Metal Gear Offline Beta Delayed Indefinitely *Update*

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Konami have had a lot of trouble with the Metal Gear Online Beta, from wrong codes, to mysterious Konami and Gamer ID’s.  Events have gone from bad to worse, with their servers being unable to hack the influx of players.  The Beta is delayed indefinitely in the US and Europe, and has been officially delayed until the 25th April in Japan.

Don’t worry though, this is what Beta’s are for.  Hopefully with our patient help, the launch of the retail game will be a smooth process without this list of problems. As for the Beta, there will be another announcement tomorrow as to when it will be up and running again:

We would like to thank all players for their keen interest in taking part in the beta test. However, we regret to inform you that due to extraordinary levels of traffic from all around the globe, we have been unable to run the service to the level we expected.

As a temporary measure, we will be deferring the start of the US public beta test until we are able to stabilize our server. We would like to apologize for all inconveniences as well as confusion caused.

We would like to add that due to the above reasons, we will be making the following changes to the schedule:

1) Starting date: TBA. We will be making another announcement on 22/4/2008 23:00(PDT)
2) Beta Test closure: This will now be on 11/05/2008 at 24:00(PDT) rather than 06/05/2008 at 24:00(PDT)

At least the Beta has been extended.  How long will the delay be?  We expect it to launch at the same time as the Japan Beta, which was meant to continue online despite problems in the US and Europe.  The Japan Beta will relaunch this Friday:

Japan plans to resume beta test: 2008.04.25 (Friday) until midnight.
Japanese beta test completion date: 2008.05.11 (days) until midnight.

It’s at times like these that we should remind ourselves patience is a virtue and gaming is a luxury…  Yeah, right.

Source: Konami.jp

*Update* – Konami’s website has now been updated to include the US and Europe in the April 25th relaunch date:

Start date: Planned for 04/25/2008 24:00(PDT). While the start is planned for the weekend, it may change due to unforseen circumstances.

No, we don’t like the possibility of further delays either.

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  • KTR

    This beta has been nothing but FAIL!

    First the failure of bad codes, then the long time to download the first patch, next the making of a failed Konami ID & Game ID, and finally the failed servers.

    FAIL

  • Patrick Steen

    KTR: This is what happens in Beta’s.

  • Ed

    This is not what happens in Beta’s, Alpha’s maybe.

    It is likely the code is up to scratch but needs some refining (that is the beta part) but a failure to provide an infrastructure to support the code is appalling. It is not as if Konami are new to this game

    For a system trying to earn respect this is not doing it any favours at all.

    Ed

  • TyrantGer

    To be honest, I think Konami should’ve released a demo for MGS4 instead of the MGO beta…things would’ve gone alot smoother.

  • Patrick Steen

    This does happen in Beta’s frequently. It even happens on the launch of games – eg. COD4.

    What a third party game’s beta has to do with the system itself is beyond me. It’s a free beta that has the role of routing out errors. Complaining will be more relevant if such errors occur on the launch of the game, after you’ve paid money for it. Otherwise, if you don’t want to experience errors, wait until June 12th.

    Konami have provided the infastructure for the code, they didn’t expect so many people, however. I expect millions have downloaded the Beta.

  • Ed

    COD4 ran very well, first few hours had issues but it managed to register (reg code etc), download in a timely fashion and most importantly could actually start a game.

    The PS3 does not have a killer app/game that makes people buy the system, MGS/O could be that, it maybe a beta but it comes from a very strong background that could influence hardware sales.

    Two people who played my 360 COD4 beta bought hardware solely on a few days play. So yes a BETA can have a great impact on a system.

    I would like to believe that millions are frantically trying to login and play but experience reminds me (ps2 network,early warhawk etc) that it’s more likely a lack of infrastructure.

    So far PS3 online experiences are far from even close to amateur, and that is with commercial apps.
    I have no complaints about BETA’s but having 1.6GB sitting sheepishly on my hd is bit embarrasing….

  • Patrick Steen

    More than the first few hours had issues in COD4.

    You say MGO could be a killer app, and then think that millions aren’t trying to play it? The Beta is free in Europe, in Japan it’s open, and it’s a download for pre-orders in US. For those outside US, a higher percentage will attempt to play the Beta than those who will buy MGS4. That’s a lot of gamers. Konami were underprepared.

    The PS3 network is open – this is a Konami server problem, not a PS3/Sony one. In fact I advise Konami to ask Sony for some help with servers.

    “So far PS3 online experiences are far from even close to amateur, and that is with commercial apps.” The universality of your comment is untrue.

  • shajir

    Has to agree with Patrick here.. Konami were really under prepared and is sure to learn some good lessons out of this.. Atleast there is still time for Konami to fix this before its too late.. No reason to simply blame sony or konami over this as things can get pretty loose unexpected.. see what happened with the heathrow airport..!! Don’t tell me that those guys didn’t plan before opening a terminal like the one at heathrow..

  • shamon

    On the plus side, this means high interest in this game, this could be the killer app for PS3.i got to play multiplayer at the NYCC… i want to play some more. i like shooting at people hiding in boxes

  • Geoff H

    It’s a massive undertaking doing something like this, especially considering it’s a beta and they’re trying to bring it to a worldwide audience–which would also garner complaints I’m sure if they didn’t.

    It sucks. They’ll get it worked out, but people gotta have some perspective.

    There are growing pains with all online games, especially those that are extremely popular.

    If this means enough to you to seriously piss you off, then the game means enough to you to warrant some patience.

    This is what betas are for, as well as giving gamers a taste of what they want.

  • shajir

    Yep, I also thought that the betas were to test all the bugs and problems related to the program before the company releases it to the market.. Every company does this which includes Microsoft as well for the windows operating systems.. If you want to participate in the betas, you need to have a lot of patience, as there will be expected bugs and problems which you need to report and get it cleared… Atleast, it was good that Konami came up with this beta program and I am sure that the final game will be much much brilliant than what it might have been intended to be before…

  • Patrick Steen

    For example, though the download of the patch was incredibly long (mine just failed at 97% – I have to start again), there is a very high possibility that there is no needed data in the patch and they are simply testing download speeds etc. so they can optimise for future patches.

    Secondly. Remember how hard it was to get a Konami ID/Gamer ID – with the website not loading due to traffic? They have now created a bare bones website especially for the MGO Beta, which can be found here – https://id.konami.net/mgo/selectCountry.jsp