Steve Tilley, from Load This, is worried about Metal Gear Solid 4 and it's long cutscenes. We've all heard the rumor about some of MGS4's cutscenes being 90 minutes long, but that was later debunked by Konami.
But that has done nothing to ease Tilley's worries. He might be pleased that there won't be any 90 minute long scenes, but that has just brought up a new question: How long is the longest cutscene in the game? "Are 20-minute, 30-minute or hour-long cutscenes any better?" Tilley says.

Will jabbing a syringe of adrenaline into your neck be the only way to sit through Metal Gear Solid 4's epic-length cutscenes?

Games have been trying to mimic movies since the introduction of even the most primitive 8-bit graphics. Now the two mediums share a lot of common elements, from camera angles to plot pacing to, in the case of motion-captured video game performances, relying on the skill of human actors.

But when does a game cease to be a game and actually become a movie instead? And not necessarily in a good way? We might be asking ourselves that next week with the release of the PlayStation 3's killer app, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Rumours have been gushing through the Intertubes about Metal Gear Solid 4 containing cutscenes of up to 90 minutes in length. (For those not fluent in gamespeak, a cutscene is a non-interactive movie clip between sections of gameplay that serves to advance the plot.)

The game's publishers have officially debunked the 90-minute cutscene rumour, but really, are 20-minute, 30-minute or hour-long cutscenes any better? I hope there are kabillions of MSG4 fans out there who are just creaming themselves over the prospect of several hours worth of non-interactive video, because for the average gamer like me, it sounds about as much fun as watching glue set.

I know the cutscenes in MGS4 are going to look amazing and be packed with plot and action. But if that's what I wanted to experience, I'd watch a movie.

I don't care how much I'm involved in the plot or how much I care about the characters, that's too much time taken out of the experience of participating in the story and being forced into the role of passive observer.

"But, but, but, in Metal Gear Solid 4 the cutscenes can be skipped!" you cry. Well, what good is that? Skip the cutscenes and miss the story so you have no idea of the context of your actions? Would it not have been possible for creator Hideo Kojima and company to simply edit themselves and condense the story into something that didn't need literally hours of cinematics to explain?

Miss Razz via blog.canoe.ca »