As much as the original PlayStation did to expand the games market past the old ‘kids and nerds’ group, gaming back then was still a relatively niche pastime compared to what it is these days. A console only had to appeal to the hardcore gamer in order to be successful, and if it had a couple of big exclusives that could snag a decent chunk of that market, it had a pretty good grounding for success. Now though, there are a lot of other people to consider. Gaming is a mainstream, mass-market pursuit, and consoles have to cater to that. Metal Gear Solid 4 unfortunately, just isn’t going to cut it as part of the bigger picture.

The game looks incredible. Really incredible. But who does it look incredible to? We, the hardcore gamers. Those millions of new players who are buying consoles as part of the new expanded audience aren’t the people it’s going to appeal to. Put simply, there’s a very good chance that Metal Gear 4 just isn’t going to sell many new consoles.

Think about it this way. Konami have repeatedly said that the reason they want to release MGS4 as a PS3 exclusive is that the PlayStation brand has been good to them over the years. But that synonymity is the problem. Hardcore MGS fans are often hardcore Sony fans as well, meaning that a lot of those machines Snake will sell have actually already been sold. And don’t go thinking that this is going to be a situation like Gran Turismo, where a hardcore game sold a metric shedload of consoles by having massive cross-over appeal. GT sold to the masses because it was about driving. It was a hardcore game about something that everyone relates to in real life. Metal Gear Solid 4 isn’t.

And as for all those people who became MGS fans when some of the previous games got their later multi-format re-releases? They were happy to wait then, so can you really see them rushing out to buy a second console now because Sony are saying it really is an exclusive this time?

Which brings us onto our last point.