US/Euro MGS4 lacks Japanese voice over tracks

by James Ransom-Wiley { Feb 29th 2008 at 3:30PM }

Go figure. There really is a limit to the once-unfathomable expanse of the Blu-rays. Speaking on the latest Kojima Productions Report session, Metal Gear Solid 4 producer Ryan Payton confirmed that the game's chatter will be as indulgent and convoluted as ever -- even more so than past entries. Meaning: "Unfortunately because of disc space, we don't have the space to include other languages, other voice over files for the respective versions. So the Japanese version's not gonna have English VO, and the North American and European versions won't have Japanese VO." Hayter it is then!

Tags: david-hayter, kojima, konami, metal-gear-solid-4, mgs4, ryan-payton

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Neebs @ Feb 29th 2008 3:33PM

Unserious comment:

Only with the power of Blu-Ray

flameofdoom666 @ Feb 29th 2008 3:35PM

Imagine if it was ported to the 360 then? A 4 disc game! hah

Matt B @ Feb 29th 2008 3:37PM

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/3464/mgs4qz0.jpg

riggs @ Feb 29th 2008 3:41PM

EYE C WUT U DID DARE

Wonderflex @ Feb 29th 2008 3:35PM

How big is this game? Or are the not using any form of audio compression?

Magetto @ Feb 29th 2008 3:37PM

I remember Kojima saying in a interview about using the best audio possible, so that might be the case.

Magetto @ Feb 29th 2008 3:39PM

Erm crap. There really needs to be a edit button or something. I for what ever reason forgot to type "something" after "kojima saying."

upz @ Feb 29th 2008 3:43PM

Still makes sense the way it is. But it should be "an" interview. ;)

FidliousWong (Oatmeal Defense Force) @ Feb 29th 2008 3:56PM

Audio compression? Nope... and this is running on a dual layer BluRay...

That means 50GBs...

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 29th 2008 3:36PM

... bHut tEh bLUrayzZ!

CGamble20 @ Feb 29th 2008 4:42PM

You do realize...this means that it quite possibly fills an entire (or close to) 50GB. So yes, teh blurayzz.

qo_op @ Feb 29th 2008 7:07PM

gotta love this kid, hes' pretty damn consistent in his trolling.

NoHitHair @ Feb 29th 2008 3:36PM

"There really is a limit to the once-unfathomable expanse of the Blu-rays."

Or there really is a limit to developers' abilities to properly use existing space. But this argument already happened on another thread and everyone apparently believes developers to be infallible masters of utilizing space, so...

/end rant

why not the LS2/LS7? @ Feb 29th 2008 4:17PM

What does this statement mean?

I know there are arguments that making lots of content is expensive. But in this case the content will get made anyway.

Do you really think developers are unable to copy a few more files to a disk if it had space and make a single option to switch languages?

PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Feb 29th 2008 4:19PM

well im not a developer by any means but i would speculate that if they used the type of compression they used to use for DVD's then they would still have space left to spare. but not having to compress as much is part of the point of Blu-ray it would seem. either way, it is very ironic.

FOXHOUND @ Feb 29th 2008 3:37PM

I'm burned out at work here, so the ol'noggin isn't firing on all cylinders; but I don't remember there ever being a language option on previous US-released METAL GEAR SOLID titles...?

Pedobear @ Feb 29th 2008 9:22PM

Your right, but I believe the point is, that they are saying they can't fight another audio track on the disc, even though it is Blu-Ray.

Pedobear @ Feb 29th 2008 9:23PM

ummm fit*

samfish @ Feb 29th 2008 3:37PM

Oooh man, this comment section is gonna get hairy.

Co @ Feb 29th 2008 3:47PM

You know how to call 'em, Samfish!

Abuzar @ Mar 2nd 2008 12:24AM

I like your avatar lol.

Matt B @ Feb 29th 2008 3:38PM

Good?

KeenCommander @ Feb 29th 2008 3:38PM

Should be a good game, but at this point in time, console exclusivity is just stupid. Even with blu-ray being the next big thing, having this, Uncharted, and Final Fantasy as its only big games is just too little, too late for the PS3 to be a serious contender.

Shagittarius @ Feb 29th 2008 3:49PM

SHAGIBOOKMARK

I'm leaving this comment so 3 years from now I can search google with 'SHAGIBOOKMARK' and come back to it to laugh when the PS3 wins this generation.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 29th 2008 4:01PM

Or, in 3 years we can google it and see what a tool you were all along.

Welcome to the double edged sword shagi.

samfish @ Feb 29th 2008 4:02PM

I'll bet you a dollar on PayPal it won't.
I do expect it to beat the 360, though.

...no one ever takes my PayPal bets even though I'm always serious about them.

Emophia @ Feb 29th 2008 4:08PM

Shagi, you're a genious.

I'm stealing your Idea.

EMOBOOKMARK!

mike @ Feb 29th 2008 4:45PM

there is no way the ps3 will beat the 360. 360 is too far ahead, and its still outselling the ps3. The wii took a whole year to catch the 360, (actually its still not caught yet) and it outsells the 360 by aaround 100 000 a month. The ps3 is still the bottom of the barel. In order for them to catch up in any way, they would need to outsell the xbox like 24 months in a row. And with GOW2, fable2 mass effect 2, too human and who knows what else coming out, thats not gonna happen. The race is between nintendo and xbox. But I see a big drop in wii sales as the novelty wares off, and more people buy hdtvs (unless nintendo comues out with some sort of 720/1080 outputting wii or something.)

