LittleBigPlanet delayed worldwide, Qur'an misuse cited as cause [update]
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Oct 17th 2008 at 10:59AM }
Why the delay? Well, here's where things get ... sensitive. According to VG247, LBP is already in many stores, suggesting the game is facing a possible recall. The site points to a cached thread on the Official PlayStation Forums, which claims the game has mixed several passages from the Qur'an with music (heard here). Last year, a similar issue forced Capcom to remove Islamic phrases from Zack & Wiki.
We've contacted Sony to find out if the North America version will also be delayed and will update as soon as we hear back. A statement from SCEE about the European delay is expected shortly.
Update: SCEE confirms and notes delay is effective "worldwide" due to the Qur'an references.
Source - LittleBigPlanet release delayed in Europe [GI.biz]
Source - LittleBigPlanet delayed, says "speculation" [VG247]
Source - very urgent about little big planet [PlayStation Forums]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Haggard @ Oct 17th 2008 11:13AM
The reaction it would cause would be very similar to if something offended Fox News. Figures of authority misrepresent things all the time, no matter what their race, religion or nationality might be.
Adam @ Oct 17th 2008 11:41AM
Considering Fable 2 is an xbox360 game and LBP is a PS3 game, I don't think you have a valid argument.
SilverFireshot @ Oct 17th 2008 11:07AM
It better not get delayed here. I'm already having withdraws after one week.
dark_inchworm @ Oct 17th 2008 12:01PM
Forgive me for this, but WTF HAGGARD, MAGIC POWERS?
WRE @ Oct 17th 2008 12:22PM
Seriously. Haggard replying to NOTHING is freaking me the hell out.
aristokrat @ Oct 17th 2008 12:45PM
I'm thinking someone got banned for a comment (to which Haggard replied), and they deleted whatever ignorant, bigoted hatespeech the comment contained.
Monkey Thing?!!? @ Oct 17th 2008 12:46PM
An even stranger phenomenon than when hitting "Add Comment" sends you to a completely different story
Haggard @ Oct 17th 2008 1:07PM
Yeah, the guy sarcastically said that muslims were peaceful, so I responded with a moderate yet cynical riposte.
When I refreshed the page, there it was, hanging mid-air.
I didn't realise that attacking fearmongering racists was grounds to get downvoted, however.
Haggard @ Oct 17th 2008 1:10PM
*what he actually said was more along the lines that there'd be strong criticism to it from muslims - sorry if the response above didn't make it clear what my point was.
And when talking about fearmongering racists I meant fox news, not the guy.
Marty @ Oct 17th 2008 1:28PM
*sigh*
It's "withdrawals."
Monkey Thing?!!? @ Oct 17th 2008 11:10AM
They really need to get over this sort of thing. I'm all for sensitivity, but the way those countries capitulated over the "Mohammed in a cartoon" thing made them look like pussies
I quite like Europe, but they have some strange ways
Haggard @ Oct 17th 2008 11:14AM
It's my custom to burp at you in gratitude for your compliment.
knighty (GT: ZeraKnight) @ Oct 17th 2008 11:18AM
Quite so, quite so good sir.
5th hot meal @ Oct 17th 2008 11:31AM
dunno what to think about this actually, is it Jihad-tastic or appeasement and PC gone way over the top?
music was great btw
oh well nov 14th is my birthday anyways (nice little nugget of information for all of you ID thieves out there).
Jakka @ Oct 17th 2008 11:31AM
Well I assume you live beyond the ocean.
You're not the one dealing with any possible trouble and should they go bat-shit crazy(again), the biggest worry you'll have is whether your telescope will provide you a better sigh of Europe being set on fire by Muslims than the telescope of Smith-the-disliked-snobby-rich-neighbour from the opposite side of the street.
Metal Geario 360 @ Oct 17th 2008 11:40AM
Religion...
Whats its purpose again? Ohh to have "faith and believe"...
For a sec i was lost in thoughts of killing a different religious faction while retaking my homeland with either Sword, Spear, Guns & Bombs...
pffft.
(this is directed to all powers that be, not Islam)
Dadidito @ Oct 17th 2008 11:51AM
Europe get some balls already...
Kye - Capcom DF @ Oct 17th 2008 11:55AM
After those terrorists blew the first one off, we're not taking any chances with the second one!
Hyams @ Oct 17th 2008 11:56AM
We do have a pair of balls already. One's called Richard, the other's Dawkins.
