Church wants Resistance pulled from BAFTA's

The Church of England wants BAFTA to pull Sony's PS3 game Resistance: Fall of Man from this month's British Academy Video Games Awards.

The Dean of Manchester Cathedral, the Very Rev Rogers Govender, says he had pleaded to BAFTA to remove the PS3 title from the awards, following earlier outrage at its depiction of Manchester Cathedral.

"There was disgust at the virtual desecration of Manchester Cathedral," he told The Guardian newspaper.

"I plead with BAFTA to send a signal to the industry and to Sony and withdraw Resistance: Fall of Man from the nominations."

After the initial outrage last June, Prime Minister Tony Blair said in parliament that corporations like Sony should take responsibility for their content and be sensitive to social feelings.

According to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the Church has said that the nomination is a further insult following the furore, and that the bad publicity has only helped boost sales for Sony.

"We had to resort to legal advice to get Sony to a meeting and the row... helped sales."

"The game has been nominated because of how well it's done in the charts. This nomination is like rubbing salt in the wounds," said the spokesperson.

Resistance: Fall of Man has been nominated for the PC World Gamers' Award, a category based on Chart Track sales data. The award will be voted for by the general public ahead of the BAFTA's, which take place October 23.