Lyrics in a background song from Sony’s “LittleBigPlanet” delayed the release of the PS 3 video game until October the 28th. By that time, company will remove the “Tapha Niang” song from world music artist Toumani Diabate. Some lyrics translate from Arabic in “Every soul shall taste of death” and “All that is on Earth shall perish”, words thay may offend Muslims. Copies of LittleBigPlanet are being recalled from shops worldwide after it emerged that a background music track contained two phrases from the Koran. This is not the first mistake for Sony. Eighteen months ago, the company apologized to the Church of England after setting scenes in a violent video game inside Manchester Cathedral.

LittleBigPlanet is created by developer Media Molecule and it has been described as a game about making games. It allows people to build their own playground levels and then swap them with other players over the PlayStation Network. Everything that can be seen in LittleBigPlanet can also be created by gamers – from textures, characters, to object and levels. At the 2008 Tokyo Game Show it was announced LittleBigPlanet would be bundled with the new 80GB Japanese PS3 and released on October 30 for 44,980 yen ($442 USD). The bundle will also come with two DualShock 3 controllers.

Sony reacted quickly to the controversy by delaying the release date. Any obstacle to the successful release of LittleBigPlanet would be a serious problem for Sony as the game is anticipated to be a system seller. The platformer is a game that is largely dependent on community creations and sharing. Fans and press have given the game positive comments in early previews.