Jakka @ Oct 17th 2008 12:01PM
@ Dadidito
Us getting some balls? If I recall correctly, we started crusades and burned women on stakes.Is anything more badass than that? Now what did you do - invent political correctness and to this day apologize bl...African-Americans and In...Native Americans for what happened two-three hundred years ago?
Tom18230 @ Oct 17th 2008 12:14PM
Lol, americans are so ignorant. I could go into lots of detail explaining about different cultures, different custums... but you wouldn't take it in, bloody idiots.
Wil @ Oct 17th 2008 12:17PM
@Jakka:
Well, from what I recall it was EUROPE that instigated the whole African slavery trade. It was EUROPE that so many of the American colonists fled from to get away from the unjust laws and prosecution of your kings and nobles against religion, personal rights, and freedom. It was Britian that tried to unjustly "taxation without representation". It was US, the American Colonies, that declared war against the British not once but TWICE and beat them back both times. I think this qualifies us as having more "balls" than you. Learn your history, buddy, it wasn't strictly America that had slavery - everyone had a piece of that pie.
That said, Europe needs to calm the eff down. Religion is supposed to make you feel closer to God and give you a reason to believe that there is more beyond this life. For some reason people seem to also assume that means speeding up your exit from this life. No! Stop! Give everyone LBP and let everyone have fun!
Dadidito @ Oct 17th 2008 12:17PM
@Jakka
Which is exactly why i feel that. I majored in European History. I have nothing but respect and a deep fascination with Old Europe. But in the last 15 years Europe has become a continent losing its once very proud identity in my opinion. Appeasing your exploding (imported) immigrants is not going to creat harmony but a loss of European ideals and culture. The home of civil liberties, forward thinkers, great leaders, brave adventurers should not be worried about everything offending the Muslim or any other community at every turn. Feelings are bound to get hurt when religion comes into play but the extremes that some in the muslim community go to have made it difficult to justify. Europe has had its shares of horrors, as we have here in the U.S. but we still are open societies that welcome all. Problem is that new comers are not blending into your society and are evidently creating two Europes. I say stand up for what you are and once were. I don't mean go and be like us. That is not what Europe is, but don't be a society that bends at the will of a very VOCAL minority at the expense of the community as a whole. My 2 cents.
Hyams @ Oct 17th 2008 12:25PM
This just in:
LBP delay is worldwide.
KarlW @ Oct 17th 2008 12:37PM
I don't know, I think this is a very valid reason to delay the game, although it is fixable through an online patch.
If Islam forbids things such as picturing Mohammed, or using verses of the Quran in music, that should be respected. It's an innocent oversight by Sony, and I'm sure they're treating it with some urgency.
No matter what your views on Islam or religion, I don't think anybody can justify saying we should just ignore their wishes and treat them with no respect. Where do you draw the line? Do you start making the assasination of MLK Jr a mission in a game? Do you add Rosa Parks to PAIN?
It would be absurd to do anything like that, and it would be (perhaps not quite as) absurd to knowingly disrespect the Islamic community. It's not about what you do, it's about how it's seen.
aristokrat @ Oct 17th 2008 12:57PM
In all fairness, Africans started slavery. Tribes conquered other tribes and subjugated them long before the foreign intervention. European traders merely gave them a greater incentive once they started offering to buy the conquered as for export. Europeans would have had a hard time navigating the jungles to successfully capture whole villages, but the native Africans were very adept at it. Without a willingness to sell out their own people, slavery never would have gotten as big as it got. So it wasn't just white men who were doing bad things back then.
In fact, the whole "blacks are inferior" thing was fueled by the way these conquering chieftains treated the chattle they trafficked. They sold them as inferior/substandard beings, and that attitude carried over the ocean, but there was no victorious black groups to act as a counterpoint, so many people started thinking that all black weren't really people. A truly unfortunate chain of events, to be sure. The sad thing is, while things are getting better in the rest of the world, this still goes on in Africa (not all of Africa, mind you), though without a large-scale global market, more people are killed instead of captured because a tribe can only take so many prisoners before it is over-run itself.
knighty (GT: ZeraKnight) @ Oct 17th 2008 1:05PM
I love how Americans seem to think Europe is one country.
waves @ Oct 17th 2008 11:10AM
This game just got even better. I'm always a fan of pissing off the religious right... No matter what country they're from.
waves @ Oct 17th 2008 1:48PM
Update: Worldwide delay? This game just got worse.
I am always against giving in to religious fundamentalists. Don't go blaming others for breaking rules you made up for yourself.
klitorisaurus @ Oct 17th 2008 3:54PM
Couldn't agree more. However, If this was a quote from any other religions text, it would still be in the game. That's the sad part.
