My bundled Gunmetal Grey PS3 won't transform into a Metal Gear? Aw man...
Trailers help get the core fanbase excited, but in order to increase the reach of Metal Gear Solid 4, more standard campaign elements had to be used as well. TV spots, magazine ads and billboards were all utilized to get the word out on the largest title for Konami this year. Add this to the special PS3 bundles and pre-order campaign for Metal Gear Solid 4, and you have a campaign comparable in scope to anything else in the gaming industry.

"Really, [all of those elements] are what goes into a AAA launch, and MGS 4 is a AAA title," gushed Crouts. "We want to pull out all the stops for [the game]; it has so many features it was hard to discuss all of them. It really made me smile when marketing says, 'There's so much here, what can we focus on?' We also brought TV to bear by sponsoring the MTV Movie Awards, and had a debut of a minute long trailer. MGS 4 is also going to be part of PlayStation Experience tour trucks as well. Sony helped us a lot too. We did some unique things with the presale and having a beta test of Metal Gear Online before the game shipped."

"We were in a unique position... to do the bundle due to our special partnership with Sony," he added. "We had the Gunmetal Grey Console with the Limited Edition version of the game. Then there's the Sony bundle with the 80 GB version and the regular version of the game. That's the first time that they've compiled a home console bundle with a third-party published game. They've done it for the PSP, but they had not done so for the PSOne, PS2 or PS3 until now.

"Then we had the Limited Edition available only at GameStop and that includes the standard version of the game with a second Blu-ray disc with some high quality behind-the-scenes stuff and the official soundtrack. There was also Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 for people who pre-ordered. Really, when you have a title like this, you know you'll be successful in most of the things that you do, so you're confident in pushing out the marketing this way."

Of course, the ads themselves aren't limited to outside of the game. Metal Gear Solid 4 features a number of in-game advertisements, including ReGain energy drink, Apple's iPod, Sony Ericsson mobile phones and more. While unusual for a "core" story-driven title to have these many in-game ads, Metal Gear Solid 4 is a bit unique with the items actually being implemented into the gameplay, making them much more than simple billboard advertisements.

"The big thing was making [the in-game promotions] relevant to the game," commented Crouts. "You want to make sure they fit in context. For instance, Snake uses the iPod to calm himself down, the same with looking at the Playboy magazine. By using [the in-game promotions] in context in the game itself, it legitimizes them with the fans. It was important for realism's sake as well, because we wanted to make sure that the things you used in the game could also be used in real life."

I want a Kojima signature...
To cap off the promotional campaign for Metal Gear Solid 4, the game was released simultaneously worldwide, and there were various events planned in several major cites leading up to and following the launch of the game. Just like most elements of the game itself, these events were made even more special by Hideo Kojima's unique touch.

"Part of our strategy was a simultaneous release," described Crouts. "Unfortunately, Kojima san can't be in more than one place at a time! He wanted to give back to the fan base that's supported him over the years. He really does love his fans, so he wanted to meet them. He had a world tour across several nations, including France, Italy, the U.K, and U.S. before ending in Japan. This world tour was a way to show appreciation for all those fans that have been following Metal Gear for the years, and also for the new fans just getting into the franchise with Metal Gear Solid 4."

"We were in Times Square for the launch at midnight, which I though was appropriate," he continued. "There were hundreds of people there, and the support blew him away. I remember he asked, 'Are all these people really here to see me?' That was really refreshing to see all those people; a validation of everyone's hard work. There were also a couple development team members in L.A., including MGS4's Senior Producer Ken Imaizumi and Ryan Payton. David Hayter, the voice of Solid Snake, was also scheduled for the event, but then the voice actors for Drebin and Liquid Ocelot spontaneously showed up, and that event took on a life of its own and was very special for the fans who had waited for the game.

"Then Kojima had a signing on the Saturday after the launch in San Francisco, and there were still just as many fans there. That was cool to see that many people, close to a thousand there, and that's a testament to how much people love this franchise. When you have that attachment, you get sucked into the story."

"This is the first title that Konami pushed to have a simultaneous worldwide release. It was a challenge to offer our consumers all the things they wanted and to launch on a worldwide basis. It's all about meeting consumer expectations and that's why Kojima is successful; he has a really high set of expectations that he puts on himself and he won't ship it until it's ready. With that sort of development effort, that's why you see things you've never seen in a game before in Metal Gear Solid 4. Kojima has a vision not just for the game but for the franchise as well. He was definitely involved in every aspect of the game, and that was a big thing, bringing everything in promotion up to his high level of quality," concluded Crouts.