want with their online portion. It almost makes me mad that I am paying a back breaking $4.99 a month (sarcastic) for a regulated and constant experience.
Invisible Robot Meat @ Sep 26th 2008 7:43PM
Regulated and constant, except when your junk console bricks. BAM another one bites the dust!
ryan @ Sep 26th 2008 8:54PM
the 360 should have been built with better parts by now, 3 years later. the machine still is quite junky (even tho the failure rate decreased from %30 to %16).
but i expect the death rate to decrease this fall once the 360 has the ability to copy entire games onto it's hdd.
and then people can enjoy their regulated and constant experience. just more cool and quiet this time around...with 8 person chat. :D
charlie @ Sep 26th 2008 7:50PM
i have forgot both ids konami sort it out i want 2 play but im not BUYING another character
RootBeerKing @ Sep 26th 2008 8:50PM
I loved MGO when i first started playing it but all the pay to play stuff really kills it all for me, I don't like having to pay 10 dollars for a new character, 10 dollars for new maps and blah blah blah.
kentuckyfried @ Sep 27th 2008 3:27AM
You can't expect MGO to be free, especially if its scope is to expand and grow over what they were hoping, would be the lifetime of the ps3 (initial projection was 7 years).
If it fails, it'll be much shorter than that. But bottom line is that developers are being less and less inclined in this generation of consoles to just hand gamers everything for free.
Character slots are admittedly ridiculous at a cost of $7/slot though. *shrugs*
RootBeerKing @ Sep 27th 2008 6:10AM
I can understand developers wanting money, but at the same time we've been getting map packs in the past for free for PC games.
I'd gladly buy more add on content for MGO if everything didn't cost so much, in my eyes. I mean, I'm just thinking down the line, if they keep adding more and more packs at 10 dollars, eventually you'll need to be spending more than an actual game costs just to play with anyone. And I guess you could argue "Well if you're a big MGO fan that's no big deal", but I can't help but thinking that's just killing the game for Konami right there.
I already spent 80 dollars on the game, I shouldn't have to spend another 80 dollars down the line if I wanna keep enjoying the online.
Brian Spence @ Sep 26th 2008 11:20PM
I was in the beta for MGO, and the ID process was such a pain that I literally have never played the online version with the final game. I've beaten the single player campaign, but I've never touched the online portion (which didn't really seem that great anyway).
Kyrra @ Sep 27th 2008 4:06AM
I'm basically in the same boat. MGO is not bad, but jumping through all the hoops of dealing with logging in and updating has made me not play it. It's such a poorly designed system that I just don't want to play it.
Tom @ Sep 27th 2008 12:07PM
MGS4/MGO were big disappointments.
ngdgt @ Sep 27th 2008 12:32PM
MGO just sucks as a game, the login process isn't that big of a problem, once you make the accounts the PS3 can remember all your details and sign in for you. The reason so few people are playing is cos the game is rubbish.
elephant_stone @ Sep 28th 2008 12:44PM
I love it but just dont have time to play
too many games too little time
:(
deafwing @ Sep 29th 2008 1:08AM
Man, Konami must have a pention for this shit. You make a whole other network infrastructure and force users to sign up via an existing one, in conjunction with a buggy site, not even even geared towards the major portion of your market (USA) and all of a sudden you say the add-on to your magnum opus sucks ... oro???? hmmm, the plot thickens.
alox @ Sep 29th 2008 1:09AM
I love MGO, but it's true the time it takes to get and account and all that crap makes me rarely play it :(
KiwiLord @ Sep 29th 2008 1:10AM
If Konami used the PSN instead of their own system, then they would have to give up some of the profit from overly priced, and under-whelming expansions. So, rather than make things easier for consumers, they choose the miserly route to pocket a few more dollars.
Besides the horrible setup system, having to go through the agreement every time, horrible lobby systems, terrible connections, constant team-stacking, host-with-no-power issues, unbearably clunky movements, and etc makes the game un-playable to only the most devoted MGO player. I can't play the game anymore, since in only a few months it seems as though every casual gamer has abandoned the game since there isn't much actual fun to be found anywhere, on any server, at any time. Almost every server is filled with the most hardcore badasses possible. I can't get used to the terrible aiming systems in MGO, and I don't want to take the japanese route, devoting unnecessarily large amounts of time to a single game to get passably good at it.