Rumor: Metal Gear Solid 4 goes stealth until 2008

by Alexander Sliwinski { May 14th 2007 at 10:32PM }

Gamestop customers who requested to be informed of any changes to the projected retail release date of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PS3 have received unsettling news that the game's new expected release isn't until March of 2008. The PS3 could really use a big blockbuster like this for its second holiday season -- somebody put a bee in God of War 3's bonnet already and start some buzz because third-party developers are flaking out.

Remember to keep hope alive though, like Jack Tretton says, Sony didn't make the system for the first six months (or year for that matter) of its life, but for ten years. It'll all work itself out. We mean, look, there's still some exclusives left, there's Ratchet and Clank, Final Fantasy XIII, Lair, Super Rub a Dub, Heavenly Sword and, um, Little Big Planet. What's the Xbox 360 and Wii got? Halo 3, Mario and maybe Metroid, pffffft. Like those are going to sell systems.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

[Update: Made post more explicit and concise.]

Tags: metal gear solid, MetalGearSolid, mgs, playstation, ps3, sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Thomas @ May 14th 2007 10:38PM

Yes, gamestop is very reliable. It orginally lister lair for 2008 too but look how that turned out.

NoNo @ May 14th 2007 10:39PM

I love how a game that hasnt had an offical release gets pushed back at least 4 months. Gamestop decides on release dates with darts and a calander, Gamestop had FFXIII scheduled for 3/1/07 when the PS3 was released.

Ken @ May 14th 2007 10:43PM

Haha, that's awesome...

Hopefully the price drops by then so I can pick it up. If not, it'll probably go to the 360 anyway. :)

Fatima @ May 14th 2007 10:45PM

Waits for the xbots..

Ian Von Porter @ May 14th 2007 10:46PM

When it comes out on 360, it will be on 3 to 5 DVD9s.. like Blue Dragon.

Ryoga Vee @ May 14th 2007 10:47PM

Best news all day. Once again PS3 owner get shafted, that will teach you not to but a $600 console exspecting gold.

Wii60 FTW

http://scholarship.aionline.edu/entry.aspx?id=815

Ken @ May 14th 2007 10:51PM

Ian

I'd rather pay $400 for a console that can play MGS4, and change the disc up to 5 times..

Instead of paying $600 for a Blu-Ray DVD player. :) But that's just me.

kingofwale @ May 14th 2007 10:53PM

man, the years hasn't been kind to Solid Snake, it's only been how many years? this guy has really aged.

hey Snake, if you're out there, Gotta call the person who's doing Mario's facial surgery. 20 years and not a sign of change. :)

mushiking @ May 14th 2007 10:53PM

why is this being reported as fact, when it has yet to be proven true? EBgames also said Metroid Prime 3 is coming out in august, and Lair is delayed till next year. they do this crap all the time.

zwarrior @ May 14th 2007 10:54PM

It will work itself out just like the PSP

Jake @ May 14th 2007 10:59PM

They probably just need time for the 360 and PC versions, as well as time to add motion controls and five new rooms to MGS3 for a simeoutaneous release. What's the big deal?

Strike Man @ May 14th 2007 10:59PM

I'll bite.

Ian, the vast majority of the cutscenes in the MGS series are done in realtime, within the game engine. The only "prerendered" scenes tend to be when the game shows "real" video, and those usually take up less than a few minutes during the entire game. A vast majority of the space on the Blue Dragon discs are the HD FMVs.

I'm not saying that the content of the game WOULDN'T take up multiple DVD-9 discs, but just because it's a "big" next-gen game doesn't mean it'll automatically fill up 27~45 gigs of data.

Jonah Falcon @ May 14th 2007 11:00PM

Hey Alex... I sent this news to you and PS3Fanboy yesterday. >:(

lk @ May 14th 2007 11:02PM

This article is poorly written and simply meant to drive the fanboy senses wild! Here is why:

Reason 1 - The source is from EBgamestop. All gaming news that EBgamestop releases should raise immediate red flags, especially ALL news that pertains to release dates.

Reason 2 - And Alex, the amazing joystiq writer, mentions something the original blog post didn't have. The joystiq article gets MGS4 to 360 rumors.

