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LittleBigPlanet - Censored, Respectful, or Something Else?

Marc "DjinniMan" Allie October 21st, 2008 at 1:57 PM

You've certainly heard by now about the recent recall of LittleBigPlanet. The inclusion of music containing verses from the Qur'an was the reason for the recall. The official quote from Sony: "we sincerely apologize for any offense that this may have caused." Avoiding controversy for such a big title is certainly understandable, but now, it appears that some Muslim groups are now calling foul, this time over "censorship", as seen in this article at Edge. Is this one of those lose/lose situations?

The musician behind the controversial song, Toumani Diabate, had this to say to gamesindustry.biz:

"It's quite normal to play music and be inspired by the words of the Prophet Mohammed," Diabate explained. "It's my way to attract and inspire people towards Islam."

Others, of course, disagree. I think Muslims are a lot like Christians, Buddhists, and even atheists, at least in one respect: they don't all agree on everything. Personally, I applaud Sony for taking a significant loss in revenue to make sure their game isn't offensive to anyone. At least, until the penis shaped user created levels start turning up! You can check out the controversial song after the break.

Source: Link

Tags: little big planet

Reader Comments

txshurricane at 02:42 PM on 10.21.2008

I'll join you in applauding the ATTEMPT, but not the execution. Political correctness is something that games used to lampoon...now they're missing out on an incredible number of sales to avoid offending ONE GROUP.

Remember when college students carried around "Don't Censor Me" signs?

OrigamiPanther at 03:14 PM on 10.21.2008

Now they carry signs that say "[Message Redacted">"

Garand at 04:41 PM on 10.21.2008

I'm not sure what to make of the delay. I think its great that Sony is doing something for its customers (even if its a very small subsection, IMO) but on the other hand I think its a little bit hypocritical when there's tons of other games out with "offensive" content that get a pass. For example, GTA or Saint's Row get passed off as satire.

In fact, remember back when the Church of England got all worked up about the Manchester level in Resistance? Did Sony bow to that pressure? I seem to remember them shrugging their shoulders and saying "sorry" without removing the level.

But I guess this group is pretty vocal. After all, its not the first time a game has been pulled for containing verses from the Koran. Kakuto Chojin was pulled from the shelves for pretty much the same thing.

Professor Booty at 03:28 AM on 10.22.2008

The group is not just vocal, they're potentially violent. NO I'm not saying all Muslims are violent (really I shouldn't even dignify that false impression with a qualifier, but, i digress...). Anyone reading about the recall should be reminded of the Danish Muhammad cartoon controversy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-P ... ontroversy

Look at all of the violence that resulted from the printing and reprinting of some cartoon images. I imagine Sony is trying to avoid a similar incident.

Shazoo at 06:44 PM on 10.22.2008

I couldve got one at Toys R Us yesterday, they had them just sitting out for sale, I decided not to, and told them they were recalled, they checked their little PDA and said I'm right, then pulled them all down. I spent the money taking the g/f out to red lobster since LBP officially wasnt coming out until the 27th before I knew TRU had it, so if I couldn't play it, no one can!

Total Comments: 5