Gaming for God

By Tristan Donovan Published 3 May, 2011

What would Jesus play?

It was supposed to be Christian gaming's Passion of the Christ moment. A turning point where religious games would go from mocked underdogs to mainstream contenders. Just as Mel Gibson stunned Hollywood in 2004 by turning his religious pet project into a box office smash, Left Behind: Eternal Forces was hyped as the game that would transform Christian gaming.

Everything seemed in place. A distribution deal with Wal-Mart, a publisher led by an ex-EA industry veteran and a decent wad of investor cash. And, crucially, the rights to the Left Behind books – a series of action-packed, post-apocalyptic Christian novels set after the Rapture that had sold in excess of 65 million copies.

Needless to say, the 2006 real-time strategy game never lived up to the hype. Savaged by critics, snubbed by shoppers and entangled in controversy over its content, Eternal Forces managed sales of just 100,000 copies. While good for a Christian game, it was a performance that publisher Left Behind Games described as "considerably short of our expectations".

After that failure, it wouldn't have been a surprise if Christian games faded away. If a well-funded, big-brand title with that much hype couldn't make it off the shop shelves what hope was there for the scrappy, underfunded and often dreadful output of most Christian developers?

But five years on from the false dawn of Eternal Forces, the Christian games scene is fighting on. In July the annual Christian Game Developers' Conference will celebrate its 10th year and the mood among Christian game makers is upbeat.

'Gaming for God' Screenshot 1

Adam's Venture 2's player companion Evelyn turns down a copy of Watchtower. Maybe.

Chris Skaggs, the founder of Christian developer Soma Games, says one reason to be hopeful is that the barriers to game development have come crashing down: "When I was starting Soma Games in 2005, the only way to start was going into console games, but getting into consoles was so expensive – you needed a million dollars cash for Xbox to even look at you."

The spread of broadband, smartphone apps and free development tools has made developing cheaper and easier. As a result Soma joined the app game party and scored some success with G: Into the Rain, a sci-fi physics puzzler influenced by Spacewar! and the story of Noah's Ark.

Tim Emmerich, founder of the Christian Game Developers' Conference, says the rise of such tools has transformed the development landscape: "It's been a revolution for the whole industry and Christian teams have been able to take advantage of that."

At the same time, Christian studios are starting to move beyond their traditional offerings of tedious scripture quizzes and Biblical kids games.

'Gaming for God' Screenshot 2

Adam heads for Temple Mount in the Bible-inspired Adam’s Venture 2.

"Christian games divide into two groups," says Emmerich. "The overt where it is obviously Christian and based on the Bible, and the covert games that look like regular games but where the underlying idea communicates some Christian aspect."

Skaggs sits in the allegorical camp: "We lean on what C. S. Lewis said when he wrote The Space Trilogy. He wanted the books to appeal to people who would never go to church and encourage them to think about eternal things. I feel our role is not to be Christians making games for Christians, but to put ourselves, including our Christianity, into mainstream work."

He says it's an approach that echoes the game industry's wider efforts to bring more depth into games. "At the last Game Developers' Conference, the conversations were almost universally about how gaming is maturing and how that requires us to bring more meaning into games," says Skaggs.

"It's really about storytelling. Look at Japanese RPGs – they are rich with mythology and spirituality. We accept it because in the game world we're looking for the epic story."

It's a belief echoed by Vertigo Games, the Dutch creators of the Adam's Venture titles. While the adventure game series owes as much to Indiana Jones as it does to Christianity, Bible stories are central to its narrative.

"It's more about what the stories are, rather than saying you should live your life according to us," says Tristan Lambert, the non-Christian co-founder of Vertigo.

"What to make of those stories it leaves to people to decide for themselves but it does try to raise your curiosity. I do believe whether you're Christian or not that, given our culture and history, everybody should know at least the basics."

But getting lumped in with other Christian games is a worry. Erik Schreuder, CEO of Iceberg Interactive – the publisher of Adam's Venture, says the poor reputation of Christian games is a concern: "Christian games might not have the best reputation outside of Christian channels as far as graphics and overall quality go."

