PSA: Don't Forget The Meaty Downloads Required For Metal Gear Solid's Physical Edition

I'm hoping Volume 2 of the MGS collection will have Peace Walker complete on cartridge. Best game in the series, imo. Monster Hunter-flavored Metal Gear.

Surely there's some breach of consumer protection laws when you sell a cartridge as a collection of games and it doesn't have any of the games on it?

Still though, a physical copy of just Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake along with their alt-universe NES counterparts is pretty cool. I would have bought that as a collection by itself if it was appropriately priced!

• 60GB download required (with bugger-all on the cartridge)
• Ancient games running suboptimally
• Post-launch performance patches incoming for a package of ancient games
• And even more DLC via early purchase/pre-order bonuses (ugh)

And just when I thought I couldn't pass any harder, Konami manages to set the bar even lower. Had everything been housed on a 64GB cart, with no patches required, this easily would have been a must have, and I gladly would have paid $100 (or even a touch more) for a good product. Instead, we're met with contemptible anti-consumer practices, and to think that there are additional volumes planned (whose file sizes are likely to be even bigger than this).

And to think that a package of old ROMs were rushed to the extent that it even needs patches. Shameful.

It's really unfortunate too as I was quite looking forward to this as someone who's never played a MGS game. But God forbid that publishers produce a decent product nowadays. I wouldn't take this physical release even if it were free, and I wouldn't gift it to anybody either as a lump of coal would be less of an insult. So how Konami managed to muster the audacity to demand money for this... I take my hat off to them.

I forgot to cancel my pre order , I guess in some ways it’s no worse taking this approach to those ridiculous physical copies that have just a code in a box. Im in no rush to play this as I have super Mario wonder keeping me very happy right now but I’m really looking forward to playing snake on the switch ! Yeah it’s rubbish the cart has very little on it but we knew this from day 1

This isn't even a physical edition. This is a joke.

I really, truly, deep down in my heart hope this results on some consumer reports and class action cases against Konami. If it is advertised as all games included, then all games advertised should be included.

@AlCamus : Perhaps somebody ought to lead the charge and put the industry on notice.

And the issue is certainly not being helped by those supporting these sorts of releases.

@lemonjellydude : It's still marginally preferable to a download code as you can use it across multiple consoles offline (after everything's been downloaded, of course), but this is one of the absolute worst "physical" releases that I have ever seen on any platform. I wonder if the complete package has been included on other platforms. I wouldn't count on it though.

This leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

…

I should probably take the game cartridge out of my mouth.

…

But without the game cartridge in my mouth there is little to confirm that it is, in fact, ‘physical’.

…

So I shall keep it in my mouth.

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bleaugh

It is awesome, that you give out a warning about stuff like this NintendoLife. Keep up the great work.

@Maxz : The only Switch cartridge that leaves a worse taste in one's mouth than its actual contents (or rather, the monumental lack of).

This was a bigger mess than I thought it would be. Was expecting something like Spyro trilogy where you just update the game and you get everything but there's additional downloads ingame that are treated as free DLC.

It's still better than code in a box but I hope the cart price problem is resolved next gen so more 3rd parties choose to have full games on carts.

So sad. Why even bother with physical releases when this is what you do???? I genuinely don't get it. You're selling glorified coasters.

I didn't really have an interest in this collection, but even if I did, this would be off putting for me.

Get MGS1 or 3. Either choice is so damn great. MGS2, for now, is a complete mess. It performs pretty bad, with 30 to 50-60fps hiccups happening very often, just like Vita version.

@Sisilly_G this totally turned me away. If the cartridge had at least MGS3 I would say ok. But this?!!!! Not buying it!!! Disgusting effort Konami!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was told that the Asian/Japanese version uses a higher capacity cartridge contains MGS1 on cartridge as well.

@rushiosan Not sure if you are aware, but Konami put out a statement before the game even released about how the Switch versions of MGS1-3 would run at most at 30FPS. Not sure if you were talking about playing the Switch version or not though. It's particularly sad for MGS2, as that game originally played at 60fps for gameplay, and cutscenes were at 30fps back on PS2. MGS3 on the other hand was always 30fps until the HD Collection.

@LadyCharlie word up!

Even if it took a bigger, more expensive cartridge, it's still very possible for Konami to include everything in the physical version. I can understand it if a game gets some hefty bonuses like soundtack and a huge artbook, but what Konami tries to pull off is literally a scam

@PKDuckman : According to who? Both the Japanese and Asian physical releases feature download disclaimers on their respective covers too, and it's more than likely that the cartridges contain the same (lack of) content as the international releases.

