Sony apology to Cathedral chiefs
8:48pm Friday 6th July 2007 in Your Town By David Crookes
SONY has apologised for using Manchester Cathedral as the backdrop to a violent videogame.
The Japanese entertainment giant said sorry to Cathedral bosses after PlayStation 3 game Resistance: Fall of Man showed a gun battle inside the building.
The "unreserved" apology came in a statement from the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and was sent to the Manchester Evening News.
It followed a meeting between the cathedral and the firm but the Cathedral dean, the Very Reverend Roger Govender, said he still feared another religious building could be "cloned for virtual desecration".
Dr David A Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, said: "It is clear to us that the connection between the congregation and the cathedral is a deeply personal and spiritual one.
"As a result, it is also clear that we have offended some of the congregation by using the cathedral in our science fiction game.
"It was never our intention to offend anyone in the making of this game, and we would like to apologise unreservedly to them for causing that offence, and to all parts of the community who we might also have offended."
Dr Reeves also said the firm would ensure that Manchester Cathedral was not used in any of its games again.
There is not believed to be any agreement regarding the cathedral's call for the game to be removed from sale.
The Very Reverend Govender said: "We still fear that the next buildings to be cloned for virtual desecration could be a mosque, synagogue, temple or other church."
