LittleBigPlanet 1.02 patch removes Qur'an lyrics
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Oct 23rd 2008 at 2:58PM }
The 1.02 patch removes the lyrics from Toumani Diabaté's "Tapha Niang," muffling any questionable references to the Qur'an -- the song will apparently remain in the game as an instrumental track. While the topic has been debated to death this week (even by the artist himself), Sony clearly erred on the side of caution, likely burning untold millions of discs -- and dollar bills! -- in the process. But hey, at least the company still has Phil's vote. That's gotta count for something, right? Game on!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dark_inchworm @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:04PM
I wonder if they plan on stacking all those discs on top of the E.T. cartridges?
Jakka @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:06PM
So if there's a patch that fixes is it already, why such a long delay?
Vidikron @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:07PM
As I understand it Sony recalled the discs that were already distributed and are making news ones that have the lyric-less song one the actual disc. The patch is to cover those discs that were already sold or sold in spite of the recall.
Vidikron @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:08PM
Gah... too many extra letters...
*making new ones
*on the actual disc
Haon @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:09PM
I just went to my local store today not expecting to see it. I saw it still on sale and immediately snatched it up. I guess this is probably the one time that not living in the states helped me instead of being screwed over.
Duke @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:14PM
So please tell me this issue is dead. Its gotten really old.
T @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:20PM
Unfortunately it's just the beginning, as now the other half of the Muslim community will protest Sony for daring to censor a song simply because it contained Muslim terminology.
blahblahbloo @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:24PM
Not so much. There might be Muslims who didn't mind the Qur'an being used as background music in a game (such as, for instance, the musician himself), but there's no group out there that would insist it be used for such a purpose.
Jack @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:49PM
This issue is dead but others I fear will come.
Heres to the WTC level. Or the Columbine level.
Courtney @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:16PM
Wish I had been able to pick this up before the recall. It just became an automatic collector's edition without having to spend an extra $10 or $20.
T @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:46PM
I get the felling the "recall" wasn't done to change the physical media, but rather to give Sony and MM time to put a patch out that gets rid of the "offending" lyrics.
zuburi @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:23PM
I'm not sure you understand how a "patch" works.
Courtney @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:36PM
Actually, I'm pretty sure I do.
The point being, a patch can't wipe the files off the disc. Don't connect to the internet, you can play the original game. Depending on how many managed to escape Sony's recall, years from now the original could be viewed as a collector's item, and a real one, not the plastic crap they include with the "collector's editions" they sell.
If tens of thousands are floating around, it probably doesn't matter. But, had I got one early, I would have the game to play now and have a chance at having a game disc worth holding onto.
T @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:51PM
No, sounds like you still don't get it. They patched the game instead of reprinting it thousands of times. EVERY LBP disc will still feature the lyrics, but they'll be patched over. That's it.
They didn't take a bunch of discs, destroy them, and redistribute replacements.
It's just like how Rock Band was patched to include the music store. That patch is STILL out there, and the disc was never reprinted to include it.
Courtney @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:51PM
@Zuburi
Sorry, I completely missed T's comment and assumed you were just replying to me.
Courtney @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:55PM
@T
Joystiq has been reporting it as a recall and that new discs are being printed. Have you seen reports elsewhere that say no new discs are being printed? I've just been going off of how Joystiq is reporting it.
Vidikron @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:11PM
@Courtney
That's been my understanding as well. In fact, Media Molecule stated that they had a patch ready to go when the news broke, but said that Sony opted for a recall. The patch is to remove the lyrics from the pre-recall discs that were already sold or not returned.
Kodros @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:19PM
@T....
"They patched the game instead of reprinting it thousands of times. EVERY LBP disc will still feature the lyrics, but they'll be patched over. That's it."
I'm not an expert, but how do you rewrite to a non-rewritable disc?
"They didn't take a bunch of discs, destroy them, and redistribute replacements."
So, you're telling me that within a weeks time, the retailers shipped back the discs, Sony then manually unwrapped hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of LBP cases, manually placed them in some machine, manually put the patched discs back into their packaging, and then shipped them out to the retailers on time?
jinn35 @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:20PM
to anbody who got the game early or played the beta,
how many MB are the custom levels you can download? And if they are large, is this game still worth it if you couldn't download the levels? I have friends and extra controllers, if that matters.
Hyams @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:02PM
I dunno the exact size, but I believe they're auto-deleted once you've finished playing the level, as you have to re-download them each time you replay them.
Don't worry though, downloading doesn't take long. I kept on forgetting I was downloading levels, as it takes no longer than a normal level load (about 3 to 5 seconds).
jinn35 @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:42PM
thanks for the info
Metal_Gear @ Oct 24th 2008 5:57AM
I read from somewhere that the levels are actually in KB, not MB so yeah, a few seconds and your off.
jinn35 @ Oct 30th 2008 8:57PM
sweet KB, not MB! This game is mine!
McWeen @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:25PM
Whew with that removed there finally won't be any more controversy around the game.
