Let's assume that MGS4 ships as scheduled in Q2 and Gears 2 ships before the end of 2008. Who sell's more copies by 12:00 on Janueay 1, 2009?

Metal Gear Solid 4
or
Gears of War 2

I hope Gears of War 2 does.

Gears of War 2, not because its might be a better game, but because there are more 360s than ps3s.

To be honest, I don't really care which does as there both good games.
Although I hope that Gears Of War 2 does, And thats purely for the fact that I own a 360, and I enjoy having match's on Live.

Gears will sell more purely out of hype. You know it, I know it. Gears just has more hype and casual gamers follow hype, which leads the majority to Gears.

MGS4 has a good bit of hype itself, but Tinman's right -- Gears 2 will have the hype among the casual gamers. MGS4 is just anticipated among the PS3 adopters that bought one to wait for it and are now finally getting it.

But MGS4 will have a whole five months (minimum) of a headstart on Gears 2, so it may well still have sold more by the beginning of 2009. But it definitely won't sell as many units as fast as Gears 2 will.

gears. because the 360 has a bigger consumer base than the ps3.

gears. because the 360 has a bigger consumer base than the ps3.

Currently 360 does have a bigger base but by the end of the year that lead may not be as significant as it is now.

yes, the gap may close, but there still will be a gap.

Like I said, the 360 will still have a bigger consumer base.

ok I voted for MGS4 on a whim but then I realized that Gears 2 is probably going to sell more regardless of how much better MGS4 is.

I think it will be probably MGS just because it will most likely come out on the 360 and PS3, and even then if it only comes out on the PS3, most owners will get considering it is one of the best PS series to come out

360 Super Hype!

Currently 360 does have a bigger base but by the end of the year that lead may not be as significant as it is now.

It's easy to say "The PS3 outsold the 360 in January! Yay!" But it outsold the 360 by roughly 40,000 units. Even if the PS3 continues to do that through the end of the year, increasing the sales by 10,000 units a month (mind you the 360 had shortages in January), that's only 1 million units that the PS3 caught up to the 360. At that rate, it's going to take years to catch up to the 360. Now, if the 360 stops selling, or Sony doubles its sales, the gap will be significantly reduced.

On topic, I agree with Strika. Gears will sell because there's a larger install base - it will also move some consoles, just not as many as MGS4.

Going by console sales so far, I would have to say Gears because there are more consumers that have 360s right now. With a lot of great games coming to the PS3 this year, Blu Ray winning the HD media war and the 360's high failure rate, I can see PS3s total sales being close to the 360s total sales by the end of the year, so if that were to happen I could see MGS4 sales being greater than Gears.

I think it's going to be Gears.
Metal Gear has always had it's solid fan base, but that's about it. It never really was a mass marketable game, and I don't think 4 will be a mainstream hit either.
Gears is going to dominate simply by appealing to the majority and through hype.

ive never played any of the Metal Gear Solid games so i dont know but man i loved Gears of War..played at my friends house for ageees

Gears of War 2, not because its might be a better game, but because there are more 360s than ps3s.

what he said

I think Gears of war 2 but not by large amount.

Mgs 4 will be available before Gears 2 so even though the 360 has a bigger install base MGS 4 will have a head start and it will sell a lot of ps3 consoles.

If the sales race is to get to the 1st jan 09 then Gears 2 only has a 8 week sales window vs Metal Gear Solid 4 (Q2 08 release date)with a big head start it could be a lot more even than anybody expects.

Does it really matter which one sells more? Anyway, I have to agree with most everyone else that it's going to be gears of war 2 simply because of the number of 360 owners. The only for MGS4 to win is due to the fact that blu-ray has pretty much won the format war and and casual gamers decide to get some snake. And also the number of people who are waiting for good PS3 games to come out before they buy one, MGS4 might be their trigger.

It's easy to say "The PS3 outsold the 360 in January! Yay!" But it outsold the 360 by roughly 40,000 units.

That's not it. The PS3 has been consistantly outselling the 360 Worldwide for ages now.

