I'd buy it for that price, it seems that their packaging is even better

LoganForge

Not much of a big deal, but yeah it's the perfect fodder to fuel the fanboy-wars.

Garo

Wasn't the original JAP cover more TERMINATOR-esque?
I though that the only MGS4 item to be released with that cover in Japan was the OST...

Serdur

Doubt you'll find WiiFit in bargain bins right about now.

phinehas

@grandmasterslam:Really nice to see you make blanket statments bub. I don't have MGS because i've never cared that much about it to ever own the games. I do own all the formats however. Would you care to try your hand at more of those lovely blanket statements? I did not know we had a new king.

Foxstar Sixtail

As long as people get there hands on it no biggy, MGS4, best game in a long long long time.

ryivanV2

@proust: best game in 1,000 years, on any platform, on any continent.

cookiesareafriend

I'm a PS3 owner that hasn't yet bought a copy. Yes...we do exist! I'll probably pick it up when my current games backlog clears at which time it will hopefully be cheaper still.

MattB

Soon to be joined by lots of unsold copies of Gears 2 ;) (In Japan anway)

Mister_G

@Alexander_the_Badger: Suprising, what with all the PS3s in the UK... Maybe most of them really are being used as Blu-Ray players after all? I mean, what self-respecting PS3 owner wouldn't pick up a copy of this?

I'd love to play it, but can't justify purchasing a PS3 what with me having a child due in January (my first) and attempting to get an Engineering degree too.

duckmouth

Didn't the Japanese version have some awesome artwork? I thought it was only the US version that had the CGI Snake on the front? As has been said, could just be the special editions that're being cleared out. Either way, there's no excuse for peeps in Japan for not playing this game now...

winstano

I see...I see preparation for a redeux ala Integral/Substance/Subsistance.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Mooooooooooooooooooo...stance

OcelotSnake89

Pretty sad if true. Best game in years, on any platform.

proust

@caddy_boy: I remember halo 3 selling millions upon millions of copies in the first month.

Don't quite remember any of those in a bargain bin...

Perhaps that's because games that sell well don't go on sale for a long time?

cookiesareafriend

Bashcraft, didn't I tell you about how my local Book-Off has been crammed with used copies of MGS4 since, uhm, literally 48 hours after its release? I've been counting them every day, because I'm something of a numbermaniac.

They had 36 copies yesterday. Going for 5,000 yen used.

One of them might even be mine.

In other words: game was sold back to used shops real quick. Many bet-hedging Japanese gamers more than likely waited on the used shops, which became flooded as predicted.

End result: Metal Gear Solid 4's final full-price sales tally is 600,000. About half of those people are feeding the more hungry-walleted used-game-buying MGS-wanting community.

It's the Circle Of Life -- Of Videogames!

108

@xCruciaLx:

I'd go as far as to say that 95,000% of PS3 owners bought a copy.

Or maybe I wouldn't.

cookiesareafriend

I bet 95% of PS3 owners have bought an MGS4 copy.

Over-stocked ?

xCruciaLx

A 360 port is getting closer to a reality every day.

Antic791

Haha a month ago everyone was yelling out "we want it!!!" and yet there it is today...

KillerScooter

@SG79:
Not sure how widespread this is.

Brian Ashcraft

well things like this happen all the time.. i remember seeing a Halo 3 limited edition in a bargin bin after 2 weeks!!!
needless to say i brought it!! :D

i think it happens wiyh all games. but with the high profile games it always a shock and sad to see....

caddy_boy

Btw, why is the headline in question form?

SG79

Isn't this something of a common trend in Japan though? If not, then wow, what a failure of a game it is (sarcasm)

SG79

@sexyj: There are no REAL fanboys. Just people pissed off at this generation of gaming. calling it out right now.

Xtreme_Hindu_Cow

Japanese gamers tend to play a game and get rid of it quickly, at least the hardcore ones. I don't know how many times I've gone into a game shop here and seen multiple used copies of new titles on the shelves within a week or two of release.

AlKusanagi

@VengefulRonin: i take it ure a 360 fanboy ?

sexyj

@KafkaTamura: It's a chance to hate.

Baka_Survivor

Saw this on 2chan and I just started laughing. Maybe people finally decided they didn't want to spend $80 on a game that lasts 6-8 hours.

