Metal Gear Solid 4: Will PlayStation 3 Finally Get its Halo 3?

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Sony Computer Entertainment has a lot riding on the next mission of the Metal Gear series. Not only does the game’s protagonist Solid Snake have to deal with defective DNA causing him to age prematurely, Solid’s real mission is to bulk up sagging PS3 sales.

Discuss "Metal Gear Solid 4: Will PlayStation 3 Finally Get its Halo 3?" here. Read the article.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Well lets hope so because this is Sony's bread and butter exclusive. This game will not change there standings in console worlwide sales but it will give sony and its fanboys some hope. Even though Halo 3 sold a lot of copies and was good for Microsoft the game itself was a pretty dissapointing and very mediocre. There are better single player and multiplayer first person shooters for the xbox 360.

 

[denissawyer]

General Observation

Just a thought... I bought my 360 just over a year ago and for me the decision to buy one was heavily influenced by my friends. I find that the circle of friends you have influence your decision primarily due to the online capabilities of the consoles available today and ones desire to play with friends all the while mashing a few buttons. My decision to purchase my 360 came as a result that I had a few friends who bought one already and a couple more were going to buy one shortly after I bought mine. Games alleviate some of the sales pressures hindered upon the ps3 since this release may push a number of consumers to buy a ps3 and hence influence other people within the friendship spectrum of this individual to do the same. Just as Halo influenced a number of people to buy consoles MGS 4 may just as well do the same. However this being stated I dont believe that the hype surrounding one game will solve the ps3 sales issues for several reasons. First off all the major titles that the ps3 has sold itself on such as Resistance etc... have according to what I know from my select friends who own ps3's not exactly noteworthy. Furthermore with companies banking on not only games but content as a commodity, companies such as Rockstar are selling rights to content specifically to consoles which also hinders the manufacturer of sales. This being said 2008-2009 may just as well be the year of the ps3 since MGS4 is being released Final Fantasy as well as GT5 none of which I am a fan of but they are big sellers atleast they have the potential to be.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Seth=L]

I wish that Rockstar hadn't branched out to Microsoft. If they hadn't they could have made GTA4 much better. Instead they had to limit the graphical differences between the release on both platforms. Although it's very possible, maybe even likely, that even if GTA4 was a PS3 exclusive it may still not have utilized the cell processor in the PS3. Based on the graphic renderings I have seen of MGS4 it's highly likely they used the cell processor.

(sorry for ranting about rockstar, I realize that's not the topic)

 

[MinusTheBear]

I wish that Rockstar hadn't branched out to Microsoft. If they hadn't they could have made GTA4 much better. Instead they had to limit the graphical differences between the release on both platforms. Although it's very possible, maybe even likely, that even if GTA4 was a PS3 exclusive it may still not have utilized the cell processor in the PS3. Based on the graphic renderings I have seen of MGS4 it's highly likely they used the cell processor.

(sorry for ranting about rockstar, I realize that's not the topic)

I totally disagree with you. I would say the PS3 hindered the overall product of GTA IV due to the fact that GTA IV was delayed due to the technical challanges of developing for the Cell architchure. The delay for GTA IV was actually the developers trying to bring the game up to the quality of the xbox 360 version. They did not want to release a inferior, glitchy version of this game to PS3 owners then experience the backlash. In the development phases of this game the devs were having major issues with the cell. If Rockstar did not have to waste their time scratching their heads trying to figure out the glitches with programming for the cell they could have spent more time on the game. This game would have been better if it was 360 exclusive IMO because the game developers could do a lot more things with the 360 dev tools for this game. The GTA series was never about graphics anyways even though I thought the graphics were excellent in this installment.

 

[seejeffgo]

I wonder how many Xbox 360 sales are due to the Rrod.

 

[gus6464]

I totally disagree with you. I would say the PS3 hindered the overall product of GTA IV due to the fact that GTA IV was delayed due to the technical challanges of developing for the Cell architchure. The delay for GTA IV was actually the developers trying to bring the game up to the quality of the xbox 360 version. They did not want to release a inferior, glitchy version of this game to PS3 owners then experience the backlash. In the development phases of this game the devs were having major issues with the cell. If Rockstar did not have to waste their time scratching their heads trying to figure out the glitches with programming for the cell they could have spent more time on the game. This game would have been better if it was 360 exclusive IMO because the game developers could do a lot more things with the 360 dev tools for this game. The GTA series was never about graphics anyways even though I thought the graphics were excellent in this installment.

