Correspondent Freeze claims he wrestled this information out of an unnamed Konami representative at a distribution meeting and, upon contacting Microsoft, received a lengthy though non-committal response.

Bundled with a "starter pack" of the multiplayer-enabled Metal Gear Online, Metal Gear Solid 4 is slated to released on PlayStation 3 between April 1 and June 30, 2008.

While an Xbox 360 edition of Metal Gear Solid 4 has long been rumored, Konami and Sony have long maintained that the much-anticipated title is a PlayStation 3 exclusive.

That said, Konami has repeatedly hinted at an inevitable Xbox 360 version. Last year, Kojima Productions employee Ryan Payton noted that an Xbox 360 edition would not compromise or limit the PlayStatiion 3 edition.

Konami CEO Kazumi Kitaue later said the company "might have to take some steps" to ensure a profit on the game, with Payton recently commenting that the title needs to sell in excess of one million copies on its first day to justify its high development costs.