Konami Cancels Japan’s MGS4 Launch Events in Wake of Akihabara Rampage

Konami has canceled launch events for its new Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots game in the wake of an attack by a knife-wielding man that went on a stabbing rampage leaving seven dead. The company cited concern for public safety as the reason for the cancellation of the Japanese launch events, one of which was to take place in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, the site of the attack.

Players control a soldier armed with a knife and various other weapons who fights his way through a multitude of enemies by killing and disabling them in a variety of missions.

In the Akihabara knife incident, a 25 year-old man allegedly drove a two-ton truck into a crowd of pedestrians and then ran through the area stabbing and slashing bystanders before being arrested.

Sales of MGS4 in Japan will go on as planned and launch events elsewhere are still on.

via vnunet.com