Why is it hard to produce a christian video game?

helllllllllllllo ^^

First off, I was looking at all the so called christian games on the market...and I nearly had to cry! Why in the world do people produce such junk? The games look sloppy made, more like they didnt take the time for it... why is it that the good games dont look well or dont fit in the christian faith... or more why do games that have a lot of christian faith turn out to be a memorizing game??? People dont understand the concept of video games! They think they can take an idea of a different video game and adapt the gameplay for a christian game... alot of headache to do that! And people just take bible verses und throw them in a game so that people can call it entertaining... well its not fun learing bible verses! The only company that has tried alittle harder has been LB Games, and they, also didnt get that far! You can just see that they totaly took the concept of Age of Empires 2 and Warcraft 3 and tried to make a christian game out of that... the worst thing is that you can even play the devils side haha I had to laugh so hard when I saw the commercial for the new Left behind game.... these people make christians look naive, misunderstanding and uncapable to make a decent video game!

I have to apologize: Christian Video Games are really hard to make! These people put alot of time and effort to spread the name of the Lord, but why dont people get far creating a video game that is about God?

The reason it is hard to produce a christian video game!

1. Video games are entertainment

(Entertainment is a way for people to watch or do something they could or should not do in real life, that is why it is funny when you are able to see someone do it or you doing it but (not in real life(G))

2. Video games are for leaving the real world not to be confronted with earthly problems

3. Since Video games are about entertainment these are often in video games:killing, summoning, using magic, idolism, stealing and glorifying evil

4. Bible verses seem annoying

5. Not enough money

6. Not enough people willing to do a risky job like that (since nobody is buying these kind of games, or not too many are doing so)

7. Satan has created alot of videogames that would our games look boring since there is no violence allowed

8. The ideas arent cool or arent intersting enough to get the people playing blockbuster games to wander to ours

9. This idea of creating a video game for christian faith seems like a waste of time

10. The christian faith isnt used correctly in video games

Tags: anthony, christian, games, hard, joseph, make, schwartz, to, video

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Comment by Nathan Freemyer on June 3, 2011 at 4:07pm: I think one of the primary issues is that we let ourselves be so narrowed in subject matter and mechanics and story elements. Like all developers, we take a simple or obvious approach, when we should dig deeper, we should pull inspiration from everywhere, outside of games, outside of entertainment even and use that inspiration to communicate Truth. Truth is our responsibility.

Comment by Anthony Joseph Schwartz on June 4, 2011 at 12:02am: Yes you are so correct about that! That is a great point i didnt put clear enough into my blog. People just take things the way they are from other games or stories and just add a christian spin to it! And digging deeper is a must for a christian game, since showing or teaching wrong info is fatal ^^ yeah thinking outside of the normal video game box!

Comment by Lydia on June 4, 2011 at 2:21pm: Thank you both for bringing up that point. I love that verse in the Bible about extracting the precious from the vile. We should not cripple our creativity by ignoring things just because Satan and sinful people have twisted God's original creation. Tools are tools. God created everything (including our minds and intelligence) and said that it was good. He even put the imagination and the drive to create within us as part of making us in His image. Where do we think successful secular video game devs, movie maker and artists draw their inspiration from?!

We have the "mind of Christ" at our disposal and the Holy Spirit to ask for discernment to do this extraction process. It can be fraught with peril, as has been demonstrated with many previous attempts. Availing ourselves of this through large amounts of prayer is extremely important to navigate that potential minefield. Supporting each other in these type of endeavors is the inspiration for the CGDC organization, online community, and conference.

That said, there are some decent Christian games out there, maybe just not mmo's or fps's. :)

Comment by Anthony Joseph Schwartz on June 4, 2011 at 3:17pm: ^^ yea you are right, but that is not what I ment in my blog, the problem I see is that these games arent getting to the massive public. It doesnt make any sense to create a christian game that is only played by christians... that is not the reason I am here ^^

And you are correct with your statements that God gives us what we need! This is so true! It is just, alot of these people who work on a christian video game just want to take concepts and adapt them from other companies and add a christian spinn to it... and these type of games arent well made since they look at video games like a medium to bring forth the christian faith and not how to get people intersted in christianity. The big thing written on this website is that video games are one of the largest medium used today, and yet I havent seen a good christian game that is intersting and doesnt contrverse with the christian faith, one example is a game were you are in noahs ark and shoot food at animals.... O.K haha christian back ground but the game has nothing to do with christian faith ^^ one more: Left behind ( I LOVE the books) but the video game is horrible.. you can play satans army (very christian play)... killing other chrisitans haha and then you have people shooting other people and then convert them to christianity and then let them shoot some people again and then convert them again and again... this is what I am talking about... ^^

Comment by Lydia on June 4, 2011 at 3:36pm: Being a casual game player, I really like match 3 games and exploring/adventure games like Myst. They are great storytelling mediums. If I had the resources, I would make a Myst-style game. The Christian match 3 game I like is Jewels of sinai. It tells the story of the exodus in a unique way. It certainly entertained me. Not sure if non-Christians would play it or not. The production values are high enough, but I haven't asked any non-christians to test it. ;)

Comment by Anthony Joseph Schwartz on June 4, 2011 at 3:43pm: Oh cool ^^ sounds intersting, mhh I have played myst and it could be a good christian game... but only for other christians (but then again, even if you get one nonchristian to play and then come to christ you have won!) Yes! That could be a cool alterntive... would you mind explaining it a little more??? Yes they are great story telling... and can be exciting! Oh ok I will try out match 3 game ^^ haha thank you for your great tip :)

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