Little Big Planet Recalled Worldwide

[alexkidd2000]

From Kotaku

LittleBigPlanet Faces Worldwide Recall For Qur'an References

The European delay of LittleBigPlanet we mentioned earlier has blossomed into a worldwide recall of the game due to passages from the Islamic holy text Qur'an being included in the background music in one of the levels.

"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," admitted the company in a statement.

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

Yesterday a reader sent us a link to a music file containing the two offending phrases, which can be found here. Hit the jump for the translation of the offending phrases.

The words are:

1- In the 18th second: "كل نفس ذائقة الموت" ("kollo nafsin tha'iqatol mawt", literally: 'Every soul shall have the taste of death').

2- Almost immediately after, in the 27th second: "كل من عليها فان" ("kollo man alaiha fan", literally: 'All that is on earth will perish').

Thanks to NSider for providing the link and translation.

We'll keep you updated as we hear more on how this recall effects release dates.

[marcus12024]

I sincerely believe that people are far too sensitive these days. And seriously, if it wasn't for the internet, how many people would ever have known about this? 10 people maybe?

Granted these phrases are rather rough and not-kid-friendly, but there's worse things being said/broadcasted on the news all the time anyway.

[JunkTheMagicDragon]

bullshit.

sony has to recall a game and change all future copies becuase one group got a little butthurt over a single song? i'm tired of all this PC bullshit in the world. you know what, you get exposed to enough things, something's bound to offend you. brush it off, and go on about your business.

and sony could have shown a little backbone by politely saying "we appreciate your concern. go fuck yourselves." or something like that.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Well.

I sure am glad that I got my copy last week!

[Xander]

FaithInHumanity = FaithInHumanity - 1

[Porksta]

I mean, it is in the Koran, if they didn't want to get offended by it then why not remove it from the book?

You also have to wonder why they would put that in the game to begin with...

[heybtbm]

I sincerely believe that people are far too sensitive these days. And seriously, if it wasn't for the internet, how many people would ever have known about this? 10 people maybe?

Granted these phrases are rather rough and not-kid-friendly, but there's worse things being said/broadcasted on the news all the time anyway.

This is nothing new. Legend of Zelda:OOT had to be altered for the exact same reason. It had passages from the Qur'an in the Fire Temple music IIRC. If you still have the gold cart, you can hear the chants clearly (in another language of course). It was later removed in future versions (grey cart, Gamecube version, VC version).

[Aussie2B]

FaithInHumanity = FaithInHumanity - 1

That should be in a loop. :P

[Cobra Commander]

Honestly now. This was the ONE game that interested me for the PS3, and now look at this. Unbelievable....

[MrSparkle]

I trained in Tae Kwon Do for about 3 years when i was in middleschool. Went to one paticular "death camp" as i liked to call them where they had us running up a mountain practicing strikes to the underside of the nose yelling in korean "one strike swift and complete". How about people grow some balls! lol on a side note they also instructed how to rip balls off THROUGH pants, the grand master explained it as "being as easy as picking an apple from a tree".

[MrSparkle]

That should be in a loop. :P

pshhhhh incremental counters would make this much easier

faithinhumanity--

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Honestly now. This was the ONE game that interested me for the PS3, and now look at this. Unbelievable....

Well, it's only delayed for one week according to Sony.

[heybtbm]

Well, it's only delayed for one week according to Sony.

Only one week? I guess that means they're not "recalling" the game and simply buying some time to make a patch that removes the "blasphemous" song. The discs already waiting in the retail channel will still have the music.

When I first read the article, I had visions of bulldozers pushing piles of unopened LBP games into some landfill ala E.T.

[tomwaits]

Only one week? I guess that means they're not "recalling" the game and simply buying some time to make a patch that removes the "blasphemous" song. The discs already waiting in the retail channel will still have the music.

When I first read the article, I had visions of bulldozers pushing piles of unopened LBP games into some landfill ala E.T.

If this is Sony's plan, I suspect future shipments will have edited music on the disc... so first shipment LBPs will be like the GTA with hot coffee, only much more rare?

[Clownzilla]

*Sigh*.... Well, there goes my plans for using LBP to make my Super Muhammed Bros. game......

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I wonder if they're still going to open the servers on the previous release date.

I'm chomping at the bit to play with some other LBP users online!!!

[R.Sakai]

Wasn't this the exact same reason Microsoft recalled Kakuto Chojin?

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

I mean, it is in the Koran, if they didn't want to get offended by it then why not remove it from the book?

You also have to wonder why they would put that in the game to begin with...

I don't believe that it is the fact that it is in the Koran that bothers them, but rather the improper use of it. Kind of like using a bible under a table leg to keep it from wobbling. Seems Muslims are very sensitive about what you do with those things that they hold holy.

JY

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I popped in my copy and was listening to the "offending" track earlier.

Strangely enough the song is on the African Safari level (second set of story levels) and it sounded more to my untrained ear like something Zulu-esque (think "Ladysmith Black Mambazo" if you can) than Arabic!!!

Apparently the devs must have felt the same way considering the level that the music was placed in looks like African plains.

[The 1 2 P]

Well.

I sure am glad that I got my copy last week!

I need to check ebay to see if this made your copy more worthwhile to own for the near future.

Kind of like using a bible under a table leg to keep it from wobbling.

But what if it's a perfect fit?