US Metal Gear Solid 4 date and MGO beta

By Tom Bramwell Published 27 February, 2008

Euro announcement expected this week.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will be released in North America in "late Q2 2008", according to SCEA, with a Metal Gear Online "Starter Pack" to launch "to support online gameplay".

Those who pre-order MGS4 in the US will also be guaranteed access to a "multiplayer beta test" in late April, although that statement doesn't seem to rule out other paths into the test.

Konami has confirmed the above to Eurogamer, but a release date announcement for Europe is not expected until later in the week.

Assistant producer Ryan Payton has previously said that a "simultaneous worldwide release" - albeit not on exactly the same day - is expected.

The news of MGS4's arrival emerged at a retail conference called "Destination PlayStation", with Kotaku reporting that the specific MGS4 date is 12th June - something Sony's press release is coy about.

Not that it's unhappy about the news, obviously; indeed, Sony plans to celebrate with a fancy US bundle consisting of an 80GB PlayStation 3, MGS4, and DualShock 3 for USD 499, which is approximately GBP 250 / EUR 330.

Check out our Metal Gear Solid 4 first impressions and indeed our Metal Gear Online first impressions elsewhere on the site so I can retire (see - it's win win).

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (16) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • BM #1 4 years ago

    Get that 80Gb bundle in the UK and I'd be hard pushed not to buy it...as long as it has the same 'additions' as the 60Gb version, as opposed to the 40Gb we're currently lumped with

  • Darren #2 4 years ago

    'Late Q2 2008' so that means end of June then? Still at least with PS3 games being region-free, we deprived Europeans can import it rather than wait until Christmas which is likely to be it's official release date over here.

    And £250 for an 80 GB HDD PS3 with a Dualshock 3 and MGS4 would be great if it was released here at that price... but we all know it's likely to be more like £300.
    Edited by 1 at 27/02/08 @ 10:04

  • shogo10 #3 4 years ago

    Strange time to release a game as big as MGS4 if its late June. Most people are away on holidays during that time, shame since I was hoping to play it before travelling.

  • skillian #4 4 years ago

    'Late Q2 2008' so that means end of June then? Still at least with PS3 games being region-free, we deprived Europeans can import it rather than wait until Christmas which is likely to be it's official release date over here.

    The article says to expect a simultaneous worldwide release. I know these things don't always work out as planned but it seems a bit of a leap to go from that to a 6 month wait.

  • convercide #5 4 years ago

    @ Darren

    If the current one is £300 will this one be £400? :(

  • PEANUTXXI #6 4 years ago

    Nice. I wonder if importing may be more worthwhile than buying the 300GBP 40GB console. any one imported a US PS3? Just curious on import duties or compatibility problems?

  • zedzee #7 4 years ago

    UK/Euroland will get this for Xmas '08, if we're lucky.

    Otherwise, why would the announcement/dates only mention a US release?

    This reads more like it will be the usual 3-stage approach to the launch with UK/Euroland being last per usual. Probably get a statement from Sony in the summer stating things like 'translation requirements were the main challenge' or 'EU certification' or 'BBFC required some revisions to be made', blah, blah, etc.

    Oh and the bundle will be available of course - just not at that lovely US price; it will come in more at around £400 or more!

    Utter cr*p!

    EDIT:

    To all those looking at importing a PS3 from US, be advised that although you can probably play games and Blu-Ray discs that are region free, the DVD standard is another matter altogether, as that does have region locking. So your US PS3 will only be able to play Region 1 discs. That's what I know, unless Sony can tell you otherwise.
    Edited by 2 at 27/02/08 @ 10:20

  • betahoven #8 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:36:16 17-12-2011

  • sanctusmortis #9 4 years ago

    £400. We don't get good deals, remember.

    I'd rather know I was buying a good game, though, so I'd only get it post-review anyhow.

  • Apostle #10 4 years ago

    Hello?! Europe here! I like my games too, Sony.

  • SlackMaster #11 4 years ago

    If it's USD 499 it always seems to translate to £499 over here ... It's crap when that happens.

  • syphaa #12 4 years ago

    ARGHHHHH!
    Why can't we just have it simple some times.

    Release MGS4 simultaneous worldwide.
    Release a PS3 bundle for the same price as current £299 but with MGS4 & Dualshock 3.

    Why are things always so complicated...
    Looks like I may be importing if there will be a difference in launch times.

    Just need to sort a PS3 out. Not sure when to purchase though...

  • Sneti_Joker #13 4 years ago

    Lik-Sang has been closed for years now. Culprit? Sony :D.

  • Olemak #14 4 years ago

    syphaa:
    "Why can't we just have it simple some times.

    Release MGS4 simultaneous worldwide.
    Release a PS3 bundle for the same price as current £299 but with MGS4 & Dualshock 3.

    Why are things always so complicated... "

    MGS4 will have a simultaneous worldwide release, at least that what they've stated all along.

    As for the bundle and the price, we should probably keep the extremely weak dollar in mind. That makes it smart to buy american right now, but Sony America wont inflate their (domestic) prices in lock-step with currency fuctuations, and vice versa.

    What does make some sense, however, is to buy the biggest suitcase you can find (and fit on a plane, of course), go to the stats, fill said suitcase to the brim with PS3's and ather necceceties. "Nothing to declare" on the return trip, of course. Flog some of the stuff on local ebay or whatever. What you save should pays for the trip, with the added bonus of experiencing the big apple etc. You know, where GTA 4 takes place, sorta.

    Beware: some manufactureres put in "import-proofing" in their products. BOSE, for instance, is about half the price in the US what we pay here; with currency differences on top of that, so I'd really save the trip if I needed a BOSE system and could buy one on a visit over there. But the b'starts have built something in their hardware that doesnt work with the power grid or soemthing in europe, and there's apparently now way to work around it. Not the power cord; somthing about electricity frequencies or something. DANG! Foiled again!

    Oh - and the (US) 80 GB PS3 has PS2 BC as well, doesn't it?

  • keyboardmonkey #15 4 years ago

    @skillian

    I remember reading the same.
    Will be world wide simultaneous release (if possible maybe a days difference or something).

    Lets just hope it is just a lack of foresite of some company to mention that they are also going to release it in Europe at the same time.

    I have a feeling this is not the case and some of us may end up disappointed when it gets delayed for Europe, (wouldn't be surprised if it came to something like.. Not able to produce enough discs in time to meet demand everywhere, so we decided Europe wasn't important and it will take at least 3 months to produce enough discs.)

  • Feanor #16 4 years ago

    June 12th is a Thursday which is an odd day for an American game release. Usually it's Tuesday, or sometimes Sunday.