Summary
After not collectively being available on one platform since the PS3, the recent release ofMetal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1brings the first three games in theMetal Gear Solidseries under one umbrella while including the series' origins on MSX and NES/Famicom. That’s not to say that the release of these titles on modern hardware is blemish free, as there are plenty of lingering issues with how the games are optimized for theMaster Collection’s various platforms, but it’s still a win to have theMetal Gear Solidfranchise back in the zeitgeist. One of the more obvious aspects ofMetal Gear Solid:Master Collection Vol. 1is the way it highlights an industry-wide issue with game preservation.
In comparison with other forms of media such as print or audio, video games have a surprisingly poor system of preservation and a relative absence of guideline and protocol to shepherd preservation efforts. Outside the work currently being done by the Video Game History Foundation, few other entities have stepped up to catalog andarchive the history of video gamesas a medium, leading to widespread concerns over the preservation of its history. In the age of live-service games and online storefronts shutting down, the preservation of digital artifacts becomes a priority that many publishers seem to be ignoring.
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Prevalent Issues With Game Preservation
One of the most critical issues facing the act of game preservation is the total loss of titles that arrived prior to the Digital Revolution. A study conducted just this year by the Video Game History Foundation concluded that nearly 87% of titles that released prior to 2010 have either been lost or are at risk of being lost due to a lack of widespread efforts toward video game preservation. Even games released since 2010 are at risk of being lost to time thanks to the prevalence of live-service games and several publisher and hardware manufacturers' shifts toward all-digital sales models. The recent Microsoft leak even suggests thatthe next Xboxwon’t have a disc drive.
Compounding the issue is the tendency for hardware manufacturers to shut down the online servers and storefronts for older pieces of hardware, rendering online connectivity and functionality an impossibility afterward. For those games that are only available digitally on these antiquated storefronts, their content is essentially lost to time. Nintendo has already shut down the Wii and Wii U storefronts, withthe 3DS eShopset to follow suit next spring. That’s not even mentioning the glut of live-service titles that have had their servers shut down, rendering the games entirely unplayable.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Should Have Aimed to Preserve the Series Legacy
With video game preservation at the forefront of many publishers' minds, it’s somewhat shocking that Konami didn’t use the release of theMetal Gear Solid: Master Collectionas an opportunity to preserve the complete legacy of one of gaming’s most impactful franchises. Both the originalMetal GearandMetal Gear Solidrepresent watershed momentsin the history of gaming, with one title introducing the mechanics of stealth games to the masses and the other arguably responsible for the tectonic shift toward games becoming more cinematic. It’s great to make these games available again for modern audiences, but critically, they’re missing a lot of the peripheral content that make up the completeMetal Gearexperience.
In addition to including the games themselves on the collection, Konami could have put forth the effort to have both the original and theHD Collectionversions of each game as well as to include digital scans of the games' manuals and promotional materials. Other collections have done this to rousing success –theMega Man Legacy Collectionseries, for instance.
Metal Gear Solidis both one of the most important franchises in video games and deserving of this kind of attention to detail. Rather than a simple rehash of existing ports, theMetal Gear Solid: Master Collectioncould have been a defining step in the right direction for game preservation.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1
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Released in 1998, this was the first 3D title in the METAL GEAR series. The game pioneers 3D stealth action against the threat of war and global nuclear weapons, using live action footage, cinematic cut scenes, interwoven with innovative gameplay.The storyline, a whirlwind of intrigue and betrayal, has been hailed as the greatest story of the 20th century and was the third title in the METAL GEAR series to become a hit in subsequent years.Also included: Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, an exclusive digital Screenplay Book and Master Book that details the story and characters in Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear & Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
