MGS Peace Walker uncut in the West

By Oli Welsh Published 19 April, 2010

"Necessary" scene cut in Japan - Kojima.

According to Andriasang, Hideo Kojima has tweeted that an "abolutely necessary" scene has been cut from the Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker in Japan. The Western versions, however, remain uncut.

In an effort to keep a C rating in Japan - for 15-year-olds - Kojima Productions had to cut "a certain scene" from the PSP game: a "standard element" that's "absolutely necessary for MGS".

Although he reassured Japanese gamers that the game plays the same without the scene, Kojima sounded unhappy about the restriction to his freedom of expression.

"There's tolerance for fantasy games, but for games where you show war or real violence between people, you apparently can't complain about anything," he said. "With this, it seems impossible to communicate something through games."

Peace Walker has been passed with a T for Teen rating in the US, and a 15 in the UK. The PSP epic (it's not often we type those words) is out on 29th April in Japan, 8th June in North America and 18th June in Europe.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (11) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Asrill #1 2 years ago

    It would have been nice to get a closer release date in Europe!

  • Doctor_What #2 2 years ago

    Wait... Is THIS the last MGS that Kojima is doing, or is that the next one... Or the one after that? No wait, the one following that will DEFINITELY be the last one he does ;)

    Poor bloke, he's chained to this franchise and I think he'd really like to go and work on something else.

  • hiddenranbir #3 2 years ago

    Hah, take that Japaneseses!

    Surprised something needs to even be cut for them.

  • DoctorFouad #4 2 years ago

    after my big disappointment with MGS4 (no streaming technology, infinite annoying loading, 5 minutes gamesplay- 30 minutes cinematics approach, very small areas and insufficient number of missions to experiment the new gameplay mechanics, rushed story (too much content not so well developed, they needed 10 hours or more to develop this kind of story)...etc etc etc)

    maybe this peace walker will be a great MGS game like MGS1, 2 and 3...

    Until today I cant believe how gaming sites gave MGS4 10/10 scors, yet they gave uncharted 2, or mass effect 2 or assassins creed 2.....only 9/10 scores ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    thats what we call nostalgia bias effect...it is from kojima, it is exclusive to ps3, it is the last MGS...so it must be perfect ! so 10/10...lol

  • drxym #5 2 years ago

    @Doctor_What, he can console himself with the fortune he's made from the series. It's still his production company so he can set the general direction without getting involved in the nitty gritty day to day issues. I would be surprised if his role is any more than that these days anyway.

    Personally I think MGS games are pretty good but every one recently has been hyped as an "epic", the "last one" etc. and it's just getting boring. The plot stopped making any sense a long time ago, so I'd be more interested in a decent game than whether a particular cutscene got in or not.
    Edited by drxym at 19/04/10 @ 09:53

  • illusiondance #6 2 years ago

    ooh, mr Drxym, a little cynical no?
    i would say the level of detail in the story presented through peacewalker seems to suggest old Kojer is still very much on-board and not passed out drunk in the captains quarters.
    (though he may be drunk at the helm of MGSmaru.)

    Its always a surprise when the japanese cut content but this has got to be a step by konami to hit their precise native demographic or somesuch bullshit. maybe kojima productions has lost some of its influence in the last couple of years.
    I think though that kojima himself is probably like those film directors who are kind of addicted to new ideas despite a constant urge to retire.

  • FenderMaster #7 2 years ago

    a "standard element" that's "absolutely necessary for MGS".

    obligatory torture scene?

  • rhinoxious #8 2 years ago

    I didn't realise that pubic hair was ... a "standard element" that's "absolutely necessary for MGS"

  • BlackANUS #9 2 years ago

    Meaning:
    MGS Peace Walker Uncut International Director's Edition to be released in Japan 9 months after regular edited version.

  • alcides #10 2 years ago

    Wow, @DoctorFouad

    MGS4 was my first Metal Gear Solid (I KNOW!) and what you said is like my thoughts exactly...

    I'll add some bitterness to it, if I may. I got stuck in the very first fucking stage (the one when they let you have CONTROL over shit, like 40 minutes after you loaded the game) and had to watch a youtube video to get to see where the check point was. Then off to 30 more minutes of hands-off inanity. Then back to Youtube, to be honest. It wasn't me who sucked. The game made a point of... it wasn't even hidden or that you were misguided. There it was right in front of you... but your radar and equipment, the setting, the camera angles... it all worked against you making any progress... you got lost by the time the next cutscene was over anyway.

    This game really feels like something old and rigid and complicated crammed in an architecture way too complex for it. I felt one had to be an expert or what to play through it, which is fine, as long as I get the time to understand how to play it.

    Pseudo tutorials mixed with a 15 years span worth of jargon and private jokes makes for difficult understanding. Stages were way to short, you were given guns that didn't work because they weren't yours, in a game based on stealth supposedly (it made sense). In the end there was a pirate in a graveyard and he told you this shit made no sense and he was like "we're the same yet not related how about you let me rub myself on you thats hpt".

    It was really like crawling through corridors and watching someone else play it. Typical bullshit from a series that's lasted way too long.

    The worst offender: I had seen all those cutscenes in "previews".

    All in all, there's nothing to it. Much like FF13. Sorry just not my cup of tea.
    Edited by alcides at 19/04/10 @ 23:46

  • drxym #11 2 years ago

    @illusiondance, I don't think it's cynical. Kojima owns his own production studio he can be as involved or not as he likes. If he wants to pursue other things, he can shift the burden of day to day work onto someone else. I'm sure that's what happens anyway despite the amount of press coverage with his name attached.