Oh wait...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NICWRAayfE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwmPlSD2bRE
dc @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:03PM
Why pander to Muslims by removing lyrics in a game? Do they do the same thing to games that offend Christians. Countless games take Jesus name in vain a zillion times. Do we need to walk on egg shells to keep from offending Muslims. I guess Sony thinks so because Muslims, unlike Christians will blow up the freaking game factories with suicide bombers. How many Muslims are playing this game in Iran or any middle east country for that matter?
Levi @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:37PM
What I find funny is that if a song in LBP had references to the Holy Bible, it's likely that Christians would be furious if Sony decided to remove the lyrics via a patch or a recall.
Jack @ Oct 23rd 2008 5:02PM
Its true that Christians have to take more shit than Muslims. But its comes from the same taboos we have in America. A white guy in America is more reluctant to make a black joke than the other way around. Why? Because we did fucked up shit that race and now white people gotta take sometimes.
I think its sorta the same way. SORTA. Unfair stigmas are alive and well against Muslims. (oh noes the terrorists! Or any McCain rally as an example.)Because of it they're more inclined to pull the race/religion card on us.
zuburi @ Oct 23rd 2008 9:30PM
"...Muslims, unlike Christians will blow up the freaking game factories..."
Dude, get real. Get real and grow up. Then do some research on militant Christian groups blowing up or attacking abortion clinics in America. Between 1977 and 1994 there were an average of 100 acts of violence against people that have anything to do with those places PER YEAR.
I am a Catholic, but I am not crazy enough to think that my shit doesn't stink and that the only people out there to do crazy stuff in the name of religion are the Muslims.
t_m @ Oct 24th 2008 3:03AM
How many muslims are playing it in the USA, Europe, etc...?
Muslims don't just live in the middle east, you know.
(though given that the US pays billions of dollars to the middle east every year for oil, and many people in those countries have WAY better standards of living than people in the west, I'd bet that quite a few are playing on PS3s on 80inch screens)
Being polite isn't a bad thing... if it was we'd have more insensitive idiots in the comments. *ahem*
SoulBlade @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:21PM
Now for 1.03 to fix the floaty jumping everyone's bitching about! C'mon MM!
From the gameplay vids I saw, it didn't seem like a deal breaker, but if MM can address such issues via patch like they claim, that'd be cool.
Vidikron @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:24PM
I'd like to see the physics of the player, if not entire levels, to be user adjustable options. It would be cool if users could adjust those things because it would open up the possibilities tremendously.
SoulBlade @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:46PM
yes... that would be fantastic.
Levels should be able to prevent users from adjusting physics as well and provide it's own custom set. Otherwise you might see people breeze through a level by changing up the physics.
But yes... I really dig the idea
Jack @ Oct 23rd 2008 5:08PM
Think about the astronaut suit and cool space levels with MOON Physics!
Or a Sonic level with Sonic speed!
Pumapayam @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:24PM
I think I will enjoy the song more, I did not care for the singing part anyways. The music beats were awesome enough without the singing.
farfisa @ Oct 23rd 2008 5:10PM
Finally! Now I can wait to play the game in peace!
KB, PDX, OR @ Oct 23rd 2008 5:42PM
Couldn't the idiots at Sony just patch the song out of the game as the solution and not bother recalling? Would anyone have even noticed? They could have saved a ton of money and we all could be playing it already.
Jack @ Oct 23rd 2008 5:52PM
How many times does it have to be said?
NOT EVERYONE IS CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET.
"Would anyone have even noticed? "
Yes. In fact some people spend their time finding things to be offended about.
mezzanine @ Oct 23rd 2008 6:19PM
I think this is all a big conspiracy. Sony invented the offended Muslims for the recall to hide the fact that Kaz Hirai placed a secret penis level on each disc.
t_m @ Oct 24th 2008 3:08AM
Its a nice song... i like it.
t_m @ Oct 24th 2008 3:09AM
PS/ Anyone know if there are any plans for a LBP soundtrack album? They have some cool songs on there...
Matt @ Oct 24th 2008 11:26AM
This whole thing is retarded, the only reason this is happening is because it might offend muslims and start another jihad or whatever.
I've played plenty of games where they are bagging on Christianity or just religion in general and no one complains about that. Even if it was justified. If someone had actually said something offensive then maybe id understand.
In this case its a few lyrics in a song written by a muslim. Yeah I know the arguments, somehow its making fun the qor'an if its in song format. Well that rule only applies to muslims not the entire planet. But because islam has these extremist nut jobs(Before anyone else says it, yes, it might happen in the other religions but not nearly as much.) that murder people for drawing cartoons, I can see why Sony was falling all over themselves to fix it even before anyone had any complaints at all.
If I even buy this game im not going to let the ps3 update. I doubt I will though. And before everyone gets all up in arms, call me racist or whatever if you want, I don't really care because its got nothing to do with it.
Benjamin @ Oct 25th 2008 12:31PM
What I'm still curious about is if they destroyed all those blu-ray discs or not. I'm thinking about turning off my internet connection until I get to that third level just to see if the discs are actually different than the ones people managed to snag early. I can't imagine there are a large percentage of PS3 users who are Muslim, without internet, and fluent in Somali.