Video games giant Capcom has reacted to claims that one of its leading titles promotes the occult, slamming bishops who opposed the newest addition to one of the most popular game franchises of all time.

Leo Tan, a spokesman for Capcom, explained that the upcoming release of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles on the Nintendo Wii has angered Bishop Bryant of Jarrow, Bishop of Burnley, Rt Rev John Goddard and Archdeacon Brian Smith of Sodor and Man, with the trio claiming that occultism is promoted.

Though the representative reacted strongly to such claims against the game, he noted that the industry - which is filled with small businesses in IT - is again being wrongly criticised, shifting the focus to the families of those who will allegedly be influenced by the recurrent themes of the title.

He said: "Parents have to be trusted to adhere to these age restrictions and use common sense.

"Video games cannot be blamed for society's ills but we understand the concerns, it's just that they are unfounded and using video games as a bit of a scapegoat."

Mr Tan added that it is covered by the ratings system, receiving a 15 in the same classification method as horror films and other adult entertainment.

Capcom released Resident Evil for the Sony PlayStation in 1996 and spawned six direct sequels and a handful of spin-offs for other consoles, including the PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Gamecube.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.