I think christian based games are underrrated severely. They are actually very good!
[quote]Or this http://www.johnfanzine.com/news/expand.php?id=5 
[/quote]
That is seriously twisted! I am still laughing!
[PC]Though if Y was serious about his/her post, this could be pretty insulting[/PC]
I’d rather do a porn game… or a pagan game haha…
Well, christian stuff isn’t kid-save. If you disagree… read the bible. It’s so totally rated M. And if the stuff in the bible is actually true, god is an asshole. Again… feel free to disagree. However, the bible is on my side
hehe got a good point…
On top of that… violent games sell. I assume Y is encouraging happy Jesus games for kids, and well, they just don’t sell like sinful games.
thats funny 
I actually thought it was SERIOUS until i read the 5th paragraph
oh, i laughed and laughed.
D.
[quote]I think christian based games are underrrated severely. They are actually very good!
[/quote]
There’s been some serious and sensible discussion on this topic on Indiegamer, or Dexterity as it’s been called in former times.
This has been possible because offensive and insulting articles have been disallowed.
Religious movies are coming increasingly. In the USA christian ones in particular.
The authenticity and worldwide success of Gibson’s movie “Passion of Christ” has been amazing and still is very encouraging.
I’m sure appropriate games will follow sooner or later.
Of course it would be top when some of them would use Java.
Or are there any, already?
Umm, I don’t see much of a point in of involving christianity (or any other religion) in a video game… unless it was to be used as a tool for teaching youngins religious terms and faster typing at the same time or something. Maybe I’m misunderstanding what a ‘christian game’ is, but I think if I were a religious person, I would want to keep my religion away from my video games ;D These christian games, are they games that just follow christian moral values, or are you supposed to play out bible stories or something (I’m picturing Paperboy only you hand out informitive religious pamphlets instead of newspapers).
Ooo… A mormon game!
Since we live in a mediated culture/society for a belief, fictional or otherwise, to be believed it must be present in as many or all forms of media.
all you should grow up. The bible is great and so is christian gaming. Y WAS serious. Iknow cuz he’s my friend & he’s angry at all of you! GROW UP!
Personally, I would avoid religious games. To me they would be propaganda games, and I would rather see people (young gamers) exposed to more reliable sources of information. Now science games, or games that teach critical thinking, they’re underrated ;).
That’s simply a personal preference of course.
[quote]Personally, I would avoid religious games. To me they would be propaganda games, and I would rather see people (young gamers) exposed to more reliable sources of information. Now science games, or games that teach critical thinking, they’re underrated ;).
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One could argue that a “scientific game” such as “make your creatures evolve” could be considered propaganda itself. Food for thought, anyway.
Personally, I am amazed at the lack of Christian games. Fairly large markets have evolved for Christian Music, Christian Books, Christian Entertainment (Veggie Tales rulez 'da house!), and Christian Social Crazes (WWJD, “This Vehicle May Be Unoccupied In Case of Rapture” bumper stickers, etc.). The only market that hasn’t evolved is gaming. And to be perfectly honest, Wisdom Tree isn’t exactly giving the market much credibility (despite making money hand over fist).
Part of the problem, I think, is that video games tend to be idealistic in nature. i.e. The hero is super-human, and is above the issues we regular people have to deal with. He’s smarter than the bad guy, he’s totally ripped, and he’s got more cool weapons than you can shake a stick at. Real people aren’t like that, and the Biblical characters are most certainly NOT portrayed in such a fashion. Even characters generally considered “heros” in the Bible are so full of human faults that there really is no way to turn them into an action hero. I mean, a game where Moses runs away until God threatens to kill him wouldn’t be very exciting, would it? Not to mention that the Biblical stories are so well known that they offer very little intrigue and adventure unless the game authors take extreme artistic license. (Kind of a no-no for anything Biblical in nature.)
So what markets does that leave? Well, the traditional commercialization of other forms of entertainment is open. e.g. A platform game based on the adventures of Larry Boy (the original 3D one, not that stupid cartoon), a first person shooter based on Bible Man (ummm… or not), Where in [Biblical] Time is Carmen (the singer), etc. Another option is to create adventure/RPG titles that are based on stories with a Christian theme. Perhaps told in an allegorical sense like Pilgrim’s Progress.
In short, there is both a demand and available genres for Christian games. They just haven’t been explored by any serious game publisher.
