People who think that entertainment is killing people/aliens even in a video game are mentally and emotionally sick. And people who design such games to seduce young children with such perversion are even sicker still. In search of money all morality and good qualities in the human being is being systematically perverted, either deliberately or not. And to make 'entertainment' out of killing in a church just about sums up the deep sickness of our condemned form of so-called 'civilisation'.

Rasa Dasa, M/crty,

The author of the article seems to have conveniently left off one critical detal about the game.

The resistance is humans. Their enemy is SPACE ALIENS who have invaded Earth.

The game is FICTIONAL, people. It's FANTASY. There's no "gun battle" in the cathedral. There never was a gun battle in the cathedral. This is a Sci Fi fantasy tale of humans fighting for their survival.

Get a grip.

And Get a life.

AJBryant, Herndon, VA

I think it is widely accepted a church is not a forum for soldiers to maim and destroy aliens but I think it is also widely accepted that such a concept is entirely fantastical and beyond the realms of reality. Is what Sony has done poor taste? Well, yes - even those people who are not God fearing I think might agree! On the other hand the Bible does teach that the Church is the people - the bricks and mortar are just that and no more. Surely the legal dominion of the church is God's law - perhaps Sony will forced into voluntarily liquidation next year! IP rights are there to secure the economic interests of those to whom the rights are exclusively granted and are not a feasible starting point for a battle to prevent a church to be used as a scene for a game or to save the minds of children.

Edward Boal, Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Sony is the first to complain when a celeb is in breach of contract, or their products are pirated. Therefore, they have first hand experience when it comes to taking for granted the law that governs property and public rights. Sony has showed no respect towards the Church of England, its Christian beliefs and members of Manchester Cathedral who attend for Holy worship. The game should be withdrawn.

Mark Harris, Swansea, Wales

"Think God really cares about a building - ....in England?"

Dave, Moline, IL

What has the fact that the building is in England have to do with it? Doesn't your imaginary God value all of his sacred buildings? The fact of the matter is that he doesn't even exist!

As long as there are no copyright issues then Sony can do what they want with the idea! It's just a bit of innocent escapism! That's what computer games are all about! It's not a question of disrespect, this is the type of occurance that only religious people see a reason to get offended. The only way such people are going to be able to get any enjoyment out of modern life is to stop being so sensitive and perhaps learn to laugh at themselves like the rest of us can.

Dale, Peterborough, UK

This is just in such poor taste. Boo Sony. I opted Sony Vaio out of my laptop decision yesterday. (my last 2 were Vaios)

Mike, Montreal, Canada

June I could go on as to why they shouldn't remove the game, but I'll counter your arguments.

"Does Sony truly intend to sell its soul to Satan for money?"

Having a single solitary level where you kill aliens (not people, but aliens) inside a church is not selling their soul to satan. The church is abandoned the whole city is quarantined and the only reason you are there is because the army tried to use it as a field hospital but the aliens came to kill them. It is supposed to show how desperate the situation is, if you can't find sanctuary in a house of god, where can you find it?

"How does such a "game" bring families, especially children, closer to God with such offerings?"

The game is not meant to be played by children hence the reason why it is rated for 18+. Games aren't always supposed to bring people closer to God (in fact few if any even try)

Does Sony have any regard for the Creator"

They don't have to, it's not a christian company nor is the UK a theorcacy

Robert Zollo, Simi Valley, Ca, USA

Think God really cares about a building - ....in England?

Dave, Moline, IL

If games are to introduce an element of religiousity, maybe sony should create a game in which one has to hunt down the newly knighted rushdie and satisfy the fatwa held aginst him, maybe this will please the rioting islamic students.

O Young, Leeds, Yorks

Yes. I could go on for all the thousand words allowed as to why this evil symbol should be removed but will hope and pray that somewhere, someone among the Sony upper eschelon of management will have the courage to look into his or her soul and remove this game. Does Sony truly intend to sell its soul to Satan for money? How does such a "game" bring families, especially children, closer to God with such offerings? Or, is that the big question here. Does Sony have any regard for the same Creator who created the people who make up the Sony Corp.?

June St. James-Pfouts, Boise, Idaho

No

Andrew Leonard, Charlotte, NC

The indignation has a whiff of desperation. Please take me seriously it cries. I want respect it demands. Demand all you like. Ever polite, I'm sure Sony will help the Church save some face by contributing to the steeple fund or by agreeing to sponsor some initiative or other.

jeremyinOz, Perth, WA

I wonder whether Sony would have dared have a shoot-out in a mosque - or a synagogue? One does not even have to ask ...

