MS BRIBED ARTIST TO PUT Quoran LYRICS IN LBP!

[Joeykanga]

This is the article:
‘LittleBigPlanet’ delayed due to Koran music track
By Omar Gallaga | Friday, October 17, 2008, 04:41 PM
The highly anticipated PlayStation 3 game “LittleBigPlanet” has been delayed a week because a background music track in the game contains phrases from the Koran, gaming Web including Joystiq.com are reporting.

Ironically, the game is a mass-market, family friendly title that Sony is hoping will bolster the reputation of its floundering next-generation video game console. The PS3 suffered from a lack of quality games in its first year and has in recent months trailed far behind Nintendo’s Wii and, to a lesser degree, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in sales. “LittleBigPlanet” has earned glowing early reviews (including a write-up on this blog); the game allows players to design “Sackboy” or “Sackgirl” characters and to design and play through their own game levels. The game provides sophisticated, but simple-to-use tools for advanced game design. Players can then share those levels with others online and vote on them using the PlayStation Network, bringing social networking features to the game.

Sony issued a statement saying the game would be released on October 27, six days later than its original Oct. 21. A spokesperson for the company said, “We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologize for any offense that this may have caused.”

Rather than patching the game with an online update, Sony is replacing retail copies completely.

I played the beta version of the game and found it incredibly charming; it’s a sure winner for Sony. Which makes this gaffe all the more surprising and troubling. Sony has had a series of missteps since it announced the PlayStation 3 as the most expensive mass-market game console ever released and has suffered a series of stumbles ever since. They either have the worst luck in the gaming industry (except for the always-struggling Atari) or they’re one of the most badly managed game companies in the world.

It’s a shame because “LBP” is a game Sony needs badly and this delay won’t help them as they face off against a deluge of A-list games being released on other systems over the next few weeks.