You can dispense with all the rumors, because it becomes clearer with each passing day that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is, and will remain, exclusive to the PlayStation 3.
In a recent Reuters article about dying exclusives, it seems that MGS4 falls into the preceding category (duh). With the likes of previously exclusive franchises like Devil May Cry and Virtua Fighter going multi-platform, it seems "console exclusive" in this generation is an oxymoron. But Konami has already said they're "not set up for" multi-platform development, which was more evidence that MGS4 wouldn't be going to the Xbox 360 or any other platform. Furthermore, in this Reuters piece, MGS4 assistant producer Ryan Payton made it very clear-
"We're telling our fans that if you want to play 'Metal Gear Solid 4', you have to buy a PS3," he said. "The PlayStation brand has always been good to us, and we're pretty bullish on the PS3."
Obviously, some will make the argument that the higher development costs this generation makes it more difficult to make a profitable exclusive. But as Sony has said before, they're not too worried about losing exclusives; they're more worried if titles actually leave the PS3 entirely for another platform.
"We understand publishers are needing to recoup their investment," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony. "From our perspective, as long as the games aren't going exclusive to other platforms, PS3 gamers are not actually losing anything."
Dille also mentioned they have "compensated" and currently have 15 internal studios working on PS3 titles, which is more than Microsoft and Nintendo combined. Payton is well aware of the business end of things, too, as he says MGS4 "needs to sell over a million copies on its first day" to take care of that costly production. ...don't worry, Ryan, we have a feeling that shouldn't be a problem, despite the early statistics. So far, only two PS3 titles have managed to sell over a million, while the PS2 had over 100 titles that hit the mark. Yeah, but the PS2 has been out for over 7 years, the PS3 has only been available one year, and giant titles like MGS4 (and Grand Theft Auto IV, Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy XIII, Killzone 2, etc.) aren't here yet.
IDC videogame analyst Billy Pidgeon says top-notch next-gen games cost between $10 million and $50 million to produce, which means that title needs to haul in the goods...quickly. But as far as the PS3 and MGS4 goes, it could be a match made in heaven.
"There are definitely a lot of people still sitting on the fence about buying a PS3, and this game could be the one that gets them to buy it," Pidgeon said.
Makes sense to us.
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