VengefulRonin

How is this anything but a good thing?

KafkaTamura

@TheGuzzleMunch: Gamespot or Gamestop?

HenryHSH

Man, I really didn't realise Japanese gamers had to pay such premiums for games over there...It's almost as bad as the European and Oceanic gamers.

MGS4 in the bins is understandable though, like many of you have stated..everyone and there kid sister have it. While the ones who don't have it are too far up Nintendo's bumhole

grandmasterslam

MGS is a terrific game, the sheer fact that some people still haven't bought it makes my head spin more than seeing it in a bargain bin. On the other hand, maybe they all have and this is just excess stock they need to move.

Fallible

"I'd buy that for a dollar"

Man, now if they only started putting PS3s in the bargain bin I'd be set!

Channing

Sacrilege!

Serdur

lolol send me a copy!!

RubberChickenMX

Why exactly is MGS popular in Japan? It seems pretty close to the unpopular in JP FPS/3rdPS we love so much in the US.

Tyrannical

@RTW: Actually only about half of them did. I guess now is the time to sell it to the other half. :)

@zkotaku: Assuming the figures quoted in the article are correct, $72 is more expensive than $60, but not that much. One definite difference is more variation in prices, but even $82 is still not that much more than $60. (CDs are around twice as expensive in Japan, iirc, and anime DVDs often more than twice... so Japanese gamers get off lightly, comparatively.)

quen

@Alexander_the_Badger: yeah noticed that myself when walking past GAME. It reminds me of about 3-4 years ago when i would see copies of MGS2 second hand for sale at about £2.99 or so.

shaunomacx

@TheGuzzleMunch:
You still wear that shirt?

I do.

ca$h

@CHW: Yes, but all the voices would be in Japanese. I'm not sure if you could get English subs or not, however.

akwinters

What's the situation with PS3 region locks and imports right now? If MGS4 gets cheap enough, I wouldn't mind buying a Japanese copy to try out... would it run on my North American PS3?

CHW

!

XeroKool

@zkotaku: Which one specifically? That actually sounds like an interesting listen.

Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.

that looks like a special edition of some sort. this sort-of thing happened to me before at gamespot. i got the half-life 2 special edition that came with HL2, counter-strike source, HL1 source and a t-shirt (lol!) out of the bargain bin for 30 bucks when HL2 stand-alone was still $50. just clearing overstock probably. MGS4 is so good i would gladly pay $80 for it let alone $37

TheGuzzleMunch

Atrocity.

Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.

Everybody knows that Japan moves 30 times faster than everybody else. Heck, the PS9 was just announced! GET WITH THE TIMES, KOTAKU!

Pablos102030

MGS4 is already down from £44.99-£39.99 here in the UK to £29.99. New, sealed and all.

I was surprised to see it drop by a whole £10 in just one month.

Alexander_the_Badger

Games are expensive in japan, listen to bionic commando podcast and you will hear the details about japan video game retail are a little different then u.s. retail.

zkotaku

Wah!

Soyerzz

It's probably in the bargain bins in Japan because every Japanese person that had a PS3 already bought Metal Gear Solid on the first day. So now they have all these extra MGS4's that aren't selling. I guess they are hoping that people will want a second copy for half the price.

RTW

This doesn't really seem like news. Last winter, while they were selling like crazy, I saw Assassin's Creed and COD 4 for sale for 40 bucks all over the place. Just a good idea to make more money.

kratosfan

@MattB: Yes, I am also in that camp. In fact, I've gotten every Playstation system in the States within a year of it's release--but MGS has never caught with me. It just isn't my thing. :/

Based on what I've heard from fans of the series, MGS4 was aimed squarely at fans of the older games. I don't get why so many hardcore fanboys thought it would net tons of converts.

gigantor21

In Ireland it started out at €60/65. About 2 weeks back it dropped to €39 in a sale in Game and to €50 in HMV. Only a month post launch. Not the best sign in the world, eh?

kennyd1

@Garo: Not really, there's an HD-DVD drive in that bin.

Fallible

Add me as a PS3 owner who doesn't have it yet because I have too many other games in my backlog. I'll pick it up eventually, but will likely wait for it to turn up on sale now given this.

It could be awhile though if I don't get to it before October. LBP will be a day one purchase for me.

