Christian video games

I remember the old NES had some Bible based video games but with the exeption of a Veggietales game on the PS2 and GBA and bad GBA game called Bible game there hasn't been any Christian video games on any of the current video game systems. why do you think that is? and what would you like to see in a a Christian video game?

There have been a few Christian titles over the years, but they have a general reputation of being of poor quality. I can think of a few reasons for this:
The aforementioned games were mostly pretty lame and/or derivative by concurrent video game standards.
Most Christian media, possibly in being kinder than the world, often allows works that wouldn't be published/recorded/programmed in the "real" world.
The world in inherently hostile to Jesus, and thus, His followers and the things they would create to glorify Him.
many Christian concepts that give us hope and faith, such as security in Jesus' return and victory, also gut the tension and uncertainty from a story/game.
Christian games are pretty much always published by small companies whose circulation is minimal.
I haven't played many Christian games myself, but I know there was an RTS based on the first few books of "Left Behind". Has anyone played it?

There was a "Left Behind" game. I don't remember it being RTS, but I do remember walking through the city using supernatural powers to lay waste to hordes of unbelievers. It only hit the PC, was *really* buggy, and never got patched. Not a good gaming experience.

I'm curious as to what constitutes a Christian game? The games I play don't usually involve much exposition or philosophizing. As for symbology, angels and demons abound in all kinds of video games. As to character, your typical video game hero is proud, powerful, and self-sufficient, intent more on laying waste to bad guys than helping people. RPG quests tend to provide some variation on the beat-em-up theme, but I'm hard pressed to think of a video game that develops theme to any great extent.

Personally, I would like to see Pilgrim's Progress done as an exploration RPG. I think it would rock to build a party and traverse the perils of the King's Highway.

In my younger days I wrote a Noah game for the ZX Spectrum... fairly obviously it was a collect-em-up type of affair, and not very good...

Oh dear, and now I'm thinking about a Biblical Jet Set Willy... good job there's a rainy Bank Holiday ahead for me!

mindspike wrote:

I'm curious as to what constitutes a Christian game?

Poor quality and positive references to Jesus.

Good question. Not sure, but I'd say a game that attempts to promote Biblical ideas. At least this might be how the mainstream would define a Christian game. (After my first suggestion, of course.)

Anybody tried this yet: http://www.bibleonlinegame.com/

Can't say I'm particularly inspired to do so myself, but I thought I'd throw it out there...

Well Paeter, I guess you have your next quest in life! You will just have to turn the Spiritblade into an RPG / first person shooter on the platform of Super Paper Mario. Only instead of warping in and out of 3d you can warp into the spirit world. Now all you need is 3 years, 7 programmers, 10 artists and 2 million dollars! Good luck!!

I think the real reason for poor quality "Christian" games is the funding. Most games these days cost millions to produce, pac-man graphics just don't cut it any more. Plus major labels are afraid to produce / back anything "Christian" for fear of bad publicity.

While it may to hard to have a "Christian" theme, it sure would be nice to have some wholesome games for my kids! They love the old SNES Mario and Zelda, but I'm afraid to let them have half the stuff out there now. I mean is it really necessary for Sonic to swear and cuss in a video game? Graphics have gone up but standards have come down.

mindspike wrote:to any great extent.

Personally, I would like to see Pilgrim's Progress done as an exploration RPG. I think it would rock to build a party and traverse the perils of the King's Highway.

This is my goal. I've been learning how to program for the iPhone and plan on making Pilgrim's Progress as an RPG

Also SpiritBlade would make a cool iphone RPG.

So I just need to make an engine and then I can skin it with whatever.

Big Goal.... but anything is possible with God right

[quote="CreatorsPixels"]
I think the real reason for poor quality "Christian" games is the funding. Most games these days cost millions to produce, pac-man graphics just don't cut it any more. Plus major labels are afraid to produce / back anything "Christian" for fear of bad publicity.

quote]

Yeah I think that is a huge problem (one that also Christian movies face) but I think if they could make a game and and actually get people to buy it, the money could be used to make a better game.

