Christian Video Game Maker Doesn't Want His Games Sold Next To DOOM

:eyes:

<snip>

Most video game developers would love to have their products on Wal-Mart's shelves. But Ralph Bagley will wait until the giant retailer creates a separate section for inspirational games.

"I won't put it in Wal-Mart next to Doom and Quake," said Bagley, chief executive of N'Lightning Software, referring to two popular but violent video games rated M for mature audiences.

Bagley's Christian-themed games are all about fighting evil. In Catechumen, the object is to battle demon-possessed Roman soldiers "to turn them from darkness to light." In Ominous Horizons, the player "is called upon to once again free the world of evil and return the Bible to Gutenberg."

"The Bible is full of great game ideas," said Bagley, also a minister in the Church of God in Christ in Medford, Ore. "Christian history is so rich and so dramatic in some areas for the next 20 years we have all the game concepts we need."

The question is whether such games can compete with mainstream titles that have attracted millions of players and made the video-game industry a multibillion-dollar enterprise.

So far, they are a tiny niche without a major hit to compete with mainstream games, and few resources to develop and market their games. They rely instead on online sales, specialty Christian stores and word of mouth to build a following.

Developers such as Bagley can only dream of coming up with something to compete with the popularity of games such as Halo, which sold 1.5-million copies on its first day of release last year. They point to the Christian music genre, which has taken off in the last 10 years, as proof that they, too, can eventually make a mark.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/10/10/Technology/Gamemakers_call_on_ho.shtml

I'd think it would be the other way around, not wanting Doom to be sold next to the Christian game. :P

An dice and paper RPG set in early Christian Rome could be really good. Might translate to a cool console game also. Just the whole excitement of trying to survive, meet up with other Christians, avoid bandits on the road and Roman centurions, maybe some good prison breakout missions... the whole early Christian period is full of good adventure. Thinking of how gorgeous the environments could be in, say, the caves of Anatolia or the catacombs (spoooky) makes me want to make the games myself. A smart game producer with an in depth knowlege of the Bible could also do some good allegory games, where the player would be faced with similar choices as some of the people in the Bible. RPGs wouldn't be the only thing, either - strategy, intrigue, even blood n guts hack n slash, it's all in there. I guess the successful producer of Christian games would have to design the games for everyone first, as good games first, not as moral lessons. A really savvy designer could mine Biblical sources to create cool games that would appeal to Muslims, too.

It's like getting a vast public domain backstory for free - it should be comparable as a game source to Dune, Star Wars, or the Lord of the Rings. Too bad the Christian games do, for the most part, suck eggs.

If given a choice between Doom, Quake and HIS game, his game won't be selling much anyway. (Doom3 = awesome.)

:evilgrin:

How more inspirational than that can you get?

:D

Why let things like the facts get in your way? Just announce some goofy shit like this, get your name and product in the papers and sell a few more units?

in Doom, you fight evil for Christ's sakes.

If I were the makers of Doom, I wouldn't want that Christian crap sold next to my game, not the other way around.

don't put them anywhere. Problem solved.

:D

How far behind this news story are the parade of parents demanding that WalMart stop selling such awful computer games....

then how much longer before WalMart decides that they do not want to offend their Christian base and decide not to sell Doom....

It happened with the America, the Daily show fake text book....

what makes you think they wouldn't do the same with a few computer games....

I'm just sayin'....

These things exist outside of the Ned Flanders household?

?

'Shoot the non-beilvers'

Fun, violent, and faith-belivin'.

Now, THAT, is good entertainment!
























:sarcasm:

I forget where or when. But there was this zoning law that a group of churchs got pushed through that designated that porn shops could not build within 100' of a church. How that makes sense isn't the point.

Trouble came about when a church decided to expand its building. After some time someone noticed that the nearest porn shop was within 100' of the expansion. The law turned against the church at that point. The porn shop was established and the expansion was new. So the church had to tear down and cancel its expansion.