Metal Gear Solid 4: Can Solid Snake foil Microsoft’s plan for world domination?

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Shimmering onto store shelves Wednesday will be the final installment of the Metal Gear Solid video game franchise from renowned Japanese developer Hideo Kojima.

Unlike other top game franchises that rode Sony’s PlayStation train to riches, such as Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid isn’t promiscuous. That is to say, it hasn’t messed around with the other next-gen consoles, the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Having sold more than 22 million copies for various versions of the PlayStation over the last decade, Metal Gear Solid remains an exclusive franchise for the PS3.

Loyalty between the two Japanese companies is the primary driver. ‘If you look at the Metal Gear Solid franchise, the PlayStation is where it has its roots,’ said Anthony Crouts, Konami’s vice president of marketing. ‘Sony has always been a good strategic partner for us.’

Sony is hoping the title can energize sales of the console, which is currently running third in the multibillion-dollar race.

Here’s the latest score, according to the respective companies:

• Wii, made by Nintendo: 24 million sold.
• Xbox 360, from Microsoft: 19 million sold.
• PlayStation 3: 12.8 million sold.

‘For Sony, this game is really its best shot at closing the gap with Xbox,’ said Geoff Keighley, editor of Gameslice. ‘Metal Gear Solid 2 was a landmark game for the PlayStation 2. The question is: Will the new game give PS2 owners a reason to finally go out and upgrade to a PS3?’

In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, protagonist Solid Snake sneaks deep into enemy territory to foil enemy plans for world domination. Let’s see if he can do the same against Microsoft and Nintendo.

-- Alex Pham

Image of Solid Snake, the combat hero of the Metal Gear Solid game series. Credit: Konami.