Just wandering that so far i have heard nothing but the good reviews abt this game.. even if they r done by someone buying new game or MS fanboy... even they have cautiously praised its better controls atleast... So i m thinking that it might be having loads of good word from every mouth, and as i have experienced that a recommendation of a friends matter a lot...

So do u think these recommendations from friends will push some non MGS followers to buy this game and test it out... 

Secondly the most of the reviews are ten also and some of these sites cater to very large user base with diverse interest, so they might try it out..

and lastly and most important is that its a bundle game so especially with the popularity of 80GB in NA, it might have very good legs... i mean a lot better then previous games in this series...

So my point is can MGS4 do more than 3.5x of its first week sales. i mean atleast around 7 - 8 million.? or it will also go upto like 5 million and then suddenly vanish from the charts... or these above mentioned factors r going to make a difference..

and another point have you converted any of ur friend who has not played MGS in the past to buy and play it and if so how many.?

No, I don't see it having a huge impact like that. The game caters to the hardcore and few others. While some people might be impressed by the lengthy exposition and cutscenes, it definitely doesn't appeal on a large level to Joe Gamer.

It will sell well, probably in the 4-4.5m range. It will also move a few PS3s as fans who waited for the series to update held out on their console purchases.

I think a comparable game might be Gears of War. It gave the Halo crowd a reason to jump on board the 360 and was the 360's first major exclusive. They'll probably even end with similar numbers when all is said and done, too.

I think it will make it to 6 million lifetime, US and EU openings pending.

I think it will: I have predicted this game to sell in the 5-6 million range for some time now.

This is the only major Playstation Exclusive in the first half of this year, it's being marketed heavily, and it's being bundled heavily. I think it's set up to do a better than the last iteration, but not as well as the first.

It's important to point out that I don't think this heralds a renaissance of the franchise; I think the game is as inaccessible/unappealing to outsiders as it ever was, just that it's positioned perfectly now in terms of marketing, demographics, and competition with other games on the system. It basically has free reign over the PS3 for the next few months.

On a personal expereince, my roommate, who doesn't play games, watched me play the first half hour of the game last night.  One hour later he's setting up his new PS3 and MGS4 :)

It doesnt matter about long cutscenes....people who own PS3s will buy this game. Just remember if it sells 5 million thats over 33% of the entire userbase....a big crowd to dismiss as 'hardcore'

Not really. It's early in the PS3's life and the console is still $400. Right now, most of the userbase would be considered "hardcore". Most casual gamers don't drop that much money on a toy. It's in the same boat as Gears of War, another game that caters to a largely hardcore crowd, which is why I think the two are an apt comparison.

 Technically MGS2 sold the most between both MGS2 and MGS2: Substance, but I agree with your assessment overall.

It's also interesting to note that MGS3 outsold MGS2 in Japan, unlike everywhere else.

Well, Haze was a highly touted and big budget exclusive. It just flopped. Despite that, its sales weren't terrible, even though review scores that low are usually a death sentance.

I think review scores do have a lot to do with major releases under or over-performing, so I think that yes, this game will sell more than MGS3 for sure. MGS3, despite what fanboys would have you think, wasn't nearly as hyped as it should have been, and it was under-rated.