The battle raging between Sony and The Church of England over the inclusion of Manchester Cathedral in the PS3 exclusive title, Resistance: Fall of Man just leapt across half the world in its attempts to stay in the media spotlight.

The Church of England, outraged that Sony would include Manchester Cathedral in such a violent game, has been trying to gather support for its cause. Support is needed too, especially after the legal route appeared to have been taken away from it.

While the Church already has the support of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, it seems keen to gather allies from further afield.

Speaking yesterday, the Very Rev. Rogers Govender, the Dean of Manchester Cathedral, had the following comment to make:

"Today I want to appeal directly to the people of Japan to help us put pressure on Sony to respond. So I speak directly to those citizens who share our concerns."

The appeal seems to have incensed some members of the media however, who imply that the comment may be based on faulty, stereotypical impressions of Japan;

"Sure, Sony's headquarters is in Tokyo, but Sony's a multi-national corporation, and the game was made in America by Americans. What do Japanese people, who aren't typically Christian, have to do with this?"

Whether based on stereotypes or not, the impression among gamers - even established anti-Sony gamers - seems to indicate that the Church of England is fighting an uphill battle with the public, though what the 'normal', non-geeky hordes think about it all is perhaps another issue altogether.

Think the Church of England will ever get the 'large donation' it has been asking for? Will the game be pulled from shelves across the UK, despite already selling a million copies? Is Jesus going to come down and bitch-slap Sony personally? If you like making your opinions on these matters publicly known then get to the forums.