Most video game developers would love to have their products on Wal-Mart's shelves. But Ralph Bagley will wait until the giant retailer creates a separate section for inspirational games.
"I won't put it in Wal-Mart next to Doom and Quake," said Bagley, chief executive of N'Lightning Software, referring to two popular but violent video games rated M for mature audiences.
Bagley's Christian-themed games are all about fighting evil. In Catechumen, the object is to battle demon-possessed Roman soldiers "to turn them from darkness to light." In Ominous Horizons, the player "is called upon to once again free the world of evil and return the Bible to Gutenberg."
"The Bible is full of great game ideas," said Bagley, also a minister in the Church of God in Christ in Medford, Ore. "Christian history is so rich and so dramatic in some areas for the next 20 years we have all the game concepts we need."
The question is whether such games can compete with mainstream titles that have attracted millions of players and made the video-game industry a multibillion-dollar enterprise.
So far, they are a tiny niche without a major hit to compete with mainstream games, and few resources to develop and market their games. They rely instead on online sales, specialty Christian stores and word of mouth to build a following.
St. Petersburg Times
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