I don't know how many times I have to repeat this mantra: hardware sales never spike as much for big game releases as everyone seems to think. Go back and look at the laughably over-estimated predictions on this site for the release of Brawl, Yakuza (in Japan), and Devil May Cry. Remember the Halo effect: even on the week of Halo 3's release last year, 360 hardware was only up by 50% on the week. Metal Gear Solid has considerably less appeal to the non-serious gamer, so expect a lesser boost.
Assuming a worldwide release, I would expect sales to be up about 25% for the week, which would put the PS3 somewhere in the 225k range (assuming 180k normal weekly sales). I honestly don't see any possible way for hardware to reach 300k, which would be a 66% increase; consider that the extreme upper limit.
I am of course prepared to eat crow if for some reason there is a gigantic hardware surge when the game comes out. That seems unlikely though, since the PS3 has never topped 250k in a week outside of the holiday periods and Euro launch. :)
End of 2008 totals: Wii 42m, 360 24m, PS3 18.5m (made Jan. 4, 2008)
