Church of England Takes Issue with New PlayStation Game

Video game companies have always attracted their share of negative attention from a number of groups concerned with their portrayal of violence. Sony, however, seems to have found itself a new source of trouble: the Church of England.

A recent game released for PlayStation 3, "Resistance: Fall of Man," features a scene inside the Manchester Cathedral, in which, of course, the gamer participates in a shootout. Needless to say, the church has never been known to hold its tongue before condemning such things, but in this particular case, it has taken it to a new level.

According to an AFP article on Yahoo News, David Marshall, spokesman of the Manchester cathedral, contacted Sony on Sunday, condemning them for their use of the cathedral, and asking for a "large donation."

As previously mentioned, the Church has a long history of beefs with a video game industry. On previous occasions, it and a number of organizations affiliated with it have spouted at great length about the evil done to society by violent video games. They find the idea of using violence as a means of entertainment to be revolting. This particular complaint breaks new ground, though. Rather than being a general complaint that our society is going to hell in a handbasket, the Church of England is concerned about the specifics of the situation. In addition to their righteous indignation about using their holy place as a side of video game carnage, the church is concerned about gun crime in the area.

"It is well known that Manchester has a gun crime problem," said Bishop Nigel McCulloch of Manchester on a BBC interview on Saturday.

Sony, however, does not seem to think there are at fault. "We believe we have sought and received all permissions necessary for the creation of this game," a spokesman said, adding that the "Resistance: Fall of Man" is merely a fantasy game.

Sony has not yet at this time made up its mind as to what it is going to do, but says it will investigate the situation further.

Do video games really promote violence? Does this specific game, "Resistance: Fall of Man" promote violence in Manchester, England? In the Cathedral? Apparently, a number of people think so, and the church has received a number of emails to this effect. However, the debate continues on. And, of course, the fact remains that the vast majority of gamers are perfectly nice, civilized people, who are not likely to go shoot up the Manchester Cathedral. At least it hasn't happened yet.

AFP, Church of England demands Sony donation for cathedral shoot-out game, http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070610/tc_afp/britainanglican

BBC, Cathedral row over video war game, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/6736809.stm