It’s not very often that a game hits the front pages of the BBC Online News site but Resistance: Fall of Man has managed to do it, and I’m sure you will be surprised to know that it’s not good news.
The Church of England is considering taking legal action against Sony over the use of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man. They are unhappy about an incident in the game where some soldiers battled the Chimera resulting in a few human casualties. Or to put it in The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch’s words:
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.
They also claim Sony didn’t seek permission to use the Cathedral, something a Sony spokesman denies:
It is entertainment, like Doctor Who or any other science fiction. It is not based on reality at all. Throughout the whole process we have sought permission where necessary.
Erm…OK. 
I can see how a Sci Fi heavy game set in the early 1950s where an Alien race known as Chimera invaded Earth, with a few hundred soldiers left in England to try and stop the Chimeran invasion (before the Americans save our arses yet again), will encourage people to have gun battles in Manchester Cathedral. 
They may have an issue with Sony if they failed to get proper permission to use Manchester Cathedral but they are way off the mark if they think Resistance will encourage people to start having gun battles in the Cathedral.
EDIT: Sony responds:
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is aware of the concerns expressed by the Bishop of Manchester and the Cathedral authorities about the use of Manchester Cathedral in the game Resistance: Fall of Man, and we naturally take their concerns very seriously.
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.
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Written by: Gary
- Contributing Editor
#1 by Mike on June 9th, 2007
If people in Europe want to nail Sony for something, it should be the decapitated goat party or the insanely pointless “This is Living” ads. What the hell are they going to do about a game that was developed 8,000 miles away and has generated no controversy in the States?
#2 by Sporty on June 9th, 2007 [ 95 Points ]
This is kinda stupid. But I doubt they will get very far. The church was pissed about several placed recreated in Da Vinci code but they weren’t able to stop that and it had a wider audience.
I thought the US copy write laws were getting wacky but this is beyond any lawsuit the US can sue for. At least until they rewrite parody, expression and prior art laws here.
#3 by bobeotm on June 9th, 2007
This would be like Los Angeles Getting mad at GTA San Andreas. Its really dumb. Not only is the game not set in a contemporary time, but its SOLDIERS FIGHTING ALIENS. How is that anywhere near the same as some random dudes being encouraged to have a real life gun battle in the church? Alot of places in the world have gun crime problems, but to think removing a church from a sci-fi videogame set in a alternate history is going to do anything about it is just silly and self-centered.
#4 by Mike on June 9th, 2007
The thing that is really strange about this is, how many public institutions or companies depicted in the Getaway complained so vigorously about that game? Current, realistic, human vs. human urban violence is much more controversial than killing a bunch of alien parasites. Did they complain about the church sequence in 28 days later?
I’m not the type of person that thinks game developers should just be able to do whatever they want and flagrantly skirt things like the ESRB, but this is getting ridiculous. Jack Thompson had more of a point, and he’s a moron.
#5 by Clinton514 on June 9th, 2007
Bah. They’re simply looking for something to lash out on. The devil is on his way out and Sony seems like a good target for them.
Honestly, I don’t know how this is any more offending than war movies showing torn up churches.
#6 by Mike on June 9th, 2007
LOL CNN has article up saying that the game features a shootout between “rival gunmen” (that is what they cal fictional aliens these days) and that there are hundreds of dead people in the cathedral. Maybe CNN should just stick to prompting the mothers of missing children to commit suicide (google “Melinda Duckett”). Mainstream journalism is so sad.
#7 by Sporty on June 9th, 2007 [ 95 Points ]
Yeah, mainstream media is sad and out of touch. It’s more tabloid then news now. That’s how Jack Thompson can go onto all the news networks as a ‘school shooting expert’ and blame games regardless of the facts.
Look at the uproar over Bully and 25 to Life, all the news networks were misrepresenting what the games were about to get more of an uproar.
One positive is in the last 10 years gaming has become more mainstream that in the future more “journalist’ will have played games growing up, should make them less ignorant then they are now.
#8 by Sporty on June 9th, 2007 [ 95 Points ]
After thinking about my first post. I wouldn’t be surprised if the motivation to go against Sony here wasn’t due to the Da Vinci Code again. After all it’s also a Sony property that they weren’t able to block.
#9 by yodaddy on June 9th, 2007
what can the sue sony for ? … isn’t sony in the negative with the ps3 anyways ?
#10 by Sporty on June 9th, 2007 [ 95 Points ]
Sony has over 30 billion in the bank along with massive revenues and assets from other divisions. Sony posted a loose in the games division but a profit overall, that’s why the stock went to a 3 year high.
I love how uninformed CNN and BBC’s articles were.
“The popular new PlayStation 3 game, “Resistance: Fall of Man,” shows a virtual shootout between rival gunmen with hundreds of people killed inside the cathedral.”
It’s actually about a 5 minute scene with 4 humans fighting crawlers Chimera and an Auger.
#11 by Jax Myth on June 9th, 2007
Does anyone wanna have a quick gun battle in Manchester Cathedral tomorrow?
B.Y.O.G. (Bring Your Own Guns)
#12 by HoOn on June 10th, 2007
This is the most funny and stupid I have ever heard of.
#13 by Annie on June 11th, 2007 [ 0 Points ]
I’m just getting tired of the battle-in-church thing. It’s supposed to be shocking, I guess, because LOOK, there’s a FIGHT in a place of PEACE! Get IT? Isn’t THAT GREAT?
It’s getting tired folks. I wish movies and games would stop already.
#14 by Alisha Allan on June 11th, 2007
Sony may well hope that they sue; ideally just before the retailers place their Christmas stock orders. They must be laughing all the way to the bank; I doubt that any other game has had it’s sales boosted so much by the daily media reporting. Interestingly, computer games, like religion, seem to appeal to those who enjoy delusion, and they may even have boosted sales to their own congregations. In any case, I’m sure a lot worse happened in the cathedral in the 800 years since when it was built. Real crimes, not imaginary. And whom is the Church going to sue next? Every author who ever set a murder or atrocity in a church or cathedral? Colin Dexter? T. S. Eliot’s publishers? – Perhaps it ought to sue (for beach of contract) those whom it employs and employed who have been convicted in the courts of child abuse – now that would be money well spent. Canon Denby, get a grip on reality and get your priorities in order!