One of the greatest video games in history almost never came out due to a dramatic event that changed the face of the world

game news One of the greatest video games in history almost never came out due to a dramatic event that changed the face of the world

An event that changed the world

The September 11 attacks not only had a global impact on millions of people, but also on the world of entertainment. We remember that in the first Spider-Man movie some plans were changed because we saw the Twin Towers for example. But these tragic events also had major consequences in the video game industry.. It is known, but the release date of the cult Grand Theft Auto III was pushed back at the last moment to make some changes to elements of the game that would not have been possible in the context of the time. Eventually, the title was pushed back a few weeks, appearing in the box we know today on October 26, 2002. However, GTA III is not the only cult game from this period.

MGS 2 was almost canceled

Recently, the Metal Gear Solid MGN fan account published an interview with Hideo Kojima, the father of the saga, granted to the Weekly Toyo Keizai magazine. in this last, The Japanese creator explains how Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was almost completely canceled after the 9/11 attacks. These events took place in full promotion of the game scheduled for the month of November and Hideo Kojima then explains what happened:

The game’s thematic presentation and many similarities to the actual events of 9/11 made it unsuitable for broadcast at the time. After consultation with lawyers, the game had to be revised in 300 places. It goes without saying that we were in crisis mode, putting the game’s release and sales at risk. – Hideo Kojima

This panic was felt by Konami’s high authorities, who were concerned about the nature of the project. He says :

I was called in for an interview with the board and after explaining the details of the story, Everyone seemed to be saying, “That’s not good.”. Since the game was going to be released worldwide, the idea of ​​abandoning the project would have had a huge commercial impact. – Hideo Kojima

Fortunately, all seemed lost for MGS 2, Hideo Kojima says he has the support of Konami founder Kagemasa Kouki and Ken Kutaragithen-president of Sony Computer Entertainment, whom they pushed to release the game.

I said to myself, “The game shouldn’t be released now. I have no choice but to take responsibility and resign from the company.” I then emailed Kagemasa Közuki, the founder of Konami. He replied: “I’ve made my decision. The game needs to be published. What do you think?” These words touched me and I also made my decision.

I also spoke to Ken Kutaragi, then President of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI). Mr. Kutaragi listened to my explanations and gave me his opinion: “There is nothing to be ashamed of. They should go ahead and release the game.” If I hadn’t had the support of these two people, I don’t know how it would have turned out.. – Hideo Kojima

It is therefore thanks to the years of support of these two Japanese video game players that, after some revisions, Metal Gear Solid 2 was able to see the light of day. Some passages have been deleted, like a sequence in which the Statue of Liberty is moved and part of Manhattan is destroyed while American flags have been removed. Eventually, the spelling of Raiden’s name was changed from katakana to kanji, as the previous version’s Japanese script was too reminiscent of Bin Laden. Eventually the title was released in November 2001 and became the masterpiece we know today…which also predicted many events of our time.