Screen Grabs: Metal Gear Solid 4 gets iPod and Sony Ericsson product placement
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted May 15th 2008 2:58PM
posted May 15th 2008 2:58PM
Screen grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.
Though we're breaking slightly from our typical Screen Grabs format (movies, TV), we could never live with ourselves if we didn't share these shocking gadget appearances from Metal Gear Solid 4. That's right, despite being on some kind of deadly spy mission, Solid Snake will find time to bro down with a fifth-generation iPod (above), while some lovely cohort of his dials up for pizza on a Sony Ericsson W62S clamshell. More pics after the break.
[Via iLounge / CellPassion]
[Via iLounge / CellPassion]
gta4 is on the other consoles too...
goddamnit engadget's commenting system is such a piece of shit.
half my freakin' replies just disappear into the ether, never to be seen again.
get your shit together, engadget! christ.
ANYWAY.... @Strangeburn: i'm not "in the market for a game system" ...the 6 to 7 minutes a day i actually play games is completely satisfied by my Nintendo Wii. ...but thanks for the advice.
(as a side note, i haven't seen a single game on the 360 that holds even the slightest interest for me. My tastes must just differ from yours. ...but thank you for spamming your 360 love all over me when it's really not relevant.)
I think if you really really want to dig into the psychology of this... it's not that people hate Apple or MGS or PS3... but it's such a cliche pop-culture reference that it becomes hokey. It's like someone's grandma saying, "For shizzle my hizzle".
Don't bother me none... I love my current ipod, don't have a PS3, and haven't touched an MG game since MGS2.
I don't know what PS3 has in the way of 'achievments', but there should be some bonus if Snake holds the ipod upside down...
He's obviously going to listen to epic music to inspire him further.
Or maybe something to relax him as he takes the endless stream of mown-down bodies in his stride.
Breaking news: the final boss in MGS4 is a new model of the metal gear, this version is modeled after Steve Jobs.
Just got onto that bit in the game and I'm stuck! How do I get past the reality distortion field?
seems alittle retro? He has a tiny wireless radio embedded in his ear and a really fancy eye-patch; don't you think the iPod would be a thing of the past?
what I'm trying to say is...lame.
...sigh.... a 5th gen? geeze a little behind times lol
if only product placement could make the game cheaper!!!
An iPod could be more useful than you think, here are 8 ways to kill someone by using a Nano, written by an ex-Marine no less: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2006/6/23fleming.html
It's sickening how i can't get through any of the forms of media I love without seeing a mac add. 60 minutes into iron man... a mac ad. First scene of the darjeeling limited... a mac ad. The game hasn't even come out yet, and it has a mac add in it. It's one thing for it to be in every movie. It's quite another when it's leeched it's ways into video games. I guess it's how they get more money. But it furthers the stereotype that mac is for everyone.
Oh no, you saw an Apple product in a movie based on a comic book character? Those fools should realize there's no way someone who likes comic book characters would also be interested in computers!
You're quite right to protest about the use of actual products as props in movies, because you, mister internet forum poster, will surely have an effect on things and your frustration will do absolutely anything more than harm yourself.
I actually kind of like it when a movie character uses a real product during a movie. It adds a layer of realism to the scene. What I really don't like is when they place the logo where it's blatantly obvious they are just trying to advertise the product. They should show characters using real gadgets but shoot the scene as though they weren't trying to emphasis the prop.
So you noticed some very minimal, background Mac placement in the movie.... but you somehow didn't notice the fact that any time Stark was in a car it was an Audi, or that his videophone was made by LG? Can you tell me what kind of cheeseburger he got when he got back to L.A.? Because I bet anybody else who saw the movie could tell you. And yet it's not the blatantly excessive product placement from all the other companies that bothers you, it's the Mac you saw an hour into the movie, sitting in the background.
If you hate Apple that much, you need to seek counseling. It's just a computer. You need to suck it up and get the hell over it you candy ass.
dwr50 say:
Greed is the CAUSE...
Advertising is the EFFECT...