'Gaming for God' Screenshot 3

Intergalactic Noah? Will he have to collect two of each alien?

Lambert admits the Christian element of Adam's Venture often works against it: "Over and over we have to explain to stores and distributors and whoever that this is something different. So yes there are Christian elements, but no we don't try to convert you.

"The best way to explain it is to let people play the game, but sometimes it's hard to convince them to even bother because of the negative reputation of Christian games."

Skaggs says Christian games have traditionally suffered from two big problems: a lack of funding and a tendency to force teaching into games at the expense of fun.

One way round the funding issue is teaming up with Christian organisations as was the case with YaHero. Bankrolled by the Canadian Bible Society, YaHero is a massively multiplayer game for eight- to 11-year-olds best described as a blend of Club Penguin, World of Warcraft and Sunday school.

'Gaming for God' Screenshot 4

Gravity physics puzzles meet God in the app game G: Into the Rain.

"We wanted something to plant the seed of God's word into the heart of children and to find a balance between Biblical engagement and a fun environment," says Marta LoFranco, communications director at YaHero Inc.

But for Skaggs the ultimate goal is to get serious venture capitalists to support Christian developers so they can produce better quality titles. But that will probably need that The Passion of the Christ moment first.

"Someone needs to make a mainstream title that has reasonable success so these people know there is a market," he says. "The Passion of the Christ got investors' attention and investors don't have to be motivated by faith, they can be motivated by the numbers."

Left Behind: Eternal Forces and Adam's Venture 2 are both out now on PC.

Picture of Tristan.

About Tristan Donovan

Tristan is the author of Replay: The History of Video Games. As well as writing for Eurogamer he writes about games for Stuff, The Times and Gamasutra.

Read more articles from Tristan by visiting the Tristan Donovan archive page.

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Comments (92) Latest comment 9 months ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • RedPanda #1 10 months ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • king26 #2 10 months ago

    God of War trilogy!

  • effinjamie #3 10 months ago

    Looking forward to funeral protest simulator 4 : Burn Fag Burn

  • Eraysor #4 10 months ago

    I detest religion, but this was an interesting read. If they really want to bring people around to Christian beliefs, surely the best way to do it is to be as subtle as possible. They should try not to overtly mention it at all, then at least it might worm its way into your head without you noticing the indoctrination.

  • Architect_z #5 10 months ago

    Devil May Cry?
    Surely thats a good Christian game, trying to make the devil weep.

  • 3william56 #6 10 months ago

    If your message is so good, why do you have to hide it? Eh?
    Can't seem to remember JC holding a Dubstep festival and sneaking in a bit of Jehova. Seem to recall he was pretty straight up and let the people decide the truth or otherwise of his pitch. Isn't there some sort of quote about adopting the devil's tools as your own..?

  • Max_Powers #7 10 months ago

    Upcoming game, El Shaddai has a heavily jewish/christian inspired setting. Albeit with a bonkers Japanese interpretation.

    I always wonder why so many MMO's and RPG's are set in these very samey fantasy universes when an Old Testament setting would provide something pretty unique. Like it says in the article, it is not short of epic tales!

  • AcidSnake #8 10 months ago

    The main problem with Christian games is they are still all based on the same old IP, why not be original?
    Or better yet, a reboot...Give Jesus a comedy sidekick, resurrect him in only 1 day, let the flood be a flood of acid!...

  • bad09 #9 10 months ago

    Looking at the article picture, who knew JC (as he is known to his friends) was a Sony man. Hope he hasn't tried PSN lately...

  • thedaveeyres #10 10 months ago

    Sweet Zombie Jesus.

  • LaughingGravy #11 10 months ago

    Christians, particularly the American ones are probably more likely to play Call of Duty and other military themed first person shooters, since it affords them the opportunity to blow away 'towelheads', 'gooks', 'commies' and anyone else of a different hue who could possibly threaten their god-fearing way of life.

  • el_pollo_diablo #12 10 months ago

    I don't like fantasy games that much, so religious titles rarely appeal.

