Christian Gaming Podcast Episode 24 Show Notes
Welcome to Episode 24 of Christian Gaming Podcast!
The Gaming Podcast focused on putting God before gaming, being more mindful of our faith while we are gaming, Sharing faith based commentary gaming news, and more!
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It is December 17 2019!
I am your host Rainna SwiftSage
Jesus replied to the Devil in Matthew 4:4 "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” that so make sure you get your Bible study on before you hop in game!
What did I learn in the bible this week?
Favorite Bible Verse?
Daily Bread / Watch out for that poll hybrid.
The development of the game "I am Jesus Christ" was announced last week and with the announcement came a flood of opinion, and in my opinion, rightly so.
The game is launching from steam and from their steam page it describes itself as “a realistic simulator game inspired by stories from the New Testament of the Bible”.
The About section for the game says, “Get into old times and follow the same path
of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago.”
It is said to be covering “the period from the Baptizing of Jesus Christ to Resurrection.” They pose the question, “Have you ever wondered to be like Him - one of the most privileged and powerful people in the world?” Even that statement made me wince because Jesus did not roam this earth with a haughty spirit. He did not perform miracles to gain wealth and power on this earth. Everything he did was for the glory of God.
In Phillipians 2:6-7
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
They go further by adding “Check if you can perform all famous miracles from the Bible like Jesus Christ. It is a simulation game and you can try to save the world as He did. Are you ready to fight with Satan in the desert, exorcising demons and curing sick people? Or calm the storm in the sea?”
“Pray like Him to get your Holy Spirit's power and help people around you. Fight with evil, make miracles, resurrect dead, feel and act like Him.
If you a game-lover, why not get to know His pass, His challenges, His sufferings, and His power!”
This game intro feels like it was just put together haphazardly. There are typos , grammar is wonky, they use a lot of Christian buzzwords and they use them wrong.
There are no user reviews, because this game hasn't been released yet.
RELEASE DATE:Coming Soon
DEVELOPER:SimulaM
PUBLISHER:PlayWay S.A.
According to Steam PlayWay is one of the leading producers and publishers of PC, console and mobile games in Poland.
I did some digging and it looks like they have a huge collection of simulator game trailers on youtube. So many! They are all listed on steam as “coming soon” but none have been released yet. They have a Bum simulator, a priest simulator trailer, a drug dealer simulator, a handyman simulator, and I am your president just to name a few. They posted all of these to Youtube in January of 2019. When you click the links to the games, it takes you to the steam pages of each game where there are no release dates. A couple titles you might recognize that is under The Play Way Publisher is House Flipper and a car mechanic simulator. They just released a Cooking Simulator game this past June.
As for the developer, SimulaM ? When you google them you will find the game “I am Jesus” steam store page, and a Company fact sheet with the Jesus Simulator Game being the only game listed . You will find many articles saying he has caused a stir with the announcement of this game. You can see more screenshots on the steam pages showing that the game will also include biblical events like the last supper, washing of peter's feet, and casting out demons.
In this Jesus simulator game, I'm going to continue to call it that because I don’t like the actual title... we are given the opportunity to heal a blind old woman. After doing so, they flash a polaroid style picture with the bible verse that is meant to accompany it on the bottom of the picture. The first bible verse that appears is a portion of Mathew 21:14
“The blind and the lame came to him” (at the temple, and he healed them.) I'm not sure why they don't put the entire verse on any of the pictures….
In the next scene the player playing as Jesus fills a man's bucket with fish . A bible opens and there is a polaroid of the man with the bucket of fish full with the bible verse :
John 6:35 New King James Version (NKJV)
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
The next scene we are looking through the eyes of the games depiction of Jesus at stormy waters and we look down to see we are indeed walking on water and then they show our hands raise up and we calm the storm while also targeting a sale boat which is brought from a rocking chaotic situation to a coming one.
Then the bible appears and the bible verse Mark 4:41 is scribbled on the bottom the polaroid picture . It says “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
The games trailer ends with the crucifiction , showing our view from the cross looking at our hands with nails in them then across on the other two men being crucified with us on the cross. Then the next scene shows us in first person, Jesus rising off of where we lay, and raising his hands and moving the rock away from the tomb.
Each time we play Jesus in the game and perform a miracle , a bar on the left with a glowing gold bar and a red heart at the bottom of it , is drained. When Jesus (played by us) rises from the tomb our bar is filled up again….
I'm going to share my thoughts on this and try to see the pros and cons.
Pros:
The images and actions so far shown in the Game trailer are ones I can get behind. I subscribe to the idea that we can become what we behold.
In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it states
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Our eyes are also part of our bodies, so anytime I sit down to watch something or play something I am very aware of what I am choosing to put in my body via my eyes. So , knowing this you can see why I lean toward the visuals of this game and the actions being performed in this game far exceed those that players partake in when they play games like Grand Theft Auto. Jesus spoke to prostitutes and shared with them the love of God, he did not beat them down in the streets to steal their money.
It may expose people to scripture by adding bible verses to each action if done like the trailer shows.
It may expose people to who Jesus really was by having them reenact biblical events.
