Though I know we’ve said it before, I don’t think it can be said enough: the Values at Play project is NOT about creating boring goodie-two-shoes games. We talk a lot about social values, and appealing to diverse communities, and promoting a more just, equitable society, but that doesn’t mean we’re condemming violent videogames or controversy. I’m actually quite fond of controversy and enjoy well done violent games.
As some readers may remember, the game Resistance: Fall of Man created quite an uproar when it was released. The Church of England was so outraged that Resistence featured some alien fighting in the Manchester Church that they demanded Sony pull the game from shelves. The church is clearly of the opinion that Christianity should not be besmirched by having violence in any way associated with it. Sony did eventually apologize, for “causing any offense,” but Insomniac, the game’s development studio is unrepentant. When asked recently if Resistance’s sequel would avoid using real-world locations, Insomniac CEO Ted Price replied, “We’ve actually made it a big focus to include more churches and now synagogues and mosques in Resistance 2.”
I have never played this game and have no idea what values it espouses. But, I am happy to see that its creators reject censorship and religious persecution (or persecution by religion). We didn’t see the Catholic Church rise up in anger when the priest got zapped in War of the Worlds. Fiction is fiction my friends, and censorship is never a solution.