The BBC has an interesting story up on the furor surrounding the release of Christian video game Left Behind: Eternal Forces. An alliance of liberal groups is trying to get Wal-Mart, among other retailers, to stop selling the game.

The story includes quotes Talk2Action, the Left Behind folks and me. I managed to stay above the finger-pointing, or at least tried to, and concentrated on pointing out that this is proof that games can deal with meaningful messages without trivializing them.

Mr Crecente, the games writer, has not seen Quest for Bush (also known as Night of Bush Hunting, the literal translation of its Arabic title).

But he says both it and Left Behind: Eternal Forces are part of an effort in the gaming world to deal with important issues.

"Whenever games take on something important, they are accused of trivialising the subject," he says.

"This shows that video games have gotten past the birthing pains. They are no longer just about amusing people, but about trying to send a message."

It's a short, though interesting read, if you have a second. Brian Crecente

Christian video game draws anger [BBC]

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