Legal Niches

On Eve of E3, Hindus Call For Worldwide Sony Boycott

By gamepolitics

Angered by Sony's failure to recall a PlayStation 2 game which they find offensive, a group of Hindu leaders have called for a worldwide boycott on Sony products. The move comes on the eve of Sony's E3 press conference here in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

As GamePolitics has reported in recent weeks, Rajan Zed, a Hindu leader who lives in the United States, has spearheaded the protest against Hanuman: Boy Warrior, a PS2 title released exclusively in India. Zed and some other prominent Hindus believe the game is an affront to the Hindu faith. The group recently threatened to call for a boycott if Sony did not pull the game off the market.

A press release issued earlier today announced the boycott, citing what the group calls the "stiff-necked attitude of Sony officials":

Vexed by stiff-necked attitude of Sony officials, various Hindu groups have given worldwide boycott call against Sony PlayStation products...

 

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, in an earlier statement, said that in a video game set-up, the player controlled the destiny of Lord Hanuman while in reality the believers put the destinies of themselves in the hands of their deities...

 

Hindu leaders communicated their displeasure to Sony and tried to resolve the issue through discussions, but callous attitude of Sony officials frustrated their efforts, leaving them with no other alternative except the boycott call.

It is unclear what impact the call for a boycott might have. Hanuman is the first console game developed entirely by an Indian firm.

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on June 01, 2009 (boomark / email).