This latest bundle announcement should without a doubt coerce those on the fence into purchasing the PlayStation 3. To coincide with the highly anticipated North American launch of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots in late Q2 2008, SCEA will introduce a PS3 bundle, which will include an 80GB PS3, the upcoming MGS4 and a DualShock 3 wireless controller for the current price of the MotorStorm 80GB bundle ($499).
"Working closely with our retail and publishing partners and sharing our hardware and software roadmaps at Destination PlayStation gives us a great opportunity to outline some key milestones for the year. In response to incredible demand, we will be manufacturing more 80GB PS3s for North America and the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots 80GB PS3 bundle is an ideal way to offer that continued value to our consumers," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. "With Blu-ray having won the format war, our stellar software line-up and a broad product portfolio, we will continue to drive the incredible momentum we’ve been generating since last fall."
Also revealed at Destination PlayStation, "A nationwide pre-sell promotion will enable gamers to pre-order Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and be guaranteed access to a multiplayer beta test for Metal Gear Online scheduled for late April."
Finally, a possible launch date seems to have been leaked from the Destination PlayStation conference. Rumor has it that June 12 will be the epic day that MGS4 releases; we’ve e-mailed Konami in an effort to verify this date. We’ll keep you posted on all things Metal Gear Solid 4.