  • theonomous #13 10 months ago

    I am a Christian, have worked in churches for years, and am studying for ministry right now. You'd have to jab a pitchfork in my eye to get me to play any of these "games." There is plenty of space for morality and ethics and faith in games--but very little for preachiness and proselytizing, and absolutely none for plain-garbage gameplay.

    Besides, Fallout 3 has more to say about "Christian" choices than any of these games. And have you played that game? You can totally blow a guy's eyeballs right out of his skull! FTW!
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/11 @ 14:22

  • Mattattattatt #14 10 months ago

    I wonder if Run, Jesus, Run! counts as Christian gaming? http://ww w.molleindustria.org/runjesusru...

  • The-Bodybuilder #15 10 months ago

    Good article, lost on most of the typical EG members who see "Religion? DOUCHE TIME". I think this sums it up best;
    ""It's really about storytelling. Look at Japanese RPGs – they are rich with mythology and spirituality. We accept it because in the game world we're looking for the epic story." "

    We play Norse Mythology games, and most Japanese games have their myth sown into the plot. As others have said, El Shaddai is the closest yet.

  • Sodding_Gamer #16 10 months ago

    Get him playing splatterhouse. He'd fucking love it.

  • Nephirion #17 10 months ago

    World of Warcraft .... level 85 Healer

  • Zander #18 10 months ago

    Didn't America (f*ck yeah!) kill the devil the other day?

  • sidneyfife #19 10 months ago

    The reason why people aren't playing Christian themed games is because Jesus was black, not white.

  • altitude2k #20 10 months ago

    God wouldn't play Spore, I know that much. It would be like playing Train Simulator on your downtime if you were actually a train driver.

  • darkmorgado #21 10 months ago

    Command and Conquer: Old Testament Edition.

  • evild_edd #22 10 months ago

    Do you reckon he could satisfy 5,000 gamers with 5 loaves of bread and a couple of copies of CoD?

  • TheNinkyNonk #23 10 months ago

    Duh. Jesus would play Populous.

  • Rodster #24 10 months ago

    Kane and Lynch 2

  • tnzk #25 10 months ago

    Jesus would most likely play none of these, because some of them sound amazingly stupid. As a Catholic, I have to say some of these Protestant methods of teaching are just plain... horrible =S

    The point of Christianity, the religion, was to be a revelation of the purest form of truth and love, which comes from and is personified as the Holy Trinity, the One God. Everything good in life is an extension and an analogy of this unconditional love of God. In order to expound these moral truths, we look to the small joys in our everyday lives as an example of God's love; simple things such as someone wishing you a good day, to the experience of having a significant other are such examples of a Christian truth.

    Jesus himself talked in parables to explain the Kingdom of God, and only preached divine revelation when his followers were ready to hear it. Like the Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, there are many games which are parables to the Christian truth, even without the intention of being so.

    However, to forcefully preach Christianity through a video game is incredible disservice to the faith, and definitely won't win over any new people. Divine revelation only works through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition alone i.e learning what is, as is. Trying to make a believer of Jesus by giving him a shotgun, cybernetic implants and ten levels of bloodbaths may be a novelty, but certainly wouldn't get people serious about it.
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/11 @ 14:50

  • RodHull #26 10 months ago

    Personally, I believe the Messiah would play Horace Goes Skiing, Syndicate Wars and Pippa Funnell Ranch Rescue. He'd probably buy Gran Turismo 5 on launch day but get bored waiting for the updates to load and install. Even He has a limit to his patience.

  • RexRunti #27 10 months ago

    There are loads of christian games, Darkstalkers, Bayonetta, El Shaddai, Messiah, Doom, Dante's Inferno but I guess that's not what there really looking for.

    In all seriousness, despite being an athiest a post rapture game could really work.

  • knocker #28 10 months ago

    "As a Catholic, I have to say some of these Protestant methods of teaching are just plain... horrible =S "

    As a catholic I would have to say that some of the methods used in my childhood were pretty nasty. A lot more harmful than a naive video game. So please spare us the sectarianism.

  • Tyronne #29 10 months ago

    I personally think Jesus would be great using the kinect as he does move in a mysterious way.

