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It has been nearly 20 years since theMetal Gear Solidfranchise from creator Hideo Kojima hit our screens and took the world by storm, and to this date, we are still learning some interesting facts regarding the development of each installment of the espionage franchise that popularised the genre.
One of the most recent facts that has been revealed by the game creator Hideo Kojima is how the gameMetal Gear Solid: Peace Walkerwas actually named. Even though this isn’t mind-boggling, it is rather interesting to get a peek behind the curtains of a game developer and find out why they made a decision like this.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Nearly Had an Entirely Different Title, According to Hideo Kojima
One of the biggest draws for a game is its title. If the title is boring and bland, gamers will likely ignore it and choose not to get involved with said franchise, or potentially leave a franchise if they were already fans, and this is aproblem that Hideo Kojima faced over 14 years ago.
14 years since the release of “PW.”I was still in my mid-40s. At the time, many game companies were beginning to shift to developing apps for the phones. After finishing up MGS4, I felt the need for a proprietary game engine. The vertical leap of the game had to be done after the…pic.twitter.com/vZ3fyCfmkd
Back 14 years ago, Kojima Productions was working on a whole new title, which eventually came to be known asMetal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, orMGSPW, but this title wasn’t its first choice as the game would originally follow on with the sequential numbering system that was being used throughout the franchise.
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At the time,MGSPWwould have been the fifth game in the franchise and would have been known asMGS5PW, but according to Kojima, this title was originally declined by the marketing team as the intent was to release this title onto the PSP handheld console.
Due to the plan to releaseMGSPWonto the PSP, the marketing team at Kojima Productions felt that it was more important to aim this title towards a younger audience and those who aren’t involved within the franchise already, which in the end was a smart idea.
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One of the biggest issues with theMGSfranchise is the fact that it has been going for so many years and has countless games that lean into each other’s stories in ways that would be too complicated to explain, so having an entry point is rather complicated for new gamers.
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This is something that the marketing team at Kojima Productions understood, as following through with the numerical system would cause gamers to feel that they wouldn’t be able to enter the franchise since it would have been the fifth game in the franchise.
and it worked delightfully. the one that made me fall in love with Metal Gear. happy 14th!
Since most gamers who bought a PSP would be quite young and wouldn’t want to jump into a long-running franchise likeMGS, the marketing team decided it would be smarter to make the game look like a new part of the franchise, which in the end worked as so many gamers have replied to Hideo Kojima on Twitter/X detailing how this game brought them into theMGSfamily.
Forever remembered by me as one of the few games to take place in my home country: Costa Rica!Why you chose that setting I have no idea. But glad you did.
What do you think about the lack of sequential numbering onMGSPW? Did you play this game, or did you miss out? Let us know in the comments what you think!
Liam Magee
Gaming Writer/Editor
Articles Published :534
Liam is a writer who loves to spend his time gaming, streaming, playing board games, and just talking about games in general. He will play pretty much any game you put in front of him, but he absolutely loves soul-like games the most, or anything story-driven.