Reason 3 - Oh my gosh! Another rumor? Alex here decides go crazy and write in some tales about FF13 to 360 rumors.

Reason 4 - And when you thought adding two rumors to this uninteresting news (because who didn't expect MGS4 to get delayed [even if the news came from EBgamestop]?) wasn't enough, Alex takes another step further and just HAS to mention third-party developer's cold feet.

Reason 5 - Before ending the article, Alex adds a bit of Sony smugness reference (Tretton) to almost say that Sony deserved all that shit coming to them. The shit about MGS4 & FF13 to 360 is all rumors though.

Reason 6 - Finally, Alex ends the article by giving a shout out to all the big games for Wii60. His way of saying "Nyah, nyah, nyah, our grass is greener than yours."

Dave @ May 14th 2007 11:04PM

"What's the Xbox 360 and Wii got? Halo 3, Mario and maybe Metroid, pffffft. Like those are going to sell systems."

Are u kidding me? People are DYING to play Halo 3. Whether u think its a good game or not is irrelevant. Just like what happened with the xbox, people will buy the 360 just so they can play Halo 3.

And Sony sucks btw, they always make claims stating that the console will revolutionize the gaming industry, just look at the psp; If it werent for the homebrew community it'd probably be a failure.

Patrick @ May 14th 2007 11:06PM

Lol at the retards that still think wii60 still applies... lmao!

kingofwale @ May 14th 2007 11:10PM

apparently Dave the fanboy couldn't see sarcasm even if it comes in with Master Chief's suit and hit him with a shotgun

hmmm.

ExMcloud @ May 14th 2007 11:12PM

Metal gear isn't gonna take up that much space honestly. Lets be serious. Yo boys wanna make money. Somebody look up the sales of the Metal gear series and tell me how much money the game will make. I love Metal Gear but just because its critically acclaimed doesn't mean its gonna make money out of the Wazzu. Basically all I'm saying is the game will fit on a DVD 9 and everybody knows it. AND BY THE WAY BLUE DRAGON IS A 3 DISK RPG. THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE. LIKE OLD TIMES. 3 DISK RPG FTW!!!

NOOBS L2P RPG's.LOL

bootsielon @ May 14th 2007 11:17PM

ExMcCloud:

Not everything can be put into multiple discs. GTA4 has to remain in one disc, and they're having trouble with it. Same thing with 2-days to Vegas. The Getaway will need that space. Those kinds of games can NOT use disc changes mid-game, since you have to be able to stream the whole world (city) at any point the console requires to do so.

As long as there is no games on demand for consoles, Blu-ray on games FTW

gir @ May 14th 2007 11:18PM

Don't worry guys. Snake will be in SSBB. That'll fix all your needs :)

kingofwale @ May 14th 2007 11:18PM

@lk

Absolutely agree, therefore I didn't even bite on the "intentionally promoted" flamewar

See, I do realize it helps the ratings (and post counts) if it becomes a flame-war

but where's the journalism integrity?? Joystiq, please save the rest for fanboys.

bootsielon @ May 14th 2007 11:19PM

And by the way Sliwinsky, there are plenty of killer games coming exclusively for PS3 other than the games you mention.

Jason @ May 14th 2007 11:22PM

Maybe Kojima's view isn't so slanted now and he's embracing the 5X install base on the 360... Hell, bring on an awful Wii version too! PS3, have you hit the ground yet?

wackychan @ May 14th 2007 11:25PM

The drink coaster/paper weight/Blueray player/cancer curing machine really needs this game. Original games don't usually bring in the customers like sequels or series games.

DrizaG @ May 14th 2007 11:29PM

I'm bout 2 give up on my PS3 I've been playn my little son's xBox360 luv'n it! I still luv Madden on PS3 but they blew it on this one the system cool but its not worth the price I got the big dawg but only really luv 1 game JohnM dat's it, plus the 360 just seems more fun whith it's other features( Like xbox live movies ect ect. ( I never thought I would be say'n this ) But I fear PS3 will end up like Sega if they dont stop with all the BS and man up ! & come up with a plan to keep pace w/ Wii & 360, maybe a lower price ( PS3lite ) with less 'High end features' & price it nice I never thought I would be waiting for Halo over MGear God the world is coming to an END I'm out !

