Metal Gear Solid 4 is a game everybody wants to get his/her hands on as soon as possible and it seems natural to do so since it is the latest Kojima masterpiece (or, at least, that's what it looks to be if we are to believe the early reviews with their limitations and everything). As expected, a few retailers know about the "street desire" to get the game, so they decided to break the street date and silently sell copies of the title one week before its official release.

And if this surprises you, it really shouldn't - not even Konami is and it doesn't seem to be too affected, either. Even though the number of items sold by the reported Wal-Mart stores which broke the street date is unknown, Pete Stone, Konami's UK General Manager told website PSU that "these things happen" and didn't seem really affected:

"Unfortunately, these things happen. As much as we like see that no one breaks streets dates, no one can monitor every single moment that a title gets packed up for shipment and when its on its way to the stores. The store could be at fault as well, for letting someone get a copy before the street date."

Part of the reasons the developers are not very upset by the break is the use of Blu-Ray discs which make the game impossible (or, at least, very, very hard) to pirate. And, as long as a game is not pirated, there are no reasons for a company to be upset.

Still, it's nice noting the fact that, last week, Konami's manager released a statement reassuring people regarding the "one and only" release date:

"We pride ourselves on working closely with retailers and have a continuation of the signed agreement system we used so successfully before," Stone said. "All major retailers are supplying written agreements that they will honor the street date no matter what, making it a level playing field across the board. We all want the game to be a huge success, and for everyone to benefit from this release."