That claim comes from a posting on insider gaming news source Gameswank (no, really) suggesting that supporters of Solid Snake who signed on for updates on the progress of Konami's top title recently received an email notifying them that the release date had slipped from September 2007 to March 2008.

The email, which originally appeared on the PS3 Forums bulletin board, went:

Dear Customer,

You have signed up to receive release date changes for:

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Old Release Date - 9/1/2007 New Release Date - 3/1/2008

NOTE: The product release date is the best estimate as to when the product will become available.

MGS 4 Won’t be Compromised for 360’s Sake

While not ruling out the possibility of Metal Gear Solid 4 turning up on Xbox 360, Ryan Payton of Kojima Productions has allayed Metal Gear fans fears that the titles ambition might be compromised if the game was being developed with a 360 port in mind. Speaking on his Kojima Production Report podcast, Payton said that the game was being built exclusively on PS3 hardware to the specifications Hideo Kojima planned from the beginning. It was inferred that no special allowances were being made in anticipation of a 360 version of the game, which would have to fit onto discs with a smaller capacity than the Blu-ray discs used for PS3 games. "I can tell you honestly at this point, we have not changed the game in any form with the idea of 'oh, we got to do this on 360.' Put aside whether or not we're developing for 360 or not, the game is built on the PS3 hardware, as you guys have known for the past two years or so." Paytons comments come in the wake of rumors resurfacing this week that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will be the next in a growing list of once PS3 exclusives to go multiplatform.

Metal Gear Solid 4 in 2008

All of you who pre-ordered Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PS3 over at Gamestop, should be aware that a new release date is now set for the game - namely, March 2008.