Either way, whichever sells more I don't care.

But Gears is a more Mass Market game, so it'll probably sell more.

tough choice.... but I know Im getting niether... Ill be patient and have a PC version of Gears eventually... MGS4 never got my interest.

That's not it. The PS3 has been consistantly outselling the 360 Worldwide for ages now.

Either way, whichever sells more I don't care.

But Gears is a more Mass Market game, so it'll probably sell more.

Exactly. I don't think the PS3 will ever catch the 360 in America (though it might, but it will be a long time). But the PS3 matches the 360 in worldwide sales when the 360 destroys it in America. In a week like last week when the PS3 actually outsold the 360 in America... it makes a significant jump toward the 360 in worldwide sales. The lead may not mean as much by the time November rolls around.

MGS. If they release it on time, it will be a few months ahead of Gears, and GoW's planned release date is November, so they'd only have 1-2 months until January. And the difference between 360 and PS3 owner numbers will be smaller by then.

I bet it will be close but I think gears will come out on top due to the 360's attach rate

I hope it will be MGS4. MGS revolutioned the fps genre with stealth genre, whearas Gears is just the next evolution of the genre, apparently.

ive never played any of the Metal Gear Solid games so i dont know but man i loved Gears of War..played at my friends house for ageees

my point made.

the amount of 360s to ps3s (ill be buying both)

the amount of 360s to ps3s (ill be buying both)

care to elaborate? word long responses don't cut it in some threads.

gears will own as long as it somehow tops the whole chainsaw on a machine gun with something cooler........ a train attached to a gun comes to mind.......

I am going to have to say Gears will sell more because MGS 4 has taken to long and I am sure a lot of people are sick of waiting

Metal Gear Solid.

All those PS3 owners are starving for exclusives, and I'm betting practially all PS3 owners are gonna buy it.

The hype for Gears will be huge, so I feel that it will sell very fast.

I don't care which sells more because I plan to purchase both.

Hmm the MGS4 Rumble Bundle (fun to say) might give Gears a run for its money. 80GB PS3 + Dual Shock 3 + MGS4 = BIG SALES. With at least 3 months head start MGS may outsell Gears by New Years. Gears will have a max of 8 weeks to MGS4's 6 months.

Good thing MS is good at hyping games:D

Seeing as both are on my list, I would go with Gears of War 2.

Metal Gear Solid games have a very complex and confusing storyline. GoW doesn't (yet, at least) so more players might go into it.

Plus, chainsaw gun. Who knows what new ridiculously good idea they would think of next.

I hope it will be MGS4. MGS revolutioned the fps genre with stealth genre, whearas Gears is just the next evolution of the genre, apparently.

Wrong on multiple points. First off, it's not a First-Person Shooter, it's a Third-Person Stealth Action game. Second, it wasn't the first game to come up with a stealth system in a 3D environment, to my knowledge that honor falls to Thief by Looking Glass Studios, for the PC.

That said, I think MGS is a great movie. Shame there's almost no actual gameplay.

Depends if they come out on multiply platforms, if they stay on their respective 360/Ps3, then Gears of War will win, yet if it comes to multiply platforms, then i hope (at least) that MGS4 will nudge ahead

MGS4 will be a much better game IMHO but will sell less.

I don't really understand why people care which will sell more..

Surely the point is as long as you enjoy the game your going to buy it.

gears 2. Not because of its totally original and awesome name, but because of the whole more xbox 360s thing.
MGS4 is a game I would rather have though. Too bad i don't have a PS3.

I don't really understand why people care which will sell more..

Surely the point is as long as you enjoy the game your going to buy it.

Yes the point is to enjoy the game and I don't buy games because they are popular, I buy them to have fun.

To me the console wars is like an RTS game in real life and the software sales help to determine the strength of the console.

I'm just curious about other people's opinions on the matter, hence the poll.
I'll put you down for the I don't give a rat's ass option :p

If you're like many on this board and think America is the only country that counts in the console war, then Gears of War definitely. More people in the states KNOW about CliffyB and GeOW. Hideo WHO? MGS What?

