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Religion in Video Games
The Opposable Thumbs blog recently took a look at how religious themes are handled in video games. Most makers of mainstream games are hesitant, given the strong feelings of most consumers on the subject, but other companies are trying desperately to bring religion into the spotlight. Quoting:
"Part of the problem is that the game industry is often touted as being a corrupting influence for the youth of the world. Criticism against the game industry has come from leaders as high up as the current Pope, and many of us who have been exposed to sermons bemoaning the influence that games and movies have on kids. Even when groups like the Christian Game Developers Foundation put out a video encouraging developers to create wholesome titles for kids, the attitude conveyed towards current members of the industry was contemptuous at best. Needless to say, games with heavy religious content are usually fringe projects, independently created and oftentimes sporting dodgy production values, because publishers wisely don't want to risk boycotts from legions of the faithful."
says religion has no say in games. And I'm on the good guys side ;)
Then worry about the religious content. If it's not a good game (or movie, or song, or book) you can stuff it to the gills with religious messages, and no one outside of your particular religious community will ever buy it. Build a better game (or movie, or song, or book) and the world will come to you. (See: Sufjan Stevens, C.S. Lewis, VeggieTales, etc.).
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
How about someone create a game that occurs during the inquisition when the ignorant Christians killed thousands of people who wouldn't convert to their religion?
I don't really see how religion is needed in video games. Plenty of games have used religious influences heavily. Fantasy games often use elements of Norse, Egyptian, Greek/Roman, and Christianity/Judaism in their games and that hasn't been a problem. People don't like being fed propaganda from any religious group so games based on any particular religion usually will fail (the fact that they are usually done by second-rate developers and are low budget doesn't help them either). But more than anything else, there is no need. Look at some games, either A) They are done in a fantasy setting and therefore having a real-world religion as a major theme is simply unrealistic or boring B) The focus is action rather than storyline development, most gamers don't care if the Spy from Team Fortress 2 was an agnostic, Buddhist or a scientologist. C) Religion would take away key parts of character development, for example Fallout 3, choosing a religion would effectively either make your character a hypocrite, unrealistic or would make decision making too simple.
In the end, I don't think there is a need for religion in video games. While it will always and has always been referenced, theres just no good reason to put it in.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Religion does exist in video games. They aren't usually the same religions as we have meatside, however. I think that's what people are complaining about. The problem is if you let, say, World of Warcraft priests worship the Christian god, then people will automatically boycott when it doesn't follow a particular sect's beliefs. In fact, they'd have no combat skills at all if they followed the word of the Bible.
Instead, religions are made up, relatively shallow, and may be based on the history that took place in the game. Sounds a lot like real religions, doesn't it?
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
Christ is risen, and boy, is He pissed.
After receiving the authority to smite the tribes of Islam, Christ joins the eighty deuces and gets his revenge on vegetarians, homosexuals, eaters of shellfish, and of course, unbelievers and blasphemers. Armed with a robe and the wrath of Yahweh, step into the sandals of He Who Is Righteous as he transforms from the Prince of Peace to the Prince of Blowing Motherfuckers to Pieces. Use conventional weapons to kill the wicked or send plague upon plague to the unfortunate souls dumb enough to defy you. Raise past holy warriors from the dead to join your army of brutal goodness, and get bonus points for killing Arab leaders and sending them to Hell.
Feel the rage of the righteous! Coming Spring 2010...
They say they are interested in religion in games. Well, in fact there IS religion in quite a few games. In some cases a religious mythology forms the basis for the game's world, in other cases there are various religious characters who influence things and so on. That's not what they want. They want a game that evangelizes their religion. They want one that shoves it in your face, that tries to show it as The One True Way(tm).
Well, games like that are basically always going to suck. Evangelism isn't fun. What's more, it turns off most people so major developers won't do it. When you have an inherently shitty premise and combine that with a shitty developer you are going to get a total crap fest.
In terms of mainstream games, religion will continue to be a role in them as it always has been. Often it'll be fictional religions, since they are often set in fictional worlds. However you'll continue to see religious characters of one sort or another in games where such a thing is useful to the story. However you aren't going to see games designed around pushing a religion. Those aren't fun, and they won't sell well, so major publishers aren't going to fund them.