  • Murton #30 10 months ago

    Maybe that's why Japan suffered a dozen earthquakes, a tsunami and a major nuclear meltdown, it wasn't that God didn't care or didn't hear people's prayers, he was just too busy working on his Platinum Trophy count.

    In all seriousness though, interesting article, prior to the PSN issues I was quite enjoying the regular hypotheticals, glad to see that they're coming back now that things are calming down a little.

    EDIT: on the subject of religion themed games, Painkiller has to take it I'm afraid. That games was just plain cool from start to finish.
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/11 @ 15:02

  • AliRay #31 10 months ago

    "We wanted something to plant the seed of God's word into the heart of children"

    And to think I almost COMPLETELY mis-read that sentence.

  • Tyronne #32 10 months ago

    How about an updated version of 'Bully' in which the lead character is a choir boy, fighting off the advances of a randy priest which according to the Church never happened.

  • Diomedes #33 10 months ago

    Jesus wasnt God ,he was a poor sap that got beaten to death. His message of "love" was already aired by Empédocles ,Plato and Pythagoras some 5-centuries before ,and way better ,before Jesus was even born.

  • Blakester #34 10 months ago

    I'm not sure what He'd play, but there's no way He'd use a controller as horrid as the DualShock.

    Only the Gamecube or N64 controller is worthy of God.

  • consignia #35 10 months ago

    Do you reckon he could satisfy 5,000 gamers with 5 loaves of bread and a couple of copies of CoD?

    Jesus Christ, digital pirate extraordinaire.

  • darleysam #36 10 months ago

    As Tycho at Penny Arcade frequently says, there are a tonne of stories in the Bible that would make for really good games. Hell, you could even update and adapt them so they're not all dudes with sandals twatting each other with spears. As a Christian though, I have to agree with theonomous, that the kinds of games talked about here really aren't the way to go. You'll only end up pigeonholed as a 'Christian game', and like music and literature, you'll only be any way popular with the kind of crowd that buys that kind of stuff, and infinitely unpopular outside of it. Even trying to be covert, like you're trying to stealth preach to people, is a bad move. Just be a Christian and make a game, if you want to. Don't try and use it as a means to minister to people.

  • GamesConnoisseur #37 10 months ago

    JC as in JC Denton in Deus Ex?

    No?

  • DreadedWalrus #38 10 months ago

    Jesus does motion capture for EA Sports: http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=h42UeR-f8ZA http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=XJwXBw86g30
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/11 @ 15:30

  • riz23 #39 10 months ago

    jesus would be banned by Microsoft for unlocking achievements.

    "Well Gamertag 'xXxJCxXx' we see you have unlocked, out of sequence, 125000 Gamerscore in 10 minutes. Your avatar has a modded shimmer to it, and you claim to offer prestige lobbies in CoD, for prayers and faith. Your account has been permanently suspended."

  • sega #40 10 months ago

    What really is a Christian game anyway? Does it have to preach Christianity or merely feature it? I mean what about the Sam and Max episode "What's New, Beelzebub?" for example?

  • Snufkin #41 10 months ago

    @ theonomous - Best. Comment. Ever.

    The fact is that Christian ethics and teachings are embedded so deeply in Western culture (particularly English-speaking countries) that the two are now impossible to tell apart. Do we consider murder, theft, adultery and other unpleasent behaviours as abhorrent because the Bible tells us so? Does the Bible say this because if there wasn't some order then society would come crashing down around us? All religions contain some form or moralising which serve to impose a structure to civilization, and the slight differences between those teachings contribute to the cultural differences we witness between e.g. Western and Eastern cultures.

    My point is that virtually ANY game with a half-decent story of good vs evil, morality, war etc could be considered a Christian or religious parable. We are all conditioned to root for the good guy (most of the time) by the culture we live in, which is unavoidably influenced by the presiding religions which exist or have existed.

  • omicron1 #42 10 months ago

    And instantly the comments thread is flooded with anti-Christian hatred. Am I surprised? Not at all.
    Even if you hate Christianity from the bottom of your heart, you could at least TRY to be constructive, as opposed to mixing ridiculous propaganda stereotypes with angry diatribes and nothing else.

