Multiple magazines claim that Konami is censoring review content for Metal Gear Solid 4.
Preview reports of the PlayStation 3 blockbuster release Metal Gear Solid 4 highlighted potential problems with the game, mainly its lengthy cutscenes and its installation space on the system.
Two anonymous media sources alerted the MTV Multiplayer blog that Konami had contacted their companies, requesting that these potentially negative technical details not be addressed in reviews.
Shortly thereafter, IGN UK confirmed in its pre-release review that, “Konami issued us with a list of things that we’re not allowed to discuss. This list of prohibited topics is pretty long, and even extends as far as several facts that the company itself has already made public.”
The latest issue of EGM includes a short note on the status of its MGS4 review and why it was delayed an issue:
“Metal Gear Solid 4 will hit store shelves shortly after this issue of EGM lands in your hot little hands. And four EGM editors – Matt Leone, Jeremy Parish, Andrew Pfister, and Shane Bettenhausen – have already invested plenty of time in the game. So why don’t we have a full review in this issue? Simply put: We weren’t happy with the limitations Konami wanted to impose on our comments, and rather than publish compromised reviews in the interest of being the first to rate the game, we’d rather wait until next issue, where we can be completely open and thorough with our thoughts.”
Online organizations seem to be less limited than their print counterparts, with many websites releasing their reviews before the game’s launch under Konami’s terms.
Source: MTV Multiplayer, EGM via Joystiq
