News Bot
10-20-2008, 01:10 PM
http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/lbpanger.jpg
You’ll probably not believe me when I say this, but I don’t really mind the LittleBigPlanet delay. Certainly, it’s not exactly something I’d actively want, but I do see it as a necessary evil because of the circumstances. What I can’t understand is why so many people have gotten into such a fuss about it, even spouting stuff that’s more offensive than the reason for the game’s delay itself.
What’s the deal with this? Keep reading on and see if you agree with me when I say that a lot of people are getting angry over nothing.
As per, here’s your backstory if you’ve been living under a rock the past few days. A concerned Muslim PS3 owner (who had inexplicably gotten their mitts on a copy of LittleBigPlanet early) posted on the European PlayStation forums expressing their concern at the use of one of the songs in the game. The song in question, by Mali-born artist*Toumani Diabate, featured 2 lines from the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an.
As Islamic laws go, it’s a serious no-no to sing lines from the Qur’an or even to put them to music as spoken word. While it’s perhaps a little bemusing that the song wasn’t picked up on beforehand and it’s unfortunate that LittleBigPlanet was caught up in the whole mess when it finally was, it’s nothing short of necessary to recall the discs and begin redistributing the game.
It makes sense ethically, if not in business, to recall the game rather than simply send out a patch over the internet when the game is released. It only takes one Muslim gamer, without internet access on their PS3, to buy a copy of LBP and find the offensive content again; it’s better to avoid causing any offense at all. It’s like a health service: work on prevention, rather than cure.
It’s not as if Media Molecule, the Guildford-based UK developer, wanted this to happen. Over on the MM official blog (http://www.mediamolecule.com/2008/10/17/and-in-other-news/) Alex Evans, co-founder and technical director, said that the developer was nothing short of “shocked and dismayed by this as anyone - shellshocked and gutted” because of the delay.
Still, that’s not stopped some of the more (worryingly) obsessive from going crazy and starting up conspiracy theories and generally laying a lot more blame on Muslims than is really necessary. “Simply delaying release in Somalia would have sufficed, but a worldwide delay is unacceptable. If this pans out, you will find my PS3 on ebay waiting for a new owner”, wrote one commenter (http://www.mediamolecule.com/2008/10/17/and-in-other-news/#comment-2568) on the MM blog post. “Well I’ve just canceled my LBP pre-order. I’m not going to get it all now,” writes another (http://www.mediamolecule.com/2008/10/17/and-in-other-news/#comment-2634).
Hold on - what? These guys have gone insane! Why’s this happening? Page two has more..
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/TheSarcasticGamer?i=655KWK (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/TheSarcasticGamer?a=655KWK)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=YLLPM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=YLLPM) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=MfhOM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=MfhOM) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=odRAm (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=odRAm) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=LK2ym (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=LK2ym) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=HK4XM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=HK4XM) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=0R4Ym (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=0R4Ym) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=lUtTm (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=lUtTm) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=euqIM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=euqIM) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=DAZSM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=DAZSM)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheSarcasticGamer/~4/426649988
Click here to view the article. (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheSarcasticGamer/~3/426649988/why-the-anger-about-the-lbp-delay.html)
You’ll probably not believe me when I say this, but I don’t really mind the LittleBigPlanet delay. Certainly, it’s not exactly something I’d actively want, but I do see it as a necessary evil because of the circumstances. What I can’t understand is why so many people have gotten into such a fuss about it, even spouting stuff that’s more offensive than the reason for the game’s delay itself.
What’s the deal with this? Keep reading on and see if you agree with me when I say that a lot of people are getting angry over nothing.
As per, here’s your backstory if you’ve been living under a rock the past few days. A concerned Muslim PS3 owner (who had inexplicably gotten their mitts on a copy of LittleBigPlanet early) posted on the European PlayStation forums expressing their concern at the use of one of the songs in the game. The song in question, by Mali-born artist*Toumani Diabate, featured 2 lines from the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an.
As Islamic laws go, it’s a serious no-no to sing lines from the Qur’an or even to put them to music as spoken word. While it’s perhaps a little bemusing that the song wasn’t picked up on beforehand and it’s unfortunate that LittleBigPlanet was caught up in the whole mess when it finally was, it’s nothing short of necessary to recall the discs and begin redistributing the game.
It makes sense ethically, if not in business, to recall the game rather than simply send out a patch over the internet when the game is released. It only takes one Muslim gamer, without internet access on their PS3, to buy a copy of LBP and find the offensive content again; it’s better to avoid causing any offense at all. It’s like a health service: work on prevention, rather than cure.
It’s not as if Media Molecule, the Guildford-based UK developer, wanted this to happen. Over on the MM official blog (http://www.mediamolecule.com/2008/10/17/and-in-other-news/) Alex Evans, co-founder and technical director, said that the developer was nothing short of “shocked and dismayed by this as anyone - shellshocked and gutted” because of the delay.
Still, that’s not stopped some of the more (worryingly) obsessive from going crazy and starting up conspiracy theories and generally laying a lot more blame on Muslims than is really necessary. “Simply delaying release in Somalia would have sufficed, but a worldwide delay is unacceptable. If this pans out, you will find my PS3 on ebay waiting for a new owner”, wrote one commenter (http://www.mediamolecule.com/2008/10/17/and-in-other-news/#comment-2568) on the MM blog post. “Well I’ve just canceled my LBP pre-order. I’m not going to get it all now,” writes another (http://www.mediamolecule.com/2008/10/17/and-in-other-news/#comment-2634).
Hold on - what? These guys have gone insane! Why’s this happening? Page two has more..
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/TheSarcasticGamer?i=655KWK (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/TheSarcasticGamer?a=655KWK)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=YLLPM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=YLLPM) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=MfhOM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=MfhOM) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=odRAm (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=odRAm) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=LK2ym (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=LK2ym) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=HK4XM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=HK4XM) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=0R4Ym (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=0R4Ym) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=lUtTm (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=lUtTm) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=euqIM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=euqIM) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?i=DAZSM (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TheSarcasticGamer?a=DAZSM)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheSarcasticGamer/~4/426649988
Click here to view the article. (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheSarcasticGamer/~3/426649988/why-the-anger-about-the-lbp-delay.html)