    Left Behind failed, I believe, because it was created by a new team - a group of people without development experience, unable to make a design that makes a good game, not just a good concept. So we have a mostly-standard RTS with mechanics put in haphazardly for their uniqueness or "message", whose defining characteristic, as I remember it, was "brown." As I've seen before several times in reviews, "Good concept, poor execution."

    What I'd do, in contrast, is assemble a team of experienced game developers and fashion a game around a Christian story or concept - an RPG about David's life, for instance, if we want to make things really easy. Build a good game without going off the rails (No aliens or completely foreign content, for instance); don't restrict it based on intended audience (IE don't limit it to kids); and don't break the back of the game with the story - but equally, don't abandon the core message for the sake of modern storytelling (If your story has David discovering that the Philistines are the oppressed good guys and joining them against Israel, you've lost the "Christian" tag completely.)

    Christian games don't have to be bad. I believe it all depends on the quality of the team that makes them, and taking away a lesson that Christian games are the wrong way to go is like basing an analysis of Christian music on the first few years of Christian pop. Sure, you might think it sounds awful or is of little value, but by dismissing it you're ignoring the potential for such great works as flooded the Renaissance, with such names as Handel and Bach: works of unmitigated greatness within the confines of their art form, which are also inspiring, and some might say inspired, Christian works.

    So, to be quite literal about this: Focus on the drek, and you may well miss the Messiah.

  • Mister-Wario #43 10 months ago

    "We wanted something to plant the seed of God's word into the heart of children and to find a balance between Biblical engagement and a fun environment,"

    Personally I find statements like this horrifying.

    Introducing children to religion is a terrible idea, in my opinion. It's a set of beliefs based entirely faith and intangibility, and its pursuit should only be sought by adults mature enough to think for themselves.

  • username84 #44 10 months ago

    Do you get to torture to death people who disagree with you, and burn women on sticks?
    : p

  • frunk #45 10 months ago

    @omicron1

    And instantly the comments thread is flooded with anti-Christian hatred. Am I surprised? Not at all.

    Er... are you reading a different comments thread to me... there were the usual jokers... some made me smile. I too was expecting an anti-Christian tirade here but a good chunk of the comments make good reading as the comments progressed. And it is fair to say both sides have flung some shit.

    I personally detest all forms of religion, but I am perfectly prepared to read about it, understand it debate it and philosophise about it. No point in engaging in debate without knowledge of the enemy.

  • RexRunti #46 10 months ago

    @omicron1

    I must have missed the flood of anti-christian hatred. Can you point me at more than one comment that comes from a place of hatred not humour?

    Edit: frunk got there first
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/11 @ 16:33

  • SleepyDeathFred #47 10 months ago

    Do you get to torture to death people who disagree with you, and burn women on sticks?
    : p

    Ah, a reasonable summary of the current state of Christianity.

  • username84 #48 10 months ago

    @SleepyDeathFred

    No it's not. Hence the : P

  • djed #49 10 months ago

    Nice article. The Yahero Inc people seem to manifest all the problems the Vertigo people are going through just because they both make "Christian games".

    Anyways, best of luck to Vertigo. We could use some good games about compassion and tolerance (other than the "How many compassionate bullets can your skull tolerate"-kind).

  • Koborover #50 10 months ago

    In 1991, God played Mega-Lo-Mania by Sensible Software and saw that it was good.

  • tinyspark #51 10 months ago

    Down with this sort of thing...

  • Darren #52 10 months ago

    @Mister-Wario - I have to agree with what you wrote as I actually cringed when I read that statement.

    Religion, IMO, was created by man to add meaning to life and give them something to hope for beyond death. It originated at a time when man had less understanding of the universe around him and so the concept of a higher being would have seemed natural and comforting. Now there seems to be dozens of different religions, each with their own codas and beliefs, some more tolerant than others, that I have to ask whether religion should even be relevant any more? Shouldn't we have evolved beyond believing in mythical beings and following ancient writings. I honestly believe the world would be a far better place without any religion at all; if we all believed in the same thing but perhaps I'm being naive in that belief.