It may inspire people to read the Bible when they find out there are so many great stories and lessons to be learned and read in the bible.
Perhaps the developer will also become closer to God through this games development. No one is out of God's reach so if this game can be used to introduce people to the Bible and to the Gospel , then I see that as a win.
I am thankful the=at they appear to be doing this simulator with some sort of respect by having the player in the game actually performing events out of the bible instead of having Jesus doing sinful things.
The Cons.
The title is a huge Con to me.
“I am Jesus Christ” should seem blasphemous the minute it leaves your lips. It sounds just like the new age message that is seeping into Christian Churches , where they remove the importance of Jesus Christ by whittling him down to the term Christ Consciousness. With this practice they teach that any of us can unlock the abilities that Jesus possessed on earth. So you can see that having this title is planting a seed of equality with Christ. We are not Christs Equal, We are cured by Christ, Saved by Christ, but not little mini Christs running around. We are children of God.
In Philippians 2:5-7 New International Version (NIV) it states:
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus
We are called to have the same mindset, not call ourselves mini Christs.
In Philippians 4:13 Paul writes,
“13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
It is our relationship with Jesus that makes this happen by allowing our strength to flourish even during times where we might otherwise feel weak without him.
It doesn't mean that we somehow become like Christ and zip off doing Christ-like things without Christ present inside of us as many new Age teachings proclaim and have been seen seeping into our churches.
The first thing I thought when I saw this games announcement, was “WHY have us playing the role of Jesus? Why not have us be a by-stander witnessing the glory of God instead of being God.”
Well, after researching the publisher and the developer I think I found the answer to my own question. I don’t think they had nefarious intentions in having us, the gamer play as Jesus.
I think it was pure ignorance on their behalf regarding how this could be viewed sacrilegious in nature regarding this particular aspect of the game.
I say this because the publisher has a huge list of simulator games they have scheduled to release. In a list that consists of a Cooking Simulator, Mechanic Simulator, Priest simulator, and a President simulator, the fact they landed on a Jesus Simulator doesn't seem too far out of their scope of simulator interests .
I definitely don't agree with it, but I can see how they landed on this path, and I wonder if they intend to add other Gods that other religions worship to their list. I'd be interested to see how well that goes over with those religious groups.
I tried to think of other ways they could go about this game to remove the fact we are indeed playing a Jesus Simulator. I think they could have had it be a game where we witness the biblical events and have to enter in the bible verses where those events took place or answer other questions about the event to progress.
They could have done a disciple simulator and witness the “Power of Jesus”.
I think the best way to do a Jesus Simulator is to allow us to to create our own avatar and then have us be able to make biblically based choices . I would call it the WWJD simulator and poof there ya go.
My overall take on the game is that I'm not sold on the idea of having a Jesus Simulator in this form. The irony, imo, is that we are all called to be Jesus Simulators as Christians in this real world where we keep our name but our actions are to resemble that of Jesus Christ. We are to be walking billboards for God because we may be the only bible people read and the only “simulation” of Jesus they have come in contact with.
Watch out for that poll Portion
A Christian Gaming Podcast @A_CGPodcast
So now that you've had some time to think about this game called "I am Jesus Christ" with a release date of "Coming Soon" on steam...Share your thoughts on the show!? Answer the poll or comment below ! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1198970/I_Am_Jesus_Christ/…
It's Sacrilegious...27%
Excited to play it!! 0%
Don't care either way 18%
I'll decide when it's done 55%
Gaming News
Games that don't make you feel like you're compromising our faith!
Gaming News
Gaming/Christian Info
Heads up for parents!
Amazon is selling a book titled A Children's Book of Demons.
On the Amazon web page, its description reads: "Don't want to take out the trash tonight? Maybe you're swimming in homework? Perhaps that big bully is being a real drag? Well, grab your coloured pencils and sigil drawing skills and dial-up some demons! But be careful, even if these spirits are more silly than scary they are still demons."
Definition of sigil according to the Merriam Webster's dictionary is 1 : seal, signet. 2 : a sign, word, or device held to have occult power in astrology or magic.
In typical Amazon fashion, when you are looking at one item, you are suggested another item and this article found on CBN.com pointed out that Amazon also suggests you purchase another book for your kids titled Demon and Devil Stories for Kids: Sixteen Short Stories About Demons and Devils for Children.
The description also reads: "Sixteen short stories about demons and devils are selected from several popular books for children. These tales are designed to be fascinating reading for young children."
1 Timothy 4:1 says “ The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”
Too often I hear people say “Thats being legalistic when they are warned about the many ways the devil has for us to be distracted and and infected with sin. Please use discernment and ask yourself if intaking certain content is supported by our Lord Jesus Christ and if it gives him glory.
In an article by Pc Gamer, they state
“At first Valve didn't reveal any specifics or name any companies,
but it did indirectly confirm that Dagestan wasn't the only publisher involved, saying that the removals were the result of bad behavior on the part of multiple publishers. "We recently discovered a handful of partners that were abusing some Steamworks tools," a rep explained. "We emailed all the affected partners."
