Sony Responds to Bishop's Call to Withdraw Resistance
No soldiers or churches were harmed in the making of this game...
Not a Human Soldier
SPOnG informed you on Saturday that Sony’s (rather super) PlayStation 3 game Resistance Fall of Man has been dragged into a argument of morality and copyright with the Church of England over scenes from the game that are set in the nave of Manchester Cathedral.
We’ve contacted both Sony and the Bishop of Manchester’s office this morning for an update on this. Here’s the official response from Sony this morning:
The statement continues:
SPOnG has also contacted the Bishop of Manchester’s office for comment on the issue and we await an update from the Bishop's press office (yes! modern Bishops have PR people too!).
We are particularly keen to know two things. Firstly, if the Bishop or anybody in his organisation has actually played the game (and, by extension, if they were aware that it’s been on sale for months and has sold at least a million of copies worldwide) - if not how were the cathedral authorities made aware of the game?
Secondly, how a clearly fictional alternate-reality version of 1950s Manchester killing creatures that are clearly alien and not human can contribute to Manchester’s (unarguably very real) gun-crime problem?
In related news, The Daily Mail ran the story with its own particular brand of anti-videogames spin, claiming that Resistance Fall of Man “features a shoot out in the cathedral’s nave in which hundreds of soldiers are killed.”
Look closely Daily Mail! They aren’t soldiers. They are funny looking alien spider-men.
On a more serious note, it is being reported that the cathedral authorities may take the case to court in an attempt to have the game pulled from shelves (and to protect its own copyright, we assume).
While the cathedral authorities do indeed have a right to allow or ban photography within the cathedral grounds - it is uncertain whether an inaccurately re-imagined, virtual version of the cathedral can fall within any copyright laws.
If a case such as this went to law, was won by the church and a precedent was set, then fictionalised reproductions of real places would become open season to any copyright-hunting legal team. Could we then expect to see novels such as Tom Brown's School Days (set in the real Rugby School) and The Da Vinci Code (set in the Louvre among others) to be withdrawn. Okay, so in the case of The Da Vinci Code, that's no bad thing, what is concerning, however, is that fiction could be censored for architectural content.
Certainly, anybody has the right to say, "No you can't film within my property", but if that right extends to, "No, you cannot reproduce your idea of the inside of my property, you cannot imagine it", is open to interpretation.
The idea that any organisation can say, "We don't like the subject matter in which you are involving our property so we are going to get it withdrawn", is a real threat to freedom of thought.
We’ve contacted both Sony and the Bishop of Manchester’s office this morning for an update on this. Here’s the official response from Sony this morning:
"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."
The statement continues:
"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."
SPOnG has also contacted the Bishop of Manchester’s office for comment on the issue and we await an update from the Bishop's press office (yes! modern Bishops have PR people too!).
We are particularly keen to know two things. Firstly, if the Bishop or anybody in his organisation has actually played the game (and, by extension, if they were aware that it’s been on sale for months and has sold at least a million of copies worldwide) - if not how were the cathedral authorities made aware of the game?
Secondly, how a clearly fictional alternate-reality version of 1950s Manchester killing creatures that are clearly alien and not human can contribute to Manchester’s (unarguably very real) gun-crime problem?
In related news, The Daily Mail ran the story with its own particular brand of anti-videogames spin, claiming that Resistance Fall of Man “features a shoot out in the cathedral’s nave in which hundreds of soldiers are killed.”
Look closely Daily Mail! They aren’t soldiers. They are funny looking alien spider-men.
On a more serious note, it is being reported that the cathedral authorities may take the case to court in an attempt to have the game pulled from shelves (and to protect its own copyright, we assume).
While the cathedral authorities do indeed have a right to allow or ban photography within the cathedral grounds - it is uncertain whether an inaccurately re-imagined, virtual version of the cathedral can fall within any copyright laws.
If a case such as this went to law, was won by the church and a precedent was set, then fictionalised reproductions of real places would become open season to any copyright-hunting legal team. Could we then expect to see novels such as Tom Brown's School Days (set in the real Rugby School) and The Da Vinci Code (set in the Louvre among others) to be withdrawn. Okay, so in the case of The Da Vinci Code, that's no bad thing, what is concerning, however, is that fiction could be censored for architectural content.
Certainly, anybody has the right to say, "No you can't film within my property", but if that right extends to, "No, you cannot reproduce your idea of the inside of my property, you cannot imagine it", is open to interpretation.
The idea that any organisation can say, "We don't like the subject matter in which you are involving our property so we are going to get it withdrawn", is a real threat to freedom of thought.
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Comments
Joji 11 Jun 2007 14:17
1/2
This is a battle of creative freedom versus ideology, which in itself though well established is open to question.
If creative people were to become censored to a degree on what they can and can't create, this will be a very bad day for everyone. I could understand if pictures were taken without consent (I'm damn sure Imsomniac and Sony wouldn't do this kind of game without it, as other U.K locales are most likely present).
