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Parenting, Video Games, the Christian Worldview

By Eric Fisher

The days of Doom are long behind us, and the content of video games has come a long way since then. The Christian community has even felt this movement within video games. I recently published an article that covered the idea of pastors playing violent video games like Halo and Call of Duty. But, the questions come when those games are brought into the home and played by children day in and out. As the son of a mother who let her children play video games growing up (and still does), I had the chance to ask her how she, as a mother bent on serving Christ to the best of her ability, chose to raise her kids with regards to gaming. This is what I gathered.

Growing up, my mother watched her children, namely her two boys, progress onto more and more boyish trends, and as almost every mother can attest to, these trends grow in violence. For me, it was things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. My mother told me that it wasn’t the trends themselves that she had a problem with, but how they might influence me personally. As a child, I loved the Turtles, almost religiously. I would watch episodes and episodes, but I wouldn’t take it too far apparently. Power Rangers was a different story. While I never did anything blatantly bad, my mother saw that Power Rangers had a more negative effect on me than the Turtles. Therefore, she made executive decisions and limited my exposure to Power Rangers.

My story is only one, though. The question must be asked whether it is theologically and ideologically possible to juxtapose violent video games and the Christian worldview. As mentioned earlier, there are stories of video games present in the church. I can remember many youth group sessions comprised of pizza, soda, movies, and Halo. Is that good, though? There are arguments saying this type of fellowship can be a good thing, sort of in the same way that Christians argue for R-rated movies since they’re intended for entertainment purposes. The common thread in these two arguments is that the viewer/player is responsible for her reaction to whatever media she is being exposed to. With children, it’s a different matter; parents are responsible for their kids’ reactions (even though every child might disagree).

For my mother, it was about where the heart is. If things obviate a negative response from your children, then have no qualms about taking it away or limiting time spent absorbing it. She recommends literally watching your kids after they play games that you’re not too comfortable with. Completely eradicating everything of questionable content in your household might be ideal, but it’s not very practical, as the world will allow your children plenty experience outside of your house. Parents, don’t’ be afraid to be selective over what your kids play, but remember that a Christ-centered lesson can be taught from just about anything. Recognize the varying degrees of content, too. The ESRB is a great and easy tool to generalize gaming limits for your children. For instance, remember that games rated “M” by the ESRB are not available for purchase by anyone under the age of 17.

There really is no science to judging what is okay for children to play, and as the gaming industry continues to grow in both content and technology, it becomes harder to tell what should be permissible and what shouldn’t. The best advice is to just be involved. That looks different for everybody, but it’s the first step.

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The Next Generation

by Richard Abanes
copyright 2009

Richard Abanes is an award-winning and bestelling author of twenty books. His newest title is Religions of the Stars: What Hollywood Believes and How It Affects You. The above article is an updated/revised excerpt from his book What Every Parent Needs to Know About Video Games.

Hollywood, radio, music, and theater are all being pushed aside by a relatively new form of entertainment—video games. They have grown into what is perhaps the most powerful pop-culture force in recent memory. At our fingertips—literally—we now have a host of other worlds in space, different dimensions of time, and alternate realties that can be explored at our leisure. And their numbers continue to increase at an astonishing rate. As far back as 2006, Steve Schur—worldwide music and marketing executive for EA Games—suggested that video games had become “what MTV used to be.” Like the popular television music channel, video games were at that time already being accepted as hip, current, the purveyors of new trends, and “cool.”

You’ve Come A Long Way Baby

Video games can no longer be thought of as little more than meaningless distractions designed to fill the playtime of children. In the words of Benjamin Porcari—founder of IBC Digital (the company that was in charge of content or MTV2’s Video Mods program c. 2003-2005, six episodes)—“More sophisticated games and exciting content have pushed games out into the mainstream of entertainment.” Not surprisingly, it has been noted that games “represent, financially, the highest growth area in the entertainment business.”

Signs of the growing popularity and influence of the ever-maturing video game industry are everywhere. For example, video game conventions and competitions are now common—as are video game sporting events. Yes, I said sporting events. Playing video games has become so competitive that it has achieved a legitimate sports status on an international level (complete with large monetary prizes). It is very possible that one day such “e-sports” could actually turn into an Olympic event in the not too distant future. (Can you imagine the USA Rebels battling the Korean National Guards for a gold medal?)