  • dubdivision #53 10 months ago

    Religion should be outlawed (I'm sure it will be one day)

  • Gastrian #54 10 months ago

    If you want to do a good Christian game without being preachy take a Bioware style conversation/ramifications system and make an RPG about Moses. Let the player make decisions and give them theoretical situations. What if Moses refused god? What if instead of leading the Israelites out of Egypt he caused a rebellion to overthrow the Egyptians?

    Treat the people as actual people so when you kill the firstborn of every family its a tough choice. If you can't convince the Israelites to put marks on their doors to save themselves would you still go through with it? Would you lead the Israelites through fear, intimidation or hope? Would you be vengeful towards the Egyptians or pity them?

    People will be more inclined to play bible based games if its more than just a parable.

  • EVERYGAMER #55 10 months ago

    Surely Jesus would play "Black & white"

  • Inmediasress #56 10 months ago

    @Darren

    Agreed no religion is the best religion. I believe as we evolve we will eventually leave releigion behind or it will have a lot smaller role but then again religion is power for those that controll it.
    Sooner or later there will be some serious problems over this as religious leader figures will do everything in their power to cling to their powers.

  • metalangel #57 10 months ago

    @EVERY GAMER: And find it far too hard to be 'good' when even your creature eating fish was classed as 'evil'.

    I have no problem with this, so long as it's done thoughtfully and respectfully. I have almost no knowledge of Christianity (parents were sporadic practicers until recently when, in old age, they've 'discovered' it again, while I found Wicca more interesting but had nobody else to practice and teach me further so I just more or less lapsed into atheism) but believe that the more you learn about other religions, the more tolerant you are EVEN IF you don't agree. Jesus, after all, is a prophet in Islam, right? He's just not THE daddy.

    Left Behind (or as The Simpsons put it, 'Left Below') is too heavy handed in ramming the whole thing down your throat. If you do a Google search for "biblepunk" (all one word, include the quotes) you'll find a number of mods set Biblical times that provide an insight without ramming it down your throat like Jimmy Swaggart. Unfortunately, a number of religions insist on going and and forcibly coercing people into following (or else) whereas surely if you understand what's involved and choose to follow, so much the better?

    As I say, I don't really believe anything, but I have no problem with learning about it, at my own pace.

  • HotshotLemming #58 10 months ago

    Down with this sort of thing

  • mcmothercruncher #59 10 months ago

    The main problem with Christian games is the same one as Christian music suffers from- it's all shit.

  • Daddy-Doom-Bar #60 10 months ago

    I'm very Non Christian, I dislike all religion, but this is interesting. Using the bible's stories as narrative is sensible, as there are some good stories in it. But trying not to preach must be hard. But then most games these days (with a story) try to teach some form of morals. There's nothing to say that any other religion with decent stories couldn't make games. I'd like to see some pre christian mythology in games, The Green Man etc...

  • bad09 #61 10 months ago

    "Surely Jesus would play "Black & white" "

    Nah he prefers the Thriller album.

  • DrStrangelove #62 10 months ago

    What would God play? GTA, probably, like most of the humans created in his image.

    But God is dead, and I'm pretty sure he's burning in hell.

  • effinjamie #63 10 months ago

    Careful Now

  • jinxmchue #64 10 months ago

    #1: "Ban this sick filth!"

    Because censorship has always been the perfect solution.

  • DrStrangelove #65 10 months ago

    @jinxmchue

    Surely there should be some limits? Not sure if I want people to play games that promote child rape, National Socialism, or Christianity.

  • Alatair #66 10 months ago

    Interesting that as soon as tnzk introduced something as him being a catholic he got negged.