Jason @ May 14th 2007 11:32PM

Sweet Jesus, I pray for your son. I'm bout 2 puke, gangsta!

Rod Munch @ May 14th 2007 11:53PM

I love the dates these sellers give for releases. Its like a game. Maybe there's some law that makes them have to state a release date, no matter how fragile, for them to be able to get preorders in... ah whatever I'm tired. By the time it comes out I'm hoping the PS3 will have some new games people will be excited about like the 360 had Gears. And I don't mean that LittleBig Planet. To me the PS3 and its games are like the Zune, you know the hype was there, and the hardware is more than decent, but the software to back it up just never gets here... woo that's my millionth post tonight praising the zune... and my first ever praising the PS3.

Cheapo @ May 14th 2007 11:55PM

Why does everyone still rip on the PS3 price? It's not even relevant to this post, but if anyone wants a PS3 just check out ebay and (if you're patient or lucky) get a used one for $350. At any rate, you can easily get one for about $420.

I bought a 360 at launch only to have it die on me 6 months later, and it cost me well over $800 after accessories and games. I got a used 20 gig PS3 on ebay with PS2 games (okami, gow 1 and 2) for $350, and it runs like a champ. 360 has better games, but that pos is incredibly unreliable.

shase @ May 14th 2007 11:56PM

so a game's estimate release date is pushed back and rumors of porting comes up... i dont really see much of 360 games get the same "treatment" from joystiq..

Sesur @ May 14th 2007 11:57PM

@bootsielon

Not completely true, a "world" can be contained on all discs while swapping merely progresses the story/missions/whatever. Think Final Fantasy 7, 8, etc...

sheppy @ May 15th 2007 12:03AM

Ugh, I'm not even gonna bite.

wackychan @ May 15th 2007 12:05AM

So the release date got pushed back for a port to the 360? Big deal, lets move on.

Gamble20 @ May 15th 2007 12:15AM

If any of you think metal gear is going multi platform, you need to stop dreaming.

that almost like Gears going non-exclusive, because Microsoft only publishes it they dont make it...BULL...its staying on PS3 and its just a way for the xbox360 fanboys to prance around like they are the best for "stealing" exclusives that have probably already past their prime. (with exception to GTA of course)

I don't hate the 360, I hate the fans because they think they are the best, and they have number been the number one selling system. At least Sony fanboys have their history, and nintenbots have their history+present, xbox has never been number one

gir @ May 15th 2007 12:15AM

........and the wii

I would really like to see the graphics on that game on the wii. It'll be very interesting and exciting at the same time. I think?!?

Gamble20 @ May 15th 2007 12:16AM

I know I might get some heated responses for that comment so I apologize if i start some kind of war from that

dinneh @ May 15th 2007 12:22AM

um, gamestop never even took preorders on this. I know for a fact they didn't.

jason @ May 15th 2007 12:29AM

33

Metal Gear Solid can go multi platform there has been a Metal Gear Solid on the Gamecube before and PS3 isn't selling that great right now and unless they come up with games better than 360's and look better then it won't sell to much better. So with that said I think Kojima wants to make money on the game since it doesn't sell like a game like Halo does, so they could put it multiplatform with the 360.

Alex Atkin UK @ May 15th 2007 12:31AM

Gamble20, of course you aren't sorry for creating a war. If you didn't want to create a war you wouldn't have posted such a load of crap.

Gears of War is a MICROSOFT game, they OWN it so it can NEVER go multi-platform without their permission which basically means PC.

Metal Gear Solid is NOT owned by Sony, so it CAN go multi-platform. In fact a PC version of Metal Gear Solid has even been published by Microsoft in the past so the relationship is already there.

So yes, it CAN happen, not saying it will though. I mean who thought Sony would let go of GTA? Who thought Devil May Cry 4 would come to 360?