Simple solution: If you do not want- do not buy. Developers aren't idiots. Religious video games will be industry standard when hell freezes over. That's sort of the main point of the article. At the same time, there's certainly a niche market for them. I don't enjoy racing games, that doesn't mean I'm opposed to their existence. Why should this be any different? Seriously, in cases like this the whole, "leave religion out of it," line is just retarded. On that note, Happy Newton's Birthday everyone.
First of all, not everyone is being completely adverse to religion. The marketing team behind Dante's Inferno actually hired a group of people to pretend to be Christians protesting the game. Even if such a thing would be considered poor taste, it's not going to affect game sales at all. The same people who would actually protest or boycott a game over religion would never buy your game anyway. Hell, I actually heard more about the game because some religious people were offended by the fake protest and made enough noise that it was picked up by a few news outlets. Free advertising right there.
The other way to look at it is that games are trying to be a form of art. If they're not willing to tackle religion, they're just throwing away their legitimacy. Whether you're religious or not, I think you would agree that religion plays a major role in the world today and as such is an interesting topic to explore from a narrative standpoint. It's not even necessary to single out a religion by name, but exploring ideas such as polytheism, religious crusades, or corruption of religious institutions can add something interesting to a game. In fact, I think that an exploration of some philosophy is something that is sadly lacking from so many games today. If someone were to make a game exploring these themes I would be tempted to buy it, even if the gameplay weren't as good as another title in the genre.
If religion in games was done right, it would make kids too cynical. Imagine this game:
"SimChurch - start your own religion, gain adherents, build a church, advertise, and grow. You can tweak your theology - too loose, and your people lose interest; too strict, and your people backslide. You can ask your followers for financial support, but ask too hard and they'll drop out. You can train fanatics to help you expand, but they may turn against you."
"In multiplayer mode, you can try to convert people from other religions to yours. Become strong enough in an area, and you can convert your country to a theocracy. Then you can have wars with other theocracies."
"If your theology calls for miracles, they might just happen. But they won't always help you. You can also fake miracles, once you have enough assets, and gain adherents that way."
This would teach kids way too much about how religion really works.
"I wanted to create a game that had both an entertaining adventure but also hold true to the commandment of 'Thou Shalt Not Kill.'"
Done: I am unaware of any game in which you actually kill people. Plenty of games in which your fictional character kills other fictional characters, but they're videogames, not real life.
It's odd to me that religious types sometimes seem to put more emphasis on morality in fiction than they do in real life. It's not real. Why is this a thing to them? No one has ever demonstrated that violence in videogames or movies actually leads to desensitization for real-life violence, so that's not a valid reason. There's plenty of real-world violence going on, that should be higher priority.
Virtual violence is repugnant to them is what I think it comes down to. That's fine, they should not play games with violence. I think this guy is basically doing the right thing, he's making his own game to fit his tastes, which is great. There aren't enough games like that. I still have to object to the mindset he seems to have: that virtual, in-game violence is somehow morally wrong.
And most in-game violence to me seems pretty justified. Most involve shooting bad guys or bad aliens. GTA allows you to kill innocent bystanders, sure, but so far that's always been a player using free will to do so. The main story does involve murder, but nine times out of ten it's justified. Not great morality there, but pretty good considering it's not real.
Some games actually suceed in making you feel guilty. Fallout 3 had oodles of opportunities to do evil, and plenty of times I ended up feeling pretty guilty.
Having played some of those wisdom tree games, I very much doubt people who are out to make games as a vehicle to promote their own morality have NEARLY the skill it would take to make a game in which a player felt guilty for committing virtual sins, but that is a possibility.
"It was important to do so, and it is not easy. You can defend yourself by stunning Enforcers, or thugs for a very brief time. The goal is the mission, and to avoid direct contact with the enemy as much as possible."
That sounds like a watered down version of mirror's edge, a FPS/FPA* which combines parkour with bad guys with guns. You can stun an enemy to take his gun, then use it on other bad guys for a few shots, but the game really encourages you at most parts to flee and stun rather than get into a shootout. Not for morality reasons though, it's just easier that way.
*I don't want to get into a semantic argument over marketing terms here, you know what I'm talking about.
