It's a shame that creators need to justify game length, dev says

It's a true shame that creators like Hideo Kojima need to justify the length of their games, Shadows of the Damned director Massimo Guarini said today on Twitter. Guarini now heads up independent studio Ovosonico and is working on Murasaki Baby for the PlayStation Vita.

"When creators are forced to justify the length of a game, I think that's one of the biggest failures of our industry," Guarani said.

His comments, of course, are in reference to the controversy surrounding Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, which you can reportedly finish in one sitting for its main story.

Kojima Productions designer Jordan Amaro defended the game's length earlier this week, saying the length of a title is not necessarily associated with quality. He cited games like Journey and Dear Esther as examples. The next day, Kojima himself responded to the drama, saying, "I believe people will be satisfied with the 'play time' of GZ and will not stress the 'clear time."

It's not only the game's length, but its price, that is getting some gamers riled up. Ground Zeroes will cost $20-$40 depending on your platform platform and delivery choice, which is well above the examples Amaro cited in defending Ground Zeroes. Ground Zeroes will cost $20 on Xbox 360 and PS3 for a digital copy and $30 on those platforms for a physical unit. On Xbox One and PS4, digital copies are going for $30, while physical copies will sell for $40.

Players can decide for themselves when Ground Zeroes launches on March 18. The game is a prequel to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which is said to be "hundreds of times larger" than Ground Zeroes. Konami hasn't set a release date for that game yet, but it might not be until the end of 2015.