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Alternative Styles: Religious-Themed Video Games Are Staking a Claimin the Mass Market.

Posted on: Saturday, 4 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Ron Orozco, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Mar. 4--Miles Hernandez enjoys playing video games on a console at home or at the arcade at California State University, Fresno. His choice: games such as "Police Trainer" with mild animated violence. Hernandez, a freshman majoring in business, says he's also willing to try all kinds of video games, including those without violence and with religious themes. "It depends on the degree of how much they show," Hernandez says of religious-themed video games. "I'm not one to judge others, but I don't want the game overdoing it." PC software games with religious themes have been around for some time. They remain popular. Now game developers are broadening the market with religious-themed games for consoles and portables. Last fall, the "Bible Game" for PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance became the first Christian-themed video console game for the mass market. That game was followed by "Chronicles of Narnia" on Game Boy Advance. Ralph Bagley, founder and chief executive officer of N'Lightning Software Development Inc. in Medford, Ore., says game developers are expanding, and they want to offer an alternative to violent games and those games with gangsta rap-style themes. Last year, U.S. interactive entertainment sales topped $9 billion, according to NPD Funworld, a market research firm. Investors on Wall Street estimate the religious-themed gaming market at $200 million a year. "I think this will explode," Bagley says of expansion. "My goal is to see this genre become a major player in the gaming industry -- and we are on the way there." Christian game developers are leading the drive to put religious-themed video games on more shelves, particularly large chain stores such as Wal-Mart and Target, and in sections that are marked "family friendly." Other worldviews such as Judaism and Islam are represented in some video games, typically in the form of symbols, names and concepts that are associated with those religions. On the Jerusalem Post Web site, www.jpost.com, David Shamah writes that it is difficult to find any identifiable Jewish characters in top video games. Kamal Abu-Shamsieh, director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, says it also is to hard to find Islam-based video games. He believes manufacturers have not yet discovered there might be a market for that. But Abu-Shamsieh says he also is OK with game developers failing to discover the Muslim market. "My children don't watch or play video games; that's just a personal decision that my wife and I have made," he says. Hernandez says it's important to him that game developers are subtle with their religious-themed video games.

Hernandez says he is likely to respond favorably to religious-based video games that show balance with several faith traditions repre- sented in symbols, names and concepts. "If they use images of biblical characters and Jewish names or concepts, it's OK," says Hernandez, adding he would be turned off by a video game with repeated pop-ups of the cross. "They shouldn't throw religion out of proportion," he says. Daniel Xu, a Fresno State student, says he prefers playing video games emphasizing fighting and competition, but the expansion to religious-themed games is OK with him. "I'm not very religious, so it doesn't matter to me," says Xu, a junior who hasn't declared a major. "The developers see it as a way of making a larger profit." Bagley says it's more than just the money. He says Christian game developers such as himself also are called to evangelize through their games to all people. "Christian gaming can evoke a whole range of emotional responses as well as enable you to have a full-game experience," says Bagley, whose N'Lightning Software Development Inc. created "Catechumen," one of PC software's top games. Youth ministry leaders in the central San Joaquin Valley say the expansion of religious-based video games creates an alternative to violent games marketed to youth. Roy Guzman, director of English youth ministry at St. John's Cathedral in Fresno and father of children ages 11 and 13, says parents often vent their frustrations over youth playing violent video games. "You take a character in a video game into the crime place -- and you're shooting at police, you're robbing from people, you're doing all of these negative things," Guz- man says. "What do you think hap- pens when a kid walks out of the arcade?" he says. "It's poisoning the mind." Guzman says he monitors the games played by his children on computers and consoles. "They play activity learning games, where they learn by faith," he says. Rob Manley, director of the junior-high youth program at NorthPointe Community Church in northwest Fresno, says game developers have their work cut out for them with the expansion of religious-based video games. "Unfortunately with the Christian market, it's usually playing catch-up with the quality of the games," Manley says. "It's really hard to play catch-up because technology is changing all of the time." The success or failure rests in the hands of game-users, Manley says. "Whether it's good or bad, kids know," he says. "It's a tough thing with kids because they expect things to be the highest quality." The reporter can be reached at rorozco@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6304. Advertisements Top jobs TEACHER P/T School age 12 ECE Units, Int... GENERAL DELIVERIES $1,000+/WK FT, local,... JOB OPPORTUNITIES Beverly HealthCare & T... WAREHOUSE/DELIVERY DRIVER, entry level, ... RN or LVN Performs UR/CM or DZ MGMT. Val... DRY CLEANER. F/T Will train. for the Fre... MASSAGE THERAPIST MANICURIST Booth renta... Loan Officer American AgCredit, a fast p... TRUCK DRIVER CLASS "A" DRIVERS Immed o... INSURANCE -- Be in business for yourself,... SALES ADMISSIONS ADVISOR (MARKETING) Enr... Receptionist/Office Clerk Fast paced, la... DISTRICT SALES MANAGER- Fresno Our Ideal... Accounting: California Armenian Home is ... Packinghouse Manager Agricultural Compan... Construction Superintendent high volume ... Quality Control Cold Storage Supervisor ... Electrical Engineer 2 yrs. PLC prog. exp... DIETARY SERVICE MANAGER Exp in SNF setti... MEDICAL ASSIST Clovis FP seeking FT/PT f... Holiday Pools

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Source: The Fresno Bee

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