Just try and ignore stuff like this…

Roy ps3, sony 2 comments

As some of you may have heard, Sony crushed the hearts of PS3 owners by recalling LittleBigPlanet, and stating that the game will ship next week on the 27th.  The reason for the delay was that some individuals noticed that one song in the game makes two references to the Qur’an.  Here are translations:

The words are:

1- In the 18th second: “كل نفس ذائقة الموت” (”kollo nafsin tha’iqatol mawt”, literally: ‘Every soul shall have the taste of death‘).

2- Almost immediately after, in the 27th second: “كل من عليها فان” (”kollo man alaiha fan”, literally: ‘All that is on earth will perish’).

LISTEN

_source

My initial reaction was the same as most people’s: rage.  I assumed that the delay had something to do with the connection some ignorant individuals form between terrorism and the Muslim religion.  Osama bin Laden is in our video games!

After rage came curiosity.  I did some digging and learned that those who opposed the song were those of the Muslim faith.  In the post which brought the subject to SCE’s attention, the author solid_08 explains: Muslims consider the mixing of music and words from our Holy Quran deeply offending.

While I admit I am still disappointed about the delay, I don’t want to see LBP associated with a religious controversy.  Also I would hate to see it offend people on such a sensitive topic, so I feel the decision was just.

It’s too bad that the creators didn’t realize this before the initial pressing was recalled.  Some websites like eBay are selling the recalled copies, which I doubt is legal.  Legal or not it is tempting…  I am slightly hesitant since I am not sure if the recalled version would be compatible for online content, which is a huge part of LBG’s appeal.

I think SCE made the right decision, and (as tough as it is) we gamers just need to be a bit patient.  LittleBigPlanet will be a great game, and everyone should be able to appreciate it.

Related Entries:
Big Hype for LittleBigPlanet

Roy ps3, sony 2 comments

Fluency in Japanese certainly is not necessary to appreciate the goings-on at this year’s Tokyo Game Show.  Thanks to the internet, neither is actually being in Japan at any point in your life.  Dengeki’s website has several videos highlighting different video game publishers and their booths at TGS.

The videos are for the most part devoid of language, simply focusing on the scenery and the games themselves.  Here are some links to the videos, enjoy!

Opening Video
Square Enix	Sega	SCEA
Marvelous	Level 5	Konami
Koei	Capcom	Bandai Namco

Did you notice a lot of women dressed in elaborate outfits?  They are called Companion, or Companion-san, and each booth has their own.  In some cases, a particular game may even have exclusive companion-san often clad in cosplay.

Companion-san walk around their relative booth providing hand-outs and answering questions about games.  They are quite knowledgeable, and (most of the time) their outfits are pretty awesome.  Famitsu made a compilation of all the different outfits, which you can check out here (part 1) and here (part 2).  Also, Dengeki has one other video featuring the elaborate outfits as well.  You can check that out here.

And now, Kotowari’s awards for best, and worst Companion outfit at TGS 2008!

BEST	WORST
Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3 (TRI)	Square Enix

Good show Capcom, you even have me a little excited for the next Monster Hunter.  I would also like to give honorable mention to Microsoft as much as it pains me.  They had not one, but two really cool outfits.

Really Square Enix? All that talent and that’s the best you could do?  Was Tetsuya Nomura taking a nap or something?  Next year get him to design some belts and zippers!

Related Entries:
ALL OF THEM

Roy capcom, konami, marvelous, namco, sega, sony, square enix 1 comment

Humans can find just about any topic to squabble about, video games are of course no exception. Recently they have become a major point of a number of debates across the internets. I don’t intend to solve these major conflicts, just give my opinion and maybe get an idea of what you guys think. Anyway, here are the games:

Frat Party Games: Pong Toss

For those of you wondering what the hell Pong Toss is, it’s the politically correct term for beer pong that involves no beer. Pong Toss was released this week as a downloadable Wiiware. That right, it’s for the Wii, what other system could make a game that sounds like it was invented by puritans fun?

An actual coalition formed in Virginia and tried to petition against the game’s release. The controversy is pretty simple: “The game encourages younger kids to emulate the patterns of college-age kids,” Lisa Lombardozzi, chairman of the Coalition, said.

Doesn’t high school do that too? Be more specific please!

“Beer pong is an activity that normalizes and encourages heavy binge drinking, shows blatant disregard for the dangers of alcohol poisoning, and can cost lives and result in injury,” said Gen. Arthur T. Dean, chairman and CEO of the D.C.-based Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America

Whether or now you agree, the game was released, and Frat Party Games plans on releasing more games in the same vein for the Wii.

Fat Princess

Frantic and fun, Fat Princess pits two hordes of players against each other in comic medieval battle royale. Your goal is to rescue your beloved princess from the enemy dungeon. There’s a catch though: your adversary has been stuffing her with food to fatten her up and it’s going to take most of your army working together to carry her back across the battlefield.

This one has a variety of people angry, mainly for the comical portrayal of obesity, a real issue in America and increasingly in Japan, the game’s country of origin. The thing that shocked me the most was all the blood that comes out of your little elves or whatever they are.

Controversy or not, Fat Princess does seem like an interesting multi-player which the PS3 is in desperate need of.

Well these are the major ones worth mentioning. So what do you guys think, are the arguments valid? Should the Surgeon General start posting warnings on games for the Wii? Is Sony making fun of fat people?

Roy nintendo wii, ps3, sony, videos 0 comments

Today out of sheer boredom, and inability to find something decent to post about, I stumbled onto the Japanese Playstation store. I figured it would be pretty interesting to see what is coming out over there to buy. End result: I am pretty damn jealous. But alas I feel that my jealousy will not last forever, odds are if Japan is getting these games, were next on the list right? Anyway here are some of the cool things worth mentioning:

	Xenogears Price: 600 yen (6$) Size: 755 MB Compatible with PSP and PS3. If you have never heard of this game, then you should just run toward the nearest sharp object until you suffer a mortal blow. Or you could just click on the link and read the wikipedia summary. Anyway, it’s a groundbreaking PS1 game, which is next to impossible to find these days. The 6 dollar price tag is much easier to swallow than well… the standard going price…
	Metal Gear Solid Price: 600 yen (6$) Size: 780 MB Compatible with PSP and PS3. This is the game that really makes the series. If you want to play Metal Gear Solid 4, at the very least you should be familiar with this game. Obviously the whole series is ideal but if you’re in a rush to play MGS4 at least play this one! There is a whole chapter of MGS4 that probably won’t make sense to you if you don’t. I would love to have this game for my PSP too, the graphics seem to work well for the smaller screen.
	Ehrgeiz Price: 600 yen (6$) Size: 490 MB Compatible with PSP, PS3, and Dualshock 3. This game is the predecessor to the highly anticipated (but much more complex) fighting game Final Fantasy: Dissidia. There are better fighting games out there in the world, but if you have ever wanted to show your Sephiroth-loving friend up, no better way to do it then with this game. At least for now…
	Brave Fencer Musashi Price: 600 yen (6$) Size: 230 MB Compatible with PSP. I bought this game for the soul reason that it came with a demo of Final Fantasy VIII when it was released. Much to my surprise at the time, it was a damn good action/adventure/RPG game. The first one I had ever played which featured night and day, unbelievable!

Seeing such awesome downloadable content on the horizon makes me very glad that I bought my PS3. Hopefully, since all these games were localized, they will also be available on the North American Playstation store soon.

Roy japan, ps3, psp, sony 2 comments