The Official Metal Gear Thread - Part 1

[Boom]

Yoji Shinkawa speculated that Liquid Snake did have darker hair at one point - but long-term exposure to intense sun rays in Iraq had bleached his hair (think Tom Hanks in Cast Away). That's always been my preferred explanation for Liquid having blonde hair despite expressing Big Boss' dominant genes. But then again, is sun-bleached hair permanent? Liquid was rescued from Iraq in 1994, so there's an eleven year gap between his rescue and his insurrection at Shadow Moses. If sun-bleached hair isn't permanent, then his hair would've grown out normal by then.

As for Snake's hair color, the original plan was for Snake to be blonde - at least while disguised as Iroquois Pliskin:

The man pulls off his balaclava with one hand to reveal a head of blonde hair and the face of a man in his 50’s. His face is stubbled; there is no bandana is sight. His appearance approximates that of Liquid Snake in the last title. Raiden continues to stare him down.

This concept got as far as initial testing, but was ultimately changed because the testers thought it lacked association with the Solid Snake we saw in MGS1. However, Pliskin's hair color is noticeably lighter than Solid Snake's in the final game, so perhaps this idea was still implemented to a certain extent.

And here's another fun fact about MGS2. The game was originally going to be cell-shaded, because Kojima wanted the game's visual style to reflect the concept art. Here's the beta Solid Snake:

 

[craigdbfan]

I'm actually glad we didn't get the cell shaded look.

I still think MGS2 looks great to this day. It held up well in my opinion. Especially the movement which I still credit the 60fps. There was definitely a noticeable difference at least for me with Snake Eater in that sense.

 

[Boom]

I prefer the final look too, but I do admit the cell-shaded look would've been interesting at the very least. Of course, that might just be my love of Yoji Shinkawa talking.

That's something that always pissed me off. The foreign markets got box-art featuring Shinkawa's stunning artwork, while we US'ers got generic covers with game models .

 

[Benstamania]

The original US box art for MGS3 still ticks me off...

Glad we didn't end up with the cell-shaded look... However, I think that would have been great for the Peace Walker cut scenes.

 

[Benstamania]

But then again, is sun-bleached hair permanent?

Nope.

It's kind of just like bleaching your hair out for any number of reasons. It will be blonde but your roots (natural color) will start to return to normal... Cutting it also will return your hair to it's natural color.

Married to a cosmetologist for 9 years...You learn a few things.

 

[craigdbfan]

Maybe Liquid Snake was also a swimmer and the cooper and the bleach in the water started giving his hair that blonde tint.

 

[Nathan]

Wasn't solid supposed to have blond hair? My first MGS game was MGS1. Weren't there those video documents, where Solid asked for some hair dye, so he wouldn't be mistaken for Liquid?

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Yoji Shinkawa speculated that Liquid Snake did have darker hair at one point - but long-term exposure to intense sun rays in Iraq had bleached his hair (think Tom Hanks in Cast Away). That's always been my preferred explanation for Liquid having blonde hair despite expressing Big Boss' dominant genes. But then again, is sun-bleached hair permanent? Liquid was rescued from Iraq in 1994, so there's an eleven year gap between his rescue and his insurrection at Shadow Moses. If sun-bleached hair isn't permanent, then his hair would've grown out normal by then.

Yeah, that's what I thought, and mentioned in a previous post. The hair that was exposed to the sun would stay blonde, but the hair he grew since then would have been brown. So he would've just had brown hair. But I can accept it since it's fiction.

As for Snake's hair color, the original plan was for Snake to be blonde - at least while disguised as Iroquois Pliskin:

I still wish he was.

Wasn't solid supposed to have blond hair? My first MGS game was MGS1. Weren't there those video documents, where Solid asked for some hair dye, so he wouldn't be mistaken for Liquid?

He never asked for hair dye, he asked for scissors to cut his hair.

 

[Havok83]

The original US box art for MGS3 still ticks me off...

Glad we didn't end up with the cell-shaded look... However, I think that would have been great for the Peace Walker cut scenes.

what does it look like? Have pics?

 

[Nathan]

Ok, it's been a while since I played the game anyway.

 

[Benstamania]

what does it look like? Have pics?

No art... just bland CGI cover. We did later get this though...

Which was sooo much better.

 

[Boom]

I don't think it was ever explicitly said that Snake dyed his hair. But if his hair was blonde in the briefing videos, and he suddenly had brown hair in the game... well, I suppose it's a fair assumption to make. But then the question becomes: Why would there be hair dye on a submarine ?

To my knowledge, the only reason Snake had brown hair in MGS1 was because Kojima wanted Snake and Liquid to look different. He ultimately stuck with the brown hair in order to maintain familiarity with the character.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Here's a little article detailing why they have different hair colours. Essentially, Koji and Yoji goofed:

http://thesnakesoup.org/?section=myths&content=hair

 

[Soapy]

I like the European cover best.

 

[craigdbfan]

That one is pretty sweet.

 

[Boom]

Basically, anything Shinkawa does is a vast improvement over the US covers.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Yea that Eu cover is the s**t and a half.

 

[Soapy]

Regarding the cel shaded look. I actually think it's a really cool idea to make your game look like the concept art. I don't know how "right" it would be for Metal Gear Solid, but it worked out great for Borderlands, and I'm hoping one day Square will wise up and make a Final Fantasy game that actually looks like Amano's art.

 

[craigdbfan]

Kind of random but was anyone else kind of pissed that fine ass Meryl decided to stay with diarrhea boy Johnny? That just felt really stupid for me.

The entire aging thing the more I think about it now was such a huge bummer for Solid Snake. I mean I feel the guy deserved so much more. Oh well.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Kind of random but was anyone else kind of pissed that fine ass Meryl decided to stay with diarrhea boy Johnny? That just felt really stupid for me.

The entire aging thing the more I think about it now was such a huge bummer for Solid Snake. I mean I feel the guy deserved so much more. Oh well.

Yea, im in the same boat man. Was disappointed they didn't end up together like they did at the end of MGS. But at the same time, Snake being by himself at the end worked.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Kind of random but was anyone else kind of pissed that fine ass Meryl decided to stay with diarrhea boy Johnny? That just felt really stupid for me.

The entire aging thing the more I think about it now was such a huge bummer for Solid Snake. I mean I feel the guy deserved so much more. Oh well.

I'm glad Meryl moved on from Snake. Mostly because he left her.

 

[craigdbfan]

1.) He left her because she insisted as she thought about the bigger picture. It was a selfless act and it would have invalidated everything had he tried saving her and then gotten himself killed.

2.) I would have really liked Meryl to end up with Snake somehow but with the entire aging factor didn't leave that option open really. However that doesn't mean she couldn't of moved on off screen leaving us something to think about instead of staying with shart pants Johnny.

EDIT: I'm a goof. You're referring Post Shadow Moses aren't you? I guess you're right he was kind of a d bag for leaving.

 

[badgrammar]

No art... just bland CGI cover. We did later get this though...

Which was sooo much better.

I hate the american mgs4 ps3 cover and the american twin snakes cover for the gamecube.

But the american mgs3 cover was awesome and fit well with the game.
It look so adventurous. The subsitance cover looks kind of boring.

 

[badgrammar]

Also did anyone thought Snake act out of character in the briefing in Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes for the gamecube?

 

[Havok83]

No art... just bland CGI cover. We did later get this though...

Which was sooo much better.

I like that and don't think it's bad stalk. Definetly better than the awful MGS4 cover