It has been coming, and coming, and coming, and finally it looks like one of the more highly anticipated releases of all time has been given a release date. Solid Snake’s next-gen debut in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is expected to hit stores in March 2008. This news comes from a release schedule sent from the offices of the game's local distributor Atari this morning.

The timing of this announcement isn’t surprising, with the game expected to be one of the highlights of E3 2007 (which is on this week). Its release in March will see Sony celebrate the PlayStation’s first birthday in third-party style, too. No price has been announced, but other big releases through Atari have been retailing for $109.95. Also interesting, the release schedule had no listing of an Xbox 360 version of the game - read into that what you will.

Keep an eye out for a preview of this game once reports come in from our man on the ground at E3.

Note: This is an Aussie release date, and in the past the series has always arrived late on our shores. This means our international readers can expect it by March 2008 at the latest, and possibly even earlier.

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