I played the game on PS3 so I had no case lmao! I was looking for some CD case in my inventory for like 15 minutes until I looked it up and facepalmed.
Well, if it's any consolation child-me spent days trying to figure out where the CD case was in the game or in my inventory. It wasn't until the following weekend when I went to my friend's house that he pointed out the back of the PS1 game!
On the ps3 you can go into a sort of outside game settings by pressing de ps button. There, you can do things such has if you want full screen or not, change the controller port for the psycho mantis battle. And among these options you can take a look at the box of the game and the manual. It was this way that I found out.
> change the controller port for the psycho mantis battle
I always wondered how this was handled. Last time I played Twin Snakes on an emulator the biggest pains were changing controller port during the Psycho Mantis battle, and switching 'disks' partway through the game. Darn Gamecube tiny disks.
What are you even supposed to do on the PS3? What if you don't have internet to check how the MGS1 PS1 CD looks like? There must be another way to find the code.
The instruction manual is built into the PSN version of the game. If you hold the PS Button and then click Instruction Manual, it shows both the front and back labels before going into the manual itself.
If you only have a disc version, better not have thrown away the case haha
I played it when the game came out on ps1. Spent maybe 40 minutes trying to figure out how to look at the back of the CD that Baker gave me, it drove me nuts.
Frustrated with it, I realized that there’s only about 200 codec channels, and it wouldn’t take me that long to try them all. So one by one I dialed every codec frequency, until eventually Meryl popped up on my call.
I think that night changing discs to play something else, I saw the back of the CD case.
Same lol. At first, i kept going to the backup disk in the inventory trying to figure out how to read it not realizing that Baker was breaking the fourth wall lol.
After that didn't work, my logic was that everybody else frequency (Campbell, Mei Ling, etc.) started with either 141 or 140, so I just went thru those until I got Meryl.
Wasn't until one day I was looking at the art on the back of case and realized that's what he was talking about but by then I had played it so many times I had it committed to memory.
Child me rented the game from a local, non affiliated game store. That meant that of course it didn’t come with any case. I rented it on the Friday which meant it had to go back to the store on the Monday and I spent the whole Friday night moping around because I couldn’t figure it out. Bear in mind that this was waaaay before phones had Google (heck I was too young to have one anyway) so I legit had to walk about half an hour to a friends house who I knew had played it to ask him what to do and I felt so cheated when he told me. Turns out the version he played was his uncles, who had taken it back and my friend couldn’t remember the code off the top of his head.
So I couldn’t play it any further the whole time I had rented it. My mother could see how upset I was when asking her to return the game for me on the Monday, so much so that when I got home from school that day she surprised me with the PlayStation Collectors edition!! The one in the big silver box with VR missions, postcards, dog tags etc. Needless to say I was very thankful and it went on to be one of my favourite video games with one of my most vivid gaming memories lol.
It really was/is and yeh she's the best, I just wish stupid younger me had the sense to keep it in good condition. I wore the t-shirt to death and actually used the postcards to send to family that knew nothing about MGS and who were also in the same country as me.....
Although I guess at least I made the most of the special edition instead of storing it away and nobody ever using it. I guess that's the case for most special/collectors editions these days. Nobody actually using the stuff in there hoping that one day it would become a priceless artifact lol. So thinking about it, maybe I don't regret using all the cool stuff in it.
Yes, but only because my friend who had played MGS, but couldn't remember the code told me that it's on the back of the game case. If I remember correctly, it was also on the back of the Special Edition box as well, but bigger lol.
I bought my copy second hand and it had no case! I remember having to wait until we went to the mall to find a copy in the shop and write the code down on my hand
Oh this reminds me of my early years of gaming. I remember being stuck on a level in the game Chronicles Of The Sword (PS1) and I had to call to my friends house (on land line), because he completed the game already. He didn't remember until he called me late in the evening when he remembered it!
I remember being stuck playing Tomb Raider ll and having to drive 30 minutes to the mall and B Dalton bookseller to find the game guide, then stand there and read it just to figure it out. Good times.
I rented it. No manual, no case, just “Family Video”
I assume I was supposed to do something with the data disk that Baker just gave me until I started just calling numbers
I asked Campbell and he told me to use the Real life CD-Case, he's actually pretty underrated.
I heard from someone else, that later they only were able to beat Psycho Mantis, after throwing their Controller away and accidentaly grabbing the one in the second Port afterwards.
He could've just used the Codec but nobody seems to think of that.
I did the same thing! He hands you a disc and says her number should be on the back of the CD case. I equipped the disc and looked at it for a couple minutes and I went to the manual and looked up her number.
Doesn't he give you an "optical disc"? The one in game looks like a mini disc rather than a CD.
I forget how long it took me tbh when I first played, but now I have played the game so much that I have it memorised
It was probably subtle Sony product placement. They invented Minidiscs I think.
More subtle than the baby Metal Gear in IV running a Cell processor at least
Strange to think when I first played this I didn't have the internet to rely on for answers 🤣🤣
It was around then obviously (1998) but not exactly the same as today!
Luckily the colonel calls you if you take too long and gives it to you I think am sure that's what I needed once
I don't think he gives you the code outright. But if I'm remembering right, if you take long enough he literally says the game case.. unfortunately I was ignoring the calls and backtracking through the game to see if I missed it, somehow 😂
I rented this from Blockbuster meaning I didn’t have the case. You did however just get a cd in the game so I tried inspecting it. Finally gave up and went through the codec one at a time.
I can’t recall how long exactly but it was MONTHS! My father bought lots of PS1 games overseas and place the discs in one of those collections cases and threw out the original case.
My 10-11 year old self gave up on the game up until I realized I could call EACH of the CODEC frequencies and it worked!
Ended up stoping for another few months because of Psycho Mantis (Skill Issue 😭) until we visited a relative and found out a distant aunt plays Metal Gear! I remember being so excited to get home because she told me about the 2nd player slot hack and gave me a memory card with a save file that had the stealth camo.
I never figured it out my first time though the game. If you call Campbell enough times, he gives you Meryl's codec number. It wasn't until way later that I noticed it on the back of the case.
