Thread: Sony delays videogame over offensive music

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sony Corp has delayed sales of "LittleBigPlanet," one of its most widely anticipated videogames, by at least one week in the United States after finding potentially offensive background music in the game.

The puzzle-solving, community-based game, published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3, will begin shipping to retail shops during the week of October 27, Sony said on Monday.

The company will replace the shipped version of the game, originally set for release on October 21, with newly mastered copies. Sony declined to disclose the costs associated with the move, a representative said.

The music in question is "Tapha Niang" a song performed by Malian musician Toumani Diabate, Sony said.

"One of the background music tracks that was licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qur'an," the company said in a statement. "We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologize for any offense this may have caused."

Sony, whose PlayStation 3 game console is locked in a battle with Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 and Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii, has been touting the game since early in 2007.

LittleBigPlanet lets users create virtual worlds and they can play and share what they build with other worldwide users.

I haven't listened to it yet, but here's a little more about this for those who might be interested in.....to quote one of my favorites, Paul Harvey...."the rest of the story"




Listen to the 'controversial' LittleBigPlanet song: Tapha Niang

Posted Oct 17th 2008 1:15PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: News



Like many of you, we're wondering if Sony's response to the song "Tapha Niang," included in the LittleBigPlanet soundtrack is a little harsh. Toumani Diabaté and the Symmetric Orchestra is known for combining the traditional music of Mali with other internation styles, like jazz, blues and flamenco. The international sound would be appropraite for a game like LittleBigPlanet, which takes players on a virtual journey around the globe. Diabaté won a Grammy award in 2006, the same year "Tapha Niang" was released.

His MySpace page has the entire song available to listen to, and amazon.com has a DRM-free version available to purchase. (iTunes users can listen to/purchase the song here.) It's surprising that a song, which has been available for over two years, is only now receiving controversial attention for its inclusion in Sony's blockbuster PS3 game. Perhaps if Sony didn't delay this game, this matter wouldn't have exploded to such incredible proportions?

www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/10/17/listen-to- ... pha-niang/ - 90k -

And more: Turns out that it was the Muslims who were offended by the lyrics:






Sony has postponed the release of its new PlayStation 3 video game "LittleBigPlanet." The company motivated its move by saying that the lyrics of one of the video game’s background songs were questionable and considered offensive by Muslim groups.

Everything was set for a successful released of the video game. Several retailers were waiting in the back room to get their hands on the “LittleBigPlanetâ€