[Shinzai]

Opinions on the following:

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/10/17/li...-qur-an-quote/1

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"Sony has confirmed that it has issued a global recall and European delay on LittleBigPlanet after it was revealed that the game quotes the Qur'an.
LittleBigPlanet, Sony's flagship game for the PlayStation 3 has had a European delay turned into a full worldwide recall by Sony after it was discovered that background music for the game quoted sections of the Qur'an, an Islamic holy text.

The European delay for the game was originally reported earlier today by GI.biz, who noted that some retailers had pushed the release date for the game in Europe back from October 24th to November 14th. Sony however has now confessed that it will be issuing a global recall for the game, as well as delaying the European release.

The reason for the recall according to the official statement is that a background music track used in the game quotes sections of the Qur'an.

"During the review process prior to the release of LittleBigPlanet, 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 Qur'an," reads the statement.

"We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence that this may have caused."

For those interested, the two passages which were quoted, according to Kotaku, were "Every soul shall have the taste of death" and "All that is on earth will perish." The two segments are apparently heard in the first 30 seconds of the Swinging Safari level.

It's unclear if Sony received any complaints about the use of these phrases within the game.

Is this political correctness gone too far, or is Sony doing the responsible thing?"
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I have two thoughts/queries on this whole debacle:

1: Is Sony worrying to much about religious issues that should not actually be issues in the first place?

2: How much is this going to cost the makers of LBP/Sony to replace the Blu Ray discs used?... Given that they're not exactly cheap and all.

On a side note, I hear that a few, unnamed, retailers are actually selling the games none-the-less.

Quite frankly, I myself, think the whole situation is ridiculous and can't help but feel aggravated by the supposed transgressions of a few lines of religious text. I care very little about religions as a whole, but see no reason for them to be completely removed from any kind of media, in the sheer chance it may deeply offend someone, some where.

[Won-ton]

People need to stop being such pussies towards Islam as a result of some Muslims' bomb-happy tendencies. Bowing down to those bitches isn't the solution.

It's up to Sony whether they want to do a recall or not, but it can't possibly make good business sense. The cost of the recall plus the release delay must be greater than the loss they would take as a result of any offense this might cause. If someone is so pious as to be offended by this, they wouldn't be playing a video game at all.

[Korevont]

The original request, if you bothered to read it, was asking for a simple patch to take care of the issue. I still don't understand why Sony decided to reprint the whole damn thing.

Also, the middle-east makes up a large chunk of Sony's sales numbers. Arabs are freaking Sony fanboys in that regard actually. If removing one song is all that it takes to keep a large portion of your customer base happy and buying, then why not?

They made a business decision, nothing more, nothing less.

Edit: And there's no way in hell this reprint is costing them more than their expected profit. Then they wouldn't have even bothered. Money > Everything.

Plus, you could always reuse the cases and booklets.

[Sephirothxii]

I heard about this yesterday and was really pissed because I was dying to get this game this coming Tuesday. This is complete bullshit, so fucking what it has the same words. They are not even like religious words pertaining to their god or whatever. Its just regular fucking words that happen to make the same sentence. So what if it is associated with pop music. You do not own the fucking words!

[Villainous]

This is totally lame.
I don't understand Sony's reasoning. They pull this, but Assassin's Creed stays on the shelf?
Don't get me wrong that game was fucking tight.
But all while playing it I was thinking "Wow.. they are really toeing the line with this one!"

[Animekitty9]

They probably want to come off as a reliable company...

Even if it costs them a lot. <.<

[Rentahobo]

People need to stop being such pussies towards Islam as a result of some Muslims' bomb-happy tendencies. Bowing down to those bitches isn't the solution.

This.

[Varizen]

I believe the issue is with the lines quoted from the book, and the fact Muslims have gotten offended over many things including pictures of The Prophet Mohammad. This is more to prevent a fuss from Muslims who may be offended than to keep Christians and Jews from being offended.

[Vigilous]

What Variizen said. It's actually highly offensive to Muslims (and even blasphemous) for Muslim scripture to be used in song, regardless of who and what the song is about.

[pathwriter]

It's theoretically offensive to Christians and Jews to use the name of God in vain, but that doesn't stop anyone doing so (up to and including Christians and Jews -- lest someone jump on that, Muslims have quite a lot of blasphemous references to their religious iconography in their own culture, too). The difference is that Christians will say, "We'll be disappointed at you and possibly yell a bit," whereas Muslims have pretty much universally said, "Hey, remember September 11th? We're not saying anything, but, you know..." There's no cultural sensitivity involved here, it's that there are large groups of Muslims who will blow shit up because someone in a funny hat said so.

