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Church of England mulls suing Sony over war game

Deeply offended and worried about gun crime in its midst, the Church of England yesterday mulled taking legal action against Sony Corp for featuring a cathedral in a violent computer game.

Church officials accused the Japanese firm of using without permission the historic interior of Manchester Cathedral as the backdrop for the PlayStation 3 game Resistance: Fall of Man.

"It is well known that Manchester has a gun crime problem," the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, the Bishop of Manchester, told BBC TV on Saturday.

"For a global manufacturer to recreate one of our great cathe-drals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have gun battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible. We know the reality of gun crime and the devastating effects it can have on lives -- it is not a trivial matter," he said.

Using any cathedral as the setting for a violent game is "so inappropriate and offensive," McCulloch said.

The Church of England will write to Sony today demanding an apology and the game's withdrawal from sale, a Church spokesman said, and will consider legal action if the demands are not met.

In a statement aired on BBC TV, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe said it "is aware of the concerns expressed by the Bishop of Manchester and we naturally take the concerns very seriously."

Sony said that it believed it had "sought and received all permissions necessary for the creation of the game," but will contact the cathedral authorities.

The game, which has sold more than 1 million copies, features a bloody virtual shootout that leaves hundreds dead.

The game's Web site says Resistance: Fall of Man takes place in an alternative 20th century in which it is 1951 and World War II never happened. However, humanity is threatened by brutal invaders, the Chimera.

The Dean of Manchester Cathedral, the Very Reverend Rogers Govender, spoke of his "absolute shock and horror" at seeing clips from the game which he said clearly represent the inside of his cathedral.

Arlene McCarthy, a Labour member of the European parliament, supported demands for an apology: "We're fighting a battle to get guns off the streets and to get young kids weaned off the gun culture that is promoted in this game."
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