I need more gaming time, there's plenty of good games!

PipTheLip

@RTW: That pretty much covered what I was gonna say.

It's just like the abundance of Legendary editions of Halo 3 that they've got out there. EVERYBODY who wanted one got one at launch, and now they're bargained binned.

TRT-X

Wow, right next to the HD-DVD player

mercenaut

I think this is because of bad sales. I remember seeing MGS4's numbers drop pretty big from first week to second and third. When things don't sell, you lower the price.

karasu is my homeboy

Why does the Japanese version have that thick packaging? Does it include some extra stuff? Mine feels inferior now :(

Oh well, at least I have the better boxart. You know what I'm talking about.

I just recalled, the European game came with a cardboard sleeve over the actual game. No friggin' idea what that should be good for but it makes it look more unique in my collection. Ah well.

Candlejack

Go take a look at Japans weekly sales, this game bottomed out after the first week.
[vgchartz.com]

Over in the US it's doing better, but I think it just has too much FPS flavor for the Japanese. And although I like FPS's, and live in the US, I didn't love this game either.

The people saying "best game ever!!" were already converts, I suspect.

Islandkiwi

Actually here in the Netherlands it was pretty cheap to begin with… I paid €55 for it, whereas most games cost €65.

Grauw

@karasu is my homeboy:That's pretty much it. What happened was everyone who wanted it, bought it within the first two weeks. Then after that, it fell right off of the charts because the remaining PS3 owners aren't interested. It's happened in the past with lots of other titles too.

Has it broken 1 million in Japan yet?

Foxstar Sixtail

@Alexander_the_Badger: that's the summer sale.. it will go back to like 39.99 after

stargateheaven

Yep, Bic Camera in my area has got it bargain binned too, but I imagine it'll be for a summer sale, and the price is still about $50. I had to import my copy so I could have English, so the point is moot for me.

drifter13

@Foxstar Sixtail: No, and it won't unless the bargain-bin sales make a big difference.

quen

@Ghiestuk Wii Play has virtually been in the charts since its release, but it doesn't make it better than MGS4. Nice try though.

Fallible

@Ghiestuk:
...and I guess you are happy now?

Garo

lol, look at the all the ps3 fanboi's make the excuses. Fact you can pick it up for 25 (down from 50) here within a month of release is pretty much testament to it.

As for the "everyone who wants it got it first few days" blabber ... take a look at things like Call of duty4, GTA4 and gears of war were in the charts and full price for 3-4x the length.

Ghiestuk

It makes sense realy. The people that were going to get this game has already gotten it at full price. Time to pull in the skeptics with a sale. I remember that happening with Snake Eater, Devil May Cry and probably other titles. I check my local Fry's store every week alsmost. And this week when I went to Fry's, for some reason, Haze was back at 59.99. I mean what the hell are they trying to do, make people think that it's sucn a good game it's worth raising the price back up?

karateka

@Batteries-Included:
This IS the Japanese box art.

Please don't assume everything made in Japan is automatically better.

Blebleman

@Islandkiwi: Personally to me it is one of the best games ever, since it tackles some very real issues in quite a mature way. Something a lot of other devs seem to afraid to do.

Witzbold

Ash to be fair EVERYTHING at Softmap winds up in the bargin bins eventually.

Mainly because Softmap is having its ass handed to it by Yodobashi and Bic Camera.

Witzbold

I know why. It's the american box art. Japanese box art is so much better.

Batteries-Included

@Ghiestuk: so, you didnt get to play it, yes? yes.

TheIrishNinja

This game is definitely a keeper for me. I've put maybe 25 hours into MGO so far, but only 4 or 5 in the actual game. I should probably finish the game sometime when I'm able to pry myself off of MGO.

everybest

I'm pretty sure Konami is not losing money because of stores selling the game at half price. In the U.S., If a game retails for $60, a store typically pays something like $55 to the publisher. $55 for a case, manual, and a CD, I think the publisher is making money as long as they cover the cost to produce the game because the cost to produce copies is very low (probably less than $5).

The party losing money with the bargain bin scenario is the store, IF they bought the game new at the original price.

paydirt76

Of course It's in the bargain bin. Japan is all about portables.

Zhemos

@duckmouth: One that has never seen what's the big deal of MGS?

