Tony Blair wades into Resistance row

yaaa sony, why ya gotta be like that and do that? geezzz, lol wow, nobody cares what the church ever thinks anyways

oh no after playing this game i now want to go out an buy a gun to kill aliens, an permission to use it =S do you know how many buildings are in this game. plus bogan79 is right tony blair is a wanker

Blair is a tosser

I can see this both ways. It is just a building, but on the flip side it is a very important, very specific building. If Sony didn't ask, it was an oversight on their part. If they did, and this whole mess as about Sony not inquiring at the 'correct' level of the church's hierarchy of leadership, then that's not Sony's fault. Also, being that this was a video game, and not, for instance an action film, it's getting more attention than warranted, which I blame on the politicians.

Raptorkid_47: I know what you mean, but games are still media just like tv shows, comics or movies. the content included must have all the proper permissions for use, and if any misuse is done (as in this case) then it is only normal that a religious group that preaches peace (the church of england in this case) has a right not to want to see its church represented as a ruin whose sole purpose is granting the character cover while he destroys a bunch of aliens. the gun crimes in manchester is only a catalyst for this whole thing, but its still understandable why this happened in the first place. as i stated earlier, be thankful the holy edifice in the game is not mecca, there would have been deaths involved if it had been.

people complain that we, as gamers, are becoming too involved in games, and then they go and do something like this! i agree with NOT - E - N - E: its a f***king game for f**ks sake, as in VIRTUAL; NOT REAL! get a f**king LIFE!

If memory serves me correctly, Sony says they sought all permissions necessary. Why is the church fussing, then? Evidentally, Sony did. This place needs to be more unbiased. Still, if Sony failed to obtain a certain permission, IT'S AN ACCIDENT! If this isn't just a ploy on behalf of the church of england, what I think what happened is that they got permission from the Manchester Cathedral manager, but not from the network it operates under (the church of england).

@ cubehouse: Mostly the grudge is on the fact that the bishop of the church was not consulted. he is the one who LEGALLY manages the place and his consent would have been required. I'm certain the church would have given its consent, but its the fact that no one even bothered to ask THEM if they wanted the church in there or not.

Didn't they use one of the British cathedrals to film Harry Potter in? Harry Potter being about WIzards and Witches and was banned in a lot of christian schools here in UK... How come a story about something completely blashthomous is allowed, but a story about out nation trying to defend themselves against an alein species is somehow wrong...

Kane04 free advetise... people love this kinda stuff... if you say to someone: dont watch this movie, the guy is gonna see it.. ITS A GAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ! even if its a game, its still media, and it communicates ideas and opinions as much as a book or movie would. The complaints about the use of that church are justified. and also, let me point out that if instead of england, the game would have been set in saudi arabia and the church of manchester replaced with mecca, you'd have mobs of angry muslims protesting and a few deaths would surely be involved.

I think most people are missing the point. Its not about Iraq or Iran or Tony Blair. Its about a company not seeking permission to use a building not belonging to them to use as a site for a violent video game. The place used happens to be a place of worship and wether you are relgious or not we should all hope to live in a society where resepect is shown to regions no matter of creed or colour. Yes, its a game, but my right to play it shouldnt overide anothers to be offended, within reason. They should have asked, they didnt.

free advetise... people love this kinda stuff... if you say to someone: dont watch this movie, the guy is gonna see it.. ITS A GAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !

Oh for **** sake, they showed a ruined image of manchester cathedral, they never whent there to do anything. They disnt have a protest about the da vinci code which if you think about it is worse it do smething like thta in a cathedral. And what about all these war films showing bombed places. Why do they care about a home for an imaginary man. They are basiccally showing what would happen if an out burst like that did happen.

IT'S NOT FREAKIN REAL! WHAT DOES IT MATTER! UHHH wow, why cant these people just leave it alone and admit that they've blown it way out of proportion, i mean it's a video game for f*(@s sake!

its **** set in a different timeline so its not insulting at all, the church have done worse things in the past then shooting like...6 aliens out of the hundreds in that level. Lets just think about when they tried to colonise india or something eh? and now they want to talk about ethics?

Tony Blair is a hypocrite n an (insert swear word). Let's massacre Iraq, look for an excuse to invade Iran but play funny-buggers about a computer game that will result in 0 deaths, 0 injuries and 0 harm to anyone. The hate I have for this idiot is indescribeable.

Don't you love how a few old and cranky people in the Church of England can cause people to think "OMG, all Christians suck and the basis for their belief must be wrong since there are a couple of them making a fuss over nothing!!!!" Do I think the church is being silly in this case? Heck yes I do. But I'm not gonna let a few people in one religion determine how I view all of the people in that religion. There are easily offended idiots in every religion, even in atheism.

matty-gamer no such thing s as aliens and if there are aliens how can u know if tehy bad or if they smarter than humans

drkr zen you are exactly right!!!

Its... just....a....game.... Tony Blair just wants attention and is doing this to gain popularity in the UK amongst convervative and religious people, so they don't like the next PM...