That is incorrect. The PS3 version of GTA4 was completed months before the 360 version and Rockstar had to wait to release it for PS3 because of their contract with MS. Also Rockstar said in the same press release that they were having trouble packing the game into a DVD-9 and that is why they had so many delays. For them making the PS3 went a lot smoother because they didn't have any storage space limitations.

This is also one of the reasons you will not see MGS4 on 360 because of the rule MS has about installing games into the HDD. MGS4 installs 12GB of data to the HDD to help with loading and that just simply can't be done on the 360. Square has also said that FF13 and VS13 will be the same way.

 

[MinusTheBear]

That is incorrect. The PS3 version of GTA4 was completed months before the 360 version and Rockstar had to wait to release it for PS3 because of their contract with MS. Also Rockstar said in the same press release that they were having trouble packing the game into a DVD-9 and that is why they had so many delays. For them making the PS3 went a lot smoother because they didn't have any storage space limitations.

This is also one of the reasons you will not see MGS4 on 360 because of the rule MS has about installing games into the HDD. MGS4 installs 12GB of data to the HDD to help with loading and that just simply can't be done on the 360. Square has also said that FF13 and VS13 will be the same way.

Rockstar Games initially appeared to be committed to the original 16 October 2007 release date; however, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggested that Take-Two may choose to delay the release of the game in order to boost its financial results for 2008 and to avoid competing with the release of other highly anticipated titles, such as Halo 3.[59] Rockstar responded by saying that Grand Theft Auto IV was still on track for release in "late October".[60] On 2 August 2007, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would miss its original release date of 16 October 2007 contrary to their previous statements, and would be delayed to their second fiscal quarter (February–April) of 2008. Their stated reason for the date change was "due to additional development time required to complete the title."[61] In a later conference call with investors, Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick attributed the delay to "almost strictly technological problems... not problems, but challenges."[62] It was revealed that technical difficulties with the PlayStation 3 version of the game contributed to the delay.[63] On 24 January 2008, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would be released on 29 April 2008.

59^ Gibson, Ellie (2007-06-04). Pachter predicts delay for GTA IV. Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved on 2007-04-05.
60^ Wollenschlaeger, Alex (2007-06-04). Rockstar Dismisses Talk of GTA IV Delay (html). Kikizo. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
61^ Take-Two Interactive (2007-08-02). "Launch of Grand Theft Auto IV Now Planned for Fiscal 2008". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-08-02.
62^ McWhertor, Michael (2007-08-02). Take-Two Execs Explain GTA IV Delay. Kotaku. Retrieved on 2007-08-02.
63^ Stephen Totilo (2008-01-24). "Grand Theft Auto IV Developer Announces Release Date, Says Whether There Will Be Another Hot Coffee". Press release.

If you are buying a hard copy of the game there should be no need for installing it on the hardrive, IMO it is wasted space. I could see if the PS3 came with 200gb hardrive but the majority of people have 20gb hardrives. The people with the 20gb hardrives are handicapped for any type of multimedia storage unless investing more money into the console. That is not cool.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I could see if the PS3 came with 200gb hardrive but the majority of people have 20gb hardrives. The people with the 20gb hardrives are handicapped for any type of multimedia storage unless investing more money into the console. That is not cool.[/QUOTE]


I meant 40gb instead of 20gb.

 

[abboudc]

That is incorrect. The PS3 version of GTA4 was completed months before the 360 version and Rockstar had to wait to release it for PS3 because of their contract with MS. Also Rockstar said in the same press release that they were having trouble packing the game into a DVD-9 and that is why they had so many delays. For them making the PS3 went a lot smoother because they didn't have any storage space limitations.

Where did you get this info? All the "early looks" at the game for magazines, reviewers, etc indicated the opposite...insofar as the early demos, etc were all shown on the 360 with a note saying the ps3 version would be identical.

Anyhow, this is about MGS4, not GTA4. MGS4 is a great game, no doubt, in fact it's one of the reasons i bought a PS3. My PS3 was getting a bit dusty

I'm not sure it has the "reach" of Halo though...Halo's main draw is online and it has some staying power there. MGS4's main draw is it's single player campaign, which skews more hardcore, as it's not a pick up and play sort of game, nor will it have the legs of Halo. Lets hope it sells a bunch of consoles and is followed up by more great games in the near future -- God of War 3 comes to mind, and for those of you that don't have a 360 or haven't played it, BioShock is awesome and coming later this year.