Like... me, for example. It's simply not my cup of tea. I could get into a long rant about it, but that'll be useless. I simply don't enjoy it as much as the internet things I should.

Grive

"Even if Konami is losing money on these remaining copies"
I doubt they are losing money- I wouldn't think it costs them more than a dollar or two to manufacture these types of things.

paeper

@Fallible: Some people like me never played the first one. It's not like Final Fantasy, where the storylines of the differently-numbered games are completely separate from each other. There were a lot of games on the PS1 and so little time to play them all.

Shin-san

@Fallible: Nope, but it makes it more popular (or at least more consistent)

TRT-X

You play through it once, and then what is there? You already know what happens. Meh, sell it.

Quilt

Where I live the GS manager told me it is not selling well in her store at all, about par with AitD on 360 she remarked.

It might have sold a few systems for Sony, but I am not sure it was the system seller they needed. I am starting to wonder about LBP now as well, it seems people outside the Sony fandom don't really know about the game. My wife is not even interested which I though was strange, I thought for sure it would be a must buy for her.

Talryyn

@Witzbold:

I hear you, a lot of people love the game. For me, the game lost it's allure when I kept finding areas where guys would spawn and you could just mow them down forever. They would spawn, jump off a ledge, and you'd shoot them. It seemed incredibly sloppy to me, and took me out of the game.

And I wasn't a fan of the extended cutscenes either. I really believe this was a game that preached to the choir.

Islandkiwi

@Fallible: While I detest wii sports, millions upon millions of people would probably disagree with both you and I by saying it's better, hence the larger amount of sales.

Oh and just because they're not 'hardcore' doesn't make your opinion more valid than theirs.

Klopfer123

@Ghiestuk:

And you're willing to pay it,
jokes on you

kyroN

@Blebleman: your wrong.
just look at the cosplay in Japan compared to anything in the west.

Compare the French costume-game-playing-comic mad cute maid cafe, they have.

wonder at the phallus shrines.

mobile phones you can buy from vendor machines.

110mph speed limit.

And finally, socially acceptable excuse to eat things raw.

if that isn't "automatically better" i dunno what is.

Onizuka-GTO

I'm curious as to how it's even popular in Japan. Solid Snake isn't your typical Japananese pretty boy and it's not an RPG, so I don't get it.

justinbox360

Goes online and buys 5 Japanese copies

Ruisu

Ouch, right next to a Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive...that's a low blow for ol' Snake.

Lazlo

Another thing to remember is that they shipped way more than what was needed. A little over a week they had shipped over a million copies to retail in Japan alone, but 5 weeks after being shipped the game only sold little over 600,000 copies(it has dropped below 10k a week now, I don't see it going higher than 700k), which leaves roughly 40% unsold.

With gamer interest(at least in new copies, why buy new when used shops are flooded with copies of the game for cheaper?) waned, and an overstock of the game, what else can they do but to lower the price?

Innervate

Probably because every single person in Japan already owns the game. Seriously. Nobody left in the whole country to sell a copy to.

PC+Mac Coexist

$82.00 is a LOT of money for a CGI movie.

resvrgam

Isn't this just a move to move more PS3s?

Personally, Amazon.co.jp had the new Dragon Ball game a week ago for 3,980 yen, now it's up to 4,980 yen. Prices fluctuate. Now, I don't want to say Dragon Ball is in the same league as MGS--it's not--but it does have its following.

MGS4 commercials, when they were running, nearly blanketed the airways. Lots of people purchased the game, and lots more will. For those who still feel the PS3 and its games, the good ones, are still too pricey, maybe this is the little nudge they need to get out and purchase one.

American_N_Japan

I saved me some money and watched it on youtube. Anyway, good deal for gamers in Japan.

Evinco

@Klopfer123: Wii Play is that game that's bundled with a controller. Wii Sports is the game that's bundled with the console, I actually quite enjoy Wii Sports and I wasn't referring to it.

Fallible

I don't know how to feel about this. Yay?!

1.) It's a great game, and sold a butt load in Japan which like many stated is more than likely the cause of such an atrocimacy.

2.) It's still a great game that no matter how you put it is still worth the 60-80 they charge in the states. The only bad part about that is ...

2a.) Not as many people in the states own PS3 as Sony would like to believe, or state.

