Violent game launch canceled after Akihabara rampage; gov't discusses regulations on knives

Thursday 12th June, 05:55 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

Latest 15 of 33 Total Comments Show All

MichaelJP at 08:46 PM JST - 11th June

Treat the cause of the disease, not the the symptoms. I wish someone could ask these cabinet ministers how knife regulation would have stopped the guy driving his truck into a crowd. What he'd used a pointy stick or a big pencil? Would they ban writing instruments?
lipscombe at 10:18 PM JST - 11th June

expect many meaningless knee jerk reactions to attempt a facade of safety until everyone gets back to not caring at all next month. 2 very elderly security guards were patrolling the station where I live today but doing nothing about the guy who stood on the platform and hit himself on the head repeatedly for 10 minutes, I kid you not. but hey, they had nice rent-a-cop uniforms and a mindless idiot with a weapon would be no match for a 70 year old in white gloves and epaulets.
KitsuneYoukai at 11:05 PM JST - 11th June

There is never a perfect or all encompassing solution to such an incident. I for one think having identified this guys mental state far in advance and intervention could have helped. Even his mother did not know how to deal with him. She acknowledge the change but nothing was done. Even the teacher interviewed sounded emotionless when discussing him as though he was some trash to be thrown away. Poeple in teaching jobs showed be supportive not like this. Mothers/fathers should have access to agencies that can help them. Knife regulations will not help, because in the end if someone wants a knife to commit a crime they will find one.
evil_robot at 11:06 PM JST - 11th June

This sounds like it's going to head in the wrong direction like the time of the gas attacks. So the gov is considering controlling knives this time? Just like last time when they removed every trash barrel in the city. As if everyone will suddenly start copying what one guy did. Just wait a few months, wanna buy a new kitchen knife? You'll have to go through a strip search and interrogation first. The gov is handling this so wrong...
japanyesterday at 12:25 AM JST - 12th June

metal gear got canceled??? lol sad, so many fans were looking forward to this piece of art. they better not cancel street fighter 4 because vega/balrog has somewhat of a knife
MrTokyo at 12:34 AM JST - 12th June

The GAME itself wasn't cancelled. Launch events for MGS 4 were cancelled, that's all. The game is still scheduled for its release.
gurugurugaijin at 12:40 AM JST - 12th June

Haha! That's great! Yes, let's cancel a launch event for the one war game that actually REWARDS the player for taking non-lethal measures and oozes pacifist themes.

Meanwhile tell Mr. and Mrs. Kato to bow their heads a few centimeters lower and it might help bring back those 7 people.
raitokira at 04:00 AM JST - 12th June

Konami canceled the events with the “safety of participants in mind,” though similar events in the U.S. were to proceed as planned, a spokesman said on condition of anonymity, citing company rules.

I won't call it as "safety of participants in mind" - looks more like "a sensitive period" to be taken care of. Given similarity to those animes - being postponed due to certain events. E.g Higurashi Kai

and yea, i found this statement to be pretty amusing

Prior to the meeting, Machimura told a press conference, ‘‘There are surprisingly many types of knives marketed in the world. We would like to discuss how to deal with it.’

ermm, yes and so? knife is not the only weapon you can use in this world? hehz.
isthistheend at 04:40 AM JST - 12th June

Yesterday I felt a strange and somehow more comfortable walking around Tokyo than on previous days. Almost like a collective pressure bubble had burst after a storm, and people were more humanized. Prior to the recent catastrophe, I was getting bumped daily by every group of person you could name, and on one particular occasion was attacked with straightarms to the chest from one guy in Shibuya trying to make a point of taking "right of way" as he darted out of a train. Yesterday, I felt, "well to xxxx with them", I'm as exhausted as the next bloke, I have paid plenty in taxes recently (a whole month worth of salary), there's a seat available, I'm going to sit, and I'm going to close my eyes and rest till my stop comes. I just stopped caring about being so yielding to everyone. Just fitting in with the flow of the hordes. And again, for whatever reason, the masses seemed to soften up in reflection as to what happened.
Smythe at 06:19 AM JST - 12th June

The Govt should put more into trying to help mentally effected people, people without jobs & such, rather then possibly a ban on knives which will never work.

Mind you I doubt if unemployeed people or mentally disturbed people can be helped for one never knows if they fail to take their medications or said medications are wrong for them.

It is a strange world out there & unfortunately we live in it, even if we do not live in said so called dangerous places for they can always change in Japan or different countries.
Spidey at 09:49 AM JST - 12th June

This is typical "treat the symptoms and not the cause" behavior. Things will only get worse. Typical western thinking from a so called eastern society.

S
APismoClam at 11:22 AM JST - 12th June

Why are the same questions asked over and over again? You can't fix this type of problem after the fact. There will always be wackos in our societies, no matter how hard we try to intervene or understand what the "causes" of their sickness are. Wackos intent on harming others will ALWAYS find something to use as a weapon...truck, knife, gun, sarin gas, poisoned curry, gravity, dish towels, baseball bats, golf clubs, etc.

The impotence of the law proved itself once again. Criminals don't care about the laws. There were already laws on the books restricting the carrying of a knife of a certain size with no "due reason". Murder and manslaughter by motor vehicle are likewise already prohibited. Did it stop him?

The problem is this. Most want to believe that laws alone will make them safe with absolutely no personal responsibility for their own protection. It's convenient to live with the illusion that one's safety is being handled by someone else. But reality shows us once again that it isn't. The fact that Japan has made non-lethal self defense tools like mace and pepper spray illegal to carry by ordinary people shows just how far into their fog of unconsciousness they actually are. Just look at how quickly the Akihabara wacko was disarmed once he was confronted with force and the threat of deadly force. It's only conjecture on my part to assume that several of his victims could have been spared their fate if someone had intervened sooner, but I have a hard time imagining otherwise.
Starviking at 06:27 PM JST - 12th June

>

Machimura told a press conference, ‘‘There are surprisingly many types of knives marketed in the world. We would like to discuss how to deal with it.’’

Wow what an Einstein 'many types of knives'!

I wonder how their deliberations will go?

Bureaucrat: This pointy thing is a knife. This long thing with a zig-zag edge is also a knife - a 'Bread Knife'. This little thing has some knives and other things inside it - it's a 'Pen Knife'. This....yadda-yadda-yadda

Cabinet Secretary: They're all so dangerous - let's ban them!
DoctorTofu at 09:37 AM JST - 13th June

APismoClam - Amen. I really couldn't have said it any better. Great post!
Neo_Rio at 11:03 AM JST - 13th June

How about banning psychotic people!!

Knives don't kill people, psychos do!