Sony in talks with Church of England

TOKYO - Sony's video game unit said Wednesday it is talking with the Church of England about a complaint that a famous cathedral is the scene of a violent shooting game for the new PlayStation 3 console.

Sony Computer Entertainment spokeswoman Nanako Kato declined to give details of the talks and said more time may be needed for an agreement because the problem was complex.

"This is a sensitive topic," Kato said. "Many historical buildings are used in entertainment such as movies, including Godzilla and the Tokyo Tower and King Kong in Manhattan."

The church has demanded an apology, saying that Sony did not ask for permission to use a Manchester cathedral in the game "Resistance: Fall of Man."

Kato acknowledged the church in the game bears a resemblance in some parts to Manchester cathedral. But she said the point was to depict a backdrop of an old church, not to illustrate a specific church.

In parts of the game, the player walks through a cathedral armed with a gun and shoots at enemies.

Although the cathedral appears only in some scenes, it would be difficult to delete just those scenes from the game, which went on sale with the launch of the PlayStation 3 next-generation console. The machine went on sale in Japan and the U.S. late last year, and in Europe in March.

Sony's global sales of "Resistance: Fall of Man" has totaled more than 2 million. Although outside software makers create games for Sony's game machines, "Resistance" is a Sony original.