Halo 2 came pretty damned close.

I guess Halo has a more widespread appeal, but it's kind of irritating that so many people haven't played MGS4... For me anyway.

I suppose 116 million PS2 owners haven't played God of War. I conclude that humans have no taste.

because alot of the PS3 are bluray players only

how come the 13 million people who own a 360 don't own Halo 3? How come 16 million don't own Gears?

Why do billions of people not have a Nintendo DS?

Reasons I do not (and will never) have MGS4:

1) I haven't started the series yet (I prefer going in order for this stuff).

2) The price of these type of games drop quickly, and I rarely pay full price for short(er) single player games.

3) Most importantly, my cousin has it. I can borrow it, play it, and be done with it without paying anything.

Exactly. Both are great games, both are on less than half of all Xbox 360s.

I have MGS4. I'm not a fan of the franchise and for me it's a good game..... but nothing more. It has a lot of options and a really nice action BUT I hate those bloddy cutscenes and those installation times. For the fans this game is a dream come true, but for me it's annoying to stop the rythm of the game just because a phsycologyst wants to talk with me. Overall it's a good game, but if you're not on the fanbase boat you're not going to enjoy it at 100%

Keep in mind everywhere you go there are dozens of used copies available, so a lot of people go that or the rental route.

its a fanboy oriented game.

you have to have taste :P

MGS has always been a niche series, when you come down to it. Even at its highest sales point, the original MGS only sold to between 5%-6% of PSX owners, and MGS2 sold to an even lower proportion (though it sold almost as many copies). Compared to those figures MGS4's sales are, proportionally speaking, fantastic.

In absolute terms, it comes down to one thing. Relatively few people will buy a console for only one game, especially one with a price like the PS3's. Those who did buy the PS3 for MGS4 seem to have mostly done so at launch, almost as though they were investing in MGS4's promise, but not all of the fans were willing to do that and among those who bought a PS3 but not MGS4, that game wasn't a factor in their investments.

The biggest lesson, however, may be in the fact that no one has died from not playing MGS4; death rates do not appear to be any higher than in the general population. Why don't 12 million PS3 owners have MGS4? Because they don't have to.

Because not everybody likes metal gear -.-