Hackmodford wrote:

mindspike wrote:to any great extent.

Personally, I would like to see Pilgrim's Progress done as an exploration RPG. I think it would rock to build a party and traverse the perils of the King's Highway.

This is my goal. I've been learning how to program for the iPhone and plan on making Pilgrim's Progress as an RPG

Also SpiritBlade would make a cool iphone RPG.

So I just need to make an engine and then I can skin it with whatever.

Big Goal.... but anything is possible with God right

Yeah I thought those two stories would make a good game I also heard a rumor that Ted Dekker's Circle Series was to become a video game

Yeah I think that is a huge problem (one that also Christian movies face) but I think if they could make a game and and actually get people to buy it, the money could be used to make a better game.

What's happening with movies is the cost of doing a quality movie is going down, so we're seeing more Christian movies. You can create a quality movie without the special affects, etc. being a requirement and the cost of quality equipment keeps coming down.

Games, however, keep getting more and more complicated with increases in technology, which takes bigger and bigger budgets. So the cost of producing games continues to increase. However, I suppose there's still cheap games that can be made without all the technology....desktop tower defense right?

My personal preference is to make something with a degree of excellence that matches or exceeds the mainstream secular standard. That's what I'm attempting to do with SB Productions, anyway. And one of the key reasons I chose audio drama as my medium.

I think the same philosophy can be applied with success to Christian games. Don't set out to make the "Christian Halo". Instead, maybe a simpler browser game that is of a high quality in the context of that medium.

If I knew anything about creating video games, that would be the route I would personally go.

I haven't looked into the Bible video game link above much, but seen enough to have a good first impression in terms of their production quality. Have no idea if the game itself is any fun, though.

Sorry to dredge up an old topic, but I was going to post about this subject anyway, so why bother making a whole new topic.

I concur with most everyone that Christian games to date have been below mediocre and far to preachy. And from what I've seen from the current crop of Christian game-makers, is determined to stay that way

There is one company though that I urge you guys to check out: Rebel Planet Creations. They've completed and released a pretty good game Axys Truth-Seeker, it's geared more towards children but I still really enjoyed it! Their next project, And the thing that caught my attention is going to be a fantasy RPG set before the flood! Please support them, as they, like spirit blade, are a small company with great ideas trying to get their name out.

I think the same philosophy can be applied with success to Christian games. Don't set out to make the "Christian Halo". Instead, maybe a simpler browser game that is of a high quality in the context of that medium.

True, there needs to be excellence, but I also think that Christian devs need to start pushing the limits, instead of always just trying to make another 2D point&click adventure game.

Oh, and for anyone interested in being a Christian Game Developer, try The Christian Developers Network

I am not in love with the idea of a game coming from a "christian" company, and sold through "christian" bookstores. Those gatekeepers tend to so water down content to make it acceptable to their core demographic, I would not have high expectations. That, in addition to being years behind the mainstream. And in gaming, years behind is a bad, bad thing.

But something that goes around those particular intermediaries? Sold off the web or via some other alternate means? I would have higher hopes for that.

ProfessorAlan wrote:I am not in love with the idea of a game coming from a "christian" company, and sold through "christian" bookstores. Those gatekeepers tend to so water down content to make it acceptable to their core demographic, I would not have high expectations. That, in addition to being years behind the mainstream. And in gaming, years behind is a bad, bad thing.

But something that goes around those particular intermediaries? Sold off the web or via some other alternate means? I would have higher hopes for that.

Me either. I'd much prefer a game coming from a Christian company and sold by Wal-Mart.

ProfessorAlan wrote:Those gatekeepers tend to so water down content to make it acceptable to their core demographic, I would not have high expectations.

You too? It's a sad day indeed when Christians trust the internet over a Christian retailer for more biblically sound products, then we know something is wrong. I mean, it seems like Christian bookstores arn't able to find enough real Christian products and so blindly go after anything that is marked "Christian" or "Family-Friendly" which is why we have books by Joel Osteen and celebrities who obviously are not Christian invading our stores. it's disgusting.