Konami has reduced the price for the next gen versions of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. The physical copies will retail for $29.99, which is a $10 decrease from the original price. The digital version of the game will also cost $29.99. The physical and digital prices for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game will remain at $29.99 and $19.99 respectively. Konami also announced that a purchase of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will also include downloadable content for the Metal Gear Solid follow-up title, The Phantom Pain.
This DLC will give the player additional resources to use in the “Mother Base” area of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Konami indicated that this important area will be introduced in Ground Zeroes, and the additional resources will offer an advantage for players in The Phantom Pain. This DLC will only be included with the first retail shipment of Ground Zeroes, and only a limited number of digital versions will include the content.
The Konami Website also recently added a product comparison page that compares the frame rates, resolutions and overall image quality of the different versions of the game. Here is a chart containing the frame rate and resolution info, as well as a comparison video that puts a face on these numbers:
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Resolution/Frame Rate Chart
These announcements come three weeks after a story published (and later clarified here) in this month’s issue of Game Informer that indicated that the main storyline quests of Ground Zeroes can be completed in less than two hours. The online clarification indicates that, while this is true, the total amount of gameplay hours remains unknown. The game’s length, or lack thereof, has been a hot-button issue among gamers, journalists and Konami employees. Hideo Kojima, the father of the Metal Gear franchise and president of Kojima Productions (a Konami subsidiary), took to twitter to defend the game, while Jordan Amaro (a designer for Kojima) gave a statement to Gamespot that referenced short but powerful games such as Journey and Dear Esther.
The final announcement was that iDROID, a free companion app for iOS, Android and Xbox SmartGlass, will also be available. This app will mirror Big Boss’ in-game communicator. This will allow players to access maps, call in airstrikes and play music from the cassette tapes found throughout the game. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes releases on March 18. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has no official release date.