Yesterday Xboxfamily announced that Metal Gear Solid 4 is coming to the Xbox 360 sometime in 2009. Their inside source, a Konami distribution representative, said that the Xbox 360 version of Metal Gear Solid 4 has been in production for many months despite claims by Kojima of the game's PS3 exclusivity. This may hurt the feelings of many a PS3 fanboy, but for Konami, Kojima and the Metal Gear franchise it may not be such a bad move.
So far there has been no official confirmation of this rumor. Until either Kojima or Konami confirm it, I'm not buying it. Of course there are many reasons why Metal Gear Solid 4 should be released on the Xbox 360. The biggest reason I can think of is that a 360 version of MGS4 would take pressure off the PS3 version, which must sell a million copies on day one to be considered a success. Could the team be working on a 360 version just in case MGS4 'flops' on the PS3? Perhaps. Kojima has even said that the 360 is technically capable of running MGS4.
Why wouldn't Konami release MGS4 on the 360? Exclusivity. PS3 exclusivity definitely works in Sony's favor and the MGS4 team has always affirmed it's loyalty to Sony. Metal Gear Solid 4 is considered by many to be, hands down, the most anticipated PS3 title in all of 2008. If any game is going to propel the sale of PS3s it's going to be MGS4. Obviously this is the reason Sony wants exclusivity. At the very least they surely want to prevent news of a 360 version from hindering their expected sales boost.
Perhaps Konami, realizing there's a chance MGS4 will not be initially profitable on the PS3, began development on a 360 version - just in case. Having committed to Sony and PS3 exclusivity, Konami would conceal the project to keep from hurting PS3 sales. Then, months after Metal Gear Solid 4 has sold tons of PS3's and yet not quite reached it's own astronomical sales goals, Konami might announce Metal Gear Solid 4 on the 360 with added content and MGO on Xbox Live. What a happy ending that would be.
A larger question in my mind is whether the purpose of a 360 version of MGS4 is to make up for lost profit or an actual investment in the continuation of the franchise, ie: MGS5...
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