It's very rare for Japanese/Asian releases to use a larger cartridge than the Western releases, and the only example that comes to mind right now is Final Fantasy X/X-2. Every other release has been more or less identical.

@Sisilly_G Somebody really should. Be nice to see a few articles about it. This seems to be largely something that affects switch owners, usually when there's "collections" involved. Let's be straight here, this is a collection of the early 2D games with a download for the 3D ones, yet its marketed as the latter. This kind of behaviour, and the whole "code-in-box" thing. It's just straight up anti-consumer.

@AlCamus it's standard practice on the other systems where the disk just acts as a licensing key and you need to fully download the game to the console.

I imagine this will become more common for the next Nintendo console as well when the games get too large to be fully included on a cartridge.

It doesn't bother me as long as i get to.play the games, I don't see why people freak out on this site about having to download stuff.

@Chaotic_Neutral I didn't think that was common on other systems with the space afforded by a blu-ray? It might not bother some but if I want a digital download I'll buy a digital download. When I buy a hard copy of a game I expect to get what I paid for.

@AlCamus : PS5/Xbox owners often get screwed over as well.

The last CoD game infamously included nothing but a 72MB launcher on a 66GB disc. They should have saved themselves the cost of wasting a UHD Blu-ray disc and opted for a CD instead!

@Chaotic_Neutral : Installation is not the same as downloading.

By default, PS5/Xbox games should be playable offline, but for whatever ridiculous reason, all games, whatever their complexity (or simplicity), require installation.

And then you have scummy publishers who rush unfinished crap to shelves like the CoD example I had mentioned above.

There's no reason why games like Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, for instance, should require installation. For larger games for which the bandwidth of UHD Blu-ray may be insufficient, sure, but I think it shows a lack of respect for the consumer (on Sony's part) when they are unnecessarily required to allocate hard disk space for every single game when the high speed of UHD discs would be otherwise more than capable of running them. DVDs were used to run open world games on PS2 without so much as a single byte of installation, for crying out loud.

And with file sizes ballooning to unsustainable levels, even a 4TB hard drive wouldn't take that long for an avid gamer to fill.

@AlCamus you do get what you pay for, you get to play the game.
You accept the terms of service for most games nowadays that state that you don't own the game, only access rights to use the product while it's available.
This will be standard on Nintendo's next gen system I imagine where most games will likely be ps4 sized (at the minimum) and won't fit on a cartridge.

@PKDuckman You might actually be right. The first link I'm posting is the MGS Master Collection website in English, and the second and third ones are the Japanese Website, and then the website that has been run through Google Translate. The GB Numbers don't change, but I can't read Japanese so I wouldn't know what they were talking about, and would rather assume Google Translate is close enough instead of assuming the games are listed in the same order from the English page and whatnot.

The English copy of the Master Collection has 2.4GB loaded onto the cartridge. (scroll to almost the bottom)
https://www.konami.com/mg/mc/us/en/

The first link is just the regular website loading in Japanese, the second link is in English. Posting both for ease of access. The Japanese Switch cartridge has 5.6GB loaded onto the cartridge, and it explicitly mentions that a game is already on the cartridge in the MGS1 section so you don't have to download it, something the English page does not have an extra asterisk to note. It really seems like MGS1 is on the cart for the Japanese version.
https://www.konami.com/mg/mc/jp/ja/

https://www-konami-com.translate.goog/mg/mc/jp/ja/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US

@JimNorman Any chance NL could look into this or write an article/update, as while the news that the Master Collection doesn't contain MGS1-3 on cartridge has been going around since August, the Japanese version having MGS1 on cart would be an interesting change. Konami does note on their websites I linked above that the Japanese version has a bigger cartridge.

Why are you spinning that as a positive with that headline?

@Sisilly_G Ah, I had no idea that was a thing. Very poor indeed.

@Chaotic_Neutral I think you're kinda blurring the lines between physical and digital media there. Perhaps that's the wider issue, but to say I shouldn't expect a game on a cartridge when I buy a game on a cartridge is just, it's a bit mad I think. There are all kinds of issues around that, for collectors and preservation and the like, but fundamentally, I think it's terribly bad practice for the consumer. And this is one of the worst cases of it.

Annoying but I have a 1TB card so not that bothered, prob about 120gb left after 100 games downloaded or big patches etc, plus 42gb on my oled still free. Games are still great to play, happy with my purchase, have them all on other platforms already, hopefully fix some of the minor issues with patches. Should have plenty of room for arkham trilogy when it drops.

