Separation of Church and Games?

[admin]

Not since the Opie and Anthony debacle has the church been so up in arms over an apparent desecration of it's buildings. The Church of England asked Sony to apologize and withdraw Resistance: Fall of Man, for its graphic gunplay sequences which take place in a British cathedral. I believe the term utilized was "virtual desecration." Taking it a step further, the Anglican Church pushed to have Sony contribute financially to help curb gun violence in Manchester by giving to the Cathedral.


Discuss "Separation of Church and Games?" here. Read the article.

[avaserfi]

I guess I have a pretty strong view on situations like these. People need to realize video games, movies, music etc... are not real life and should treat it as such. Even though the game takes place in real life towns and yes cathedrals that does not mean Sony or insomniac (the developer) has done anything wrong here. Fantasy is fantasy.

Anyone who is sick enough to actually hurt someone because of what they saw/did in a video game or some other form of entertainment was more likely than not unstable to begin with and would have found another source of "inspiration."

Freedom of speech is an extremely important thing, especially in a country who is supposedly based around it yet is having it quashed left and right by sources such as the government. Sony will probably pay the church off, which is more likely than not exactly what they wanted in the first place, just to make it look like they did the right thing but even that is more than should be done in my opinion.

[westcott]

This incident is a sad reflection of our society today. One should not have to tell someone that certain things just are not in good taste and should be avoided. A kind of gentleman's rule must apply and one should not have to pass legislation to curb such poor judgment. Just because it is not illegal does not make it right.

Am I a religous zealot. By no means but I do respect others and their beliefs no matter what my personal feelings are. Its just common sense.

[GlocksRock]

They probably shouldn't have used something that so closely resembles a real cathederal, but it's still just a video game.

[avaserfi]

The problem video game creators face especially with newer systems is everyone screams for more realism and this is where it gets them with a happy user base but there is always someone who won't be happy.

[Clint DeBoer]

The very reason we clamour for personal responsibility on the part of these companies is so that we don't legislate stuff like this that should be more or less common decency and sense...

[Adam]

"It's just a video game." "It's not real life." That gets thrown around a lot, but as a society we still need to draw the line somewhere. Not everyone draws that line in the same place, though, so we have discussions like this. I think that including violence in a place of worship is in bad taste. Many people consider those locations sacred, and to them it's a very big deal to depict them in the manner used in Sony's game.

Would you support the rights of a company to sell a game like RapeFest 2000 that superimposed an image of your mother's bloodied face on one of the victims? Hey, it's just a video game...

[avaserfi]

Maybe I am being a little of an idealist here but shouldn't the consumers choose? These companies should have the right to produce whatever they want no matter how vulgar or indecent and shouldn't consumers pick what they buy. If a game is to violent it will be rated so and then it is parental responsibility to filter this so it does not get to their children.

While I understand why some people might be upset due to the graphic nature of this game and its real life locations they should simply not buy it.

We should see what Sony's press release says over the weekend they made a short statement saying they were under the impression that they had done everything necessary to use the locations used because the church was mad that they did not have expressed permission. Sony also said they would be releasing more in depth information today.

edit: One thing to note is that there has been violence portrayed in movies and video games that have taken places in churches as well as other holy areas the problem is this time it angered the right people and enough of them most likely because of the linking of the world (the church found out via videos on you tube).

Also, that line has been drawn to an extent. When was the last time an Adult rated game was published on a major console? Even GTA: Vice Cities was pulled off the shelves until the adult rating was reduced down to teen.

[angstadt530]

I'm not sure how I feel on this matter. I'm a pretty strong Christian, but I also enjoy playing a good FPS (yea Halo!). Churches have been used in video games and movies in the past as 'battlegrounds', and to me it adds a bit of interesting variety to the levels. As I have not played Resistance, I took a brief look at the level being played on YouTube. From what I saw, there is no encouraged destruction of the cathedral; it is there merely for a unique level design and a bit of realism. The main goal is surviving! (One could even argue players are defending the church...)

The problem that I can understand, however, is the issue of this being an actual place, apparently modeled pretty accurately. For a game as violent as this, I can see why it would have been a good idea for Sony to get permission to use this place as a battleground. I think the bigger issue, though, is not the fact that it is a church, but they used the interior design without permission. Is there any law governing that?

So, my final opinion to conclude this brainstorm? Churches used as stages in games are ok in my book, but if developers are going to design a replica of a place of worship--or any place for that matter--they should use a little more discretion.

[krzywica]

The problem is when institutions and governments start making decisions for the general public. Putting tags on things that are "socially acceptible" and things that are not. This is a scary thing. Not having the option to chose? Who wants that? Like avaserfi said, if you want to buy it then great, if not, then thats great too. But making a cookie cutter mold of rules and regulations, then saying "hey this is just right for everyone" that just doesn't work. Because whats wrong for you may not be wrong in my eyes and vice versa.