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Gamespot wrote:Sony's Little Big Planet is one of the most high-profile releases of this holiday season. Developer Media Molecule has seen its game go from indie darling to AAA system-seller in the past year, thanks to the many appearances that the game has made at trade shows and events.

However, fans of the game are going to have to wait slightly longer to get it. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that it is recalling the game from retailers after it learned that the soundtrack featured some Arabic-language lines from the Qur'an 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 from the original Arabic): "Every soul shall have the taste of death" and "All that is on earth will perish."

Although Sony's press release does not confirm that the above lines are in the game, they do claim 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." Independent translation done for GameSpot confirmed that the lines linked from the original post are indeed from the Qur'an.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's press release continues, "We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence that this may have caused." It ends by saying that the company will confirm the new launch date shortly.

For more on LittleBigPlanet, check out GameSpot's full review of the indefinitely delayed game.

[UPDATE]: Impatient gamers may still be able to get their hands on the version of Little Big Planet that contains the Qur'an references. Gaming importer National Console Support said that it has begun shipping US versions of the game to customers who preordered. What's more, the site says that it will ship the game to US customers for Saturday delivery if they order by 4 p.m. Eastern time today.

This is not the first time a game developer has run afoul of the Qur'an. In November of 2002, Microsoft released the Xbox fighter Kakuto Chojin with a piece of background music that sampled passages of the holy book.

An internal Microsoft "geopolitical strategy team" identified the potential problem with the music as soon as the game had gone into duplication. Microsoft had a chance to recall the game before it hit shelves, but decided to release it anyway in the hopes that the music would go unnoticed. Although Kakuto Chojin was a critical and commercial flop, the background music eventually came to the fore, and Microsoft recalled the game in February of 2003.

[UPDATE 2]: SCEA has acknowledged the recall on its PlayStation Blog, apologizing to those offended and for the delay. According to the post, SCEA "will begin shipping LittleBigPlanet to retail in North America the week of October 27th."

Cable wrote: Will sombody PLEASE think of the children?

WiizerFanboy wrote:

Cable wrote: Will sombody PLEASE think of the children?

Fuck the children, I want my GAME!


Seriously, how many ps3 players are children. Much less an Arabic one who can interpret the music. As much as I hate this bullshit, I guess Sony does need to make a decision that will shut the offended people up. The last thing Media Molecule or Sony needs right now just when they're pulling themselves together is a bunch of negative public outcry.

WiizerFanboy wrote:Q, did you also mention the new Sony end user agreement for the ps3? that's another huge deal. Sony is getting hammered for it.

Kotaku wrote: End user license agreements, who reads 'em? If I wanted to read, I watch a movie with subtitles. Occasionally, however, it's important to take note of what exactly you're agreeing to when you hastily click the "Accept" button. A few recent changes to the PlayStation Network terms of service and user agreement are worth mentioning, we think, especially the one that reads "SCEA reserves the right to monitor and record any online activity and communication throughout PSN and you give SCEA your express consent to monitor and record your activities." But wait, there's more!

There's some good stuff related to your personal information, which SCEA wants you to know can be shared with third parties.

The new user agreement specifies "SCEA may provide others, including but not limited to its subsidiaries or affiliates, with information relating to your participation on PSN, including your communication and game play provided through PSN ("Information")."

And speaking of personal info, don't share it with anyone. "You may not provide anyone with your name or any other personally identifying information other than your own Online ID, or the name, password or personally identifying information of any other person or business through any means, including messaging, chat or any other form of PSN communication."

Finally, a warning. "Some content may be objectionable or inappropriate to some users, including children under a certain age, which may vary from country to country" reads the latest version of the agreement, which points out that "not all content is rated."

While most of this stuff isn't uncommon for user agreements, which are broad in their wording by design, it's definitely worth knowing what you're signing up for. Some of the recent changes may simply be clarifications, some may be increased protection as games like LittleBigPlanet, which will be rich with user generated content that many people will find offensive, arrive on the system.

We'd recommend not panicking or fashioning yourself a new tinfoil hat, but instead giving this thing some eyeball time.