It's good that you give us a heads up on games that require a hefty download as I won't buy NBA2K series because there's a 50GB download yet I bet people bought this not knowing & not having enough storage to play their purchase.

For those of us used to buying games digitally, this isn't an issue. I sympathize with people who care about physical, but it's something that has been on its way out for quite a long time.

I happily canceled that pre-order. What a gip. Konami is that cheap to use only a 4gb cartridge? Ended up just paying 20$ for MGS1 on Xbox. Lol. No physical this time!

@Sisilly_G I mean, they could have easily housed the games alone on a 16GB card and leave the extras for download, as those are already preserved on other platforms.

@sketchturner Which is something people have been saying for 10 years and yet, we are still going physical. So that's not really an excuse...

Metal gear solid Collection 2 : Peace Walker , MGS4 , MGSGZ and PP ( wow this much more works than MGS collect 1 )

@AlCamus you dont own any game anymore. Look at destiny 2, I have the physical version of that but I am still unable to access the original campaign or first 2 DLC packs as they have been archived and are unavailable.
OK, this is an extreme version of a live service title, but you sign the same licensing agreement when you accept the terms for any modern game you play regardless if its physical or digital.
It will be interesting to see how Nintendo deals with this when they move to the next gen system when average game sizes are 50-100gb

Waste of a physical edition. A hard pass on Switch. Eyeing up the PS5 edition when it goes on sale.

It's a SOLID pass from me. I think I could have forgiven the games not running the best but that download business is just taking the Michael. I'm assuming it's a single use code as well, making pre-owned copies useless and your chances of selling it on zero.

What pisses me off is that if this poorly executed collection fails to meet sales expectations Konami will say there’s just no market for classic games!

@Chaotic_Neutral I get that, there's a whole bunch of issues around that too, but regardless of how the game is licensed, it's just having the game on the cartridge that's the issue.

While I didn't get it for switch but I think only Doom did it correctly with how they handled not having everything on the cart (Single player on the cart and multiplayer as the download) unless I am unaware of another game.

@Chaotic_Neutral
Maybe because they worry about the longevity of the product? Or like me do not have internet at all times.

@Chaotic_Neutral I buy digital on other platforms, and I'd actually rather do that than collect blu-ray discs, they take up too far much space. Maybe I'll do that with nintendo's next gen. But, as with a lot of nintendo's sytems the cartidge format makes the switch easy to collect for and I expect to be treated fairly as a consumer when I give these companies my money. This and as I mentioned before the 'code in a box' thing is shady as hell. It's just companies cutting corners to maximise profits, while consumers get saddled with a crappy product at the end of it all.

@SilentHunter382
Would’ve been better had the multiplayer been free dlc instead of a forced update. In fact Konami could’ve put the games on a mid size cart had they put all the heavy memory videos and bonus pizazz behind free dlc on the eshop.

@Chaotic_Neutral for me it is that I have limited memory on my switch. I have a massive memory card in it, but I also have a lot of games that I have downloaded onto that card that are beefy, because I bought them digitally. I travel a lot. For example, I bought the new Zelda in Bali for my 16 hour flight back home. Imagine how sucky it would be if I popped the cartridge in, and then found out I couldn't play the game because I needed to download. For me, the whole point of buying cartridges is to A> not have to download onto the card, and B> I can share with friends. My neighbor bought Mario Odyssey after borrowing mine for a week. But some games we don't want to buy, we just want to play once or twice, Like maybe Mario Party. So if I buy a cart, let me friend borrow it, and nothing can be played, it's limiting the use. Hope this helps explain why I'm not interested.

So people are actually paying for a box to display on a shelve? Some how this guys are raising the bar for the scamier videogame company, Bravo Konami!

Having got our hands on the physical version, it seems that the only accessible features on the cart without performing an update are the game menu, Metal Gear MSX, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, the two NES bonus games, the digital soundtrack and the Master Book — a virtual book that includes quotes from the series and a strategy guide. That means that the cart itself contains none of the original trilogy (nor the extra Special Missions, VR Missions and Integral add-ons for the first game) and many of the bonus features such as the video graphic novels and screenplays.

Ummm... the MSX and NES games were the original trilogy. The Metal Gear Solid series aren't even the originals, they are a re-imagine versions of the originals.

@Samalik Physical still exists, but it's increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Sure, some people still buy physical CDs & DVDs, but most music, shows, and movies are being streamed. Games on PC have almost exclusively been digital for a very long time now.
Physical media may exist for another 100 years for all I know. But the fact that it's on the decline is abundantly clear.

