MGS Documentaries Response

Watching the Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4 documentaries was very insightful for me as before watching this, I didn’t know much about the making of a video game. I have taken a game development class in the past and it reminded me of how game development in general requires an immense amount of attention to detail. There is so much more than simply game design that goes into the process of producing a well done game. The attention to sound, matching sound to visuals, making sure each frame is perfect requires not only attention, but also a dedicated group of people to work together and go through multiple iterations as a group. Watching this process of reiteration and collaborating to do so reminded me of my own work in school right now. It made me realize how much of the routine we are being taught in class right now, to constantly be ready to be critiqued and improve, is applicable in the future after graduation. 

 

The MGS2 documentary consisted mainly of an insight to the process of generating ideas. The group working on the game was focusing on taking inspiration and noting it down. This reminded me a lot of what we have been discussing in class about just writing what comes to mind. The concept of idea journals sounds like it could be really useful in any career. I don’t currently have an idea journal, but watching this documentary has definitely encouraged me to start noting down my ideas more often. I think it could definitely help me find out ways to be productive when I am feeling uninspired sometimes. 

 

In comparison to the MGS2 documentary, the MGS4 documentary focused more on the teamwork aspect and discussions on developing the game further. There seemed to be much more of a constraint in terms of having to adhere to other people’s ideas, but also having to deal with a large scale idea and creating a feasible product. There was also a focus on altering and improving in the second documentary as by MGS4 was being developed there were more features considered done, but there was always room to improve it. This made me realize that even with deadlines to meet, it is always important to consider that there are things that can be changed or improved. It also made me think of the idea of remixes a lot. Remixes are essentially art that is altered which the original artist could’ve done, but someone else saw some sort of new aspect to it and decided to add on. Remixes are endless, and we should view our work in a similar manner. I think I could use this mentality to be inspired by my work more and even if it is little remixes to my own projects, it could lead to a far more improved idea or project then the original one.