Hot Game 2009

Insomniac‘s sci-fi FPS Resistance: Fall of Man may have missed out on a couple of hard-fought nominations at last night’s BAFTA awards, but it can finally go to sleep at night with a clear conscience. The Church of England — after a long and tempestuous relationship — has at last deigned to publicly forgive Sony for turning the in-game representation of Manchester Cathedral into a digital

bloodbath.

The BBC reports the Very Reverend Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester Cathedral, waited until Resistance had failed to clinch any BAFTA awards before issuing the benediction.

“I think some important lessons have been learnt,” spoke the Reverend. “So we do forgive Sony for what they have done, even though they still believe they have done nothing wrong. In an industry that is breaking new frontiers, it is important that long held traditions of film and television are maintained,” he said. “These traditions include having courtesy, respecting the dignity of your subject, and admitting when mistakes have been made. In so many ways Sony have failed to live up to these standards by disrespecting people of faith and the victims of gun crime here in Manchester.”

You might recall that Resistance (and Sony) drew harsh criticism from the Church of England after the company incorporated an extremely lifelike model of the real-world-and-currently-active cathedral into their level design. he Church, as it turns out, objects strongly to the irreverent use of holy ground as a staging place for virtual battles. Back in July, lawyers representing the Church actually went as far as sending a letter to Sony, demanding the company make a formal apology and pull the game from store shelves in the UK.

A few days later the Church upped the ante, requesting that Sony contribute a “substantial donation” to its coffers, to be used in furthering the church’s efforts at “resisting the culture of gun crime and other forms of violence in our society.”

For its part, Sony never openly acknowledged there is anything wrong with Machester Cathedral’s appearance in Resistence. The game remains on shelves in its original state, and the company never did get around to knuckling under to the Church’s legal threats or paying anybody for the privilege — though they have openly acknowledged the seriousness of the Church’s critique on multiple occasions.

Judging from the Reverend’s comments, it seems the Church may not have given up all hope on getting a formal apology out of Sony. Absolution, as the Reverend would no doubt remind us, requires both the act of confession and a sense of genuine repentance — neither of which seem forthcoming anytime soon.

What was once one of the most anticipated game launches of 2008 has quickly spiraled out of control, thanks to a new round of religious controversy, and cries of censorship.

LittleBigPlanet, once touted as the killer app for the PlayStation 3 this year, has encountered yet another round of controversy this week, as cries of censorship were raised by a Muslim group that saw the game’s recall as detrimental to their religion.

“[American Islamic Forum for Democracy] stands against any form of censorship in the marketplace of ideas whether imposed by government or by corporations intimidated by the response of militants or those with an inappropriately sensitive level of political correctness,” said M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D., president of the non-profit AIFD, in an interview with EDGE.

Just to recap, LittleBigPlanet was recalled worldwide last week after a Muslim poster on Europe’s official PlayStation message boards indicated that an in-game music track, called Tapha Niang by Malian kora player Toumani Diabate, sampled audio derived from the Muslim holy book, the Koran (aka Qur’an).

Setting the book’s scriptures to music is seen as offensive to some Muslims, who view the Koran’s text as the word of god. The outrage prompted Sony to act immediately and recall all copies of LBP from the retail channel.

It was the wrong course of action, Dr. Jasser contends.

“Muslims cannot benefit from freedom of expression and religion and then turn around and ask that anytime their sensibilities are offended that the freedom of others be restricted,” he said. “The free market allows for expression of disfavor by simply not purchasing a game that may be offensive.”

Turning the initial forum complaint back against itself, Dr. Jasser added that Mohammed himself “defended the rights of his enemies to critique him in any way even if it was offensive to his own Islamic sensibilities or respect for Koranic scripture.”

The musician behind the musical track, Toumani Diabate, has also weighed in on the LBP recall, saying, “It’s quite normal to play music and be inspired by the words of the Prophet Mohammed. It’s my way to attract and inspire people towards Islam.”

Nevertheless, the game remains recalled, and new copies will be issued to retailers next week. If you’re one of the lucky ones with a “banned” copy, head to eBay, where they are selling for about $200 each.

As noted by GameIndustry.biz, this is the second time in as many years that Sony has been plagued by religious controversy. In 2007, Sony was lambasted by religious leaders in the UK for including Manchester Cathedral as a level in Resistance: Fall of Man.