The Devil has the video games market sewn up...

...but some are fighting back.

Personally I prefer a gibfest.


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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Christians purge video game demons



</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO --><!-- S IBYL --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=416 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom>By Matthew Davis

BBC News, Washington

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The Devil, they say, has all the best tunes. Until now he has also had the video games market sewn up.

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Christian developers want to provide alternatives to graphic violence



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From the demonic violence of Doom to the sinister Resident Evil series, many of today's most successful titles draw inspiration from dark places.

But a growing band of Christian game developers are taking a stand.

Reverend Ralph Bagley, 41, is a man with a mission. "I have always been a gamer since the days of Pong and Pacman," he told BBC News.

"But as the games got nastier, I was getting pretty conflicted about coming home from church and playing things like Doom and Quake.

"I began to look for something else, but there was a gaping hole in the market."

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Earlier this year, the father of two founded the Christian Game Developers Foundation, aiming to drag Christian games from obscurity to the mainstream.

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</TD><TD class=sibtbg>Most people who play computer games want those visceral thrills



Alex Navarro
GameSpot

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"Simply forbidding our children from playing video games is not the answer," says Rev Bagley.

"We have to give them quality alternatives that match the excitement of secular games while promoting Christian values - without the violent or sexually explicit content."

Columbine massacre

Rev Bagley began his mission back in 1996, when investors turned down his first-person Christian shooter, Catechumen.

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Investors took Rev Bagley more seriously after Columbine



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Only after the Columbine school massacre in April 1999, in which killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold claimed inspiration from violent video games, did the money start coming in.

To date his company N'Lightning Software has sold some 80,000 copies of Catechumen for the PC in the US, UK, Australia, Holland, Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

But for Rev Bagley, and other Christian developers, the benchmark for success is breaking the console market.

Where PC games can be brought out on a shoestring, several million dollars are needed to develop a console title, more to market it - plus the console makers' approval to run it.

'Wholesome fun'

A new release, announced on the fringes of the ES gaming expo in Los Angeles last week, is lighting the way to the next level.

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Catechumen is in the mould of Doom - but without the gore



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Crave Entertainment's The Bible Game casts players as contestants on a game show, answering questions on anything from Noah's Ark to David and Goliath.

"Wholesome fun" say the makers, who hope it will encourage families to play together when it is released for the PlayStation 2 and GameBoy Advance in October.

Industry experts, however, are not convinced.

Alex Navarro, associate editor of online magazine GameSpot, said Christian games - like Christian rock music - were not likely to have the edgy thrills of their "full fat" counterparts.

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</TD><TD class=sibtbg>We also pray for God's unyielding protection for our company, as well as others who are involved in his perfect plan for the world



Brethren Entertainment Software


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"Most people who play computer games want those visceral thrills. I can't see Christian games ever being anything other than a niche product," he said.

Christian music sales comprise about 7% of the total market - some 43 million albums were sold in the US last year.

PricewaterhouseCoopers expects the video games market to be worth about $55.6bn in 2008 - up from $22.3bn in 2003.

So even a small share of the expanding industry is a tempting prize.

'Glory to God'

Developers are aiming at more than the bottom line, however, as Washington state-based Brethren Entertainment Software makes clear in its mission statement.

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</TD><TD class=sibtbg>People are tired of having these violent, demonic games dictating to their kids



Rev Ralph Bagley


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"As believers in Christ, we pray that God will be glorified through our work and that each of us draw nearer to him as we develop and grow as a business," the company says.

"We also pray for God's unyielding protection for our company, as well as others who are involved in his perfect plan for the world."

The sentiments of Christian developers will also strike a chord with the many family groups concerned about the effects of violent games on children. "No blood, no guts, no gore," says Rev Bagley. "What we want are emotionally full games that don't just rely on adreneline. "We are trying to build the genre of Christian gaming. People are tired of having these violent, demonic games dictating to their kids."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4534835.stm


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Any one ever watch some of the old classic cartoons by disney and warner? By far they had worse stuff out then than now.

They were teaching children racism and hate.

Do a search on some of the file sharing programs to see exactly what was being broadcast in to the living rooms of America.

Crave Entertainment's The Bible Game casts players as contestants on a game show, answering questions on anything from Noah's Ark to David and Goliath.

"Wholesome fun" say the makers, who hope it will encourage families to play together when it is released for the PlayStation 2 and GameBoy Advance in October.

Click to expand...

Wow I'm siked to play this, it sounds so fun and jam-packed with action I dont think I will be able to sleep until I get 100% completion and do all the side missions.

Well, let them throw their money away making a game.

There are already hoards of games that don't have violence, I think they are lying when they say thats their objective.

Personally I recommend Hitman II and Hitman Contracts. Forget that whole stealth approach.

The only people that I didn't kill were the ones that you would fail the mission if you killed.

One of the best missions was the one with a Head Russian General and the Head Russian Mafia Boss are having a mission in the middle of a park. It's snowing and their are military and mafia guards every where. If they notice you both will jump in their amored limos and run while the guards attack you.

I took only the two ballers (1911 45 calibers), concealed in my jacket, walk into the park. The guards are getting weary, watching me. That "you've been caught" meter is getting jumpy. I break into a full sprint, while drawing both guns. Just like some thing out of the untouchables. The targets look at me and start to run but it's too late. Both guns are blazing like I'm Neo from the Matrix.

Both dead, mission objectives complete. Switch into survival mode get out alive and back to my boat, and I'm gone. Rating, mass murderer. The Worst. But the most fun. I love it.

I couldnt get into hitman, I took it back. It's hard for me to get into a game the same way as mercenaries or san andreas. theyre just so well done, you play everything trying to get the same rush.


I hear splinter cell is supposed to be killer. thats what im getting next.