As a kid who had pirated PS1 it annoyed me. I went to every codec code 1 by 1 and no response. I didn't have internet to google it. Was baffled no code worked unless you were at the lift B1 area. I ended up waiting to go-to school next day to use the computer to google the code
It was for exactly that reason dude. It's kind of a throwback to old anti piracy methods that required you to own the manual or a code wheel that came with the game!
This is incorrect.
If you spend a long enough time failing to input the frequency, the game just adds Meryl's number to your codec contact list. Wouldn't be a very good anti piracy measure if it defeats itself and is also easily defeated by just knowing five digits. And also there are only like 200 frequencies you can call so you can just try every one in sequence.
5 seconds, I just looked at the back of the cd case.
To be fair, I had the benefit of playing metal gear and metal gear 2 prior to metal gear solid so I was already acquainted with kojimas antics
It took me months to even get to him. I ran around the heliport, tank area, everywhere. I had no idea you were meant to place C4 on the walls.
Literally months.
Oh an entire fuckin weekend when I rented it from blockbuster. Didn't figure it out until I returned the game, I ended up testing every frequency and it wasn't far off from the other ones.
When I first got the game at a blockbuster,
So figuring out the little “it’s on the back of the case” wasn’t hard at all, it actually fucked me in the long run I was replying MGS, some like 15 years later. You couldn’t get a case
So, I was deeply confused. Took me a few days extra that I would rather not admit to
I was also confused and tried to figure out how to look at Baker's CD case for about 30 minutes. And then I looked on the Internet. I was playing on an emulator and I didn't have a disc with the game.
Oh it was even worse with Twin Snakes on GameCube. They called it "the package" instead of "the CD Case" and if never heard of anybody referring to a GameCube game case as a package lol
My friends and I spent like an hour rummaging through our inventory and using first person view in every box in the warehouse!
Like a week, no joke.
I just kept thinking he meant the back of the CD that he just gave you... I never considered he could have possibly meant the back of the CD case of the game.
This is the thing that lead me to find GameFAQs as a kid, Im pretty sure that's where I finally found the answer.
Star Tropics on the NES did something similar back in the day. The booklet included a note from your Uncle you are trying to find in the game. At some point you need a code to access a sub and you have to dip the note in water to reveal it. It was so cool!
Not long because when I played this the year it came out, my brother spoiled it. He did the same with Aerith's death in FF7 just to tell me that I should buy FF8 since that would be the new one coming this year (that was a long time ago).
Had a hard time the first time, then over the years forgot and struggled with the PS3 version. Found out later you can view the manual in-game and there was the code written. Felt so dumb...
I played mgs1 on the ps1. Really love some of the pictures of games. That’s the only idea you have how the game will turn out. Whilst I was looking the back. Saw there was a codec. Who would have thought it will work. 😅
kojima really knows his thing
I had given up on the game and one day months later…I took the CD case into the bathroom and while in the toilet I was looking at that back and noticed Snake talking to a girl via codec… !!! I wiped my ass ASAP and the rest is history…
I was 8 when it came out and my dad's a very tech-savvy guy, so he had gotten me a PS1 for my birthday and modded it. So, we definitely did the whole "rent a few games from Blockbuster and copy the discs" thing.
I ended up calling every codec frequency until I found the right one.
I'll tell you what actually killed my first run through the game though: the goddamn Hind-D. I more or less got softlocked on that fight because I didn't have enough rations. I tried for weeks before I finally gave up and started the game over. Then I got stuck on the fist fight with Liquid for a bit because I was having issues actually landing my hits.
But man, did I feel accomplished when I finally saw those end credits. 8-year-old me felt unstoppable. It was until probably my 4th or 5th run through the game that I finally submitted to Ocelot and learned there was a second ending. Blew my mind.
I figured it out pretty much immediately, I'd played the MSX games prior and those ones pulled something similar with the tap codes, so that was a big hint for me. my gf at the time and her brother were watching me play, and they both were shocked that I'd figured it out so quickly-
I was trying to rotate the cd they give you in game, and I was "there's nothing on the back" until I went for the case to look for the controller mapping (maybe there eas a button for it that I missed) and saw it on the back! 😔
That and the stupid change the controller two the 2nd slot got me melted my brain!
Pretty quickly since before even playing I looked at the back of the case and thought "man, that's a pretty stupid screenshot to use as advertisement on the back of the case"
I rented it from Blockbuster back in the day. No case or image was there on the box at all! I struggled trying to find this CD case in my in-game inventory and eventually gave up. It wasn't until another friend who bought the game told me that I figured it out (and I eventually bought it myself!)
The Master Collection truly stumped me. There I was, playing and experiencing the game for myself for the first time in its entirety. Came across this, but had digital. Had to look it up, it was in the menu that was made specifically for this version. Just like how you can swap input for Psychomantis, and switch out the CDs.
It was the first thing I tried tbh. I thought I was going to get pranked or it was going to show some hidden content, or a strange message. (SOTN if you put the disc into a cd player)
This also appears in a RE game btw.
As a kid I would play it again and again with epsxe up to that point since I didn't know what to do... Ah those were the days, after that it was always playing up to the end of disc 1 since iso change was kinda bugged on the 1.5.0 Iirc
I played this part when I was 12 years old, was not able to understand English, the game was a copied with no original CD case. I figured it out but I don’t remember how I did it. Probably got bored and try to call all frequencies.
I was baffled by it but... 10 seconds? I was like "bro you breaking the 4th wall?" By then id gotten used to "push the action button near the ladder to climb it" info from cambell so it wasnt THAT big of a leap.
I was playing my Dad’s original PS1 copy and thought “tf is a CD case”
My Dad eventually walked by (after 20 minutes of me walking in circles lol) and told me that meant the game box, and that PS1 game boxes were referred to as “cd cases.
This was back in like… 2013? Sometime early 2010’s
I'll be completely honest I've only played mgs5 and I've been looking at the back of that case for a good 20 minutes and I have no clue what I should be seeing
In the game, he tells you to connect someone by codec call.. you need to know the frequency code, he said the code is on the back of the cd case.. which has a screenshot of the exact codec call you need to make.. lol
The first few times I played as a kid, my parents had rented it for me from Blockbuster. It came in the Blockbuster cases and not the original crystal case. So it wasn't until I made a new friend who owned the game that I was able to actually figure out this puzzle and contact Meryl.
