GamePolitics reports (via vnunet) that in wake of the incident which occured recently in Akihabara, Konami has cancelled all scheduled launch events in Japan for the release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots:
The company said in a statement to Japanese media that it called off the events because it was concerned about the safety of the public. The cancellations follow a rampage by a knife-wielding man in Tokyo at the weekend in which seven people were killed…
One of the cancelled launch events had been scheduled for Tokyo’s Akihabara district, where the stabbing took place on Sunday… [in the game] 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.
Launch events outside of Japan have not been affected. MGS4 will be released as scheduled in Japan.