"Part of the problem is that the game industry is often touted as being a corrupting influence for the youth of the world." This is a statement that has no basis in fact. Kids used to play cowboys and indians and other games that involved pretend gunfights and pretend killing. Since the memory of man goeth not to the contrary children have had games that involved make believe violence. I believe it is clear who is to blame for the lack of disipline that todays youth displays: The social workers who strike fear into parents and the psychiatrists with their diagnosis of "attention deficit disorder". When a child has only self direction to steer them because their parents are to afraid to teach them the word NO then you get a child who is confused, anxious even violent. Of course this is nothing a good dose of ritlan or some such drug can't fix right up. Please note that a majority of the proponents of the theory that video games cause violence in youth are the social workers and the psychiatrists. Look at the time line. When these two groups became the last word in child rearing is when most of the problems in young people (violence in particular) started. These people are educated and totally aware of what they have wrought in the lives of our children. Teaching self disipline to children can and will improve their quality of life. Here's a link to a TED video that more than proves this point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0yhHKWUa0g&feature=player_embedded Peace..... Oh bye the way religion has nothing to sell that I care to buy....
Many, many Japanese video games have pretty strong religious elements in them. I mean Shinto religious elements.
A good example recently is Ju-on, the Grudge, which is loosely based on an old Shinto legend. (Variations on the supernatural grudge theme show up in a lot of Japanese cartoons or "anime.")
Even way back in 8-Bit days, the Shinto story that later inspired The Ring was used in a video game called Monster Party.
Oh, and of course, Shinto shrines play a role in Shenmue. Like the shrine where you find the cat, and Ryo will actually do a small devotion at the shrine in the house if you "use" it.
I could go on and on here, but I think it would be a bit shocking for games made in another country to include an alien religion, like Christianity is in Japan. Even Japanese games that include Christianity might not quite get it... it might be used the way Western games use pagan religious elements.
Well anyway, for more information on the Shinto religion, consult your local library!
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
Sarah Silverman? Is that you? You're all I want for Hanukkah!
maybe the problem is that religious games (I don't know even one counter example) focus to much on conveying the religion and to little on stuff like A STORY, or GAMEPLAY... they're like most educational games, they just AREN'T FUN TO PLAY.
http://www.cinemassacre.com/new/?p=3878
http://www.cinemassacre.com/new/?p=4069
The MAFIAA is a bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes
Now there's an idea for a video game.
There are issues of religion brought up behind a thin veil in Dragon Age. The different countries of medieval Europe are represented, as well as shoddy treatment of Jews (read: elves.) In addition to this, there is a powerful church organization that some people think is too oppressive. There's even the legacy of the Roman empire and I think the Babylonian captivity is mentioned.
I didn't see Dragon Age in the article, but this is because the game isn't really about these things. They are incidental, and can occupy as much or as little time as you like. Your NPC companions in the game sometimes get into religious debates with each other, depending on your squad selection.
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
My sons and I have been batting around game ideas for many years now, and we've considered the subject of a religious-themed game many times. We're pretty much agreed that it would not be possible to make a game that is both good from a gameplay perspective and at the same time good from a faith or doctrinal perspective.
Now, it would be possible to make a good/UNserious religious game. The Chronicles of Riddick is an excellent example of an invented religion that works wonderfully well to drive the story, define characters, and provide motivation.
As an aside, there are very few accurate portrayals of the peacefulness of religion in fiction. Religious people are almost always shown as fighting, torturing, and basically steam-rolling people into believing. But no true believer would ever do such a thing, of course. The power of religion is in having the capital-T Truth, and Truth never has to be forced, it just is. Real preachers and teachers use moral suasion, not war.
However, there seems to be an inexhaustible supply of political extremists who are only too happy to cloak themselves in the language and symbolism of religion to take advantage of people. Nazism, for example, often appropriated religion to serve its political ends. No doubt this is what Islamic extremists are doing today.
Agnosticism is about epistemology -- it's the position that you can't know for certain whether or not god exists.
Theism/atheism is about ontology.
Theism is believing gods exist.
Atheism is believing god does not exist.
Most agnostics are either atheist or theist. There are few agnostics who leave the existence of god in that quantum state of both existing and not existing.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.