[Korevont]

To: Sony Computer Entertainment and Media Molecule

We would like to deeply thank you for your quick reaction to our Emails concerning LittleBigPlanet's licensed song that contained lyrics offensive to Muslims. We didn't expect it to be this fast nor did we expect you to actually pull shipments and delay the game (we only asked for an online patch, you know!).

We have no idea how much money you lost doing this, but we're guessing it's a lot. So, we will try to promote the game as hard as we possibly can in the Middle East as a gesture of gratitude, online and offline. Many of us already have copies of the game, but they vowed to buy the patched version as soon as it hits stores.

Sony, you have proved to us again what a great company you are by respecting the feelings of Muslim gamers everywhere. Media Molecule, we appreciate your talent and creativity that resulted in creating such a fantastic and fun game.

Thank You!

-True Gaming

Pretty eloquent for fanatical suicide bombers.

[1337NancYBoY]

This is totally lame.
I don't understand Sony's reasoning. They pull this, but Assassin's Creed stays on the shelf?
Don't get me wrong that game was fucking tight >if you like repetition.< (Fix'd)
But all while playing it I was thinking "Wow.. they are really toeing the line with this one!"

Ino rite? It was like they set The Da Vinci Code in Iraq. At least they didn't bend over backwards and sacrifice the storyline to avoid hurting some poor terrorist's feelings though. Then again, it wasn't made by eurofags of loljapan (as evidenced by the original story line / lack of tentacle rape), kind of uplifting to know that someone in the media has at least two testicles to their name.

Also: God I fucking hated the beggars in that game. 'Please sir, can I have any money? My family is poor and sick and dieing!' Ugh, the next time a bum approaches me with what even appears to be the intent to ask me for something I swear to hell ima shank his ass with the retractable blade I attached to my forearm (as a matter of convenience).

[motoh]

Assassin's Creed - Ubisoft - French - assholes.
LittleBigPlanet - Sony - Japanese - Interested in money.

~M

[1337NancYBoY]

Technically Assassin's Creed was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, a Canadian branch of the company, which makes them apathetic and socialist. And pot heads.

[Viron]

I really don't understand why they didn't just patch it for fucks sake. Would have been so much easier. I'm trying to hold off on getting this until christmas though so doesnt really cahnge it for me.

[Layne]

People need to stop being such pussies towards stupid videogame recalls as a result of some lonely fanboy tendencies. Bowing down to those bitches isn't the solution.

It's an action taken to prevent a group known for overreacting from, well, overreacting. Relax, your game is still coming out. Just with less blasphemy.

[Won-ton]

It's an action taken to prevent a group known for overreacting from, well, overreacting.

You agree that the correct reaction to a threat of violence is to immediately back down and bend over?

Relax, your game is still coming out.

Nowhere did I suggest that I care when or even if this game is released. My problem is with why: crazy-fundies want to be free to practice their religion while telling other people how to live and conduct their business. Sony is at best engaging in censorship and at worst assisting terrorism. The reason for that is that this game is supposed to be a system-mover for their woefully undersold PS3, and is very important for their holiday numbers. Of course it's about money, but this action sets a dangerous precedent and, while perhaps turning a profit in the short term, will eventually force them to create an entire "Muslim-safe" department to oversee every game they make. أحمد النبي, what if some random pattern of branches happens to spell Allah?!?





↑ Hotlinked, because it's more offensive. ↑

[1337NancYBoY]

See, this is why I hate muslims. It's because of shit like this. I would say something like 'Vote for McCain you shit heads!!1' But it looks like Obama is ready to hit the button on Iran too, so vote for one of them (preferably McCain - I bet my friend $100 he would win, so you know, help me out here...). Or don't.

Now if you need me I'll be over here tenting my fingers in anticipation...

[Varizen]

You're over reacting yourself Won-ton. They would have done the same if it had been something offensive to Jews or to Muslims. Besides, doing what's morally right is better for sales in the long term. If you offend an audience and do nothing to rectify it, you're screwed with that market for all future business.

Besides, you're entire argument is based on a slippery slope fallacy. This is a preemptive strike to stop any problem before it starts, not a censorship strategy. And I HIGHLY doubt even Micheal Moore could link Sony to Terrorism over this other than angry Muslims burning Japanese and American Flags (Cause it never matters who they're pissed at, they always burn our flag) over a pile of PS3s. This isn't going to lead to anything absurd like a Muslim safe department. But just because one tiny little action is taken to prevent an issue in the short term, it doesn't mean things are going to go crazy in the long run where every single game will be made not to offend someone. But in a general audience game that's meant for everyone to enjoy, there's no place for anything that will offend a segment of the audience.