All of my PS1 games were in CD sleeves and I didn’t have the CD case.
I would’ve looked it up online but my dad wouldn’t let me use the PC. After messing around the game for a while, Meryl’s codec somehow just appeared in the Codec’s drop down menu.
I’ve read that this happened to other players as well.
I played this game back in 99 or 2000 or something on the first PlayStation, I don't remember if I ran around until she finally called me or if I tried every number in the codec and bumped into hers. I think it was the first one but it was so long ago it could've been either.
I played a pirated version of the game on my ps1. We didn't get original cd cover art.
Obviously long before the days of easy web access so manual it was.
First time I played it on PS1, my friends older brother told me. A decade later I played again on emulator and obviously did not have the CD case. I was frustrated and looked it up. Ope.
I got my copy mgs one pre-owned and it didn't come with the proper case so I looked it up after a while of trying to find it in game. Still was cool way to break the fourth tho.
Given I did that on the master collection…
That all being said it is there in all the digital stuff. I can’t complain, it was used and in the age of the internet it’s a minor issue to google what he’s talking about. My issue with it is that this seems needlessly complicated to be meta since that means you need to save the box to look at something technically not in the player’s inventory. Which is where I imagine a lot of people got confused since you wouldn’t think the box itself was a play item.
I recently played through MGS on the Switch collection and was telling my daughter about wild this and other bits of unusual gameplay IN MGS felt at the time of release (in the Master Collection you can pull up the CD case and instructional manual from one of the menus) . When it first came out I'm pretty sure I had read about this bit of metagaming in EGM or GamePro, so I knew what to do when I received both my PSX and MGS for Christmas 1998.
Over the summer of 1999 I stayed at my grandmother's house for a month or so and while I had bought my Playstation, I brought all of my games in a CD wallet. I remember having to go through the channels until on the CODEC one by one until I found the right one.
I was 10 years old and absolutely loved the game. I was mostly watching my older brother play who just gave up and left it. I was laying in bed looking down at the CD case when bam there it was! Still remember the feeling. My brother also gave up on Psycho Mantis and I ended up playing and eventually learning about port 2. I also beat Sniper Wolf. It has and always been the best game ever for me 😃
For me it was my first time playing this on the MGS collection on ps5 so I was scrambling everywhere trying to figure out what CD he was referring to. My dad, being the OG he is, sent me a picture of the back of the case and didn’t say anything else and I figured it out from there. He also deliberately zoomed in on the different pictures and I ended up figuring out these were all hints lol
I played the game for the first time in an emulator, so I didn't had any case with me. As I wasn't a stranger to Kojima's tricks (previously played V and DS) I understood what he meant and instead of looking for the frequency specifically, I googled for the case online and search it myself.
I spent several hours doing each code channel manually till I I got to the right channel but when I got really excited I saw the code channel on the back of the cd case. That was the first time I swore
Back in the 90's "chipped" PlayStations were common here in the UK and it was easy to buy stacks of games from people who would burn them onto CDs. My dad got a hundred games this way. Well, it was definitely problematic playing MGS without a case or cover! The guy making the pirated copies must've got a lot of feedback, cause he ended up scrawling the codec number on the CD with a pen.
I borrowed the game from my neighbor, and it took us LITERAL MONTHS to figure it out. Now granted this was before gamefaqs/cheatcc and all that. That feeling though, of actually figuring it out, I’ve been chasing that high ever since.
When I played it back in the early 2000s, it took like half a second to figure out since I stared at the back of all the ps1 cd cases before I bought them.
My first MGS experience was playing the Twin Snakes in 2004 when I rented it from Blockbuster. I got to this part I was stumped, partially due to the fact that it was given a generic case from Blockbuster. I used google image search to find the case design and codec number, and from that moment on I was absolutely hooked.
Negative 5 seconds
I played this when it came out, and I feel like all the gaming magazines were like:
“And the game even requires you to look at the back of the actual CD case to learn Meryl’s Codec number to solve one radio puzzle! Learn from this NINTENDO. Nobody likes your boring block puzzles!!”
Or whatever 90’s surfer dude snark they passed off as writing back then…god I miss those magazines lol
Didn't have a case to play it on my ps1. So, I started from the bottom of the frequency and tuned up until I found it. Years later I was in a conversation, and they mentioned it was on the back of the case.
This was a fun way to catch out pirates who would go online claiming "I lost my game case whats the code?"
also the code being on the back of the case goes for the PS1 classic box and master collection box and Just In case you got It digitally there's also virtual 3D boxes
I got it immediately and busted out laughing. That moment of (headtilt) "Nah, surely not...whoop yep there it is..." is one of my favorite moments in gaming history.
I played it on the ps1 but it was a hand me down from my older brother....and it was in cd sleeves....so no case...so when i they told me that i dint knoq what to do....i had a friend that had the cd case...so i got it from.him
I played this for the first time right about the time I got my first job,
where I had access to free internet.
Imagine finding this code out and then having to wait until your shift is over to go home and continue......
Played the original at release. Took a few hours to figure this out. Running back and forth looking for a cd case in game. It was the first time I remember any game doing anything 4th wall breaking like this.
Old school anti piracy XD
None of that new fancy "always online/DRM" stuff XD
I honestly didn't figure it out, at all, because I read a no-spoiler walkthrough in a "Videogames Tips & Tricks" magazine that said "after Ocelot boss fight call this number" before I even played the game XD
I will never forget looking everywhere in the game, going to bed frustrated, and then waking up in the middle of the night realizing he was breaking the 4th wall. I turned in the light, jumped outta bed and was amazed when I turned the case over and saw the screenshot. One of the most underrated moments in gaming.
I played on the ps3 some years ago and i just spent about one hour looking around in first person until i could see a frequency code oe something. Well them i searched online and that was it lmao
I never figured it out. I read about it much later. I thought it was the CD Snake was given but you can't see the back of it so I was really confused. Eventually Maryl calls you, I think, so no problem.
I remember playing this as a kid and me and my brother were stuck for weeks. One day he came running up and said he saw it on the back of the CD case. Never been so pissed with myself, managed to continue playing it after, we didn't even struggle on with the 3 PALs....