2b.) Not everyone 'gets' the whole MGS thing. Which is a damned shame.

So I wouldn't expect a price drop here until one of the previous stated things happen. I'm still not sold on it being ported to the Xbox 360 either.

EViL2uCe

wait, games are made in japan but cost crap tons more there? o.0 that's nuts.

kinda weird to see such a big game discounted so early, but hey if i was a japanese gamer i wouldnt look a gift horse in the mouth >.>

personally i paid for the special edition and have loved it since getting it day 1 >^.^<

demonknightinuyasha

come one people, we all know it's being ported for 360, so they trying to spike sales so there's a reason to have a mgs5 exclusive....

kronickidd

@TRT-X: The difference being, of course, the Legendary Editions were special editions of Halo 3, and that Halo 3 continued to sell well.

MGS4 as a game is not selling well, if this is to be taken as true. Everyone who wants MGS4 should not have gotten it at launch, the way everyone who wanted Halo 3 did not get it at launch (it kept selling well).

For a huge, AAA game, MGS4 has a lot of weird things going on around it.

karasu is my homeboy

@Fallible:

Wii Sports isn't bundled with the Wii in Japan

IchiShinigami

Ive seen the game used and new in bargain bins for prices ranging from 3000-4500yen for a couple weeks now here in tokyo actually.This isnt really all that big of news as all the top selling titles tend to sell for really cheap just a short while after release. Prime examples are any 360 RPG.(Blue Dragon was a top seller week 1, week 2 I could buy it for 3000yen new at a local store, same with Lost Odyssey)

RuneX21

This is shocking? Same thing happens with the movies. People go see it/get it on release day, stand in line, pre-order, yada yada. The next week, the movie/game sales go down tremendously.

MGS4 is everywhere, so its bound to end up for cheap someplace (ie. craigslist, gamestop used, etc.). On the other hand, I cannot find Disgaea Afternoon of Darkness for the PSP for less than $27-ish.

berribrand

Personally I haven't played that far so I'd be crazy to buy it right away when they ALWAYS release a superior version down the road.

fuchikoma

Sofmap's quite big. I bet they had like 30,000 spare copies or something just filling their storage space and now the huge initial boom of buyers is done.

fuchikoma

Hit games go on sale all the time. Even when they are new. CoD 4 was heavily promoted in this way.

EditorinChief

I have yet to even open my copy of MGS4....

Sorry...too many good games to finish up....not to mention my TICKET TO RIDE addiction & Battlefield: Bad Company.

GoonieGooGoo2

To clear some confusion here:

1) The SKU shown here is the LIMITED COLLECTORS's Edition. What you see is a hard-box slipcase (for the game with the Japanese "paint" coverart and the Blu-Ray special features disc). Hehe.. how do I know this? Because I own one~! (proudly!) The normal SKU goes at the usual 6000 yen range.

2) The Japanese version does not come with English subtitles. I really wish it did though.. because then I could make my GF play this game too (I have the English version too, but it's kind of hard not to get distracted by the voiceacting)

3) You CAN play this on your US PS3. BUT! BUT BUT BUT!! And this is really what ticks me off... you CAN'T play MGO with people who own the US copy. In other words, if you want to play on US servers, you have to log into MGO from a US copy. It really sucks... I had to buy the US copy just to play with my friends, and now I have both versions installed on my PS3. (that's nearly 10GB taken up by MGS4 data). I'm waiting until they release MGO separately on the US PSN store, so I can get rid of the US gamedata.

Hope that clears some of the confusion.
Either way, that's a fucking bargain and a half.

orakga

@Ghiestuk: Wow, fanboy much? Oh, and Gears of War is discounted in the US, buddy.

Whatever is going on with the sales doesn't change the fact it's still a solid and fun game.

FoxyGaz

@orakga:

I didn't realize it this morning, but yeah, this is the LE. Oddly enough, this is likely the second pressing of that version with the cardboard sleeve (the first one has a metal sleeve).

SG79

@Antic791:

Based on this? Are you ever clueless. Read the headline, and take a note of the word "Japan", then do research to see how much has been sold through there and worldwide.

@cookiesareafriend:

Read the headline, and where this is happening. Brian already said that it may not be widespread, and frankly, even if it were, it's not exactly uncommon in Japan.

