Sony Unveils Regular, Limited Edition MGS 4 PS3 Bundles

Sony has announced that the release of the eagerly awaited Metal Gear Solid 4 for PlayStation 3 on June 12th, 2008 is to be accompanied by two bundles of PlayStation 3 hardware with the game: a standard edition, featuring a piano black 80GB PlayStation 3 and Dualshock 3 controller, and a limited edition, featuring a PlayStation 3 in gunmetal grey. Though Sony did not reveal exact specifications of the PlayStation 3 hardware in each bundle on their announcement at the PlayStation Blog, Konami Online’s Brandon Laurino stated that the standard edition was a “resurrection” of the original 80GB PlayStation, implying that the hardware would still feature the software compatibility stripped out of the currently available 40GB PlayStation 3. Few details of the North American version of the limited edition bundle were revealed, but Laurino referred to it as “the one seen selling out in a matter of moments in Japan at the KonamiStyle web store” implying that it would have the same feature set as the original Japanese bundle, which included a 40GB gunmetal grey PS3, a Dualshock controller plus Metal Gear Solid 4. No pricing has been revealed for either edition. Metal Gear Solid 4 will be released as two editions on June 12th, 2008, with the limited edition available exclusively at GameStop and featuring a collectible box with exclusive artwork by Yoji Shinkawa, an additional Blu-ray disc containing two "Making of…" documentaries, the MGS4 Soundtrack and an exclusive artbook. In addition, Sony have revealed that the beta of Metal Gear Solid Online, currently exclusive to users who pre-order Metal Gear Solid 4, is to be available for download from April 17th 2008 to May 5th 2008, with game play will be available from April 21st 2008 to May 5th 2008.