Sackboys and Islam

So apparently there's a music clip in Little Big Planet that quotes the Qua'ran, which is prohibited by their religion. The resulting controversy has caused Sony to recall the game before release in order to correct this perceived offense.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but Colin Campbell of EDGE has up an interesting article comparing Sony's religious difficulties recently with Playstation 3 titles:

The difference here is in degrees. On the one hand, a game featuring some non-contextual direct quotes from a sacred text. On the other, a violent intrusion into a sacred place.

Sony’s decision to treat one with the utmost seriousness and the other with the utmost contempt is easily explained. The reaction to anti-Christian content in any media is usually measured in a slightly annoyed grey-head appearing on NPR or Radio 4. Content that is viewed as anti-Islamic often raises more visual protests.

Sony understands that extreme religious anger is something any sensible person or company will work diligently to avoid. It’s also something the media really loves to cover.

My point is not about the reaction of different religious people to perceived slights so much as the reaction by Sony to actual trouble.

Sony saw the possibility of bad press and angry scenes and made a very quick decision.

It ran.

Any thoughts?

What's wrong with PS3?

Well, looks like The Getaway and 8 Days just got the axe. And Sony adds some salt to the wound by announcing Qore, their new pay to play subscription video podcast, demo and beta service.

Which leaves me wondering, what the heck is Sony first party doing anyways?

Let me get the Sony first party story straight: God of War is nowhere to be seen, Gran Turismo 5 is still not out, despite what their pay to play demo might have you think, The Getaway and 8 Days are newly canned, there's no sign of Afrika, no sign of Trico, and SOCOM, Wipeout and Warhawk have been confined to PSN. Not even going to bother bringing up Home. What the heck is going on over there?

It's a Waggle Future

With the news that Microsoft is developing its on Wii-like controller with Rare and the knowledge that Sony is determined to bring out its own as well, is it a one waggle future for video game controllers?

Although many long-time gamers might consider the Wiimote not much more than a gimmick, it is apparent to me that Wii-like controls are a compelling interactive interface for certain types of games. While not every game can be made to function well with the magic stick, games built around the Wii's controls have been very well done at times. It's my opinion that the industry needs to catch up as a whole and consider the way the Wii has changed the gaming landscape, especially if they want to take advantage the large marketshare of Nintendo's console. Sure, Nintendo's consoles have traditionally shown middling sales for third-party games, but in the case of the Wii (and the DS, it must be said), in my opinion a large part of the blame can squarely be put on developers not taking the time to craft games to the strengths of the platforms they are developing on. Now with Microsoft and Sony apparently entering the ring in the near future, with newer and better technology and precision, it's high time developers start thinking seriously about the future of games and motion controls.

So will the next generation of consoles even include traditional controllers in the box? I think that as of this moment they will (except for Nintendo's of course) since traditional games are still selling like hotcakes, but can definitely see a future where they are no longer the preferred control method. I hope developers are planning for this contingency...