Metal Gear Solid 4 not compromised for 360, may slip out of 2007
[ps3] [xbox360]During the latest edition of Kojima Productions' Kojima Productions Report, host Ryan Payton hinted at a possible release date slip for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) and assured fans that the game is being optimized from the ground up for PlayStation 3. Staffers from 1UP joined Payton to discuss the game, and asked early on when the game will be released. "We're working hard," said Payton. "That said, I don't think people would be too mad if it came out a few months late. It's still MGS4, everybody's still going to buy it and love it, right?"
Recently, GameStop/EBGames switched its internal release date for Metal Gear Solid 4 from September 1, 2007 to March 1, 2008. Retailer release dates are rarely accurate months in advance, barring an early official publisher announcement. This week's comments from Payton, however, may imply that the game needs a bit more time than initially projected. Past Metal Gear Solid 4 trailers have featured a general release period of 2007.
During a reader mail section, Payton addressed fears seen among some of the dedicated Metal Gear fanbase that the game will end up being released for Xbox 360 as well as PlayStation 3. One 1UP staffer pointed out that he feels it a legitimate concern that, if the game is being developed concurrently for another platform, it may suffer from a lack of sufficient total resources. "I can tell you honestly at this point, we have not changed the game in any form with the idea of that we've got to do this on 360," responded Payton. "Put aside whether or not we're developing for 360 or not, but the game is built on the PS3 hardware, as you guys have known for the past two years almost."
Payton's measured response, which stops short of any indication that Metal Gear Solid is in fact not in development for Xbox 360, may indicate that publisher Konami has elected to take a dual platform approach to the game in a modern development environment that has quickly seen the concept of high-budget third party exclusives disappear almost entirely.
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