Kotaku
I just finished up a story for the Rocky about upcoming computer game Left Behind: Eternal Forces and how it fits into the whole Agenda Gaming movement.
Essentially, the game sort of falls in the grey area between game for fun and games that are designed to push an agenda. That's because while it does profess to have an ideology that it is pushing, it doesn't really go far enough to push it. For instance, the prayer in the game, which revive units' flagging "spirit", is essentially generic. Georgia Tech Prof. Ian Bogost explains it best:
"It could be Islamic or Judaic," he said. "Why didn't they make a game where you live that life (of an unbeliever) and then you discover at the Rapture what side you end up on? "The fear that I have is that they are confused about whether they are making a game about this perspective or if it's a game with a Christian skin." ... "My guess is that they didn't want to go over the top with the religion for fear people would reject the game," he said. "If there is an agenda piece inside the game it's the idea of spirit and the power of prayer. The mechanics of the game are trying to make an argument about the way the world works."
To make matters more complicated, the people behind the game are sort of backing away from classifying the game as a true agenda title.
"Do we have a full-blown political agenda? No. What we are really trying to do is make a fun game," said Left Behind Games associate producer Greg Bauman. "We are a for-profit company, but we have a ministry heart."
But no matter how you slice it, the game will likely be one of the first major computer or video game designed to push a specific agenda and whether you agree with the agenda or not, it can't help but lend some credibility to computer and video games as legitimate means of communicating about important issues.
Video Game Evangalism [Rocky Mountain News]