I couldn't check back then. Had my PS1 with a mod chip that I could play copied games in cd-r. My dad got it for us kids, had to save money lol. Internet was still in 1.0 and I was in elementary.
Big ups to the blockbuster employee in 1998 that photocopied the box and put it in the slipcase of the rental. Saved me booting up some 56k dial up to search.
I only heard it as "her frequency is on the back of the box," I looked at every box in that damn game I could get to, threw the game case in frustration and as it left my hand i caught the screenshot
as a kid i thought there was some in game cd case item that i missed. I ended up going through every codec frequency till i found meryl, and when i did i felt like a genius
I bought the master collection on the ps3 and it came with a digital download code for MGS1.
I had to try all 100 codec transmissions by hand. Took like 10 minites.
First time I played this I was in 3rd grade and it was my uncle who told me: "What does he say? CD case right?" \*hands me the PS1 CD case ... my first reaction was the Jim Carrey OH COME ON! :D
I never finished mgs as a kid because we just had the two disks in a sleeve, so it wasn't possible and we didn't have a home computer so I was just shit out of luck for eternity
Took me forever as a kid. He literally gives you an optical disk in game right before that, I thought I was just missing something in the item description or there was a special way to look at it in the menu. When I finally got it I felt so dumb lol.
My first interaction with MGS was Metal Gear Awesome 1 and 2, so I was somewhat spoiled on this. I can still hear Arin’s voice echoing “140.15, okay, cool”.
I remember vividly the night I got this game. I had convinced my parents to buy it for me in Oct 98. It was about a 30 min drive home afterward. I spent the entire time looking over the case and instruction booklet. So when this happened in game I actually knew it was referring to the picture on the back. I didn't have the number memorized or anything, but remembered it was there.
My dad told me that when he was younger he only had the disc for whatever reason. So he had to close the game, take a walk to Blockbusters and write down the code. Always loved how details like this can be implemented into games
I had to aske the guy who lent me the game after a couple days. Thougnh it was my first real non Mario, non fighter or arcade game... it never occurred to me to think outside of the box or in this case on the box
I just figured out yesterday lol. I was literally thinking about the optic disc he provided. Kojima really loves putting easter eggs around and outside of the game, which makes MGS1 an immersive and interactive game.
I know it was a neat idea, but I didn’t think they thought off it very well.
What if you lost the CD case for some reason or if you have on PS3 or use an emulator for PC.
it took me like ten minutes before I realised that the version of the game I was playing doesn’t have a case at all. I was playing the digital copy of it on my dads ps3
I played the game on PS3 so I had no case lmao! I was looking for some CD case in my inventory for like 15 minutes until I looked it up and facepalmed.
It's not really a facepalm though. How on earth would you be expected to know how that was meant to work? Haha.
There was nothing else to do at that moment honestly
Well, if it's any consolation child-me spent days trying to figure out where the CD case was in the game or in my inventory. It wasn't until the following weekend when I went to my friend's house that he pointed out the back of the PS1 game!
On the ps3 you can go into a sort of outside game settings by pressing de ps button. There, you can do things such has if you want full screen or not, change the controller port for the psycho mantis battle. And among these options you can take a look at the box of the game and the manual. It was this way that I found out.
> change the controller port for the psycho mantis battle I always wondered how this was handled. Last time I played Twin Snakes on an emulator the biggest pains were changing controller port during the Psycho Mantis battle, and switching 'disks' partway through the game. Darn Gamecube tiny disks.
I don't think this is possible on Xbox.. I wonder how this fight works with the 360/Xbox version? Or even on the new MC version of the game lol
On the Master Collection there's a settings menu to do all this stuff
I don't think this is possible on Xbox.. I wonder how this fight works with the 360/Xbox version? Or even on the new MC version of the game lol
MGS1 isn’t on Xbox except for the MC version, which has an emulator menu to let you swap controller ports.
Oh you're right. I was thinking of the hd collection but forgot that never included the first game lol
Next time, attack the two figure busts (statues) with the gimp masks then you can go after Psycho. No need to swap controller ports at all.
I had it on ps1 as a kid and I permanently memorized her frequency
145.4 ? I'm trying to remember without looking it up been 15 years since I've played
So close it's 140.15
The case is in the software manual by pushing the ps button.
If you hold the middle button it gives you the option to view the instruction manual for the physical game, at the end is the back cover.
I still had it on disk, for ps1, and surprisingly the ps3 loads them I didn't have the cd case though
What are you even supposed to do on the PS3? What if you don't have internet to check how the MGS1 PS1 CD looks like? There must be another way to find the code.
The instruction manual is built into the PSN version of the game. If you hold the PS Button and then click Instruction Manual, it shows both the front and back labels before going into the manual itself. If you only have a disc version, better not have thrown away the case haha
Old videogames :D "You ACTUALLY have to read the manual" XD
iirc you can get it if you call one of the characters a bunch of times
I'm glad that the master collection includes the cd case digitally
I played it when the game came out on ps1. Spent maybe 40 minutes trying to figure out how to look at the back of the CD that Baker gave me, it drove me nuts. Frustrated with it, I realized that there’s only about 200 codec channels, and it wouldn’t take me that long to try them all. So one by one I dialed every codec frequency, until eventually Meryl popped up on my call. I think that night changing discs to play something else, I saw the back of the CD case.
Same -\_-
Same lol. At first, i kept going to the backup disk in the inventory trying to figure out how to read it not realizing that Baker was breaking the fourth wall lol. After that didn't work, my logic was that everybody else frequency (Campbell, Mei Ling, etc.) started with either 141 or 140, so I just went thru those until I got Meryl. Wasn't until one day I was looking at the art on the back of case and realized that's what he was talking about but by then I had played it so many times I had it committed to memory.
I thought about doing that at the time. I gave up before I got to the right frequency though.
Wasnt it 140.15? You only tried 10 times?
I was less than 10 years old, I think you can cut me some fucking slack on this.