Con, Gloucester,

Mary,

Most of those tests only find casual links between games and agression, used flawed methodology, or the effects are only short term and waer off quickly. In fact there was a study that "proved" that reading bible passages cause agression using the same stupid methodology they tried before with video games. But you're right, maybe I was bieng a bit too hasty when I labeled them idiots

Robert Zollo, Simi Valley, Ca, USA

As a Canadian tourist who had briefly visited a few of the locales presented in the game, I was personally delighted to be able to revisit, albeit in virtual form, numerous locations within England. Personally, I would have thought that citizens of the United Kingdom would have been just as enthusiastic about a game which pays homage to the legendary "stiff upper lip" of the British people.
The game does NOT "encourage" people to have gunbattles in cathedrals. The characters in-game sought the cathedral as a sanctuary and a resting place. They were forced to use weapons only when the Chimeran invaders infiltrated the church, and only so that human lives could be saved. No rewards are offered save for your own survival, and the fewer bullets you fire within the church, the better off you are.
Honestly, this is just a sad, pathetic attempt by the Church of England to get people to pay attention to it. Such juvenile self-centeredness is disheartening. Give up already.

Sterling Orsten, Edmonton, Canada

"Either that or they actually think the game will cause more gun violence in which case they are just plain stupid."

That's not quite true. Psychologists have conducted a number of studies into the effects of violent video games and music on the people who play them, and have found some disturbing results. Obviously not all the players go round killing people, but they do tend to be much more irritable and curt in their relationships with others, especially immediately after finishing a game.

We should also remember that Manchester Cathedral does a lot of work with the victims of gun crime, so it's possible that they don't see violent video games as being quite so harmless. Perhaps if you were responsible for helping the family members of someone who got shot dead, you would find the game tasteless as well. Especially if it were created using graphics taken from the place where gun crime victims go to get support.

Mary, Preston,

What a load of rubbish.
The Church obviously doesn't realise that using the building is perfectly under fair use since it's a public structure.
And you know what? I seriously doubt they've played the game... it's NOT a major part of the game, infact it's a part of one of the levels, and it's set in an alternate reality in the 50's fighting an alien invasion.
There are loads more reasons why the behaviour of the Church are absolutely ridiculous but really, I think the response of the large majority of people on various boards makes detailing them pointless. Most people see this as stupidity personified.

Jan, London,

Oh, and I think it's about time the religionauts "butt out" of OTHER peoples lives.
No one who plays the game cares about your self righteous indigantion or overinflated sense of hurt over absolutely nothing.
Aside from the uncountable number of times that religion and violence has been depicted in art/movies, there's the current reality of war and violence in which these acts take place between humans and not aliens. And of course there's the reality of religion and violence being bosom buddies for thousands of years.
Spare us the sermon.

Jan, London,

Let's put aside ownership and look at the church for what it is meant to be, therefore the house of God. If it was a mosque or temple "all hell would break loose", but because it is a Christian church then anything goes. To those who do not attend church, "but out" and stop being so self righteous over a "game". For those of us who believe and attend, it is a place of Holy worship. Sony are in the wrong and have demonstrated no respect towards the Christian Faith.

Mark Harris, Swansea, Wales

I don't think it is wrong that a company should be taken to task for the "virtual" desecration of a holy place. The imagination is close to the soul of a person: it is the individuals who play such games who need protection - that is one good reason why the Church should object.

Julie Reid, Chester, England

For Christ sake they've taken this completely out of context. The game depicts and alternative earth where an alien race has taken over Europe and is invading Britain. It's a war and in war nowhere is sacred. No one had a go at allied soldiers that used churches as cover during WW2.

It's not also the first game to have fighting happen in churches. I remember in one medal of honour game one of the missions is to take out a machine gun nest in a church and then use this against enemy soldiers. So why now take umbridge over churches in video games? What abotu games where you can destroy churches are they going to back track several years and have a go at them now. At least if their trying to argue they should have been consistent.

Matthew Lees, Wickford, United Kingdom

Whats the betting that the sales increase 10 fold now its been all over the media? games always seem to be a sore subject. they have ratings for a reason. wolfenstein was full of religious imagery and nazis and i don remember any outcry about that. if you dont like it dont play it, its rated for a reason; and remember kids, its only a game...

sam, bristol,

In light of all the real violence, (including massacres) that has taken place in churches over the centuries, I think they've got a bloody cheek.
Religion is so much on the back foot, they will grasp any opportunity to get in the limelight, pathetic.

Alan Cowe, Bixter, Shetland

I'm pretty sure that the Da Vinci Code movie featured people with guns in religious venues, and I don't recall any outrage over that.

I doubt the person in question has even played the game. It is not set solely in a cathedral; my brother owns it, and we have not even reached the level in question yet. It's one map in the whole game, for goodness' sake.

Are we going to ban any kind of fictional media that portrays something a group of Jesus freaks disagree with? Does the Church even have any power these days, anyway? I suppose I will find the answer to that as the events unfold.