@Y/Y2, while the subject of Christian gaming is a very on-topic one that I see no issue with exploring on these forums, you must also address the issue as is. Simply making an inflammatory statement that seems like a poor attempt at making an on-topic post is going to get you into trouble. If you are looking to convert people to Christianity, then may I recommend that you live your life as a witness of what God has done for you rather than attempting to force the concept on others? Remember that God gave people free will. He therefore expects them to exercise it in choosing for or against him. Don’t be looking to forcibly take that will from others. That’s what the Spanish Inquisition did, and we all know how well that ended. :-/
If you attempted to use biblical stories as the foundation of a game you run into the immediate problem that many of the stories can’t be taken literally, at least not without consequences…
I mean do you really want to make a game where you punish disobedient children with death, like it says to do in the bible?
Or you could go around killing innocent animals as sacrifices and setting them on fire… that certainly sends a positive message to the kids…
Sure, you can take the basic core values and try to build a game around it… but unless you ignore a great deal of stuff, you are going to end up with a pretty violent game. I assume it would be blasphemous to
pick and choose what parts of the scriptures you will pay attention to.
E.g. perhaps religious games in general don’t happen that often because when you start coding them you have to take a serious look at the stories that form the basis of the religion and then gradually you become a bit enlightened and decide that maybe it isn’t such a good idea after all
At least that’s one viewpoint, just one of many personal opinions.
[quote]If you attempted to use biblical stories as the foundation of a game you run into the immediate problem that many of the stories can’t be taken literally, at least not without consequences…
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Do you really want to start a flame war, here and now? I can answer your questions if you’d like, but if you’re just looking to condemn Christianity, then may I suggest you take it to a better forum?
[quote]I mean do you really want to make a game where you punish disobedient children with death, like it says to do in the bible?
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If I were you, I wouldn’t take such a site too seriously. They do quite a bit of “creative interpreting” of the Bible.
One could argue that a “scientific game” such as “make
your creatures evolve” could be considered propaganda
itself. Food for thought, anyway.
Well, games like pokémon are forbidden in some countries, because they teach darwinism (they say so at least).
If I were you, I wouldn’t take such a site too seriously.
They do quite a bit of “creative interpreting” of the Bible.
There are many horrible parts which don’t need any interpreting at all. Like there were some kids making fun of a bold man… he prays and god sends some wolfes to kill those kids and a bunch of others (collateral damage). Or the part where god himself slaughters thousands of people with his flaming sword. What do I need to interpret there?
Oh and of course… gay people deserve death… :
Sure there are some good values like you shouldn’t kill, steal, lie etc… and even some sensefull things like you should rest once a week, but the rest is just filling material, which shows how “good” god is and that you really should fear all those nasty consequences. Stuff like that is really unnecessary these days.
The only christian game I know is Noah’s Arch… a SNES first person shooter, which uses the wolfenstein3d engine. You shoot there animals with food… and they “sleep” then… yea sure :
@Y/Y2
lol.
[quote]>Well, games like pokémon are forbidden in some countries, because they teach darwinism (they say so at least).
[/quote]
Indeed. But not in the US. This is still a free country, and I for one am willing to defend to right of anyone to preach any religion they want. Even atheism. As Voltaire said:
“I may not agree with everything you say, but I will defend to
the death your right to say it.”
[quote]There are many horrible parts which don’t need any interpreting at all.
[/quote]
Things always seem very cut and dry out of context, don’t they? In its most basic form, the purpose of the Bible is/was to track the lineage of Jesus Christ. Thus it tends to refer to other books (e.g. The Book of the Annals) to fill in historical details. Without those details, the picture is quite unclear. For example, are you aware of who/what the Nephilim where? If you don’t, then you wouldn’t understand the reasons behind many of the instructions given to Biblical figures.
[quote]Like there were some kids making fun of a bold man… he prays and god sends some wolfes to kill those kids and a bunch of others (collateral damage).
[/quote]
It was two female bears. And the scripture is hotly debated because it was translated as “young boys”. The Hebrew word “naar” in the Biblical context, however, apparently referred to servents, soldiers, students, and men of other persuasions. Thus the correct translation is “young men” or “young lads”.
Now you might want to consider something before you get too worked up over their mauling. Did not kings of the time have laws regarding how they may be treated? And did not those laws proclaim death for anyone who mocked a king or his messengers? Did not God proclaim that Elisha was God’s messenger and was a more important authority than all the kings in existence?