Besides the 360 to PS3 ownership ratio is still 3,4:1 in the states and THAT's where GeOW matters the most. The world don't matter to these gun toting, FPS loving Yankees!

I voted MGS though because i have a GLOBAL mindset, and America is NOT the only country in the world of gaming. Jap sales + Europe sales + Asia sales for MGS 4 will EASILY counter GeOW 2 sales in NA coz Epic's key demo is mostly in NA.

I think Gears of war will... Probably about as many as Halo 3 did

gears for sure , with as many as gears 1 sold no question. plus MGS is Crazy the story wack and very Japanese.

Gears of War 2, not because its might be a better game, but because there are more 360s than ps3s.

Metal Gear Solid, not because it might be a better game, but because there are more Asians than Americans.

tough choice.... but I know Im getting niether... Ill be patient and have a PC version of Gears eventually...

I second that.

I wish epic wouldn't cheat so much on its PC fanbase though >.>

Good thing MS is good at hyping games:D

also a good thing that they are also good at making them suck! :P Joking!

Let's see here.

MGS 4:
Release date: June 12
Time till January 1: 6 1/2 months
Number of PS3s in USA: 3.25 million
Number of PS3s worldwide: 10.5 million

Gears of War 2:
Release date: November
Time till January 1: 2 months (at most)
Number of 360s in USA: 9.15 million
Number of 360s worldwide: 18 million

Guessing that almost every PS3 owner buys MGS4 and maybe half of 360 owners buy Gears of War 2, I'd say it's pretty equal.

Good thing MS is good at hyping games:D

He's right, MS is really good at hyping games, that's why 360 is leading in amount of games sold.

He's right, MS is really good at hyping games, that's why 360 is leading in amount of games sold.

noooo i think youll find having 8 million more consoles out and being a year early is why more sells, go go gadget child maths! is 18 million bigger than 10? YES! Is 2 years longer than 1 year? YES!

So lets some up, its been out longer, and sole more consoles so far, that means, you guessed it, more people to buy games yaaaaaaaaaay!

So after we got that over with, we all know every PS3 owner will have MGS 4 and if they dont i shall personally take them out side, line them against wall with a firing squad and shout "FIRE" because thats what they will need. I really think gears 2 will flop, not in terms of how many they sell, but the game itself, you can bet your ass that the gameplay will not be changed in the slightest, the only thing thats different is how pretty it is, and the fact that you can actually see what you are doing in the game, laying waste to your previous views as you can now see how crap it is.

It took its ideas from movies and previous games, ever seen Pitch Black, and the flying things that attack only in the dark? Ever played any game or watched any movie where something invades the earth and they are outnumbered 5000000000 to 1, and yet 4 people destroy most of them? Then you have basically seen and played gears years before it was released. It will add nothing new, apart from its looks. I liked the tech demo, but thats all it was

I'm smelling a little bit too fanboyism here, my friend.
noooo i think youll find having 8 million more consoles out and being a year early is why more sells, go go gadget child maths! is 18 million bigger than 10? YES! Is 2 years longer than 1 year? YES!

So lets some up, its been out longer, and sole more consoles so far, that means, you guessed it, more people to buy games yaaaaaaaaaay!