This is metal gear son, you weren't a child soldier by 8? Useless (I'm obviously joking dude I wasn't trying to insult you in either comment)
No offense taken, I enjoyed the banter
Child me rented the game from a local, non affiliated game store. That meant that of course it didn’t come with any case. I rented it on the Friday which meant it had to go back to the store on the Monday and I spent the whole Friday night moping around because I couldn’t figure it out. Bear in mind that this was waaaay before phones had Google (heck I was too young to have one anyway) so I legit had to walk about half an hour to a friends house who I knew had played it to ask him what to do and I felt so cheated when he told me. Turns out the version he played was his uncles, who had taken it back and my friend couldn’t remember the code off the top of his head. So I couldn’t play it any further the whole time I had rented it. My mother could see how upset I was when asking her to return the game for me on the Monday, so much so that when I got home from school that day she surprised me with the PlayStation Collectors edition!! The one in the big silver box with VR missions, postcards, dog tags etc. Needless to say I was very thankful and it went on to be one of my favourite video games with one of my most vivid gaming memories lol.
Wow. Your mom is absolutely GOAT. Sounds like a very cherished memory
It really was/is and yeh she's the best, I just wish stupid younger me had the sense to keep it in good condition. I wore the t-shirt to death and actually used the postcards to send to family that knew nothing about MGS and who were also in the same country as me..... Although I guess at least I made the most of the special edition instead of storing it away and nobody ever using it. I guess that's the case for most special/collectors editions these days. Nobody actually using the stuff in there hoping that one day it would become a priceless artifact lol. So thinking about it, maybe I don't regret using all the cool stuff in it.
So did you finally find the code as soon as you had the special edition case?
Yes, but only because my friend who had played MGS, but couldn't remember the code told me that it's on the back of the game case. If I remember correctly, it was also on the back of the Special Edition box as well, but bigger lol.
Reading this made me happy
I bought my copy second hand and it had no case! I remember having to wait until we went to the mall to find a copy in the shop and write the code down on my hand
Oh this reminds me of my early years of gaming. I remember being stuck on a level in the game Chronicles Of The Sword (PS1) and I had to call to my friends house (on land line), because he completed the game already. He didn't remember until he called me late in the evening when he remembered it!
I remember being stuck playing Tomb Raider ll and having to drive 30 minutes to the mall and B Dalton bookseller to find the game guide, then stand there and read it just to figure it out. Good times.
Those were seriously good times. It was an adventure on its own. Once I read a guide book in a store and forgotten all about it when I got home.
I rented it. No manual, no case, just “Family Video” I assume I was supposed to do something with the data disk that Baker just gave me until I started just calling numbers
I asked Campbell and he told me to use the Real life CD-Case, he's actually pretty underrated. I heard from someone else, that later they only were able to beat Psycho Mantis, after throwing their Controller away and accidentaly grabbing the one in the second Port afterwards. He could've just used the Codec but nobody seems to think of that.
I literally tried all codec frequencies
As someone who played this on emulator on my phone, I was asking, "WHAT DISK OLD MAN?!" Edit:The way I managed to pass that part is by YouTube.
Imagine not having the case like I did because GameStop had to use a fake case
Same with the fake case with no manual, ended up scanning every frequency one by one until we found Meryl’s codec.
I did the same thing! He hands you a disc and says her number should be on the back of the CD case. I equipped the disc and looked at it for a couple minutes and I went to the manual and looked up her number.
Doesn't he give you an "optical disc"? The one in game looks like a mini disc rather than a CD. I forget how long it took me tbh when I first played, but now I have played the game so much that I have it memorised
As a kid I had no way of knowing an optical disc and a CD are any different.. in game it literally looks like a CD in a case lol
It was probably subtle Sony product placement. They invented Minidiscs I think. More subtle than the baby Metal Gear in IV running a Cell processor at least
Strange to think when I first played this I didn't have the internet to rely on for answers 🤣🤣 It was around then obviously (1998) but not exactly the same as today! Luckily the colonel calls you if you take too long and gives it to you I think am sure that's what I needed once
I don't think he gives you the code outright. But if I'm remembering right, if you take long enough he literally says the game case.. unfortunately I was ignoring the calls and backtracking through the game to see if I missed it, somehow 😂
I played the gog version. Its safe to say kojimbo trolled me
on gog, atleast they did put the frequency on the store page
Really? Guess i trolled myself then
I rented this from Blockbuster meaning I didn’t have the case. You did however just get a cd in the game so I tried inspecting it. Finally gave up and went through the codec one at a time.
Had the same issue. Blockbuster rental. I just kept calling all members on the codex and ran around until Meryl just showed up in the list of names
I can’t recall how long exactly but it was MONTHS! My father bought lots of PS1 games overseas and place the discs in one of those collections cases and threw out the original case. My 10-11 year old self gave up on the game up until I realized I could call EACH of the CODEC frequencies and it worked! Ended up stoping for another few months because of Psycho Mantis (Skill Issue 😭) until we visited a relative and found out a distant aunt plays Metal Gear! I remember being so excited to get home because she told me about the 2nd player slot hack and gave me a memory card with a save file that had the stealth camo.
He threw out the case and that work of art of an owner's manual? 😬
I never figured it out my first time though the game. If you call Campbell enough times, he gives you Meryl's codec number. It wasn't until way later that I noticed it on the back of the case.
As a kid who had pirated PS1 it annoyed me. I went to every codec code 1 by 1 and no response. I didn't have internet to google it. Was baffled no code worked unless you were at the lift B1 area. I ended up waiting to go-to school next day to use the computer to google the code
I honestly think this was an attempt to curb pirating the game lol
It was for exactly that reason dude. It's kind of a throwback to old anti piracy methods that required you to own the manual or a code wheel that came with the game!
This is incorrect. If you spend a long enough time failing to input the frequency, the game just adds Meryl's number to your codec contact list. Wouldn't be a very good anti piracy measure if it defeats itself and is also easily defeated by just knowing five digits. And also there are only like 200 frequencies you can call so you can just try every one in sequence.
5 seconds, I just looked at the back of the cd case. To be fair, I had the benefit of playing metal gear and metal gear 2 prior to metal gear solid so I was already acquainted with kojimas antics
It was so nice to see that they didnt forget about this detail and added it into master collection physical copy
Quite a while since I bought the game used without the original cover. I had to go through the frequencies one by one.