That's absurd, defeats the purpose of owning a physical copy.

i think people should avoid getting this lazy collection thats having issues running on the switch even though switch isnt at fault.

Just to let every one know the cartridge is not completely empty
There is some games the 2d top down games seem to be all there I tryed to play them with out the update and they work 😲
there is still an update for this part I don't know what that was for

But yes all the big games you have to download 😕

They can keep it. Switch supports big enough game cart to handle it. The ps5 has everything on the disc so why is it us again getting scammed..

@Mirage-5x5 That's not the point. Konami is advertising this as a collection, with the Metal Gear Solid games included. As such, the cartridge should have the collection on it. Not some of the games, not bonus content... the physical edition should have all the games that are advertised on the box, ready to play. No install, no internet required.

Don't waste your money or time with this dumpster fire from Konami

@LadyCharlie yes I agree that the games should on the cartridge
That would be great
But it dose say on the front of my box it requires Internet download
But in saying that when I ordered it online the website did not say that on the info part
I don't know who to blame is it Konami not telling the websites and online shops or is just website and shop not bothering to put all the info out there for every one🤔

But yes I think it should all be on cartridge

@Serpenterror I'm a bit confused at your comment.

Metal Gear 1 was originally made for the MSX2, which is included in this collection. It was later ported to the NES/Famicom, which is also included in the collection. Snake's Revenge was later made by a different team at Konami for the NES, with the game never getting a Japanese release until the Master Collection. A staff member working on Snake's Revenge talked to Kojima one day and told him that they were making a sequel to Metal Gear, but that he'd rather play a sequel made the the series creator. This comment eventually led to Kojima making a Metal Gear sequel on the MSX2, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.

While it is true that a large amount of Metal Gear Solid 1 is inspired or directly taken from MG2 Solid Snake, I am not sure how you have enough games to call that the original trilogy, unless you're referring to Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, and Metal Gear Solid. The collection also does include the original MGS1, as well as the updated integral version, so if you are going by that definition of original trilogy, it is all here, outside of the updated sprites from the Subsistence versions of the MSX games where they tried a bit harder to avoid copyright infringement.

@MSaturn

Considering the number of classics collections Konami has released on Switch (TMNT collection, Contra collection, Castlevania classics collection, Castlevania Advance collection, maybe more I'm forgetting) that seems unlikely.

@SilentHunter382

Doom was an interesting case. The multiplayer was not included on the cart indeed, but it was included in the first update instead as a separate download which kinda screwed people that had no interest in MP...you see that first update and every other subsequent one also included other improvements like increased performance, so in the end their great idea meant that you have a pretty much mandatory +8 GB install in order to get the best single player experience.

Now, I am indeed disappointed with the way the games are being distributed, but let's not ignore this has been a thing since the Switch early days, and many companies, even Nintendo themselves have done it in the past, announcing collections and packages that have not all the games in the cart at all. Here is a brief list from the top of my head:
-Resident Evil 4-5-6 collection.
Only 4 is included on the cart, 5 and 6 are downloadable.
-Assasins Creed Rebel Collection
Only Black Flag is included on the cart, AC Rogue is downloadable.
-FF X Collection
Only FF X is included on the cart, FF X-2 is downloadable.
-Megaman X Collection
Only X1-X4 (AKA vol 1) are included on the cart, X5-X8 (AKA vol 2) are downloadable.
-Bayonetta 2 & 1
Only 2 is included on the cart, Bayo 1 is downloadable, and with a download code at that, meaning only one person can get it, no resale option for this one unlike with the previous examples.

Another case of complaining for the sake of complaining. By this point, everyone has an SD card on their Switch, move along.

@Yomerodes I'd add arcadia bay to that, which I actually got stung by, thinking it was as the title suggests, the arcadia bay collection. Its not. You have to download the sequel. Bayonetta 2 is actually an good example of an honest way of selling a game. It's not marketed as a collection, it's bayonetta 2 with a free download code for the 1st game. Anyway, you know 10-15 years from now when you go to play these cartridges and you can no longer access their digital stores you will find out what you actually bought. I think the word they used in the review was "shafted."

I heard the Play Asia/Japan physical isn’t quite as bad and has a bigger cart. Still not everything in it.

Again, as much as it sucks that you have to download these games, they are still all natively developed on Switch. Meaning it could have been worse. They could have made them cloud versions like SE did with KH on Switch.

@Bizzyb "it could have been worse."

Yeah, but it could also have been better.
Fans deserve more than the bare minimum. Hell, Konami isn't even providing the bare minimum!

