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Church of England locks horns with Sony
LONDON: The church of England
threatened to sue Sony Corp for featuring a cathedral in a
violent computer game, saying it is sacrilegious and trivialises
gun crime.
Church officials last week accused the Japanese entertainment
and electronics giant of using without permission the historic
interior of Manchester Cathedral as the backdrop for the new
PlayStation 3 war game Resistance: Fall of Man.
The Rev Nigel McCulloch, the bishop of Manchester, Britain’s
third city, said the game trivialised and glamourised the gun
crime that had afflicted his city in northwest England.
“It is well known that Manchester has a gun crime problem,”
McCulloch told BBC television.
“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.
“We know the reality of gun crime and the devastating effects it
can have on the lives – it is not a trivial matter,” he said.
The cathedral itself has held memorial services for victims of
gun crime.
Using any cathedral as the setting for a violent game was “so
inappropriate and offensive,” he added.
The church of England wrote to Sony on Monday demanding an
apology and the game’s withdrawal from sale, a church spokesman
said, adding it will consider legal action if the demands were
not met.
In a statement aired on BBC television, Sony Computer
Entertainment Europe said it “is aware of the concerns expressed
by the bishop of Manchester and we naturally take the concerns
very seriously.”
Sony added that it believed it had “sought and received all
permissions necessary for the creation of the game,” but will
contact the cathedral authorities “to understand their concerns
in more detail.”
Sony also said the game amounted to science fiction where the
targets were aliens rather than humans.
“It is game-created footage, it is not video or photography. It
is not based on reality at all,” David Wilson, a Sony spokesman,
told The Times newspaper.
The game, which has sold more than one million copies, features
a bloody virtual shoot-out between rival fighters that leaves
hundreds killed.
The game’s website said Resistance: Fall of Man took place in an
alternative 20th century in which it was 1951 and World War II
never happened.
However, humanity is threatened by brutal invaders, the Chimera.
It featured “an impressive arsenal and vigorous action as your
character fights the horrific and technologically superior
enemy,” the website said.
The game “offers both a compelling combat experience and a
chilling vision of Europe,” the website added.
But the Dean of Manchester Cathedral, Rev Rogers Govender, spoke
of his “absolute shock and horror” at seeing clips from the game
which he said clearly represent the inside of his cathedral.
Patsy McKie from Mothers Against Violence, whose son Dorrie was
killed in Manchester, told both BBC and Sky News television that
it was time to take on the makers of violent games.
“I’m standing here as ... a mother who lost her son,” McKie told
Sky News. “We can’t say ‘well it’s just a game’.”
Speaking to the BBC, McKie said: “I believe it’s something that
needs to be taken seriously first by the church but also by
parents. There’s a war going on – not just in Iraq, but right
here on our doorstep.”
Arlene McCarthy, a Labour member of the European parliament,
supported demands for an apology from Sony.
“It’s very insensitive to the communities, in particular to
those families who have lost children,” McCarthy told BBC. – AFP
 
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