It’s not reality, which is blatantly obvious to anyone who has played the game, and they claim to have secured any rights required. For CNN, they took this story and made it into a headline-grabber, labeling Resistance a “Cathedral Shootout Game.” The apparently non-fact-checked article describes the sequence as such: “… shows a virtual shootout between rival gunmen with hundreds of people killed inside the cathedral.”
Of course, in an ironic twist, the article links to a video of the Cathedral scene that clearly shows it fails to live up to CNN’s hype.
For the Church, this wasn’t enough, and the battle continued on. A day later, the true motives came out. The Church demanded compensation, along with a ridiculous request to remove the game from store shelves, and/or release a version of the game without the sequence in question. Never mind that the game has been available for eight months and sold a few million copies; now is the time to save the children — and land a decent financial kickback.
A few days later, the most baffling move by the church occurred. On June 14, the Church of England requested the help of the Japanese people. The Dean of the Cathedral was quoted by the AP saying, “Today I want to appeal directly to the people of Japan to help us put pressure on Sony to respond.”
Why anyone would believe this would draw sympathy is baffling, and shows a complete lack of logic, common sense, or intelligence. He never even states what exactly the Japanese people should do, or why he even chose to ask the Japanese for help with an American developed title.
As was probably expected, British politician and overly vocal anti-video game critic Keith Vaz spoke out to a fellow Parliament member one day after the Japanese request. “Will he join me in condemning Sony for the publication of a new video game that depicts scenes of Manchester cathedral, without the permission of the Church authorities, in a game that is very violent and bloody?”
Article comments
1 - Ken Edwards
Well they thanked Sony for the apology letter, but they still want more. So now this week-long story gets drug through a second week.
2 - Christopher Rose
Personally, I'm outraged that an organisation that pays no taxes and deals in cruel deceptions and outright lies is demanding financial compensation for this. Meet the new Godfather(s)!