And now for something actually worth something

The first video game I ever played was Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System when I was six years old. It ruined me. Since then, I have dreamt of little more than designing video games. I would draw levels on the back of my notebooks in third grade. I would write stories for class projects that were directly based on video games in fifth grade. By eighth grade, I had worked up a semi-original story to tell through a video game.

At the same time that I was test driving the idea of being a video game designer, I was coming closer to the Lord. I grew up in a Christian family, was saved in kindergarten, but it was not until 7^th grade that I began to take Jesus seriously and really begin to allow him to control my life. As the years went by and I matured in my faith, I began to consider what it would look like to combine my passion for interactive story telling and my passion for following Jesus and leading others to him. What if a Christian produced a video game of such high caliber as the Final Fantasy or Legend of Zelda series and told a part of the Truest Story?

We believe in a story. It is a story of love and of hate, of terrible war and beautiful peace. It is a story in which the hero humbled himself, allowing himself to be beaten and even killed for the love of his enemies, only to rise again, proving his power. And it is a story in which the hero ultimately asks for people to join in his story, fighting in his battles with his own power. What better basis for a video game story is there than that?

Many Christians have interpreted this as meaning that we should “video game-ify” the Bible, retelling the stories of Moses, David, or telling possible stories that unfold out of the mysteries of the book of Revelation. They create games in which the main character wears the armor of God and slings around “Smite” energy, causing enemies to drop to their knees and pray for salvation. Their attempts, while admirable and honoring to God, have been low budget, poorly presented, not marketed, and, frankly, quite unappealing. They sell in Christian bookstores only and the general public never sees them.

While Christian games have their place, I would rather work in an environment that pushes the limits of video games. I would like to be a part of a company that makes games that are not made only for Christians, but are made for the entire public. I want to make games that ask the players questions about life and purpose or show them a bit of truth. As a Christian, I do not believe it is imperative that I present a gospel message in every moment of the game. Rather, I would like to show truth through story, and story does not have to focus on Jesus, Christians, churches, or anything else expected. Rather, it can be told through talking animals, elves, and magical worlds.

From this framework, I have decided that I would like to work in a secular video game market, in order to do the most good, and, hopefully, further Christ’s kingdom. Being in a secular market positions me for three main goals. First, I want to act as a witness to the workers around me. Since high school, I have been passionate about spreading the gospel to those in my sphere of influence. This feeds into my second goal of being a voice against the wave of violence, dangerous escapism, and the waste of a potentially powerful medium. By spreading the gospel, I believe that the game industry can change from the bottom up. Designers will be less and less interested in creating these trashy games and be more interested in creating challenging stories and gameplay. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there will be a larger audience to whom to tell the Truth. The more people buy my games (hopefully), the more people will be led to think about the Truest Story in which we all play a part.

P.S. This is an essay I wrote for my Introduction to Electronic Media class and I hope to send it in for the National Association of Religious Broadcasters scholarship award. Critique is always nice, if you have it.