Nil Nilington, Hertfordshire, UK

First off.... does the Church of England even own a copyright on the IMAGE of Manchester Cathedral? Cause if they don't they won't get very far in court... Secondly, the game doesn't promote violence in churches or even violence towards other people... it promotes violence against aliens from outer space... Finally.. it is the only decent title for the most expensive console ever... its the only title that sells... and there is no way Sony would ever pull it.... ever!

The Church of England really needs to get over themselves... I mean where was the outcry when the game was released 6 months ago!

Chris, Atlanta, GA, USA

The game has been on the shelves for several months. In that period of time, how many people have been shot in the cathedral?

They claim that "no clearance for the use of their nave for a gun battle had been sought." The reason for that being, no gun battle has taken place in the nave of their cathedral! If a child built a scale model of the cathedral, then had his action figures battel in it, would the church rush to sue him? Making a 3d model of a location and having virtual characters fight in it is exactly the same.

Bringing up the city's gun problem seems to suggest that Sony has a direct hand in it! The gun problem has been there long before the PS3 was released, and banning/censoring a game will not change it. But then again, a multinational corporation like Sony is a lot easier to find and blame than the drug dealers and gang members responsible for the real crime in the city.

Karol, Dublin, Ireland

What a load of rubbish. There is a single shootout in the church and they offense? Do you shoot the priest? No. The choir? No, a holy man? No. How about churchgoers? Nope. How about people? No no and no, not then not throughout the entire game. You shoot aliens that are invading, it just happens to be in a stupid church. In the game the church has been badly damaged and long abandoned. In fact the area you are in is almost a quarantine with only a few survivors. It seems perhaps the church is just a little oversensitive and trying to ban the game from everyone else on the planet just because THEY don't like it and THEY find it offensive (heaven forbid they make a game that's violent). Either that or they actually think the game will cause more gun violence in which case they are just plain stupid. I'm going to keep my copy of resistance, thank you very much, and if I find someone with a PS3 I'll buy them a copy of resistance just to rub it into the church's face.

Robert Zollo, Simi Valley, Ca, USA

This is ridiculous. The CoE was being used as a refuge in the game. I go to church regularly, and I'm not accusing anyone of it, but this sounds too much like greed. You all should know it, it's one of the seven deadly sins. I've played many games that have monuments and churches in them, most specifically "Onimusha 3" by Capcom. The game has several of France's monuments in it, including the Cathedral of Notre Dame. A church where demons appear on it's holy grounds, where you as the main characters proceed to shoot, dismember and slay them. Not just at the church but the other monuments too, and yet France didn't complain. They didn't even try to sue a third rate game company, but then Sony, a first class game company, slips on a single step and here's the CoE ready to break the fall with a law suit. The game is just entertainment and though it's false the CoE should be happy that the creators thought to have people try and protect it and use it as a refuge one last time.

Tim, Mauston, Wisconsin

The whole thing smacks of a cheap points scoring exercise by the Church, with over 1 millions copies of the game already in circulation what do they hope to achieve? Other than getting themselves in the papers of course, but that would be a very cynical outlook, wouldn't it!

The real irony is that the Church could not be doing more to ensure sales of this game skyrocket if they were giving out money off vouchers at Sunday services! Sony must be rubbing their hands with glee.

Jim, Glos,

I would be very surprised if this is the worst thing that has ever been portrayed as happening in a church by the media. I can think of at leat 10 films with , each including at least one of, violence, rape & drug abuse in churches.

I agree some places should be sacred but if alien invaders really did come and invade, would we not attack the ones that were in the churches because it is a place of peace? They wouldn't understand it, so would we let them riot?

Games are an easy target for people to attack now, and at very worst, they are guilty of copyright infringement, not something that should cause a moral uproar.

Mark, Newcastle, England

This isn't the first video game to use representations of real locations. Hell, Capcom's 'Onimusha 3' (Published on Sony's Playstation 2 and PC) had magical samurai fighting demons all over famous Parisian landmarks - the Arc De Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, hell there's a climactic sword fight atop the Eiffel Tower. But you don't see France getting upset about their youth 'being encouraged to partake in violence' or however they phrased it.

So what's the difference here? Both games are fantasy. One has aliens, one has demons. One has bullets tearing through flesh, one has swords chopping limbs off. The essence of the thing seems the same, maybe the difference is that Sony has a lot more money to sue for then a 3rd-party developer like Capcom. Did the CoE just see an opportunity to make a cash-grab out of guiling some folk? Doesn't seem like that would be entirely without precedent.

Jess, Toronto, Canada

How can the church be 'furious' over a game they haven't played, they've merely seen a screenshot. That is like called Schindler's List a sadistic film because they've seen a screenshot of the prison commander shooting someone indiscriminantly.

