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Church of England sues Sony over Resistance: Fall of Man

Legal action threatened after Sony used Manchester Cathedral as the backdrop to Resistance

Words: Gavin Ogden, CVG UK

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The Church of England is to sue Sony over the use of Manchester Cathedral as the backdrop to Resistance, which the ITV (the biggest commercial television network in the UK) labels, incidentally, "a violent computer game." It's about shooting make-believe aliens with make-believe guns, isn't it?

Anyway, religious leaders have apparently accused Sony of "desecrating" the cathedral. Again ITV jumps in to let us know that Resistance: Fall of Man is a PlayStation 3 game "in which hundreds are killed during a virtual shoot-out inside the building." Makes it sounds like a real-life WWII documentary, or something.

Back to the story and the Church says Sony didn't ask for permission to use the cathedral and has demanded an apology and the removal of the game from shop shelves - otherwise legal action will be considered. Now that's a big ask, especially as it's one of PS3's biggest sellers.

It doesn't end there though. Oh no. Sony has also been branded "irresponsible" for choosing Manchester, which ITV describes as "a city plagued by gun violence." Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, said: "It is well known that Manchester has a gun crime problem. 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."

ITV concluded by saying that during the game "players are asked to assume the role of an army sergeant and win a battle" and that screenshots show the interior of the Cathedral "with the player's gun ready to fight; soldiers can be seen elsewhere in the nave taking aim."

We don't know what's worse; accusing Sony of desecrating a cathedral, talking about Resistance like it's real-life or describing Manchester as a city plagued by gun violence. Sound off on the forums, check out Sony's response or judge for yourself if Resistance desecrated the cathedral.

June 11, 2007