Open Source is the ANSWER... Amen.
an open source iPod??? or open source PMPs???
6.2KG for an IPod!? That's gonna slow snake down!
WOW AND IPOD IN MGS4!!! BRB GOING TO BUY A PS3!!!
Well I don't own an I pod but from what I saw their lighter then 6.2 kg
Wow...people really take this seriously. I figured people would be like "Cool!" or "Whatever", not "THIS GAME IS TEH SUK BECAUSE OF AN IPOD!" Chill people.
You must not have been around for all the times where people constantly bash Engadget for Apple news, although the Apple news seems to be the only consistent topics that people comment on. That and Microsoft related news, but that's mostly bitching too.
Spoiler: Bruce Willis is a ghost!
Wait a minute.... if I buy metal gear solid 4 i get a free iPod?!?!?!
[preorders]
THIS IS SWEET! IVE ALWAYS WANTED AN iPOD!
Hey, aren't you that guy that ALWAYS links to things through the Amazon.com affiliate program? How's that working out for you?
I almost clicked your link until I remembered. :) Good thing I caught myself...
Kojima: Ok, now If there is ANY question about this game coming out on 360.....
It all makes sense:
in the year 2014 Apple has/will change its business into a PMC after buying back its stocks, ergo no longer making iPods and dumping refurbished 5 Gen iPods on their troops to keep their moral up.
apparently the cell phone market crashed as people are no longer buying new phones {must have been caused by Apple's iPhone which quickly took over the market, but when they switched over to a PMC no one could trust talking securely on an iPhone so they were force to use phones they had 6 years ago hence the Sony Ericsson.}
:-)
You can come back when you take the tin foil hat off.
The W61S will come with GPS.
At least she's using the phone the right way, and not upside down.
So would custom soundtrack be playable through this ipod. Not a bad way to do it I think.
If they were out to hurt any other company by using product placement wouldn't they have used one of their own mp3 players?!??!!?
and microsloth, rich!!
bro down?
Does it bother anyone else that it has "Metal Gear Solid Mk. II" written down the left and "Manufactured by Hal Emmerich" down the right? It wouldnt be that hard to photoshop an ipod in where the Mk II was and change the name at the top. Also considering there is plenty of product placement, but this would be the only non-sony placement I've seen.
Solid Snake must have a legal music collection if his iPod is *only* 30 gigs.
Thats why Kojima claims that a 50GB BD-ROM is not enough for the game. 30GB have already been used by iPod. haha.
Nice collaboration anyway!
I've already ordered my copy of MGS4.
Here's my take on this:
If you're stupid enough to not play a presumably great game just because it has an iPod, or whatever else in it, your loss.
..last.
..no you aren't
"otacon, i cant get this damn wheel to turn....oh wait there it...AHHH!"
"snake?....snake??....SNAKEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
hmm..... maybe the ipod thing is a good thing cause maybe sony might be telling us they might be collaberating with apple i mean this will be the perfect way 2 tell ppl cause this is the greatest and best game ever 2 be released. think about it ppl sony and apple working together now that would be something.
The only reason a branded product in a game should bother anyone is if the price of the game is higher. Would naming an actual city cause complaints too since it could boost their tourism? Get lives and live them, assorted tools. The rest of you...the humorous.....I think I love you all. I would give birth to your seed were I not a man, and hetero.
obviously all of you people that think that this is just product placement have never played the game. MGS always pushes the line between reality and video game. Look it up. And this is kojimas way of breaking that line. Hes using the popular device (ipod) which everyone in the world practically has one and is giving it to the character making him more like you. Its part of the game not product placement.
To: Richie
Are you a moron? You're upset over an "iPod" item in a video game? Get a life, virgin. Who cares if it's in the game? What harm does it possibly do to you or to anyone? You think people are going to wake up and feel the sudden urge to buy an iPod because they saw one in a video game, and in turn making the iPod manufacturers more money? First of all, who the hell cares if they make money? Are you just upset because your broke ass can't afford an iPod? Are you crying because you're so poor you're forced to eat Cheerios for dinner? Who the hell cares you big fat baby.