The church is merely a backdrop to a game clearly isn't based all that closely in real life - an alien invasion - come on!

What gets me the most is that the church is demanding money for the 'cathedral's youth work'. I fail to see why Sony should cough up for an organisation that is pushing religion on people.

Al, Oxford,

imagine the uproar had it been a synagogue or a mosque

pete, cardiff,

The Church being one of the last places in this sad country to promote peace and goodwill they certainly don't need a million people shooting guns inside it's replica flagships.

It's one thing for developers to model atmosphere's based on fiction, quite another to directly copy a building that is based entirely on promoting peace, undermining it's reason for being there in the first place.

A Wallis, Cambridge, UK

"End times?" ... Really?

I've never played the game, as I refuse to buy such an overpriced gaming system, but it sounds like a simple case of copyright infringement (though I'm hardly familiar with the correct terminology for a situation such as this). You would think there was some kind of malicious intent on the part of the game's developers by how they decry this game ... and the request of having the game pulled entirely seems unrealistic at best. Compensation would be a much more reasonable goal, but reason isn't always a prominent concern in cases like this.

George, Nova Scotia, Canada

Wow...what on earth is the CoE thinking?! This is a game for crying out loud! A Sci-Fi game where the character is fighting aliens in an alternate universe 1950's England....what is the problem?

Tony, what 'Biblical and spiritual' implications are there about this? It is a game with a scene set in a church setting, many other games like Painkiller and Half-Life 2 have used churches or other 'religious' areas to fight in?!

This is the same kind of ignorance that occured in the 1980's with Heavy Metal, people don't know and can't accept the way the modern world has changed.

Bitterly disappointed that the CoE thinks they have a case here. Sony have my full support.

Evo, Cardiff, Wales

If we need yet another indication that we are in the end times, this is it.

HA HA HA HA

Fred, Konigsberg, Prussia

As usual, mainstream Church officials spout a complete load of rubbish, have they even seen/played the game? obviously not. The game is set in an alternate version of 1950s England where aliens have taken over the country, as if this has any bearing on gun crime. Are they afraid that people might play this game, pick up a lazer gun and start shooting aliens whenever they visit the cathedral?

Seeing as how vocal they are about this one issue, its obviously a lot more serious to them than several hundread thousand dead Iraqi civilians.

Micheal Mouse, Kent,

The suggestion by the Sony spokesman that "It is game-created footage, it is not video or photography" is crass to say the very least. I am sure that if they used a
"game created image" of someone like, say, Tom Cruise, he wouldn't mind at all and would be happy that they did so without any form of payment to him, whatsoever. But the Biblical and spiritual implications are much greater. If we need yet another indication that we are in the end times, this is it.

Tony Boulton, Grapevine, Texas, USA

"no clearance for the use of their nave for a gun battle had been sought"

Didn't seek my clearance either. Shocking.

Kay Tie, York,

What's next with Sony? A shooting game in a mosque? at the Vatican? or anywhere they can make money? Freedom of speech has been overly misused here! The Sony managements should know better that the profits made by this game will never make up for their loss of Sony customers in the future unless immediate withdrawn of the game and sincerely apology to their "moral overlook." One of any religious affiliate would and should oppose this type of dirty money making scheme that completely disregard other's sacred worship places, in this case, the Christian throughout the world. Sony's response via Mr. David Wilson is totally offensive, wreckless, and insensitive. Is Sony willling to put their corporate headquarter to be used as a scence for a shooting game???!!! Definitely a NO NO!!! (Please ask Mr. Wilson). And, Sony headquarter is not a sacred place!

Sony will sure loss many customer after this mistake. How much of the damage is depend on their willingness to fix it!!!

Ben, Washington DC, USA

Sacrilege is not illegal.

Matt, Milwaukee, United States

I was very shocked, until I heard it was aliens theat were being blasted!
OH WELL THEN, no problem. I used to blast aliens for hours with Space Invaders, this sounds much much more fun!!!

David, London, UK

I fail to see what the problem is here. This is a computer game, no real footage is used, thus no permission was required. The clergy needs to grow up. But that is unlikely given that the total nonsense they all believe in.

Paul Turnbull, Gales Ferry, CT, USA

One would hope that the Manchester Cathedral clergy will institute legal action against Sony. It would also seem appropriate that profits made by Sony for the sacreligious used of the Cathedral be awarded to the Cathedral.

Bob Evans, Anaheim, California

I'm a Mancunian and Christian, but also a gamer, and it really does seem that the Church here has gone off half cocked.

Churches are often seen both in war movies and videogame representations of war because they do get involved in conflicts.

But my main reason for commenting and saying that this criticism is ridiculous is that we're not talking some violent blood-bath here. We're talking about a game were humans fight alien invaders - this is hardly some gorefest. It is quite a tame game.

Harry Neary, Brentwood, UK