Even the most hard-core gamers are sounding the alarm about the rise in the number of satanically-themed video games that target God and Christianity, invite players to make pacts with the devil, and elevate Satan to hero status.
“This has been going on for the last 10 years, but especially in the most recent games,” said Lance Christian, 32, of Alton, Illinois who has been an avid gamer for most of his life.
For instance, in one game, players kill the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael before going on to destroy God. Another game requires players to sell their soul to the devil and rewards them for “killing unbaptized infants.”
All of these games seem to have one central theme – God is the enemy and the devil is the hero. And they do nothing to hide it. One game guide glibly states: “The Judeo-Christian God is portrayed as the prominent villain in the series . . . “
“This is just the tip of the iceberg in what I have discovered,” Mr. Christian said. “I feel that the devil has a new tool to work with in this age of technology, and the majority of adults in a position of responsibility are left in the dark.”
His list of the most egregious games includes:
• Tecmo’s Deception: Invitation To Darkness (Playstation) – Players “make an unholy pact and sell their soul to Satan in exchange for power” with the object of the game being to ensure the resurrection of Satan and obtain his power. (This game is rated “T” for teens.)
• Nocturne (Playstation 2): A game in which the hero (a demon) destroys the three Archangels St. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, then goes on to destroy God.
• Shadow Hearts (Playstation 2): The hero uses his power to intercept and destroy God and “save the world.” (Some games in this series are rated “T”.)
• Dragon’s Age Origins (Playstation 3/Xbox 360): The game revolves around the story of God going mad and cursing the world. A witch attacks believers and players can “have sex” with her in a pagan act called “blood magic” so she can “give birth to a god.” Another scenario allows players to have sex with a demon in exchange for a boy’s soul.
Other games with satanic themes are Dante’s Inferno, Guitar Hero, Devil Summoner, Koudelka, Trapt, Bayonetta, and Darksiders.
Game publishers are cashing in on the satanic, anti-Catholic and the general anti-religion content themes and using them as a draw for buyers. For instance, Electronic Arts launched a catchy ad campaign to sell its new hell-inspired game, Dante’s Inferno.
Buyers interested in the game were greeted at the site by a phony new game called, “Mass: We Pray.” When they clicked on the link, they were declared a heretic and re-routed to Dante’s Inferno. After ordering, fans were offered a “Number of the Beast” discount of $6.66. The same game was advertised during the Super Bowl with the teaser, “Hell awaits.”
Game publishers such as Electronic Arts and Midway Games have not responded to The Bulletin’s requests for comment.
Even though most of these videos are rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) as “M” for mature audiences, many are rated “T” for teens. But regardless of the ratings, they can easily fall into the hands of children from older siblings or parents, Mr. Christian says, and points to a recent YouTube video of an eight year-old playing a popular adult Satanic-themed game.
Paul Bury, editor of Family Friendly Gaming said the envelope is definitely being pushed with these games. “Role playing games (RPGs) have progressively gotten worse over the years,” he said. “It is difficult to find a role playing game that is not ‘T’. . . . There have been some ‘M’ rated ones where all kinds of decadence is allowed.”
Via The Bulletin, “Philadephia’s Family Newspaper.”
I just can say this as both christian and a gamer, just like anime and reality, both are different and can’t be mixed, so do videogames and religion. Such long debate like this is unnecessary, because this king of argument is like trying to say “Water is better than oil” or vice versa.
As a christian, i play nocturne, devil summoner, and other SMT series and i’d say myself they were pretty good. Sure nocturne’s concept is more like for demon to aid against god (i use small ‘G’ because the god here which they say YHWH is just a character, not reality, just like sometime you put a real life person into videogame).
What i recommend is just don’t mix them up, doing like this is like mixing water with oil, which is obviously impossible.
And last thing, do you guys really give impression for christian or people with religion are better than atheists? For me, i’ll give a big no, they’re the same and they’re even.
Among the magnitude of posts, my opinion.
I wanted to say that God and the Devil are on opposite ends of the pole, but representing something greater. Where, God = obedient people; and the Devil = disobedient people (teenagers). This means that developers are making the games as a medium to target younger individuals, such as teenagers. Which just happens to be the best time to “hook” people into the gaming industry. The developers are not choosing to go against god, but are just siding with the mindset of an average teenager, being rebellious and all.
I am religious (Roman Catholic) and I strongly believe there is a lack of understanding on both sides. A perfect example is from Dante’s Inferno when Dante goes “But the pope says we’ve been absolved from all our sins” when his verdict is hell. Many religious people do not UNDERSTAND what they are doing. God is about love, peace and understanding, forgive your fellow man. Where in the Bible did Jesus ever say, you are pagans, you are sinners I will kill you because you deserve it. Before HIS passion, when Peter sliced of a guard’s ear, Jesus chastised Peter for doing so and heal the guard. Another example is from I had from during mass. The Father was saying that the new sin of this age is that is the loss of knowledge of sin. People do not understand right from wrong anymore and that is why we have all these debates. Lastly this goes back to the religious people. The Father said that many Christian’s do not understand their own religion. They go to Church without actually listening to the preacher; just there to pay their dues. It’s something they HAVE to do, but do not WHY they are going then thinking they are better, go around preaching when their knowledge is no different from those who don’t go to church. Too many people blindly follow. The best example the Father gave was the parking lot. God is all about forgive, patience and love. But when you leaving the church, you get into fights, honk your horn at your fellow parishioners and some even give others the finger. Why are you even going to church if you cannot even follow the doctrine? The only thing I would say is the young people who cannot completely comprehend what they are playing may misunderstand the concept of God and Satan.
I find it funny that the writer complained about the Hitoshura’s fall into true demonhood, but I also find it weird in his mention that you kick the asses of the three major Arc Angels.
Where, right before that boss fight you run through a dungeon filled with Angels who have mercilessly slaughtered the closest analogy to humans the Vortex world had, because they had a dream of equality.
So, angels slaughtering people who want to better the world < A human who falls into demonhood to end an eternal cycle of suffering, strife and sacrifice.
well well well the church and his declaration of… ALL THE THINGS THAT DON COME FROM US ARE EVIL!
first of… what happen to THE INQUISITION and all those scientist they burn on the stik… second yea they are losing popularity amount the young, but who fault is theirs whit that lame aptitude about everything ben bad. I mean we all believe in something and is not Catholicisms necessary, there is a lot of different cultures in the world and all have some dogma, so we have to put things right all the people in the world don’t share the same beliefs.
SO f♥♥k OF RAZINGER YOU WERE A NAZI REMEMBER!