LittleBigPlanet is facing a LittleBigProblem as Muslim gamers have indicated their offense due to its use of a song that references a quote from the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. In response, SCEE has decided to initiate a worldwide delay on the game, holding back its American release date as well. SCEA has confirmed that the game will be releasing the "week of October 27," presumably meaning that it will release on October 27.

The European release date has not been confirmed, though it's safe to assume that it will also be pushed back a week from its original date. Media Molecule claims to have a patch ready to fix the problem, but Sony opted instead to replace all of the discs.

Patrick Seybold of SCEA explains in his blog entry:

"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."

The song in question is the 2006 "Tapha Niang," from the album Boulevard de l'Independance by Toumani Diabaté, a Grammy-award-winning Malian musician and - get this - devout Muslim. Yes, I know it sounds absolutely absurd that there would be a problem with the song. After all, if it wasn't controversial enough to make a stir at the Grammy's, why is it such a big deal now? However, in his forum thread regarding the complaint, the Muslim gamer in question briefly explains that Muslims are offended by their holy words being used in any sort of music or song, putting Toumani's song, however well-intended, right in the crosshairs of this kind of complaint.

I really feel like Media Molecule's approach to the problem (a patch) would have worked much better than SCEE's, which seems like a blatant effort to save face and not seem like heartless capitalists. One of the greatest ironies of all is that the forum thread linked above actually has the Muslim gamer in question suggesting Media Molecule issue a patch. Maybe I'm crazy, but if your developer and the PERSON WHO IS COMPLAINING both suggest you do the same thing, perhaps you should follow that advice. Food for thought, Sony.

[via Joystiq and Playstation.Blog]

The highly-rumored 40 Gigabyte Playstation 3 has finally been announced, though as of right now it is for Europe only. SCEE announced yesterday in a megaton press release that the 40GB PS3 will launch on October 10 (or 10 October if you Europeans want to get technical) in all European territories, at the "attractive price" of €399. Attractive indeed. However, the newest iteration of the console loses 2 of its 4 USB ports, the multi memory card slot, backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2 games, and, in fact, 20 Gigabytes of hard drive space. (Who'd have thought?) Arguably, the new 80GB also loses backward compatibility, so that this one does as well shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

As for American gamers looking to get some game on with a new (and cheaper) Playstation 3, SCEA has not as of yet announced anything about an American release of this SKU. It's only a matter of time though, and most gamers are hoping for and predicting a $399 model, which would place the PS3 in a spot to finally compete with the Xbox 360 this holiday season.

EDIT: Typo fix. I didn't mean to start rampant rumors of a 4GB PS3.
[via PS3 Fanboy]

This is one of those moments where you really wish you were at E3. I'm getting conflicting reports from multiple sources involving the recent PS3 not-so-price-drop. When asked about David Reeves' comments on the American price drop, a Sony spokesperson said this:

"Those quotes from David Reeves are not accurate. He said that if they had lowered the price in Europe, that territory would have run out of their current inventory by the end of July... As announced this week, SCEA's product offering in North America consists of a 80GB PS3 available in August at $599 and a 60GB PS3 available now for $499. We have will have ample supplies of both models to meet the needs of our consumers for the foreseeable future."

Forseeable future. This could mean multiple things. It could mean what it sounds like, (but c'mon, you know that these companies never tell you it straight) or they could be ceasing 60GB production in July and simply planning on using their remaining stock in the "forseeable future."

[UPDATE 1] Joystiq got clarification from Sony just a few minutes ago, when Sony explained that the 60GB unit has a lower price, and will go out of production. However, Sony will continue to sell its remaining stock, which they expect to last for "several months to come." This is essentially the same thing as what Reeves claimed, except that Sony will not cease all sale of the 60GB come August. Officially, Sony is not going with a 2 SKU strategy. The 60GB PS3s are only being sold until they run out, and will not be a part of Sony's marketing plan.

Anyone with any news tips on this matter, please send them to anigamers.contact@gmail.com. This post will be updated with any changes.
[via Kotaku] Save This Page   Slashdot It!   |Share on Facebook|

In an interview with SCEE president David Reeves, GamesIndustry.biz uncovered a disturbing bit of information about Sony's lauded PS3 price cut. It turns out that the $499 PS3 will only be available in America until the end of July, when its stock will run out. From then on, SCEA will only sell the previously mentioned $599 80GB Motorstorm bundle. I'm sure the picture on the right describes the image going through every gamer's mind as they hear this news.

When asked about SCEA dropping the PS3 price, Reeves replied,

"Well, they're not really are they, because what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD 599 version with one game. [...] All they're doing is taking their stock in trade that they've got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July."

So essentially, the $499 60GB is nonexistant, and Sony simply put more features into the existing $599 model. Those of you hoping to get a PS3 for cheap(er), get going to your local game stores ASAP!
[via GamesIndustry.biz] Save This Page   Slashdot It!   |Share on Facebook|