Uh oh. Looks like Sony’s in trouble again. The Church of England is said to consider taking legal action against Sony for depicting the Manchester Cathedral as a venue where hundreds of lives are taken in the war game Resistance: Fall of Man without obtaining prior permission to do so. Sony says otherwise, believing that it had already sought all the relevant permission required before the game went into full swing. According to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, “Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is aware of the concerns expressed by the Bishop of Manchester and the cathedral authorities… and we naturally take the concerns very seriously. Resistance: Fall of Man is a fantasy science fiction game and is not based on reality. We believe we have sought and received all permissions necessary for the creation of the game.”

The Church maintains that Sony clearly did not ask for permission to use the cathedral, and has since demanded an apology as well as the removal of the game from shop shelves, whereby not doing so would result in legal action. The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, has his piece to say as well,
“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. We are shocked to see a place of learning, prayer and heritage being presented to the youth market as a location where guns can be fired.”

What do you think? Sony will probably go all out in defending its claims, since the PS3 is clearly a fast seller in Europe, and with Resistance: Fall of Man being one of the best selling game for the platform so far, they would do well to protect their ‘jewel’.

Source: BBC

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