"Video games =\= reality." Exactly. People get too worked up over fiction. OMG! The black guy died first in that slasher film! Racism. OMG! Those buggers are shootin' aliens in a virtual recreation of our church! Desecration. You don't see me throwing my arms up 'cuz some white guy got killed in Halo 2.. OMG! I'm going to sue.. Bungie don't like white people. I'm reminded of a Seth Macfarlene joke about staying away from the church and keeping your feet firmly planted in science.

mercenar3 put it best its just sheer greed on the part of the church

translation: we should get paid for having our cathedral in your game!

Some day if world is really attacked by aleins and there are aliens in that church as well. I wonder these church persons considering the deed of killing the Aliens inside the church unethincal.

Hehe, they are taking the curch's views "seriously"

Video games =\= reality. Grow a thicker skin people, and maybe you should focus on this "gun problem" in the real world before attacking a form of entertainment.

It seems everyone is out to take stabs at computer-games these days.

Tons of games use realistic locations. Why is this any different? It's make believe. There are hundreds of books and films that do the same yet they don't seem to be hauled up for it.

If the church gets its ways and the game is re called for changes would you send it back? I know I wont

if ya dnt like the idea of killin aliens in a church dont by the game because there are much bigger issues to deal with in the world than video games

For gods sake you're trying to save humanity in the game. You're "cleansing" the church of aliens.

It's really not a big deal. Heck, I'm a Christian and I own the game!

Supreme_Isagawa, i'm thinking he probably means moss side and is just tarring the entirity of Manchester with the same brush. And although Manchester was dubbed Gunchester in the 90s, it's gun crimes are actually dropping. That said, i fail to see how this game is any more controversial than any other standard FPS.

sony should add a few bishops in the church to kill via an update to make this bull worth arguing about!

What people forget is that for many years now there have been serious problems with alien infestation in Manchester an d this game opens up some old wounds. Seriously though, I don't remember blair complaining about the representation of Korea in Mercenaries, and there is a tad more danger there.

Any one who buys this game i don't think cares about all this mumbo jumbo of god, they just wont to kill aliens and see some cool guns. as for thaose who do care DONT PLAY THE GAME IF YOUR SO DISGUSTED.

Lol, get over it man. It's just a bit of fun...People are to damn serious these days =(

if anything they get more people to want to see it with all this publicity. And Tony Blair, well he does his usual politically correct speech without ever achieving anything, same as always.

blair blair whean are you gona go we dont want you anymore you allways make the wrong choices

It's all just people reading too much into everything. Chill out, it's a good level!

Someday when aliens arrive to Earth people will understand haha

Religion has no place in politics or games, and manchester having a gun crime problem should not mean that it cant be used as a setting in a game which features combat otherwise there would be nowhere on Earth that COULD be used. This sort of interference by politicians and religious groups really annoys me no end!

I can honestly see a PM in the future banning games with violence in.. its stupid, who gives them the right to say who is mature enough to see these games, and for cryin out loud the entire city of manchester was in ruins on Resistance FoM, does the church think that sony wer guna make it so the churches wer untouched but everything else was leveled.. yer right, i think they should get a grip and relise relegion causes nothin but chaos in the world and will soon be deminished or will be the cause of the worlds demise! just a few phylisophical words ther from me :P and will probably cause some kinda stur on this board no doubt!

So this games gets a telling off but Manhunt 2 which is totally fictional gets banned....hmmmm

People are dying daily in Iraq yet the PM takes time out to say that using a building in a fictional storyline in a computer game is wrong?

LMAO, MattBelshaw your right there, Tony Blair obviously doesn't care, he's just trying to end his PM career on a good note. People who carry guns in Manchester deffo don't own a PS3 and if they do it is probably stolen from a house buglary lol. Anyway good read news but pathetic row.

who does he think he is?, lol hes the Priminister of the United Kingdom (for the next week or so anyway), im pretty sure that who he thinks he is..... Blair probably couldnt care less about this, he just has to make a big deal about anything remotely un pollitically correct like every other public figour in the UK.. lol and as for inflaming gun crime in manchester, i know the sort of people who carry guns in Manchester, and they do not own PS3s lol, and unlike in the states nutjob kids who get ideas from video games cant steal daddys 45. because the only people with guns in the UK are the police and the drug dealers, dont worry itl all blow over in a month or so and no one will even remember.. sony will stand strong and keep bringing violence into our homes for years and years to come.

This is far, far more worrying than the Manhunt fiasco. Who the hell does this guy think he is? I hope Sony doesn't cave in...

omg, its just a video game, people that usualy play these game wont or sumtimes dont even notice that sort of thing, i dont care, because i know its just a video game, its not real Rogers, its a bunch of pixels and fake storylines... dont take action unless sum aliens did come down, and army guys blasted the crap out of them in your church. Then u wud have an oppinion, but i dont think the aliens wud listen, so u wud get blasted too i guess.... hmmm small world.