Why God and Games Don’t Mix

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Written by BuckGB on February 11th, 2009

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Sierra's adventure Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned started out with vampires, but soon turned into a tale of the Knights Templar, the Cathars, the Holy Grail, and ultimately, a mystery about the supposed birth of Jesus Christ. It was the last adventure game Sierra ever published. A co-incidence?

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Religious zealots have started to recognize that games are not exactly religion friendly as exemplified by an article on the Christwire website entitled '˜Nintendo Wii Infects Kid with Strange Spirit'. It claims that (it is painfully obvious that modern gaming systems carry a spirit of violence on them that can infect your children!) So beware Wii owners you may be possessed by the devil.

What the zealots don't understand is that even though games don't have overt religious themes, many have a moral underpinning. The Ultima series in the 1980s and 1990s was famous for its moral quandaries which sat comfortably alongside the monster killing and treasure hunting. And Metal Gear Solid games would not be what they are without the mix of violence and morality lessons. Games hardly ever force you to kill '˜innocents' and invariably penalize the player if you do so.

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