  • Torowin #67 10 months ago

    It seems that one of the main things being missed in many of these posts, is that everyone believes something either in a positive manner (I DO believe in God) or a negative (I DON'T believe in God, which is really just I DO believe that there is no God). Whether you believe in a theory of multiple universes to explain the creation of our own, or that a divine mind created it, both take some level of faith. On that grounds, that we all believe something, those beliefs are expressed in the art we create and the stories we tell. Every book, movie or game (of any substance), convey some sort of message or system of beliefs, be that atheism, survivalism, humanistic, theistic, justice, etc.. It is unreasonable and hypocritical to come down on someone for inserting their beliefs into the story, motives or design of a game, simply due to the fact that this is, in most cases, somewhat unavoidable, or at least seldom avoided. I always find it interesting that so many games exist with unapologetic messages of violence, revenge, lawlessness, greed and the like, yet it is the ones that have any organized religious connotations that get people up in arms. Most games, especially the story driven ones, are preaching/teaching/implying/masking/driven by someone's beliefs.
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/11 @ 21:10

  • jinxmchue #68 10 months ago

    #69: "Surely there should be some limits?"

    So where is the line then drawn? What if someone else doesn't want people to play games that promote the use of guns? Or how about games that promote women as strong and independent? Would you be okay with banning those? Or just ban those games that you personally disagree with?

    "Not sure if I want people to play games that promote child rape, National Socialism, or Christianity."

    Today it's games about those things that you want to ban. Tomorrow it will be books.

    Look, I'm a Christian -- a very conservative one, in fact -- but I absolutely do not believe in censorship. There's a lot of things that I don't like, but censoring is not the answer to them. As long as an actual crime is not being committed, who are you and I to say, "You can't do that!"? We may not like certain things, but there are other avenues than censorship.

    Good rule of thumb (as Brad Stine put it): "if Hitler tried it, maybe go another direction."

  • coldfoot #69 10 months ago

    Simple, make a game where we play as the Super Mecha Death Christ...

  • jinxmchue #70 10 months ago

    I think one major thing that Tristan missed mentioning is the concerted campaign of flat-out lies that were being spread about the first "Left Behind" game. Jonathan Hutson, writing on the Talk To Action website, had a series of posts in which he completely fabricated accusations against this game. From claims of anti-Semitism to "shooting people in the head" for being Muslim or gay to winning the game by "converting or killing everyone," his posts were nothing but lie built upon lie. Talk To Action went so far as to alter screenshots of the game to add pools of blood (for which they had to retract and apologize for) and symbols erroneously identifying non-combatant Christian characters being shot by the Antichrist's forces as members of other religions. These lies were unquestioningly, uncritically spread far and wide even before the game was released and were eventually picked up by the mainstream media. These lies (and not the Christian message of the game) were the primary factor in the removal of the game from care packages sent to troops in the Middle East.

  • DrStrangelove #71 10 months ago

    @jinxmchue

    "Or just ban those games that you personally disagree with?"

    That sums it up pretty much, yes.
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/11 @ 23:07

  • Gastrian #72 10 months ago

    Skaggs seems to be very diplomatic about JRPG seeing as the vast majority of them ae attacks against monotheistic religions such as Christianity.

    If you look throughout the Final Fantasy series of games or pretty much anything from Square Enix the big bad guy is essentially a being pretending to be a god like figure that controls the masses through trickery and indoctrination and it is eventually beaten by spirituality or a form of taoism.

    If Christianity based games showed the same level of contempt towards other beliefs, especially as subtly as JRPGs the game and dev would get ripped a new one.

  • zedzee #73 10 months ago

    @ LaughingGravy: And presumably, you have some evidence to back up your claims that Christians are "most likely" to play FPS games, such as COD?

  • Guildenstern #74 10 months ago

    So yes there are Christian elements, but no we don't try to convert you.
    Lying is a sin, Mr. Lambert.

  • Guildenstern #75 10 months ago

    @jinxmchue: Left Behind doesn't have a christian message though. It's based on a freakish cult invented in 19th century that completely disregards anything Jesus taught.

  • mumblyjoe #76 10 months ago

    Jesus would clearly play Duke Nukem!

  • captain_saturn #77 10 months ago

    I have no problem with the idea of a Christian game. Sadly, the reality is most Christian games are simply thinly veiled propaganda, designed first and foremost to 'educate' rather than to entertain. People don't want to be told what to believe by other people, yet alone by their playstation.

  • obihobson #78 10 months ago

    I think video games are a really under used media for indoctranation of the young. Sure we've used it so far to train them that violence is fun. But lets up the anti and make them scared of buring in hell!