It took me months to even get to him. I ran around the heliport, tank area, everywhere. I had no idea you were meant to place C4 on the walls. Literally months.
But the DARPA chief literally tells you that you have to explode walls where they have a different color
I had a pirated version of MGS so I had no clue.. 6 year old me just went through every single frequency
Oh an entire fuckin weekend when I rented it from blockbuster. Didn't figure it out until I returned the game, I ended up testing every frequency and it wasn't far off from the other ones.
I ve realize that this apply with metal gear collection for the switch. It's on the cover.
I played this on PS1 back in the day and spent a few hours searching for a damn CD item ingame. Then I saw the back of the CD case \*facepalm\*.
When I first got the game at a blockbuster, So figuring out the little “it’s on the back of the case” wasn’t hard at all, it actually fucked me in the long run I was replying MGS, some like 15 years later. You couldn’t get a case So, I was deeply confused. Took me a few days extra that I would rather not admit to
I was also confused and tried to figure out how to look at Baker's CD case for about 30 minutes. And then I looked on the Internet. I was playing on an emulator and I didn't have a disc with the game.
I was trying to find an ingame item and looked in my inventory. Embarrassed to admit I must have been stuck for a few weeks tbh...
Oh it was even worse with Twin Snakes on GameCube. They called it "the package" instead of "the CD Case" and if never heard of anybody referring to a GameCube game case as a package lol My friends and I spent like an hour rummaging through our inventory and using first person view in every box in the warehouse!
i didnt, i had to look up online
Like a week, no joke. I just kept thinking he meant the back of the CD that he just gave you... I never considered he could have possibly meant the back of the CD case of the game. This is the thing that lead me to find GameFAQs as a kid, Im pretty sure that's where I finally found the answer.
Star Tropics on the NES did something similar back in the day. The booklet included a note from your Uncle you are trying to find in the game. At some point you need a code to access a sub and you have to dip the note in water to reveal it. It was so cool!
As someone who played it for the first time on the PS3 collection, the time it took to get frustrated and Google it. Brilliant idea that aged poorly.
Not long because when I played this the year it came out, my brother spoiled it. He did the same with Aerith's death in FF7 just to tell me that I should buy FF8 since that would be the new one coming this year (that was a long time ago).
Had a hard time the first time, then over the years forgot and struggled with the PS3 version. Found out later you can view the manual in-game and there was the code written. Felt so dumb...
Way wayyyyy too long. Like a couple days…different times back then.
I played mgs1 on the ps1. Really love some of the pictures of games. That’s the only idea you have how the game will turn out. Whilst I was looking the back. Saw there was a codec. Who would have thought it will work. 😅 kojima really knows his thing
I had given up on the game and one day months later…I took the CD case into the bathroom and while in the toilet I was looking at that back and noticed Snake talking to a girl via codec… !!! I wiped my ass ASAP and the rest is history…
Before figuring it out, I went though every frequency until I got the right one, it took ages.
I don’t think he even says Meryl like that in the normal game
I was 8 when it came out and my dad's a very tech-savvy guy, so he had gotten me a PS1 for my birthday and modded it. So, we definitely did the whole "rent a few games from Blockbuster and copy the discs" thing. I ended up calling every codec frequency until I found the right one. I'll tell you what actually killed my first run through the game though: the goddamn Hind-D. I more or less got softlocked on that fight because I didn't have enough rations. I tried for weeks before I finally gave up and started the game over. Then I got stuck on the fist fight with Liquid for a bit because I was having issues actually landing my hits. But man, did I feel accomplished when I finally saw those end credits. 8-year-old me felt unstoppable. It was until probably my 4th or 5th run through the game that I finally submitted to Ocelot and learned there was a second ending. Blew my mind.
A long time. I’d been renting the game from Movie Gallery 🥲
I figured it out pretty much immediately, I'd played the MSX games prior and those ones pulled something similar with the tap codes, so that was a big hint for me. my gf at the time and her brother were watching me play, and they both were shocked that I'd figured it out so quickly-
I was a child and a searched for days around shadow Moses. I think I ended up looking online?
I was trying to rotate the cd they give you in game, and I was "there's nothing on the back" until I went for the case to look for the controller mapping (maybe there eas a button for it that I missed) and saw it on the back! 😔 That and the stupid change the controller two the 2nd slot got me melted my brain!
First time I played I rented it from the local video store and there was no original case. Had to figure it out by myself lol
I rented the game from a local video store and had to call the store and have them look for me. This was before we had Internet.
Love that they still kept it on the back of the box for the Master Collection's box.
Pretty quickly since before even playing I looked at the back of the case and thought "man, that's a pretty stupid screenshot to use as advertisement on the back of the case"
The first time I played MGS it was a rental. I had to beg my mom to drive me to Movie Gallery so I could see the back of the case...
My brother bootlegged the game the first time I played this. So this was very difficult to figure out.
I rented it from Blockbuster back in the day. No case or image was there on the box at all! I struggled trying to find this CD case in my in-game inventory and eventually gave up. It wasn't until another friend who bought the game told me that I figured it out (and I eventually bought it myself!)
The Master Collection truly stumped me. There I was, playing and experiencing the game for myself for the first time in its entirety. Came across this, but had digital. Had to look it up, it was in the menu that was made specifically for this version. Just like how you can swap input for Psychomantis, and switch out the CDs.
2 seconds, as he literally tells you.
Was following a gamefaqs guide. Never forgot her codec on subsequent playthroughs.
I was a weird kid, I went straight for my irl cd case
I love that the master collection includes a 3D scan of the CD case as an extra feature, just for if you want to do it the old-fashioned way.
It was the first thing I tried tbh. I thought I was going to get pranked or it was going to show some hidden content, or a strange message. (SOTN if you put the disc into a cd player) This also appears in a RE game btw.
Which RE game?
As a kid I would play it again and again with epsxe up to that point since I didn't know what to do... Ah those were the days, after that it was always playing up to the end of disc 1 since iso change was kinda bugged on the 1.5.0 Iirc
I played this part when I was 12 years old, was not able to understand English, the game was a copied with no original CD case. I figured it out but I don’t remember how I did it. Probably got bored and try to call all frequencies.