It's certainly a work of art, and IMO easily the best the PS3 has to offer thus far. Graphically it's beautiful, the story is engaging, and the acting good.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Where did you get this info? All the "early looks" at the game for magazines, reviewers, etc indicated the opposite...insofar as the early demos, etc were all shown on the 360 with a note saying the ps3 version would be identical.

Anyhow, this is about MGS4, not GTA4. MGS4 is a great game, no doubt, in fact it's one of the reasons i bought a PS3. My PS3 was getting a bit dusty

I'm not sure it has the "reach" of Halo though...Halo's main draw is online and it has some staying power there. MGS4's main draw is it's single player campaign, which skews more hardcore, as it's not a pick up and play sort of game, nor will it have the legs of Halo. Lets hope it sells a bunch of consoles and is followed up by more great games in the near future -- God of War 3 comes to mind, and for those of you that don't have a 360 or haven't played it, BioShock is awesome and coming later this year.

It's certainly a work of art, and IMO easily the best the PS3 has to offer thus far. Graphically it's beautiful, the story is engaging, and the acting good.

Yeah at E3 the xbox 360 version of GTA was shown. About drawing parallels between Halo 3 and MGS4 and their respective consoles, MGS4 is a revolutionary game not only for the PS3 but for the gaming industry in general and this game will set the bar for developers. Halo 3 on the other hand was just a overhyped marketing machine for Microsoft and offered nothing revolutionary to gamers.

 

[gus6464]

Where did you get this info? All the "early looks" at the game for magazines, reviewers, etc indicated the opposite...insofar as the early demos, etc were all shown on the 360 with a note saying the ps3 version would be identical.

Anyhow, this is about MGS4, not GTA4. MGS4 is a great game, no doubt, in fact it's one of the reasons i bought a PS3. My PS3 was getting a bit dusty

I'm not sure it has the "reach" of Halo though...Halo's main draw is online and it has some staying power there. MGS4's main draw is it's single player campaign, which skews more hardcore, as it's not a pick up and play sort of game, nor will it have the legs of Halo. Lets hope it sells a bunch of consoles and is followed up by more great games in the near future -- God of War 3 comes to mind, and for those of you that don't have a 360 or haven't played it, BioShock is awesome and coming later this year.

It's certainly a work of art, and IMO easily the best the PS3 has to offer thus far. Graphically it's beautiful, the story is engaging, and the acting good.

IGN had posted in article in february of this year with a Rockstar rep and he was asked how far along they are coming with the game. The rep said that the PS3 version was already finished and they were just having issues with fitting the game on a dvd for the 360 version. All those other articles about PS3 delaying GTA4 were from october of last year.

 

[j_garcia]

MGS faces one additional obstacle: bringing in new players. Yes there is a lot of hype, but most people don't have any idea what this game is about or that the franchise has been around for so long. The audience is large, but not as wide reaching among all gamers and is definitely not for casual gamers due to its complexity of story and to some extent the gameplay, which can be time consuming and requires a fair amount of thinking vs just run and gun. It is easily one of the best series I've ever played, but they are not really geared towards a mass audience IMO. Will it sell systems? Probably.

 

[Grimfate126]

i love this game...

been playing for 10 hours, and im only on act 3 breifing o.o

the most complicated story to exist in the world, and yet the most interesting. now i just wish i had OctoCamo...

 

[Thunder18]

IGN had posted in article in february of this year with a Rockstar rep and he was asked how far along they are coming with the game. The rep said that the PS3 version was already finished and they were just having issues with fitting the game on a dvd for the 360 version. All those other articles about PS3 delaying GTA4 were from october of last year.

"Apparently the lack of a built-in Blu-ray or HD-DVD drive in the Xbox 360 means that the year and a half old console is already starting to feel growing pains. In an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine, Rockstar creative VP Dan Houser was asked, "On PS3 you've got a guarantee that every machine is going to have a hard-drive and, with Blu-ray, you've got plenty of storage, whereas on Xbox 360 there's no guarantee of a hard-drive and you're working with the DVD format. Does that create limitations?" His answer? "Yep.""
From http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/02/xbox-360-cant-handle-all-of-gta-iv/

If you'll remember one of the issues with previous iterations of GTA was the fact that you had crazy loading times everytime you switched islands. Rockstar saw a chance to save that to the hard drive with the PS3 to improve access times unfortunately, with the Xbox360, there is no guarantee that every owner has a hard drive.

 

[Mw`]

As a 360 owner...I was almost bitten by the PS3 bug when the bundle came out with the $100 GC deal. Unfortunately they were all sold out!