I’m sorry, but I’m calling bullshit on Adam Sessler, Stephen Totilo and pretty much anyone else running the Konami restrictions story. I just caught a rerun of X-play where Sessler and Totilo had a conversation regarding the limitations on reviewers imposed by Konami in regards to Metal Gear Solid 4. Combined with the “Sessler’s Soapbox” that ran earlier this week, this is the second time Sessler has made an issue out of this publicly. Now, don’t get me wrong I’m a big fan of Mr. Sessler, I have been since the Extended Play days on TechTV. I guess this is why I’m so disappointed to see him making a big stink out of something that may or may not be a big deal and spouting half-truths to make his point. I don’t really know much about Stpehen Toilo’s work so I’m not gonna rag on him too hard. I will say however that whenever I see the brand-name MTV attached to something I immediately lose any confidence in it’s authenticity.

I have the latest issue of EGM sitting here right next o my keyboard. The magazine is open to page 87 which is the beginning of the controversial ‘non-review’ that everyone is so up in arms about. Now, the backbone of this argument that is being made is that EGM is not doing a formal review of MGS4 because of the limitation Konami put on reviewers in regards to things like: cut-scene length, mandatory hard-drive installs, and other technical aspects of the game. I’m starting to wonder if anyone at X-play or MTV actually read the EGM article because I’ve now heard Sessler say (on-air) on two occasions that EGM is not going to do a formal review of the game because of these limitations. Really? Because here’s what it says in the opening paragraph of page 86’s article:

So why don’t we have a full review 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 first to rate the game, we’d rather wait until next issue, where we can be completely open and thorough with our thoughts. (Page 87 EGM 230 -July 2008)

Theres a big difference between “EGM is holding their reviews for a month” and “EGM is not reviewing MGS4 at all”. So, sometime towards the end of June when issue #231 starts arriving in people’s mailboxes they’ll be able to sit down and read all of EGM’s thoughts on any issue imaginable as it pertains to MGS4. I understand that Mr. Sessler and Mr. Totilo are worried about the future of game reviews if publishers start putting restrictions like these on magazines. I also understand the Internet game-blog’s need to jump all over a story like this and blow it out of proportion for the sake of getting ad-clicks. However, if we as a community are going to call out people like Jack Thompson for telling lies and half-truths to push an agenda, then we’d better be damn well sure that we’re working on a level that is high above him. I’m sure he gets up every day and justifies his lying to himself as a necessary evil for the greater good.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. This story has been making my blood boil ever since it showed up online because I had actually read the EGM article and couldn’t believe how people were misquoting it. I actually thought it was pretty cool that EGM was holding back their review because I didn’t want to read any spoilers.