Exactly, I thought we all knew that the reviews before release are almost always tainted in some way or another.  People here punishing MGS4 for an industry norm is just ridiculous.  Are you going to punish every game that you don't think deserves the scores it gets before release?  Too many people are using this as a reason to punish a game or talk bad about a game that they never liked in the first place, forgetting that some of their favorite games could have easily done the exact same thing, they just didn't get caught.

Wow. I knew MGS4 had fanboys but I can't believe anyone finds the stance of Konami here defensible.

These magazines are free publicity for their games - it's not like the magazines having the review are the only ones benefitting.

But if any company places restrictions on the content of the journalists - that's unethical and REALLY bad for the consumers. I understand that the MGS fanboys are going to say the reviews don't matter because the game will be awesome. Likely. But remember this stance when you get burned by the game you get on launch that didn't have all the flaws pointed out by the review because of the restriction. Once you burn $60 a few times, you'll feel differently.

This is the second time in the past 6 months that EGM has stood up to the dev/publisher demands and I respect them a lot for it.

So is that why Ubisoft, Sony Sports and the Mortal Kombat team have refused to provide pre-release review copies to EGM?

Actually, yeah. I haven't bought a Ubisoft game in the past year for this very reason. Now it looks like Konami will fall under the same umbrella. 

So you would be ok with Ubisoft having reviewers declare their "Baby Party" for the Wii game as "the greatest game ever made for hardcore gamers.  Must buy at all costs!" ?

I mean right, it is Ubisoft's game?

Journalistic integrity is important to the vast majority of consumers out there.  Fanboys obviously have different priorities, that being "agree with me or I hate you", but the rest of us are reasonable, rational people who want to be able to make an informed decision on our own.

Why do you think there was such a massive backlash at Gamespot over Kane & Lynch?  Kudos to EGM for making a solid decision.  My subscription ran out last year, but the more stories I hear like this the more inclined I will be to give them my business again.

I don't know if this was said yet..

But usually its the other way around.

UBISOFT won't allow EGM to review thier games because they thought their reviews were "unfair".(Stemming from Assasins Creed and other games)

Talk about pussies. If someone gives you a honest review and it's somewhat low you better watch out they'll pull thier advertisements from your mag.
What clowns.

Wow at all the people thinking EGM should've just posted the review anyway. Why don't you just go click on ads for the game to get your review, it'll be more direct that way.

They pushed the review back a month so they could review the retail copy of the game without any of Konami's restrictions.

First of all, it's incredibly naive to behave as though Konami is the only company that tries to influence reviewers. People condemning Konami probably need to leave the gaming industry altogether if they're so sensitive to having their morals infringed upon.

Secondly, and more importantly, MGS is a game that will be utterly ruined by spoilers. Konami will have given out a very long list of things not to put in the review because it will frankly ruin people's enjoyment as much as it will their sales. All these things will be perfectly legitimate things to ask to be left out. If you don't mind having a game ruined for you before you've played it, that's your rather odd decision. Most people do.

The issue of the install and the length of cutscenes on the other hand is so well known that I cannot entertain for a second the idea that it was those things that prompted EGM to withhold their review for a month. Some people are being so melodramatic.

I second this

@rocketpig

so you won't buy MGS4 because of this....

{sigh....Morales & people}