Mr Khan @ Feb 29th 2008 4:58PM

HDTV sales will not affect the Wii, because even though it looks relatively bad (I only notice the mad scaling jaggies when nothing is moving, myself), no other console offers what Wii offers, and what drives the sales is in no way tied to its graphical capabilities

Fad could wear off at some point, but thats the lovely thing of the blue ocean theory. Still about 290million Americans alone who don't have one

why not the LS2/LS7? @ Feb 29th 2008 7:05PM

PS3 outsold the 360 last year.

Myke @ Feb 29th 2008 7:50PM

@ KennCommander & mike

U guys are hilarious... Not only will the PS3 beat the 360 but it will by a margin. The PS3 sales internationally unlike the 360 is ONLY successful in the US. The 360 is dead in JP and its currently being outsold by the PS3. America is the 360's only crutch and thats not enough. Be realistic. W/ america being the only place where the 360 is actually being purchased and w/ the hardware problems still alive, the 360 will be last this gen. Dont get me wrong though, Game of the Year will be either MGS4 and GoW2 and I'm excited about both. IF M$ fixes the hardware problem maybe I'll own an Elite w/ GoW2 & NG2 instead of playin them at my friends house.

P.S. with mike dropping titles, he is no different than any other fanboy that is just trying to justify their purchase.

jonondaspot @ Feb 29th 2008 11:16PM

Well mike, the PS3 outsold the 360 in 2007. North America was the 360s only sales peak and that fell last month. Apparently some people didn't look at the actual sales figures and instead showed us how easy they are to fool. Thanks for buying into marketing rather than the truth.

Also the PS3 sold faster than the 360 during it's first 14 months since launch. This is even with the padded numbers MS has due to all the people like me that have owned 4 deathbox 360s.

Matt B @ Feb 29th 2008 3:38PM

IS this a problem?

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ Mar 1st 2008 12:23AM

I don't really see the problem, why wouldn't I want to listen to the best VO in video game history? But it is kinda strange not to have it...

*David Hayter

FrankTheCrank @ Feb 29th 2008 3:39PM

Kojima, it's called compression, MP3, look into it.

Curtis the Claw Game Master V2 @ Feb 29th 2008 4:16PM

Frank, it's called crappy audio, MP3, look into it.

DWells55 @ Feb 29th 2008 4:29PM

FLAC FTW?

Swifty @ Feb 29th 2008 4:46PM

Oh please. Don't tell me you're one of those gold plated audio cable purchasing audiophiles that can tell the difference between 256Kbps VBR and 192Kbps CBR.

There are various lossless compression algorithms out there. And frankly, most people don't give a damn between lossless and lossy anyway because most people can't tell the difference.

freecajunlove @ Feb 29th 2008 4:44PM

I doubt many people could tell the difference between 320 kbps mp3's and uncompressed sound. Especially when it's coming out of TV speakers, or any speakers of a non-audiophile...

jonondaspot @ Feb 29th 2008 11:11PM

Frank, it's called quality. Look into it.

Marty @ Feb 29th 2008 3:41PM

Swerving around the obvious flamebait - why would the lack of inclusion of foreign language tracks even be an issue?

NoHitHair @ Feb 29th 2008 3:44PM

Even though it should go without saying, original creative works are best in their intention. In other words, what's translated can never precisely reflect the nuances intended by the original author.

A prime example would be German philosophy. If you're ever interested in horrible translation, pick up something by Schiller or Hagel. It's virtually unreadable in English.

Shagittarius @ Feb 29th 2008 3:53PM

Yes NoHitHair, but this is cheesy pseudo-intellectual anime drivel, not works of literary merit.

I'm sure I can deal with 'Set us up the bomb' instead of 'Prepare the bomb'.

NoHitHair @ Feb 29th 2008 4:09PM

Oh I agree. I don't really care that DMC4 won't have the original localization because DMC's entire storyline is pandering garbage.

I just simply wanted to clarify that there is reason to retain untranslated works.

Marty @ Feb 29th 2008 4:45PM

Well obviously there is some utility for the people who understand the language... but for the rest of us schmucks, I still don't see the issue.

el serpiente @ Mar 2nd 2008 5:52PM

His name is H-E-G-E-L. Make sure you know what the hell you are talking about before you try to get all faux-intellectual. And its a fucking videogame, not a philosophical masterpiece. Finish your cereal and go wait outside for the schoolbus.

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 29th 2008 3:42PM

No flamming or bashing... MGS4 doesn't look that good in terms of graphics. Looks good, but not great. There are games already with better graphics than what we seen so far of MGS4.

I think the space issue is due to uncompressed 7.1 audio. Not graphics or textures.

Mr Khan @ Feb 29th 2008 3:45PM

Is not the best graphics technology, sure, but they did helluva good job creating detailed, immersive environments

I am surprised, though, 50 GB per layer should be more than enough, unless they made more detailed environments and have more voiceovers than I expected

FrankTheCrank @ Feb 29th 2008 3:46PM

Fernando, the Wii's graphics are about as good as their ever going to get. You will never see a Far Cry, Resistance or Uncharted type game on that system. And if that doesn't bother you, I digress.

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 29th 2008 3:52PM

Frank

I know that the Wii can't handle that kind of graphics... everyone knows that, since the beggining.

But I never expect that a Wii game looks better graphically than a PS3 or 360.

What I'm saying is that MGS4 doesn't look more good than a lot of 360 games or a lot of PS3 games.

Besides, I don't know why PS3 fanboys complain about the Wii graphics. This is the first time that Nintendo makes a console with inferior graphics. Nintendo 64 has better graphics than PS1, and PS2 has the worst graphics from last gen. Gamecube was a lot more powerful than the PS2.

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