LBP Delayed due to Muslims

[Kimiko]

UPDATE -- The PlayStation.Blog has updated with a new release date, October 27 in North America.

ORIGINAL STORY -- Little Big Planet has been delayed worldwide due to the inclusion of quotes from the Quran, reports VideoGaming247. In a forum thread, a Muslim user commented that he noticed two passages from the Quran in a licensed music track for the stage, "Swinging Safari." He respectfully requested that they be removed, explaining that some consider the mixture of a holy book with pop music to be offensive. Sony pulled the game despite it already being on retail shelves in some areas, and has issued this statement:

During the review process prior to the release of Little Big Planet, it has been brought to our attention that one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Quran. We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence that this may have caused. We'll confirm the new launch date shortly.

While Sony hasn't confirmed a new release date, retailers are claiming it will be pushed back to November 14. The recall will affect retailers globally, and Sony will probably have to press new discs that don't include that licensed song. We'll let you know the new release date once Sony issues a statement about it.

[SamanosukeShiva]

i'd say something but it'll be insensitive

[BRP]

On the bright side though they are reimbursing pre-orders with a code that will give you a Muqtada al-Sadr sackboy.

[Mikayla]

November 14th? The call I got from Gamestop said October 27th. wtf.

[Seraphise]

Before I would say justified or not it really depends on what the words are.
If it is in fact a DIRECT quote that says something specific to only the Quran, I can understand. Muslims are one of the few religions that still hold there literature sacred lol

[Mikayla]

Quoted from the other thread here where it was mentioned initially;

However, fans of the game are going to have to wait slightly longer to get the game. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced it is recalling the game from retailers, it learned that the soundtrack featured some lines from the Qu'ran backed with music. A SCEE representative also confirmed to GameSpot that this recall would be global, and could not confirm when the game would now actually hit shelves with the offending music removed.

The confirmation follows rumours that that Singing Safari level of the game features a song with two expressions found in Islam's central holy text, the Qur'an. Cached pages on the official PlayStation forum claim that the two phrases are (literally translated) "every soul shall have the taste of death" and "all that is on earth will perish."

[Exoduso]

Originally Posted by SamanosukeShiva

i'd say something but it'll be insensitive

That.

It's bullshit, ughhhh I WANT MY LBP!

Oh and why would Sony do a stupid thing like putting those passages in the song the first place?

[Mikayla]

My understanding was that it was a song that was written and composed some number of years ago, and they got the rights to use it with no prior knowledge that those lyrics were in there.

[Pyro]

Yeah, the song was published 2 years ago and was actually written by a Muslim.

[Rokku]

Confirmed NA release is now October 27th 2008. At least it's only a single week. By the way, does this mean people with the now discontinued version won't be able to connect to the servers? I would imagine incompatible game data would pretty much screw over those people that coerced people into breaking street date, or got them from people breaking street date.

[Pyro]

I can see them not only doing what they did by recalling unsold versions, but putting out a patch as well to cover all of their bases.

[Rokku]

Part of me says yeah, maybe. But then there's that part of me that says "raaaaage because I didn't get it early, and I hope those people get screwed over".

[TheStig]

Originally Posted by Pyro

Yeah, the song was published 2 years ago and was actually written by a Muslim.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Where's that quote picture of the muslims ... hmmm

[Rokku]

The one with them holding up the edited box? It's in the other thread.

[TheStig]

I forgot what you call them pics with a black border quote around it?

But it said "Muslims, always bitching about something."


*shield up*

[Ksandra]

Originally Posted by Pyro

Yeah, the song was published 2 years ago and was actually written by a Muslim.

So lemme get this straight. A Muslim makes a song using Muslim words, that has been heard for 2 years. BUT OH NO NOT IN MAH VIDEO GAMES! Someone who is Muslim has to explain to me how this is offensive. Is the song looked down on elsewhere or something? I can understand words being sacred but this isn't like they're making fun of it, this would have actually been cool imo.

[Pyro]

I've got the notion that the interpretation by the Muslim guy who brought up the issue may be a little off. Muslims consider it offensive for the words of the Qu'ran to be mixed into music or whatever, so why the fuck would a Muslim write a song that contained words from the Qu'ran? I think it was all blown out of proportion by that guy and isn't as bad as it's been made out to be but Sony has to protect their balls from getting smashed by political extremists so they do whatever it takes to please one religion out of thousands.

[Seraphise]

Originally Posted by Pyro

I've got the notion that the interpretation by the Muslim guy who brought up the issue may be a little off. Muslims consider it offensive for the words of the Qu'ran to be mixed into music or whatever, so why the fuck would a Muslim write a song that contained words from the Qu'ran? I think it was all blown out of proportion by that guy and isn't as bad as it's been made out to be but Sony has to protect their balls from getting smashed by political extremists so they do whatever it takes to please one religion out of thousands.

Really the words should never be used in any kind of media outlet, i'm sure it was criticized in the song unless the song was, to muslims, directly about the Qu'ran. Either way, helping out economy with the maxi pad sales.

[Rokku]

Originally Posted by Ksandra

So lemme get this straight. A Muslim makes a song using Muslim words, that has been heard for 2 years. BUT OH NO NOT IN MAH VIDEO GAMES! Someone who is Muslim has to explain to me how this is offensive. Is the song looked down on elsewhere or something? I can understand words being sacred but this isn't like they're making fun of it, this would have actually been cool imo.

It's generally what Pyro and Seraphise said, the Muslim community disapproves of the words used in their holy texts being used in media format like songs and the like. That being said, yes, it may have been a little on the silly side for that to have delayed the game (especially seeing as the lyrics themselves were in Somalian of all languages), but Sony is indeed just covering their asses.

[TheStig]

Similar: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7112929.stm

tl;dr version:

Kids name teddy bear muhammed, teacher allows (thinking it is harmless), parents get upset, riots/protests rise up

EDIT: Shit, I remembered it being Muslim, it's actually Islamic. My bad. I just re-read the article...

[Deejay]

I think this has a lot to do with what's being said, not just how.

"every soul shall have the taste of death" and "all that is on earth will perish." - isn't really suitable for a kids game, don't ya think?

[TheStig]

Originally Posted by Deejay

I think this has a lot to do with what's being said, not just how.

"every soul shall have the taste of death" and "all that is on earth will perish." - isn't really suitable for a kids game, don't ya think?

meh, why hide the truth. the kids will grow up fucked up 1 way or another. Might as well start early.

[Rokku]

Originally Posted by Deejay

I think this has a lot to do with what's being said, not just how.

"every soul shall have the taste of death" and "all that is on earth will perish." - isn't really suitable for a kids game, don't ya think?

Considering it's in SOMALIAN, I doubt anyone (read: very very small percentage of the US) would have ever even known what the words were saying. I'm going to have to stick with the religiously offensive opinion.

edit: To clarify, I'm of the opinion that it could have been just about any statement from the Qur'an, even if there was something in there about "love thy brother and neighbor" and it still would've gotten complaints, because in the Muslim religion it's not tolerated to use passages from the Qur'an in that format.