For the record, I could've taken pics of a local store here in Toronto with Halo 3 selling for $40 3 weeks after launch. Did that make it a failure?

SG79

You know what else could help MGS reach 1 million copies sold? Releasing it for the 360. Had they released it on the 360 at the same time as the PS3 it would already be well on it's way to a million just on the 360.

jeffesaurusrex

@jeffesaurusrex: There aren't even a million XBox360s in Japan. How would it have been well on it's way to a million just on the 360 if there are considerably less than 1 million consoles in the entire country?

bobobologna

Konami wouldn't lost ANY money on bargain bin copies. They've likely already been sold to the retailer at cost. If anyone will be taking a hit, it's the retailer. I'm sure Konami don't want to shift copies of this at a lower cost. Maybe the retailer over bought at launch?

shufflemoomin

@bobobologna: I think he was refering to it being released on the 360 worldwide, which is a fair point.

excel_excel

@Onizuka-GTO:

Just a little nitpick.

Cosplay in Japan is a very elitist thing. Most costumes in japan are bought, and not made by those who wear them. Also, at many events in Japan, if you're not "pretty" enough for a said cosplay, you get kicked out of the con or asked to change into normal clothes.

So no, cosplay is not better in Japan. It never has been.

Either way, not a huge surprise for MGS4.

SnakeCL

Its sort the same over here in England, MGS4 lately has had a price drop from 44.99 GBP to 29.99 GBP in many stores.

BerzerkCrank

I live in Japan and I can tell you that these games are used. Notice the crappy vacuum-sealing on the games? They do that for all used games here to make them look newer.

ZahavahDawgschidt

Amazon marketplaces are weird - I've seen much higher and much lower prices than Amazon themselves had, the former ones being weird, the later ones being doubtful. Sofmap sells lots of second hand games (repackaged so that the look new) so it might also be just that.

develin

here's a shocker:

linear games with very little replay value go down in price after the initial sales rush.

WOAH!

isobelle

This is actually very common. It's not a fault of the game, or even the system.

Kiyosuki

The probably just have way too many. I'm sure once their stock dwindles, they will go back.

bangbangblah

@Pablos102030: lol actually they probly will get the ps9 pretty soon.

Danion

Konami hasn't lost a single penny on these copies already on shelves; the retailers purchased them at a set price, and with the wholesale system in Japan for games it's impossible to return them once they've been purchased.

muu

@Islandkiwi: Actually I could give a rats ass about the actual story and gameplay itself. I was curious to see how a Japanese company would portray the ideals of how "war has changed" along with the blatant take on the privatized part of warfare. Also other issues that were quite interesting and seemed to have been rather well studied.

Not to mention it can effect the way you judge yourself when playing the game only if you take the time to reflect upon your own actions based upon the information given to you.

By far MG is waaaaaaaaaaay more well done than a lot of other titles out there and you seem to be more trying to pick holes at things that you shouldnt really worry about in the first place.

Since its only obvious you are not suposed to be hanging around in the same spot for long periods of time and what not. Plus all games have general spawn points unless its a sandbox game where the NPCs spawn in at generally random locations. In the situation of MGS`s design, they had to have folks spawn in locations that would look at least realistic when they show up instead of just appearing out of thin air.

Witzbold

@SnakeCL: Actually wrong most cosplay is made by folks who actually study design / fashion.

LOTS of books on how to make stuff also if you search.

Since this is a country where fashion and looks is everything so lots of fledgling designers / tailors running around.

Witzbold

@resvrgam: I wonder how that applies to a MGS game, though. It's not a movie and it's not what usually is called CGI, either.

@jeffesaurusrex: Only problem with that is that 360 owners are the first to complain about how this is a movie, crappy, not fun, just pre-rendered, confusing, ridiculous, whatever. Why would those people buy it? Or do you suggest they are just bitter and lying about it?

JamesHolden

isnt this good news?
poeple will able to buy MGS4 in cheaper price

orangpelupa

why so low?

DawnOfAshes666

Lol I hate Konami. Make the most insane game ever and make it exclusive. Goddamnit. Just spent 3 hours playing through it at my friends house haha. Took him a while to get me off of it haha.

Refused

PS3 Exclusivity = the best game will sell like a mediocre game.

ssh83

found it on discount at rogers for 39.99 canadian.

cluster1990