I don't think the church have a very good case at all. Sure, the church is a place of peace and retreat as the Bishop says, and this is no different in the context of the game (as it has been in many films, take Sleepy Hollow for instance, the scene where the town retreats to the church from the horseman, in the past and in times of trouble and strife, the people once turned to the church in their hour of need), however when alien beings don't recognise the church as you or I do, they attack you outside and inside of it freely, you can either fight to save yourself and others there or you can die. When you start to place morals of right in the path of all games, that again is a creative obstacle. It works for some and not for others.
What I find amazing is how twisted the tv news and radio present the whole thing. All you see on tv is a bit of footage of the level 8 section of Resistance, no other locations at all, nothing to give more grounding in the games storyline, not even those injured from the conflict also in that same church. I'm sure if this did go to court and Sony showed more of the level of the game, this case would be chucked out, because once again the church have failed to do their homework properly.
The location in the game is purely circumstancial in the context of the games story, as part of the U.K conflict takes place in, with realistic locals to add life to an imagined universe. Seems now its a crime to even have imagination. There's no link to real life gun crime at all. I just wish the media would look at this whole thing with better eyes than the have.
Perhaps we should all get the church in court for their depiction of Jesus as a white man with blue eyes while we are at it, because this is their biggest lie to date. Aren't they breaching his copyright too?
Remove the game from shelves? Yeah right, never gonna happen.
If creative people were to become censored to a degree on what they can and can't create, this will be a very bad day for everyone. I could understand if pictures were taken without consent (I'm damn sure Imsomniac and Sony wouldn't do this kind of game without it, as other U.K locales are most likely present).
I don't think the church have a very good case at all. Sure, the church is a place of peace and retreat as the Bishop says, and this is no different in the context of the game (as it has been in many films, take Sleepy Hollow for instance, the scene where the town retreats to the church from the horseman, in the past and in times of trouble and strife, the people once turned to the church in their hour of need), however when alien beings don't recognise the church as you or I do, they attack you outside and inside of it freely, you can either fight to save yourself and others there or you can die. When you start to place morals of right in the path of all games, that again is a creative obstacle. It works for some and not for others.
What I find amazing is how twisted the tv news and radio present the whole thing. All you see on tv is a bit of footage of the level 8 section of Resistance, no other locations at all, nothing to give more grounding in the games storyline, not even those injured from the conflict also in that same church. I'm sure if this did go to court and Sony showed more of the level of the game, this case would be chucked out, because once again the church have failed to do their homework properly.
The location in the game is purely circumstancial in the context of the games story, as part of the U.K conflict takes place in, with realistic locals to add life to an imagined universe. Seems now its a crime to even have imagination. There's no link to real life gun crime at all. I just wish the media would look at this whole thing with better eyes than the have.
Perhaps we should all get the church in court for their depiction of Jesus as a white man with blue eyes while we are at it, because this is their biggest lie to date. Aren't they breaching his copyright too?
Remove the game from shelves? Yeah right, never gonna happen.
jordanlund 11 Jun 2007 16:24
2/2
If anyone wants to complain, here's the contact address for Manchester Cathedral:
manchesterdbf@manchester.anglican.org
I suggest you remember, this is a church. Be polite but firm. Here's mine:
"I just read of your attack on a video game... Let me emphasize the word "GAME". I have to say this is the most ridiculous waste of time I've ever seen.
You have no more control over what programmers put into a game than you would over what a novelist uses as a scene in a book. To imply that video game players are incapable of telling the difference between fantasy and reality, particularly when that fantasy involves defending the planet from wicked aliens, is quite beyond the pale.
The game "Resistance: Fall of Man" has absolutely nothing to do with disrespecting the church in general or Manchester Cathedral in particular. It does nothing to encourage people to bring guns to church, which is the main implication of your complaint. All in all all your complaint is doing is making the church look even more clueless to the youth of the world and make them less inclined to take part in church services.
I encourage you to drop the matter before it ends up making you look even more silly than it does now. Issue a nice apology along the lines of "We're sorry we implied that gamers can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality when in fact it was our own perception that was clouded." and let the matter drop."
manchesterdbf@manchester.anglican.org
I suggest you remember, this is a church. Be polite but firm. Here's mine:
"I just read of your attack on a video game... Let me emphasize the word "GAME". I have to say this is the most ridiculous waste of time I've ever seen.
You have no more control over what programmers put into a game than you would over what a novelist uses as a scene in a book. To imply that video game players are incapable of telling the difference between fantasy and reality, particularly when that fantasy involves defending the planet from wicked aliens, is quite beyond the pale.
The game "Resistance: Fall of Man" has absolutely nothing to do with disrespecting the church in general or Manchester Cathedral in particular. It does nothing to encourage people to bring guns to church, which is the main implication of your complaint. All in all all your complaint is doing is making the church look even more clueless to the youth of the world and make them less inclined to take part in church services.
I encourage you to drop the matter before it ends up making you look even more silly than it does now. Issue a nice apology along the lines of "We're sorry we implied that gamers can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality when in fact it was our own perception that was clouded." and let the matter drop."