Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This topic is probably geared more toward the millennial generation. (No disrespect to the boomers!) Originally this was posted in the Christian forum, but let's see what everyone thinks of this.
I'm one who came from the videogame generation. Now we've seen a lot of movies and books highlighting the stories of the Bible, but when it comes to videogames, Chrsitianity has yet to truly crack into that genre. I always thought it would be wonderful to have some videogames based on the Bible to play, and not one of those trivia/baby type games. How many of you ever played Shadow of the Colossus? It would be great to have a game like that, centered around the story of David fighting Goliath. (along with a bunch of other Biblical battles) There was a game a little more recently that was in development centered around Enoch that was called The Rebel Planet. I thought it was a great idea, even though I'm not usually into that style of play. However, that project has been discontinued as far as I know. Here's a snippet of it....
I'd like to see some christian videogames on the level of some of my favorite games like Final Fantasy 10, Shenmue, etc. (Of course I'm something of an old school gamer. I'm not that interested in some of the more popular genre of games like Call of Duty and shoot 'em up games of today) So what does everyone think of christian gaming?
Well I'm a big computer game fan - especially since I really can't do much of anything else thanks to a disability. I'm more of a simulation and empire building gamer myself, though I used to play a few MMOs.
The problems that Christian video games will have will be the same problems all games built on a pre-existing franchise already have.
First, any company who makes such a game will likely disenfranchize the majority of the gaming market share since a large number of them seem to be atheistic and rather liberal-minded. But even so, I think many will turn away from it due to preconceived misconceptions about what a Christian game is allowed to do. Most people (and I might have even included myself in this bunch) are liable to believe that a Christian video game won't have any action or excitement because of how anti-violence it tends to be.
Secondly, you'll have all of the "lore lawyers" prancing around shouting, "That's not how it happened in the Bible!" and "Galilee didn't look like that!" and "That doesn't look anything like Goliath!" I used to play Lord of the Rings Online for awhile and the chat channels were spammy with people arguing about lore.
Third, the fundamentalists will hate it no matter what.
BUT ... I'm not against the idea. Anything that might make being a Christian less somber and joyless would be a boon to the religion, especially for younger folks.
Well I'm a big computer game fan - especially since I really can't do much of anything else thanks to a disability. I'm more of a simulation and empire building gamer myself, though I used to play a few MMOs.
The problems that Christian video games will have will be the same problems all games built on a pre-existing franchise already have.
First, any company who makes such a game will likely disenfranchize the majority of the gaming market share since a large number of them seem to be atheistic and rather liberal-minded. But even so, I think many will turn away from it due to preconceived misconceptions about what a Christian game is allowed to do. Most people (and I might have even included myself in this bunch) are liable to believe that a Christian video game won't have any action or excitement because of how anti-violence it tends to be.
Secondly, you'll have all of the "lore lawyers" prancing around shouting, "That's not how it happened in the Bible!" and "Galilee didn't look like that!" and "That doesn't look anything like Goliath!" I used to play Lord of the Rings Online for awhile and the chat channels were spammy with people arguing about lore.
Third, the fundamentalists will hate it no matter what.
BUT ... I'm not against the idea. Anything that might make being a Christian less somber and joyless would be a boon to the religion, especially for younger folks.
I think you make some great points. I agree--I personally have some misgivings about someone going in and changing the way things happened.
On a separate note...let's assume that the battle between David and Goliath were in the game. That might be fun on the surface...but by making it a game of skill -- where one might have to practice and practice and practice to be able to hit the right combination of buttons just right to kill Goliath? You've now taken a key scene from the Bible--one where God's power is demonstrated, and turned it into a game of skill. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. But I don't know how you can tastefully represent the power of God in a video game without offending the masses, as well.
I think you make some great points. I agree--I personally have some misgivings about someone going in and changing the way things happened.
On a separate note...let's assume that the battle between David and Goliath were in the game. That might be fun on the surface...but by making it a game of skill -- where one might have to practice and practice and practice to be able to hit the right combination of buttons just right to kill Goliath? You've now taken a key scene from the Bible--one where God's power is demonstrated, and turned it into a game of skill. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. But I don't know how you can tastefully represent the power of God in a video game without offending the masses, as well.
Yeah, that's another problem I forgot to mention in my previous post.
A video game isn't going to be very fun if you already know how it's going to end. If players are railroaded into succeeding all the time so that events play out exactly as they did in the Bible, the game will be predictable and boring - the player will just feel as though he's turning a film strip rather than playing a game.