Those men took their lives into their own hands in their mocking. I’m afraid the results were fairly typical for the period. That’s why Jesus brought grace with him. Under grace, the Biblical laws are not hard and fast, and thus we may be forgiven. It’s interesting to note that this concept extended into modern law. In most civilized countries today, you cannot receive capital punishment for mocking an authority figure such as a president, monarch, or prime minister.
One last thing, before you bemoan the loss of those men’s souls to hell, keep in mind that Jesus did spend three days passing out “Get out of Hell Free” cards. Those who wanted them, got them.
[quote]Or the part where god himself slaughters thousands of people with his flaming sword. What do I need to interpret there?
Oh and of course… gay people deserve death… :
[/quote]
While Sodomy is a Biblical sin, may I also point out that the men of Sodom wanted to RAPE the angels? Or did you just conveniently forget that part? Lot even offered his two virgin daughters in exchange for the men leaving! They STILL behaved wickedly!
God told Abraham that he would not destroy the cities if Abraham could find 10 people undeserving of death. Abraham couldn’t even find ONE.
[quote]The only christian game I know is Noah’s Arch… a SNES first person shooter, which uses the wolfenstein3d engine. You shoot there animals with food… and they “sleep” then… yea sure :
[/quote]
That was Wisdom Tree’s handiwork. If you look at their company’s history as “Color Dreams”, you’ll understand why I say they aren’t very credible.
Well, actually… I don’t really care
Even if it’s out of context… it doesn’t really matter. The bible isn’t kid save. That’s all.
I don’t like religion, because it has done way too much harm and almost nothing good has come from it. That’s my opinion and it won’t change ever… because the death of millions can’t be undone. Oh and it will continue on and on… “god/allah/chutullu is with us!”. People will continue using religion to manipulate the masses (like Bush does for example), which will then run enthusiastically into their own perdition. It’s so silly
Personally, I am an athiest.
I respect peoples beliefs though. As an athiest it is in my belief system that no one knows anything for sure, so me not believing in an all powerful being is no more right then someone else believing in one.
I respect beliefs, but have little respect for organized religions. The problem with religion is it’s indirectly or directly responsible for the vast pain, suffering, murder, predjudice, corruption, degredation, control, fear mongering, extermination, anhilation of peoples, lands and freedoms through out history then any other force imagined. From the first time some felt an earth quake and thought maybe a some kind of powerful being did it to punish someone, we were in trouble.
That and the fundemental chicken and the egg problem…if god created the universe…who created god? Makes no sense at all
To an athiest, the answer is simple and provides more reason to be good to one and other then any religion. If people really cared about each other, they wouldn’t need a god to tell them what is right or wrong. Athiests believe we created gods to make ourselves feel like we have some kind of input into the universe, a conecptual representation our inner need to personify things we don’t understand as well as quel our fear of each other and nature…and to control each other. None of which are good reasons, but they are the ones that have stood the test of time.
To an athiest the only thing we have is each other and we only have one life to live and participate in the universe. To me those are real and visible purposes and far better reason for us all to get along then fear of an all powerful being putting the boots to us long after we have hurt, killed, stolen or destroyed the lives of others.
As I said…I may be entirely wrong, so PLEASE take nothing I say personally. I respect everyones beliefs, they just may not be the same as mine and that’s great. Ideas are more important than beliefs to me.
Should your gods exist, may he/she/it bless us all! 
The “flame war” was inevitable when the original poster introduce the topic of religion. There aren’t many topics that would make it more certain.
I personally find promotion of religion offensive and evil. It was clearly the intent of the original poster to start a discussion promoting religion. Though I believe in free speech so I simply participate in the discussion. I don’t wish to censor anyone.
Nonetheless I was just relating my opinion that religion in general does not stand up to critical thinking, to the observation that there are few religious video games. E.g. when you start to analyze religious stories logically as you might when researching a game it could be very discouraging. Thus leading to few games of a religious context, given that programmers must think logically, and many would be unable to ignore the conflict of logic and faith. I didn’t mean to single out a specific religion.
Creative interpreting is of course used by BOTH sides (for and against religion). It’s my personal opinion that it is used much more by the religious side. Given that the religious side keeps changing their interpretation to try to match the facts and truths that science reveals. It’s only recently that the church stopped murdering astronomers for presenting observations that conflicted with scripture, for example. (Hmmm, murder the astronomer, there’s a nice religious theme for a game.)
Ultimately this results in my opinion that religious games are generally a bad idea, as they would promote blind acceptance (i.e. “faith”) of traditions routed in superstition at the expense of critical thinking, science, and reality.
I realize that this is in disagreement with the opinions of very many other people, and that’s ok.