Sony incurs the wrath of the Church of England

Paul Sinclair • Jun 11, 2007 • Comments ()

Sony has been courting controversy again, this time igniting the wrath of the Church of England. The Church is outrages that scenes from the PS3 game Resistance: Fall of Man displays Manchester Cathedral as the back-drop for a gory shoot-out.

A clip of the scene in question is posted on YouTube.com, where the player is seen shooting throughout the interior of the church. The Church claims that Sony did not obtain permission to use the scenes in the game, which has sold over a million copies already.

The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Reverend Nigel McCulloch stated, "For a global manufacturer to re-create one of our great cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have guns battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible."

Thus far, Sony have only reasserted that the game is a work of fiction.

"Resistance: Fall of Man is a fantasy science fiction game and is not based on reality. The game is set in an alternate and mythical version of Europe in the 1950s, in which the enemy are strange looking alien invaders seeking to destroy humanity.

"Whilst we believe that we have sought and received all permissions necessary for the creation of the game, we will be contacting the Cathedral authorities in order to better understand their concerns in more detail."

The situation is particularly controversial since Manchester has been blighted by gun crime for some time now. Thus the Church can hardly be seen to be condoning the glorification of violence. As the Dean of Manchester Cathedral, the Very Reverend Rogers Govender asserted, "This is an important issue. For many young people these games offer a different sort of reality and seeing guns in Manchester Cathedral is not the sort of connection we want to make."

The Church are now demanding that the game be pulled from shelves, that a public apology be made and that a 'large donation' be given.

It's a tough one to call. Is this a question of Sony failing to seek permission, or is this a more serious question of freedom of expression against violence in the media? Feel free to discuss on the boards or add your comment below.

The story has been also widely covered elsewhere:

- bit-tech.net
- GamesDog.co.uk
- Digital Spy
- PC Advisor

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Sony has been courting controversy again, this time igniting the wrath of the Church of England. The Church is outrages that scenes from the PS3 game\tResistance: Fall of Man displays Manchester Cathedral as the back-drop for a gory shoot-out.\n\nA clip of the scene in question is posted on YouTube.com, where the player is seen shooting throughout the interior of the church. The Church claims that Sony did not obtain permission to use the scenes in the game, which has sold over a million copies already.\n\nThe Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Reverend Nigel McCulloch stated, \"For a global manufacturer to re-create one of our great cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have guns battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible.\"\n\nThus far, Sony have only reasserted that the game is a work of fiction.\n\n

\n\n\"Resistance: Fall of Man is a fantasy science fiction game and is not based on reality. The game is set in an alternate and mythical version of Europe in the 1950s, in which the enemy are strange looking alien invaders seeking to destroy humanity.\n\n\"Whilst we believe that we have sought and received all permissions necessary for the creation of the game, we will be contacting the Cathedral authorities in order to better understand their concerns in more detail.\"

\n\nThe situation is particularly controversial since Manchester has been blighted by gun crime for some time now. Thus the Church can hardly be seen to be condoning the glorification of violence. As the Dean of Manchester Cathedral, the Very Reverend Rogers Govender asserted, \"This is an important issue. For many young people these games offer a different sort of reality and seeing guns in Manchester Cathedral is not the sort of connection we want to make.\"\n\nThe Church are now demanding that the game be pulled from shelves, that a public apology be made and that a 'large donation' be given.\n\nIt's a tough one to call. Is this a question of Sony failing to seek permission, or is this a more serious question of freedom of expression against violence in the media? Feel free to discuss on the boards or add your comment below.\n\nThe story has been also widely covered elsewhere:\n\n- bit-tech.net\n- GamesDog.co.uk\n- Digital Spy\n- PC Advisor