UPDATED LBP Delayed, Recalled Worldwide

[DoctorFinger]

Bad news for our brethren on The Continent looking forward to Little Big Planet - just a week before it's release it's been delayed in Europe. Retailers there now list a release date of November 14th. Oddly enough, some retailers already have their allotment of the game in hand, making this as much a recall as a delay.

So why then is this happening? According to this post on the Playstation Community website (cached version of the post), the music on one level included in the game contains lyrics from the Qua'ran, the Muslim holy book. Use of the Qua'ran for such purposes is considered by some to be offensive, so it's likely Sony is taking the game off the market so the offending track can be removed or modified. A similar situation occurred with last year's Zach & Wiki, but that reference was caught before the game want to print.

It's unknown at this time if a similar delay/recall will affect the game's release in any other territories.

Update: LBP Has been recalled on a global level according to SCEE. No new release date has been confirmed. - Siraris

Update 2: Here's the official Sony statement - JAYoung

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

Update 3: Joystiq has tracked down the offending song in question - "Tapha Niang" from a Grammy award-winning Malian kora player named Toumani Diabaté.

Update 4: According to Media Molecule, fans in the US won't have to wait too long for their fix:

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. We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologize for any offense that this may have caused.

We will begin shipping LittleBigPlanet to retail in North America the week of October 27th. Sorry for the delay, and rest assured, we are doing everything we can to get LittleBigPlanet to you as soon as possible. We’ll report back as soon as we have another update.

Sources - PS Community cached article; Videogaming247; Joystiq;

[MachEnergy]

I guess the industry didn't learn anything from Kakuto Chojin. I own the original copy of that game, and I'll tell you what I learned. Kakuto Chojin is a terrible game.

Sorry to hear about the delay

[NoName]

Hopefully this doesn't effect anywhere else. I just started looking forward to this game!

[LongStepMantis]

So...how did they "accidentally" include lyrics from one of the most fire-starting topics around today? I'm not saying anything against the religion itself, but given the tensions around the subject...that's like having a music track in a game with lyrics taken from Mein Kampf.

[roboninja]

Yay, religious zealotry delaying games now too. :rolleyes:

[fitbabits]

The saying 'all press is good press' probably warrants a mention here.

[Telefrog]

If that really is the reason for the delay, then I would definitely expect the same thing to happen elsewhere.

[Mike Kelehan]

Remember the original Fire Temple music from Ocarina of Time? It was probably a lot like that, i. e. very cool and soon nerfed.

[Magma]

Use of the Qua'ran for such purposes is considered by some to be offensive

Guess we won't be hearing Muslim rock bands anytime soon.

[rvieira]

If the delay is because of a religion concern, it will happen worldwide, not just Europe.

EDIT: Telefrog was faster!

[LarsenNET]

Wow, big mistake. This is going to get covered up by so many great games if it holds the Nov 14th date. Gears the week before, ouch.

[Johan]

Wow...that's a pretty monumental screwup on a very basic thing...

what I want to know is why there's a double-standard...in my mind, there is.

I also want to know why the HELL there needs to be any censorship of content at all. WHY? Sell the game as is and let the CONSUMER make the decision as to whether it's personally offensive or not. I'm sick of games getting modified to please particular interest groups, and I'm a social conservative, too! Make the game you want to make, rate it and indicate its content honestly, and let individuals and the market decide whether to buy it or self-censor.

Is this so difficult? I don't find hack-and-slash movies my cup of tea, but I don't request Saw and Hostel be banned. I don't like really gory/scary games, but I don't think Manhunt should be banned.

I just don't get it. I'm quite conservative, but I also clearly recognize that I want to decide for myself what content I expose myself to, and NOT have others do that for me. Are people really such freaking babies that OTHERS must submit to THEIR restrictions on what they are exposed to in a game, movie, or song? :rolleyes:

[AgtFox]

Wow, a lot of people have the game already in hand too that I've seen from various other areas around the internet. This is one big FUBAR situation.

[National Kato]

This is some major egg on Sony's (and Media Molecule's) face. Arguably the biggest title this year for the PS3 and it's getting delayed/recalled one week prior to release. Ouch.

On the bright side, I'll have plenty of gaming goodness to tide me over.

[roboninja]

Originally Posted by Johan

Wow...that's a pretty monumental screwup on a very basic thing...

what I want to know is why there's a double-standard...in my mind, there is.

I also want to know why the HELL there needs to be any censorship of content at all. WHY? Sell the game as is and let the CONSUMER make the decision as to whether it's personally offensive or not. I'm sick of games getting modified to please particular interest groups, and I'm a social conservative, too! Make the game you want to make, rate it and indicate its content honestly, and let individuals and the market decide whether to buy it or self-censor.

Is this so difficult? I don't find hack-and-slash movies my cup of tea, but I don't request Saw and Hostel be banned. I don't like really gory/scary games, but I don't think Manhunt should be banned.

I just don't get it. I'm quite conservative, but I also clearly recognize that I want to decide for myself what content I expose myself to, and NOT have others do that for me. Are people really such freaking babies that OTHERS must submit to THEIR restrictions on what they are exposed to in a game, movie, or song? :rolleyes:

Totally agreed, Johan. The current uber-sensitivity to Islamic worries simply highlights this basic problem.

[LarsenNET]

They are going to loose a lot more sales because of the delay than they are going to offend. I'm willing to bet no one here would have ever noticed or cared. This is insane.

[rein]

well *uck a duck.


...open up the beta to everyone while we wait. plz?

[biosc1]

Can people import music into the levels created in LBP? If so, one can just imagine what the first thing people are going to do is.

[LongStepMantis]

Originally Posted by Johan

Wow...that's a pretty monumental screwup on a very basic thing...

what I want to know is why there's a double-standard...in my mind, there is.

I also want to know why the HELL there needs to be any censorship of content at all. WHY? Sell the game as is and let the CONSUMER make the decision as to whether it's personally offensive or not. I'm sick of games getting modified to please particular interest groups, and I'm a social conservative, too! Make the game you want to make, rate it and indicate its content honestly, and let individuals and the market decide whether to buy it or self-censor.

Is this so difficult? I don't find hack-and-slash movies my cup of tea, but I don't request Saw and Hostel be banned. I don't like really gory/scary games, but I don't think Manhunt should be banned.

I just don't get it. I'm quite conservative, but I also clearly recognize that I want to decide for myself what content I expose myself to, and NOT have others do that for me. Are people really such freaking babies that OTHERS must submit to THEIR restrictions on what they are exposed to in a game, movie, or song? :rolleyes:

Not to oversimplify it...but a lot of it has to do with the fact that if you put material objectionable to say, Christians, in something, everyone doesn't immediately worry that they'll try to kill you. It doesn't help that many radical Islamic devotees respond to these things by stating "Get rid of it...or we'll kill you."

The whole situation makes me sick to my stomach.

[DiBiddilyBop]

Well that sucks... This was going to be a day-of-release purchase for me, too. Oh well, Far Cry 2 instead.