Jnas @ Oct 17th 2008 11:11AM
Apparently this whole thing may have been an error:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=199611
People should note that SCEE have said nothing yet of a delay, it's just a rumour right now. Sort it out Joystiq.
Jnas @ Oct 17th 2008 11:14AM
Actually, looking at the sources of the article, this is probably not a rumour :P
The Aggie CEO @ Oct 17th 2008 11:15AM
Ouch......
Hyams @ Oct 17th 2008 11:17AM
http://community.eu.playstation.com/playstationeu/
=(
Hyams @ Oct 17th 2008 11:23AM
Huh, that link didn't turn out right.
Anyway, no matter. I see what I meant to link to is already in the main article (the third source).
It's a Muslim gamer asking for Sony to patch the song out of the game.
DonkeyBarf @ Oct 17th 2008 11:20AM
Oh for Christ sakes! Oh crap there I went offending another group didn't I...
@waves: Agreed +1 for u
CyberKnight @ Oct 17th 2008 12:24PM
Yeah, but that's ok, because offending Christians is fine. Offending Muslims isn't allowed. :eyeroll:
marvin69 @ Oct 17th 2008 11:21AM
'Every soul shall have the taste of death'
'All that is on earth will perish'
Now Ican't get this song out of my head!
The True Gamer @ Oct 17th 2008 1:26PM
There's that "peaceful religion" preaching at you again!
SkreeHunter @ Oct 17th 2008 3:06PM
Hey stupids. It means nothing lasts forever. I'm not even a muslim.
toastix @ Oct 17th 2008 11:26AM
I think Europe just needs to grow a pair about religious sensitivity.
The-E @ Oct 17th 2008 11:41AM
Its ironic that American people are telling us Europeans to grow a pair about Religion sensitivity and that we are afraid of Muslim people....Peoples memories must be very short indeed.....
Tom18230 @ Oct 17th 2008 12:19PM
Considering America is populated by a bunch of christians and jews (look, I can be ignorant too) you clearly don't understand the idea of islam. Their religion is their life, the qur'an is their holy book and when it's being mistreated in any way, this time in a song, then they aren't going to just sit back and let it happen. The qur'an is sacred to them. Nevermind though, you already sound like too much of an ignorant asshole to understand any of this.
Toastix @ Oct 17th 2008 6:49PM
First of all, the US is not populated by Jews. They make up only 2% of the population. And I do clearly understand Islam, that is why I think Europe needs to grow a pair. It is written in the Qur'an that the infidels needs to either convert to Islam or be destroyed. Granted not all Muslims take this literally, but many do. Look at what happened when Islam was insulted in a Dutch newspaper. Many European Muslims took to the streets and became very violent, a reaction that is unacceptable in European culture. Most British Muslims (yes most) want Sharia Law implemented for themselves, which often times contradicts British law. They have no respect for the laws of the land and cultures they have joined. They want everyone to bow down to their culture or face dire consequences. Now imagine a game were to insult the Pope. Would there be protest and backlash? Most certainly. Would you be in fear that the Catholics will blow up your mass transit systems over such a thing? Of course not. None the less this is a game and the buyer has the option to purchase the game if they want to or not. Media Molecule might have decided to take it out due to there own ethics which I can understand, it just seems increasingly the case that you have to worry about how mass media deals with Islam. Oh well it was delayed in North America too.
Shader @ Oct 17th 2008 11:30AM
This is ridiculus. I don't see why other people should have to suffer because of someone's superstition.
Roddie @ Oct 17th 2008 11:50AM
+1
koehler83 @ Oct 17th 2008 11:33AM
I never heard anything like that in the game. Not even remotely similar. Sounds like bullshit to me.
WRE @ Oct 17th 2008 11:33AM
I think that people who are confident about the validity of their religion are far less likely to be offended and throw a hissy fit about every stupid fucking thing. This goes for every religion, by the way.
The-E @ Oct 17th 2008 11:45AM
That was very deep..........WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH WRE!!!!!
Rabidkeebler @ Oct 17th 2008 11:51AM
The problem is that, for the most part, the leaders of the Islamic religion, have it set up that any offense towards their religion will typically coincide with death and violence (while this could be said for many religions, the difficulty is that this is with the powers that be.) It is the equivalent to having the pope say that it is perfectly fine, and that you would be doing a favor for god, by killing Marylin Manson or something like that.