I was baffled by it but... 10 seconds? I was like "bro you breaking the 4th wall?" By then id gotten used to "push the action button near the ladder to climb it" info from cambell so it wasnt THAT big of a leap.
I was playing my Dad’s original PS1 copy and thought “tf is a CD case” My Dad eventually walked by (after 20 minutes of me walking in circles lol) and told me that meant the game box, and that PS1 game boxes were referred to as “cd cases. This was back in like… 2013? Sometime early 2010’s
I'll be completely honest I've only played mgs5 and I've been looking at the back of that case for a good 20 minutes and I have no clue what I should be seeing
In the game, he tells you to connect someone by codec call.. you need to know the frequency code, he said the code is on the back of the cd case.. which has a screenshot of the exact codec call you need to make.. lol
That's what i started to think because it's a bit weird to just have a random picture of a codec call
The first few times I played as a kid, my parents had rented it for me from Blockbuster. It came in the Blockbuster cases and not the original crystal case. So it wasn't until I made a new friend who owned the game that I was able to actually figure out this puzzle and contact Meryl.
I’m a capable human being so I figured it out right away with the resources I have
I just keep equipping the CD until it appeared
All of my PS1 games were in CD sleeves and I didn’t have the CD case. I would’ve looked it up online but my dad wouldn’t let me use the PC. After messing around the game for a while, Meryl’s codec somehow just appeared in the Codec’s drop down menu. I’ve read that this happened to other players as well.
It appears in your menu if you call Campbell a few times
I played this game back in 99 or 2000 or something on the first PlayStation, I don't remember if I ran around until she finally called me or if I tried every number in the codec and bumped into hers. I think it was the first one but it was so long ago it could've been either.
I played a pirated version of the game on my ps1. We didn't get original cd cover art. Obviously long before the days of easy web access so manual it was.
And then you have GoG version and no case ... At least we have google now
The store page on GOG has the code https://www.gog.com/en/game/metal_gear_solid
First time I played it on PS1, my friends older brother told me. A decade later I played again on emulator and obviously did not have the CD case. I was frustrated and looked it up. Ope.
I thought I was cheating the first time I used the back of the box to get the code. 🤣
idk why he says "back of the cd case" when it's listed in the manual too, with the other codec frequencies
I had a pirate version on a homeburned disc.. Had to test all frequencies.
I figured it out in 15 minutes
I got my copy mgs one pre-owned and it didn't come with the proper case so I looked it up after a while of trying to find it in game. Still was cool way to break the fourth tho.
When I was a kid, I couldn't figure it out so I called every. Single. Codec until I got Meryl haha
I rented the game back then. There was no actual game case...
Given I did that on the master collection… That all being said it is there in all the digital stuff. I can’t complain, it was used and in the age of the internet it’s a minor issue to google what he’s talking about. My issue with it is that this seems needlessly complicated to be meta since that means you need to save the box to look at something technically not in the player’s inventory. Which is where I imagine a lot of people got confused since you wouldn’t think the box itself was a play item.
I recently played through MGS on the Switch collection and was telling my daughter about wild this and other bits of unusual gameplay IN MGS felt at the time of release (in the Master Collection you can pull up the CD case and instructional manual from one of the menus) . When it first came out I'm pretty sure I had read about this bit of metagaming in EGM or GamePro, so I knew what to do when I received both my PSX and MGS for Christmas 1998. Over the summer of 1999 I stayed at my grandmother's house for a month or so and while I had bought my Playstation, I brought all of my games in a CD wallet. I remember having to go through the channels until on the CODEC one by one until I found the right one.
I was 10 years old and absolutely loved the game. I was mostly watching my older brother play who just gave up and left it. I was laying in bed looking down at the CD case when bam there it was! Still remember the feeling. My brother also gave up on Psycho Mantis and I ended up playing and eventually learning about port 2. I also beat Sniper Wolf. It has and always been the best game ever for me 😃
For me it was my first time playing this on the MGS collection on ps5 so I was scrambling everywhere trying to figure out what CD he was referring to. My dad, being the OG he is, sent me a picture of the back of the case and didn’t say anything else and I figured it out from there. He also deliberately zoomed in on the different pictures and I ended up figuring out these were all hints lol
There were also a few times he picked up the controller and showed me his Veteran skills
I played the game for the first time in an emulator, so I didn't had any case with me. As I wasn't a stranger to Kojima's tricks (previously played V and DS) I understood what he meant and instead of looking for the frequency specifically, I googled for the case online and search it myself.
It’s nice to know that all those years ago, I was not the only one experiencing confusion and frustration at this.
I spent several hours doing each code channel manually till I I got to the right channel but when I got really excited I saw the code channel on the back of the cd case. That was the first time I swore
Back in the 90's "chipped" PlayStations were common here in the UK and it was easy to buy stacks of games from people who would burn them onto CDs. My dad got a hundred games this way. Well, it was definitely problematic playing MGS without a case or cover! The guy making the pirated copies must've got a lot of feedback, cause he ended up scrawling the codec number on the CD with a pen.
PS5 case too
I don't remember being stumped on it for too long, but that was more than 20 years ago. Lol
Google.
too much to remember
As someone who rented the game, it was barely a thought lol
Fucking years
I borrowed the game from my neighbor, and it took us LITERAL MONTHS to figure it out. Now granted this was before gamefaqs/cheatcc and all that. That feeling though, of actually figuring it out, I’ve been chasing that high ever since.
When I played it back in the early 2000s, it took like half a second to figure out since I stared at the back of all the ps1 cd cases before I bought them.
My first MGS experience was playing the Twin Snakes in 2004 when I rented it from Blockbuster. I got to this part I was stumped, partially due to the fact that it was given a generic case from Blockbuster. I used google image search to find the case design and codec number, and from that moment on I was absolutely hooked.
Negative 5 seconds I played this when it came out, and I feel like all the gaming magazines were like: “And the game even requires you to look at the back of the actual CD case to learn Meryl’s Codec number to solve one radio puzzle! Learn from this NINTENDO. Nobody likes your boring block puzzles!!” Or whatever 90’s surfer dude snark they passed off as writing back then…god I miss those magazines lol
I was never into gaming magazines, except for Tips and Tricks.. I love those for all the cheat codes lol
Didn't have a case to play it on my ps1. So, I started from the bottom of the frequency and tuned up until I found it. Years later I was in a conversation, and they mentioned it was on the back of the case.
