Well, it seems poor old Sony’s show pony has hit a problem. One of the levels in the game has background music containing a few lines from the Koran: the below is taken from the Sony blog
“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.”
This means the game is delayed by a whopping 2 weeks and will be released head to head with Fallout 3, arguably an unwise choice. More importantly this has upset fans, claiming that games are the ultimate in freedom of speech and that such a small incident should not put a game back.
****UK UPDATE”"”"”
Sony Europe has announced that LittleBigPlanet is to be released no later than the week beginning November 3 in Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
The company will be keen to ensure it’s out sooner rather than later – Microsoft’s Gears of War 2 goes on sale that same week, on Friday November 7.
With the release of Saints Row 2 last week and Fable 2 and Little Big Planet coming soon,there has been a shift in the level of gaming developers are providing. Instead of linear storylines with a pre-determined central character we are being given a fully customisable characters and an open world to play out their lives in.
This represents a huge shift in what is perceived to be the ideal gaming solution so to speak, after GTA4 people have been praising the open world but blaming Niko for their lack of connection to the story, this is a criticism I can sympathise with. For all the graphical splendour and dynamic gameplay of GTA4, I have found it collecting dust on my shelf, why?I can’t stand Niko. I want to progress him through the story to play the game not too learn more about him.
For me, this has made the world of difference I spent hours earning enough money to customise my gang (they are presently jamaican ninjas), crib and clothes so that I feel like the head of the Saints and I want to beat these other gangs. It may sound simple but it is the basis of success for other games like The Sims and more recently Spore, for your £40 you want to see some of you in the game.
This is a huge leap from the over promised Fable which introduced the idea of choices and customisation, and builds on the solid foundations of Mass Effect. It will be interesting to see the results of Fable 2 which is out this week, promising wives, children and a much greater depth than the first.
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