Oh yeah, and you KNOW that there will be a huge noise made about wanting to play Satan or playing the bad guy to deliberately change how the Biblical events played out. In fact, being able to do that would be the most popular draw for the game. Without that, I don't think it would go very far.
Coming from a faith perspective, it would be a difficult challenge in coming up with the storyline and presentation. That's why the game shouldn't come across as trying to preach and convert someone, but display what is written in the Bible. Display ancient Israelite culture and expand on those ideas.
If I were designing a game, I wouldn't immediately tackle a game where you could choose sides. I probably wouldn't make a game where people could play as Satan, yet at the same time if I were making a game that included the battle between David and Goliath, I would have it possible where David could lose. Making it a challenge and so forth. I'm sure christians will have a problem with that, but that's okay. It would be your basic action/adventure type game that centers around Biblical stories. One main dynamic of these games, again if I were involved in making them, would be to spike people's interest in what the Bible talks about.
Going back to the game mentioned in the Op, I believe that idea surrounding Enoch's life would be a great game! It allows you freedom to speculate on what his life would have been like, and as you can see, creationist ideas in that game can run wild. So in terms of action/adventure, that has loads of potential. You could have Enoch fighting dinosaurs, giants, and giant sea creatures (actual creatures that were large, that are extinct today as far as we know). Making a game centered around the NT would be a lot harder. Yet with great graphics, a huge interactive ANE world, etc., even this kind of game would be a favorite among everyone. Again it would highlight culture and specifically Christian culture, with all the dynamics there from what we have historically and what is written in the NT.
There could be role playing games that have nothing to do with the Biblical narrative directly. A game about facing various modern life challenges using Christian methods for instance. Or -- games in a Biblical setting that have nothing to do with a Biblical narrative but maybe for instance you are hiding from the evil Romans and maybe Paul puts in a guest appearance (it's not like the Bible claims to document everything he did and everyplace he visited).
I could envision features like a "spiritual battery" that you charge by doing nothing with your eyes closed for awhile, or reading the Bible. This would enable you to have better success in the game. ;-)
There could be role playing games that have nothing to do with the Biblical narrative directly. A game about facing various modern life challenges using Christian methods for instance. Or -- games in a Biblical setting that have nothing to do with a Biblical narrative but maybe for instance you are hiding from the evil Romans and maybe Paul puts in a guest appearance (it's not like the Bible claims to document everything he did and everyplace he visited).
I could envision features like a "spiritual battery" that you charge by doing nothing with your eyes closed for awhile, or reading the Bible. This would enable you to have better success in the game. ;-)
Hehe. Yep, there's definitely is a lot of routes we could go. Speaking on my personal thought, I take God as a creator. That He enjoys making things, as the Bible states in a couple of verses that the heavens declare His glory. So we could have a videogame where one plays God, and create their own universe or worlds. Where they can create their own creatures, to have free will or not. Possibly play on the idea of multiple universes from a creator-god perspective. Such a game could inspire people to be creative themselves. Of course there are probably games like that already, but this one would be from a Biblical view I guess.
The main problem has already been identified, the closed set nature of events as described in the Bible. Without the ability to alter outcomes, there is no challenge to the game. With the ability to alter outcomes, "evil" might triumph and that would not go down well with the people likely to be interested in playing a game based on the Bible. Would they play a game where the Canaanites defeat Joshua and drive the chosen people from the Promised Land? Would they play a game where the resurrection of Jesus hinged on the skill and fortune of the player and could be frustrated by the skill and fortune of someone representing the pagan Romans?
There is potential in games based on internal/external religious conflict, come to think of it I already own such a game, "Crusader Stronghold" which pits the European knights against the Saracen armies, although there is no actual spiritual distinction made in the game, it is all military prowess.
There could be a Cavalier/Roundhead game replicating the English Civil War. Maybe some Missionary style game where the object is to convert all the natives before they get pissed and wipe you out. Perhaps a SIMs style game where you start your own parish and are responsible for collecting enough donations to keep it going and growing.
Have any of you guys ever played The Stanley Parable? You should, seriously. It brings to life so many religious/philosophical/psychological questions. It can't tell you about it really, because if I do, it will alter your outcomes in the game. You just have to play it!
If you play it, post what you did and what you think of it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Originally this was posted in the Christian forum, but let's see what everyone thinks of this.