So after we got that over with, we all know every PS3 owner will have MGS 4 and if they dont i shall personally take them out side, line them against wall with a firing squad and shout "FIRE" because thats what they will need.
Fail. Many (seriously, many) PS3 owners bought the system to use it as a media centre, not to play games (or not only to play games). Most of them, being either casual gamers or even non-gamers, will not buy MGS4, even though it seems to be a great game.
I really think gears 2 will flop, not in terms of how many they sell, but the game itself, you can bet your ass that the gameplay will not be changed in the slightest, the only thing thats different is how pretty it is, and the fact that you can actually see what you are doing in the game, laying waste to your previous views as you can now see how crap it is.
No. No serious game developer (except EA, maybe) would make the sequel of a best-selling game the same as the first game. Gears of War 2 will surely be a better game, and even if you didn't particularly enjoy the first part, many people did and I'm guessing that even more will like GoW2.
Remember that still it's a game aimed at a smaller audience that MGS4 (not everybody enjoys the hectolitres of blood squirting from enemies cut in half with a chainsaw). However, I'm guessing that even though MGS4 will be a few months ahead, the sale results of the two games on 1 January 2009 will be more or less equal.
It took its ideas from movies and previous games, ever seen Pitch Black, and the flying things that attack only in the dark? Ever played any game or watched any movie where something invades the earth and they are outnumbered 5000000000 to 1, and yet 4 people destroy most of them? Then you have basically seen and played gears years before it was released. It will add nothing new, apart from its looks. I liked the tech demo, but thats all it was
There aren't many unique games nowadays, are there? Gears of War, even though it could be based on some other games or films, was very different (and still is, actually) from the other games available, and this one of the causes of its popularity. Have a look at games like Call of Duty, Halo 3, or even Metal Gear Solid to some extent - there aren't many things in them that we hadn't seen before, right? Even if you thing that Gears of War's idea was not original, the gameplay and graphics surely were.

yes im a ps fanboy, not hiding that at all, but i have owned a 360 too, and i had gears, online was atrocious, the single player was fun, what i was trying to say as the gameplay mechanics will be the exact same, they may have new ways of crouching, but that doesnt change much. I thought the tech demo for the new ue3 aspects, but pretty water and a cube of meat won't change the gameplay at all

To reiterate:-

GeOW 2 sells more in NA only.

NA market crazy for more TPSes, more X360s in the population compared to PS3s MS pulls out all the stops in marketing, American gamers in general know CliffyB better than Kojima the Jap

----> Instant Win for GeOW in NA

Notice i qualified my statement by saying NA, in the world? MGS4 is gonna grab it...

Remember that still it's a game aimed at a smaller audience that MGS4 (not everybody enjoys the hectolitres of blood squirting from enemies cut in half with a chainsaw).

You kidding?

Did you just say that GeoW2 is aimed at a smaller audience then MGS4?

Do you even realise how much of a niche game the MGS series are?

Your talking so much crap its actually unreal.

yes im a ps fanboy,
Jeez, really?! Never could of guessed..

but i have owned a 360 too, and i had gears, online was atrocious, the single player was fun,

Wrong.
The online was brilliant, If it was that bad why was it one of the most played games on live for how many months?
The only people who used to complain about GoW's online were awful at it..

what i was trying to say as the gameplay mechanics will be the exact same, they may have new ways of crouching, but that doesnt change much.

And your telling me MGS4's gameplay will be any different from the old ones?!
Don't get me wrong here, I quite like the MGS games, but they have barely changed over the franchise..

You kidding?

Did you just say that GeoW2 is aimed at a smaller audience then MGS4?

Do you even realise how much of a niche game the MGS series are?
Yup, it is, but so is Gears of War. The previous Metal Gear games were selling extremely well, and as PopTrogdor says, even if you can't take his words 100% seriously, every PS3 owner is gonna get MGS4 (I was tempted to put the "because they haven't got any other games to play" joke here, but I eventually restrained myself). GoW is a bloody brilliant (haha, pun! bloody! get it? ;) ) game, and thus it wasn't sold in Germany (recently I was wondering what games Germans are allowed to play, and I think that Beautiful Katamari must be a best-seller there) and a lot of people decided not to buy it because of the overwhelming gore. Believe me, MGS4 will be less of a niche game, while GoW2 will still attract only a part of the 360 owners.

meh

And your telling me MGS4's gameplay will be any different from the old ones?!
Don't get me wrong here, I quite like the MGS games, but they have barely changed over the franchise..

Bullshit, compare MGS1 to MGS3 gameplaywise, almost totally different games, especially since I loved the gameplay in 1, but got bored of it in 3.

4 looks a lot different then 3 too, which is why I'm looking forward to it at all.

(I was tempted to put the "because they haven't got any other games to play" joke here, but I eventually restrained myself)

I was going to post a reasoned reply because you made some good points, but now I won't even bother.