LittleBigPlanet, in which gamers can customise the rag-doll protagonist Sackboy and allow it to roam through an interactive world filled with different challenges, had been hailed by video games website IGN as "nothing short of astounding" and given a review rating of 9.5 out of 10.<\/p>\n
But its release date has been put back after one of its background music tracks, a song by Mali-born artist Toumani Diabate, was found to have included expressions from the Koran, which could be interpreted as an offence to Muslims.<\/p>\n
"We’re sure that most of you have heard by now that 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 Koran," a statement on the game’s website read.<\/p>\n
"We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence this may have caused.<\/p>\n
"We will begin shipping LittleBigPlanet to retail in North America the week of October 27."<\/p>\n
According to a separate statement on the website of Media Molecule, the British-based developers of LittleBigPlanet, they were "shell-shocked and gutted" by the delay to the game’s release.<\/p>\n
"We learnt that there is a lyric in one of the licensed tracks which some people may find offensive, and which slipped through the usual screening processes," the statement read.<\/p>\n
"Obviously MM and Sony together took this very seriously. LBP should be enjoyable by all."<\/p>\n