Sony game 'a virtual desecration'

The CoE is calling on the company to apologise and withdraw the game.

Manchester Cathedral was ransacked in the civil war and bombed in the second world war, but now it has suffered a more contemporary indignity.

The cathedral is the setting for part of a PlayStation game called Resistance: Fall of Man.

In it, gamers engage in violent warfare with alien creatures within the precincts of the cathedral.

The church wants an apology, the withdrawal of the game and a charitable donation from Sony who, they say, did not ask for permission to use images of the cathedral.

In a statement released today, Sony said: "We have spoken to the Manchester Cathedral authorities and will be dealing directly with them from now on. We do not anticipate making any further public comment in the immediate future."

Five years ago the game Hit Man 2 was withdrawn and changed by Eidos when Sikhs were outraged by a level which appeared to simulate killing in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

A spokesman for Manchester Cathedral said they were reserving their legal position. However, copyright law only applies to buildings for the life of the architect plus 70 years. Manchester Cathedral was started nearly 800 years ago.

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