Nov 30, 2007
Most game companies would be happy if a game reached 1 million in sales during its lifetime. But MGS4 assistant producer Ryan Payton told Reuters that Konami's highly-anticipated sneak-and-destroy title will need to hit that milestone on day one due to high development costs.
Payton and Konami are confident in reaching that goal.
"We're telling our fans that if you want to play Metal Gear Solid 4, you have to buy a PS3," Payton said. "...The PlayStation brand has always been good to us, and we're pretty bullish on the PS3."
Despite Konami's confidence, Sony Computer Entertainment America's Peter Dille said that Sony has been anticipating the end of the third-party exclusive.
"We understand publishers are needing to recoup their investment," he said. "From our perspective, as long as the games aren't going exclusive to other platforms, PS3 gamers are not actually losing anything."
To date, just two PS3 games have broke the million mark.
Currently, MGS4 is a third-party exclusive title for PS3, which limits its sales considerably. Worldwide, the console has sold over six million units, around half of the total amount of Xbox 360, a console that could potentially host MGS4 on a technical level.
However, one shouldn't underestimate the Metal Gear fan base. There's an enormous amount of interest surrounding the title, particularly in the US, and with the recent PS3 price cut, the console's installed base is experiencing an uptake in sales.
Source:Next Generation