  • Darren #79 10 months ago

    @obihobson - Exactly.

    These kind of games are preaching outdated beliefs to the young, vulnerable and gullible. I agree with games being used to promote positive values in an educational way, about what is right and what is wrong, but you certainly don't need religion or any mention of God to do that?

  • Redeye #80 10 months ago

    Given my own views on religion in general (that it is purely a tool for the few to hold dominion over the many by preying on their fear of death), I can safely say without any shadow of doubt that anything that purposely targets back-door indoctrination in the same fashion as these developers are aiming for can quite honestly go fuck itself.

  • DarknRahl #81 10 months ago

    "We wanted something to plant the seed of God's word into the heart of children and to find a balance between Biblical engagement and a fun environment," says Marta LoFranco, communications director at YaHero Inc.

    *shudders*

    I'd love to see a Muslim game company try and do this and then sell it in America. Fox news would be creaming their pants.
    Edited by 1 at 04/05/11 @ 13:56

  • TheGuvernor #82 10 months ago

    Jesus is Santa Claus for adults.
    And we need more Santa games.

  • SleepyDeathFred #83 10 months ago

    @username84

    Setting up your own strawman and then expertly knocking him down?

  • SleepyDeathFred #84 10 months ago

    @username84

    Setting up your own strawman and then expertly knocking him down?

  • janvantill #85 10 months ago

    Here is an interesting view on the topic of Christianity. Personally I don't think Christianity should concern itself with games (and a lot of other things for that matter).

    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG9Xgffv4W4&feature=rel ated
    ]http://ww w.youtube.com/watch?v=VG9Xgffv4...[/link]
    http://ww w.youtube.com/watch?v=4al_C5Ba1...

  • janvantill #86 10 months ago

    One more since we're on the subject.

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=qNMFZZOOZLg
    Edited by 1 at 04/05/11 @ 15:42

  • jinxmchue #87 10 months ago

    "It's based on a freakish cult invented in 19th century that completely disregards anything Jesus taught."

    Oh. You're one of THOSE people.

  • man.the.king #88 10 months ago

    @sidneyfife

    "The reason why people aren't playing Christian themed games is because Jesus was black, not white. "

    I think "brown-or-olive-skinned" is probably more accurate :)

  • Marshall2008 #89 10 months ago

    Jesus would play Kingpin. 'don't fuck with the Jesus'

    Or

    He will 'pull the trigger till it goes click'
    Edited by 1 at 05/05/11 @ 22:48

  • TheDarkFurie #90 10 months ago

    "We wanted something to plant the seed of God's word into the heart of children and to find a balance between Biblical engagement and a fun environment," says Marta LoFranco, communications director at YaHero Inc.

    If anyone but a Christian game developer said any sentence involving planting seed and children there would be an uproar, mostly by churchgoing non-gamers who have somehow found gaming news by accident.

  • drxym #91 10 months ago

    Religious games are as interesting as christian rock. Which is to say if you're a True Believer you might have fun. Everyone else would find more fun pulling their fingernails out. They are banal, mediocre, bug ridden "games" with a preachy "message".

    What I don't get is why religious games have to even exist. There are plenty of inoffensive & wholesome games which aren't hamstrung by having to appeal to a tiny undiscerning demographic. If someone can't play a violent game for religious reasons, play a game which doesn't have any.
    Edited by 2 at 07/05/11 @ 09:25

  • Leg_Obrick #92 9 months ago

    Woah, guys, you can hate Christians all you want; but do it nicely please! They're people too.

    How'd you like it if Athiesim were outlawed? Freedom means everybody can do what they want so long as it doesn't hurt someone else; not that you get to do what you want and everybody else has to shut up and let you do what you want to do.

    If Christian game developers want to succeed, they have to stop cramming what they believe down other people's throats. I mean, no one would want to play a game called "Clean up your room online" and the same is true with religion. When we play video games, we want to turn our brains off and just do something fun; not sit through something we would normally avoid if given the choice.

    Heck, even Christians hate "Christian" games! Get your act together religious people and maybe you will at least not be hated by gamers.