1P Start

New Year, same old rumors. According to Xbox Family, Metal Gear Solid 4 is in development for the Xbox 360, and will be released twelve to fourteen months after the PlayStation 3 release.

This RUMOR was given new life after the posting of an anonymous letter from a “Konami distribution rep’s mouth”. As for the 12-14 month timeline? I can only assume that is speculation on the author’s part, as that timeframe is not given in the actual letter posted, which you can read after the break.

Thanks for the heads up, [name removed]. For anything that resembles any shift in strategy, or product announcement, or even news of something happening with a third party, we’re always going to stick with “we haven’t announced anything about ” Every day we see rumors, most false, but some true, and we can’t confirm/deny everything out there for any number of reasons.

Publishing rumors doesn’t rub us the wrong way. If it weren’t for sites publishing rumors, there wouldn’t be much for most sites to talk about J. There really only are a few things that will rub us the wrong way: publishing content given under NDA, getting/publishing confidential information from people who are under NDA, invading/hacking systems where confidential information is housed without permission to gather information, making false/racial/sexual/inappropriate personal attacks, deliberately publishing false/misleading information, you get the idea.

As for retailers/employees/partners intentionally leaking information, we pay rather close attention to how/when those occur. If it happens that one site happens to get regular access to confidential information, I end up getting bombarded with questions from around the company about the relationship we have with the site, with what kind of access we’re giving the site, etc. Not pleasant for my team, especially because we’re doing everything we can to help community, not limit their access in any way.
I appreciate the note. I certainly will share everything I can, and I’ll often rattle enough cages to get to an acceptable answer. In this case, there’s really nothing we can say other than the obligatory “no comment.”

From what I gathered, all this message confirms is that PR folk don’t really mind rumors being spun. It keeps our sites fresh, and keeps them busy. Nowhere is there anything remotely hinting towards a confirmation in that letter, and just because this particular nameless source is a bit more descriptive than the typical “no comment” that we’re used to, in no way confirms anything.

But you know, if this brings about an end to these rumors… whatever. Believe what you want, we’ll know for certain in 2009. But this confirms nothing, and I really… really… really wish everyone would just accept that odds are MGS4 won’t be 360 bound. If it does go to the 360, I’ll give away a copy of the game AND a Xbox 360.

I promise it.

Metal Gear Solid 4