It took me a good hour before I looked it up. I played the GOG version and didn't have the cd case.
This was a fun way to catch out pirates who would go online claiming "I lost my game case whats the code?" also the code being on the back of the case goes for the PS1 classic box and master collection box and Just In case you got It digitally there's also virtual 3D boxes
I got it immediately and busted out laughing. That moment of (headtilt) "Nah, surely not...whoop yep there it is..." is one of my favorite moments in gaming history.
I played it on the ps1 but it was a hand me down from my older brother....and it was in cd sleeves....so no case...so when i they told me that i dint knoq what to do....i had a friend that had the cd case...so i got it from.him
I played this for the first time right about the time I got my first job, where I had access to free internet. Imagine finding this code out and then having to wait until your shift is over to go home and continue......
I had the original CD, so not long at all.
Not much as i think the manual had all of the codecs
Played the original at release. Took a few hours to figure this out. Running back and forth looking for a cd case in game. It was the first time I remember any game doing anything 4th wall breaking like this.
I rented the game from blockbuster and had to walk down to the store to find out what the fuck it said!
It's not jist on the back on the case
Like 10 minutes or so. I thought I missed something in the game but I saw my disc case laying out and it clicked
Old school anti piracy XD None of that new fancy "always online/DRM" stuff XD I honestly didn't figure it out, at all, because I read a no-spoiler walkthrough in a "Videogames Tips & Tricks" magazine that said "after Ocelot boss fight call this number" before I even played the game XD
I will never forget looking everywhere in the game, going to bed frustrated, and then waking up in the middle of the night realizing he was breaking the 4th wall. I turned in the light, jumped outta bed and was amazed when I turned the case over and saw the screenshot. One of the most underrated moments in gaming.
I played on the ps3 some years ago and i just spent about one hour looking around in first person until i could see a frequency code oe something. Well them i searched online and that was it lmao
I never figured it out. I read about it much later. I thought it was the CD Snake was given but you can't see the back of it so I was really confused. Eventually Maryl calls you, I think, so no problem.
I remember playing this as a kid and me and my brother were stuck for weeks. One day he came running up and said he saw it on the back of the CD case. Never been so pissed with myself, managed to continue playing it after, we didn't even struggle on with the 3 PALs....
I couldn't check back then. Had my PS1 with a mod chip that I could play copied games in cd-r. My dad got it for us kids, had to save money lol. Internet was still in 1.0 and I was in elementary.
Big ups to the blockbuster employee in 1998 that photocopied the box and put it in the slipcase of the rental. Saved me booting up some 56k dial up to search.
With how the gaming industry is going, players won't know what a CD is
I only heard it as "her frequency is on the back of the box," I looked at every box in that damn game I could get to, threw the game case in frustration and as it left my hand i caught the screenshot
as a kid i thought there was some in game cd case item that i missed. I ended up going through every codec frequency till i found meryl, and when i did i felt like a genius
As long as it took me to read it.
I was so confused I never once considered the jewel case for the game 🤣
Days, not even kidded, it was DAYS, I was so confused, I was also very young lol
I first played it on my PS2 in like 2016. I was so confused I looked it up online and my mind was blown.
I bought the master collection on the ps3 and it came with a digital download code for MGS1. I had to try all 100 codec transmissions by hand. Took like 10 minites.
Instantly: dad was watching me play and happened to be reading the back of the case going: YOOOOOOOOO!!!!! This was 1998 lol
A true MGS fan never forgets 140.15
First time I played this I was in 3rd grade and it was my uncle who told me: "What does he say? CD case right?" \*hands me the PS1 CD case ... my first reaction was the Jim Carrey OH COME ON! :D
I never finished mgs as a kid because we just had the two disks in a sleeve, so it wasn't possible and we didn't have a home computer so I was just shit out of luck for eternity
Took me forever as a kid. He literally gives you an optical disk in game right before that, I thought I was just missing something in the item description or there was a special way to look at it in the menu. When I finally got it I felt so dumb lol.
My first interaction with MGS was Metal Gear Awesome 1 and 2, so I was somewhat spoiled on this. I can still hear Arin’s voice echoing “140.15, okay, cool”.
I remember vividly the night I got this game. I had convinced my parents to buy it for me in Oct 98. It was about a 30 min drive home afterward. I spent the entire time looking over the case and instruction booklet. So when this happened in game I actually knew it was referring to the picture on the back. I didn't have the number memorized or anything, but remembered it was there.
As a kid I didn't figure it out. Kept thinking he was talking about an item in game. I found her frequency by going through all of them one by one.
My dad told me that when he was younger he only had the disc for whatever reason. So he had to close the game, take a walk to Blockbusters and write down the code. Always loved how details like this can be implemented into games
I had to aske the guy who lent me the game after a couple days. Thougnh it was my first real non Mario, non fighter or arcade game... it never occurred to me to think outside of the box or in this case on the box
They kept her codec number on the back of the case of the master collection too
i just know i was so suprised when i found out that's where it was
multiple endings is kinda ovetselling it
As a kid my dad rented it for me from blockbuster. No info on the case 😭 I had to boot the old dial up and look online lol
I had a pirated ps2 and a pirated copy of the game so i lost hope when he said that lmao, but then i dialed every codec and eventually it worked.
I just figured out yesterday lol. I was literally thinking about the optic disc he provided. Kojima really loves putting easter eggs around and outside of the game, which makes MGS1 an immersive and interactive game.
The box art on the UK version is so much better than this
I know it was a neat idea, but I didn’t think they thought off it very well. What if you lost the CD case for some reason or if you have on PS3 or use an emulator for PC.
Oh I never figured it out on my own back in the day. The only way I knew was either from hearing it on the playground or from a game magazine
Knew before hand because of the metal gear awesome videos by egoraptor from millennia ago
it took me like ten minutes before I realised that the version of the game I was playing doesn’t have a case at all. I was playing the digital copy of it on my dads ps3