Hindus are urging Sony Corporation and its subsidiaries to depict Hindu deities, temples, traditions and concepts with respect and accuracy in video-game Uncharted: The Lost Legacy when it is released on 22 August 2017.
This action-adventure video game is developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, both Sony subsidiaries for PlayStation 4. Set in India, it is centred around tusk of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh and Hinduism is reportedly going to play a pivotal role in the narrative while it explores Hindu temples and deities.
The PS4 story trailer of the game which released this month has parts that show Shankar’s idol with his trishool, idols of Ganesh and Parshuram, and artefacts with carvings of Hindu deities and their weapons.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, hoped that the final product of this video-game would showcase the Hinduism concepts, traditions, objects and deities authentically; matching their characterisation as portrayed in ancient Hindu scriptures instead of giving its own fantasised or re-imagined version.
Zed who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism noted that Hindus wholeheartedly welcomed entertainment industry to immerse in Hinduism but taking it seriously and respectfully. He feels that refashioning of Hinduism scriptures, symbols, traditions, concepts and deities for mercantile greed was likely to hurt the sentiments of devotees and misrepresentation created confusion among non-Hindus about Hinduism. Insensitive handling of faith traditions sometimes resulted in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols.
“With seasoned and skillful professionals at the helm, we did not expect any problem. We are just urging for more sensitivity towards faith traditions and careful handling of Hindu concepts and terminology,” Zed said.
He further said that Hindus were for free speech as much as anybody else if not more. “But faith was something sacred and attempts at belittling it will hurt the devotees. Video-game makers should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects, as these games were a powerful medium which left lasting impact on the unsuspecting minds of highly impressionable children, teens and other young people.” He further added that if Sony Corporation or its subsidiaries or other video-games developers needed any expertise on Hinduism, he or other Hindu scholars would gladly provide the resources.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy has Kurt Margenau as the game director and Shaun Escayg as the creative director.