Totally a BS scalping buyers is all this comes down to. They have no excuses here. They can use a larger cart and charge accordingly for it. And here we get greed rules above providing a good gaming experiences for gamers.

@LadyCharlie They've included all of the MSX/NES games as well as Masterbooks, scripts and both Digital Interactive novels.

How is that not at or above the bare minimum? I don't know any other collection that includes as much bonus material/games

@Sisilly_G Yes, the included games are a "Metal Gear" collection, not a single Solid.
Sadly this practice has gone on the entirety of the Switch lifespan.

Please update the article to tell us how big the download file is!

@Bizzyb Konami's own compilations of Ninja Turtles, Castlevania, and Contra are fine examples of games that got physical releases with multiple games and bonus features, all in one place.

@LadyCharlie Agreed...and outside of this game being like 20x bigger in file size and (inexplicably) running at a lower, but stable, framerate I would argue that the bonus material and content for this collection is mostly on par with that of the collections you mentioned.

I get you are upset about the ***** practice of using the cheapest cart and the ridiculous lack of 60FPS...I am too! But as far as actual content/bonus content provided, this is probably one of the better collections when compared to other collections, e.g. Nintendo's own Super Mario 3D All Stars...talk about actual barebones.

I ordered a physical copy before knowing this but ah well.... i know i am chucking almost 50 quid at Konami literally just to play these handheld, like its criminal but I am fullybfully aware of my actions...... Just fancy snakin it in handheld - sometimes you just spend money stupidly for a silly little reason, eh?

@LadyCharlie They were handled by M2 for those and not Konami

@mikegamer Cowabunga Collection was ported by Digital Eclipse.
All the same, that is still an indictment against Konami 😅

I definitely think it's a shame they couldn't at least put the first MGS on the cartridge.. still bought it anyway though, so I guess I'm not really helping the cause.

@LadyCharlie Konami can't even do a game right in 2023 lol

I think things would be at least passable if Konami has shipped the core three games you buy the collection for on the cart and everything else as a download. Buy this release is just pointless lmao. Picking this up on ps5.

@Chaotic_Neutral I can't speak for Series X, but ps5 installs the game off the disc itself, not the internet. No idea why this misconception keeps spreading around. There are some single player games that require patches to play, but frankly the problem is quite a bit worse on Switch; coming from a lifelong Nintendo fan.

@AlCamus all switch games that do that literally say download required on the box....

@codyf That doesn't change any of the issues around the fact that they do it. If it's arcadia bay, you're wondering about, I bought it online, which I usually do. I didn't bother researching first about whether or not it had the games on the cartridge and I got burned. And the fact that I have to do that at all is pretty sad, i think. Kinda like when I'm shopping online and I'm going through sales or lower priced titles and I'm having to scroll through all the "code in a box" crap and make sure I'm not being duped into buying one of those as well. It never used to be like that.

There should really be an option in this case where you can download only the stuff that you want and also delete what you don't want clogging up your memory later, like the bonus, non-game stuff.

@NintendoLife:
@Nintendo Life:

Please update the article to tell us how big the download file is!

@AlCamus nah sorry I wasn't referring to Arcadia bay. Honestly gamers need to stop buying crap day one maybe do the bare minimum of research. They keep doing it and keep getting burned. Probably why I never did well as a GameStop employee. I never drank the pre order kool-aid. 😹😹😹 but I'm sorry you got burned. LIS is a special series for some people and that sucks that that happens to you.

@codyf This was about 2 weeks ago 😅 But the point is the onus shouldn't be on the customer to have to suss out whether or not a game is actually on a game cartridge. That is a sorry state of affairs.

Metal Gear Solid: Shyster Collection Vol. 1.

@Serpenterror Actually, Kojima is on record saying that he regrets the two games prior to MGS because it is only with MGS that he had enough power and resources to realise his vision to any degree, and they only made later expansions to the canon storyline more difficult.

The MGS games aren't reimaginings of the originals since they explicitly mention events that happened in the MSX games as having happened before.

The NES games were made with no input from him and are non-canon.

@Yomerodes Actually, FFX is the worst of both worlds, as, except for the Asian versions, you both need the single-use download code to download FFX-2 and the cart inserted to play it later.

Was looking forward to this like many others, but I'm good. Maybe I'll grab it digital one day but this is super lame.

Gaming of Gamers is what makes this worse buy ever. And ruins my fun of this once great game that I played on PS of days past.

@EriXz I actually buy game cases on eBay for some of my digital-only games from someone who crafts them.

What a disappointment. I'll be waiting for a very large discount before purchasing.