Copious @ May 15th 2007 12:43AM

This is why I hardly read Joystiq anymore. Why would I go out of my way to read uninformed opinion? Developers of both games (MGS4 and FFXII) have stated recently (as in the past two weeks recently, not once upon a time) in no uncertain terms, that both games are exclusive to PS3. Why are you just continuing to propgate unsubstantiated rumors? This is the tabloid journalism of the games industry. You're getting people's hopes up based on nothing but what must be wishful thinking.

What does a delay for MGS 4 have to do with platform exclusivity anyway?

GoonieGooGoo @ May 15th 2007 12:43AM

How is this a surprise?? What MGS game didn't have multiple delays......???

DUH!!!

Sony is officially screwed especially with FFXIII likely pushed to 2008.

And XMAS 2009 doesn't get any better with GEARS OF WAR 2 (360) and probably METROID (Wii)

GoonieGooGoo @ May 15th 2007 12:46AM

Also.....with the poor sales #s of PS3......MGS could EASILY go multi-platform......even a delayed release for 360......as Konami cannot ignore the 10+ Million 360 Systems (and almost guaranteed base growth with HALO 3).

It's not like MGS has not been on both nintendo and XBOX platforms.

nerfgun @ May 15th 2007 1:20AM

Way to go, Joystiq. You got your stupid trolling hit count up.

Ignore the fact that Kojima has explicitly denied a 360 port of MGS4. Ignore the fact that there is not one scintilla of evidence that any Final Fantasy games are goint o 360. Ignore all the facts. But by all means, do troll for hits.

This is what I fucking hate about the gaming press. Sometimes I swear its run by fucking baboons.

horngreen @ May 15th 2007 1:30AM

Well if it HAS to be on one disc like some in here have claimed then the game will just be cut down to fit on one disc. Sony has no exclusives so the game will be made for the 360 and ported to the PS3...LOL I love it. The way the PS2 fanboys just RAILED against the original Xbox is why I only owned a PS1. Look at us now, the PS3 isn't doing great and don't say "give it time" as we all know if a console does poorly out of the gate it never catches up.

Snukadaman @ May 15th 2007 1:53AM

"When it comes out on 360, it will be on 3 to 5 DVD9s.. like Blue Dragon.

ill take 3-5 discs then it not making it on too the 360 itself...and in the long run save 200 bucks for the trouble....sign me up

Negativecool @ May 15th 2007 1:56AM

I'm hoping this is because of a story that was run not too long ago about Kojima being excited about the passing of litigation and the possible ensuing rumble. I'm HOPING they got their shit together, and Kojima is bringing out and polishing some shelved ideas about the game with rumble. Otherwise....this probably means Sony is screwed. 'F'-ed in da 'A' if you will.

Negativecool @ May 15th 2007 1:59AM

Lighten up nerfgun for christ sakes. You're going to give yourself a stroke before your 14th birthday!

samfish @ May 15th 2007 2:39AM

"This is what I fucking hate about the gaming press. Sometimes I swear its run by fucking baboons."

I find this line to be far, far, far too funny..
samfish LIKE baboons!

Anyway, if it's true, Sony is essentially dead in the water for 2007. New franchises and IPs are great, and I do applaud Sony for pumping out so many, but most of them aren't really going to sell systems.

Although I'm really not sure if even MGS4 is really a system seller, either. MGS3 sold only HALF of what MGS2 did.
Still pretty big numbers, admittedly, but if MGS4 only sells about 1.5 million, I think a lot of people would be tempted to call it a disappointment.

rokerovakero @ May 15th 2007 4:37AM

I'm buying a Wii, if they mess up this game launching this year, I'm getting all Nintendo games and no Sony stuff...

Evan @ May 15th 2007 6:48AM

@Gamble20 "If any of you think metal gear is going multi platform, you need to stop dreaming."

What allegiance does Metal Gear have to Sony? Sony doesn't own it, Solid Snake appears in Super Smash Bros Brawl!

@Cheapo "Why does everyone still rip on the PS3 price?"

Because its $200 more, and the only difference is a couple exclusive games like MGS4. The graphics and gameplay are pretty much exactly the same as the 360, and any differences are minor and don't justify spending an extra $200. It feels like Sony is holding these games ransom, and demanding that we pay $200 more for the privilege of having access to a few games like MSG4. That's why it's relevent.