That’s Not All

Predictably, many other video-game-related forms of entertainment have emerged. Concerts featuring the music from video games are now performed by “top orchestras and choirs combined with video footage, lasers, lights, and live action to create an explosive and unique entertainment experience.” The cable channel Game Tap (created by Turner broadcasting) is devoted exclusively to video games. And countless major music bands and recording artists are lending their voices and compositions to video games.

But here’s the real pop-culture kicker—there are now even a number of Christian video games beginning to take an appearance and get some press. THANK GOD! Two of the earliest ones to draw major media attention were Armageddon (a shooter game) and Left Behind: Eternal Forces, which was described as a “real-time strategy game based on he bestselling books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.” W00T! Sounds good to me. According to Garland Wong, president of the company that worked on Armageddon, there’s a huge potential or Christian content” in video games—even mature/violent content that includes war, bloodshed, and frightening imagery. As Wong says, “We’re trying g to approach it from a realistic perspective.”

Troy Lyndon of Left Behind Games agrees that a realistic, contemporary, and provocative approach is the way to go: “The only way Christian gaming will appeal to the mass market will be if we make quality games and create games with stimulating points that allow gamers to think for themselves without insulting their intelligence or attempting to outright convert them.”

Clearly video games have become big business. In fact, several large corporations now use in-game product placement to sell their wares—with great success. This tactic (known as “advertgaming”) has garnered hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for corporations using it. But such success has not come without significant controversy.

The Fly in the Warp Drive

Image-based video games (as opposed to text-based games) were controversial the instant the hit the entertainment scene. What were these games? Why were kids so attracted to them? How might they benefit—or harm—children? Forward-thinking observers of pop culture were enthused about the new avenue of entertainment and expressed excitement about might be down the road. Others, however, were not only wary, but arguably less than kind. The renowned child behaviorist, Dr. Benjamin Spock, for instance, snubbed video games utterly by labeling them nothing but a “colossal waste of time.” (Hmmmm, fascinating).

But Dr. Spock's swipe at video games is nothing compared to what we are seeing today with books being written about how they can brainwash kids, destroy the mind (of adults and children alike), are physically addictive (like alcohol and drugs), and are definitively the cause of all manner of evil, including homicide! (Excuse me for a moment, but. . . . ROFL). Interestingly, most of the people making these claims have rarely, if ever actually, played video games or studied the issues in a non-agenda driven way. (This is a personal opinion based on my research of these critics and their “evidence”—so please do not send me any hate mail).

But things are changing now as young video gamers are grow up and slowly taking into their hands the reins of cultural power and gain more influence in the media. (Can I get another W00T?) But it has not been, and probably will not be, an easy transition. John Davison, editorial director for Ziff Davis’s Game Group, has rightly noted: “Like comic books, and hip-hop music before them, video games are currently fueling a firestorm of media controversy.”

Here Comes the Future

Hopefully, in time, this war between the generation that has been and the generation that is coming, will subside, and a new era of peaceful co-existence between those who game and those who don’t game will dawn. This is what we must look toward, and strive after, especially now that so many new forms of creativity are spring from video games. For instance, we now have the new entertainment genre called machinima (from the words “machine cinema” or “machine animation”). This consists of taking video footage from a game and adding original dialogue to the footage that results from player-controlled movements. An Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences has even been formed, complete with an annual machinima arts festival.

There is also a new kind of photography being noticed that is based on screenshots of in-game scenes (such as landscapes, battles, and character interactions) that a player can manipulate/create: “There is light and shadow, lines, curves, patterns, balance, close-ups, architecture, nature and many other elements of photography. . . . Players can actually have a chance to ‘compose’ photos and even capture moments of emotion decay, ruin, humanity.”

All of this is happening as the generation raised on video games moves forward into the twenty-first century and takes its rightful place in the world. The era of video games has arrived. Indeed, we are already deeply in the folds of its wonderful embrace. To derive benefit from it, one need only use a little caution and knowledge about what is out there (hint to parents: always read the ESRB maturity-rating slapped on every video game box).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play the massively multiplayer internet spaceship game, Eve Online. I need to re-fit a few of my battleships and disperse them throughout the main space stations in my home region of Tribute. This is the first chance I’ve had to re-stock my hangars since returning with my alliance, Morsus Mihi, to the Northern reaches of Eve’s universe, after our coalition’s victory over the long-despised alliance called Band of Brothers (a.k.a. Kenzoku). It was a war of epic proportions!

Why would anyone think that video games are silly?

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