It's a bit like a Steam version of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: Some of the connections in the "related games" lists aren't immediately obvious, but the steps do lead from one point to the next, and Frock appears to be onto something. A cached version of the Dagestan Technology Steam Curator page lists 48 games and 4 DLCs, but the live page is now empty.
PC Gamer Updated their article with :
Update: Shortly after our story went up, developer Alexandra Frock noted on Twitter that "a good chunk" of the removed games were linked to a single Russian publisher, Dagestan Technology, that appeared to be operating under a large number of different names. Selecting "related apps" for individual listings of banned games reveals how they're connected: Sly Pigs, for instance, is five steps removed from Running Sausage, but only two from BattleStar Mazay.
Who: Riot
What:
League of Legends studio Riot Games recently announced that it plans to expand outside of the MOBA League of Legends
It plans to develop games in other genres including a fighting game, an FPS, a card game, and even a management sim.
They also want to attract more attention to the existing League of Legends with a new publishing label called Riot Forge
On their website https://riotforgegames.com/ they say "We’re a player- and developer-focused publisher; our mission is to bring awesome new League of Legends games to players by partnering with experienced and talented developers from around the world.”
Geoff Keighley said on Twitter “ @leagueoflegends is one of the biggest franchises in gaming and it's coming to #TheGameAwards next Thursday night. Join a @riotforge developer at #TheGameAwards for the global announcement of a brand new game.
This takes place December 12, beginning at 5:30 pm PT/8:30 pm ET.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Game Of The Year · Activision, From Software
Apex Legends
Multiplayer Game · Electronic Arts, Respawn Entertainment
Fortnite
Ongoing Game · Epic Games
Mads Mikkelsen
Performance · Death Stranding
Kyle Giersdorf
ESports Player
Shroud
Content Creator of the Year
Death Stranding
Score/Soundtrack · Sony Interactive Entertainment, Kojima Productions
Call of Duty: Mobile
Mobile Game · Activision, TiMi Studios
Luigi's Mansion 3
Family Game · Nintendo, Next Level Games
G2 Esports
ESports Team
Destiny 2
Community Support · Bungie
Disco Elysium
Narrative · ZA/UM
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Sports/Racing Game · Activision, Beenox
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Fighting Game · Nintendo, BANDAI NAMCO Studios, Sora Ltd.
Gris
Games for Impact · Devolver Digital, Nomada Studio
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Action/Adventure · Activision, From Software
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Audio Design · Activision, Infinity Ward
Control
Art Direction · Remedy Entertainment, 505 Games
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Studio/Game Direction · Death Stranding
Kojima Productions
Studio/Game Direction · Death Stranding
2019 League of Legends World Championship
Best ESports Event
Danny Sørensen
Best ESports Coach
Disco Elysium
Debut Indie Game · ZA/UM
Sjokz
Best ESports Host
Beat Saber
VR Game · Beat Games
League of Legends
ESports Game · Riot Games
Disco Elysium
Independent Game · ZA/UM
Disco Elysium
Role Playing Game · ZA/UM
Devil May Cry 5
Action Game · Capcom
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Strategy Game · Nintendo, Koei Tecmo, Intelligent Systems
It was announced on www.wowhead.com that WoW® Classic: Paid Character Transfers Now Available for 25$!
Each transfer has a ninety-day cooldown.
Gold transfer limits specific level ranges are as follows:
Level 1-30 can transfer with up to 100 gold
Level 31-50 can transfer with up to 500 gold
Level 51-60 can transfer with up to 2000 gold
Characters cannot transfer from PvE realms to PvP Realms and RP realms cannot transfer to RP-PvP realms.
King’s Council Gives Players a Voice to Share Insights and Feedback, Helping Guide Best Possible Mobile Advertising Experience
On
In a post on investor.activision.com
“Activision Blizzard Media today announced the launch of King’s Council, a player research community comprised of a limited selection of Activision Blizzard’s most active and engaged players. Activision Blizzard Media has launched King’s Council to act as the voice of the player as it evaluates opportunities with brands and advertisers. The feedback shared will allow Activision Blizzard Media and its commercial partners to optimize and test new advertising offerings, better understand players and generate fast and meaningful insights on integrated marketing and advertising as well as the mobile games industry overall.”
HOT TAKE HEADLINES!
Where I share the headline titles that say everything you need to know !
Stadia Tweeted out “Grab some new games to play across your favorite screens! Borderlands 3, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, and Ghost Recon Breakpoint are available this week on Stadia.
Pc Gamer Tweeted This 17-inch gaming laptop with an AMD Ryzen is on sale for $599
The Microsoft Store is selling the Asus TUF Gaming FX705DY-EH53 for just $599 right now, which is $100 off its list price, and several hundred dollars below what it sold for on Amazon just a few short weeks ago.
IGN@IGN Tweeted
Mark Hamill and Ninja will stream Fortnite this week to show off the game's new The Rise of Skywalker update. http://bit.ly/2PugMYY
The stream will take place on December 19, 2019, presumably hosted on Ninja’s Mixer channel, but the time and place has yet to be announced.
Wowhead@Wowhead
Warcraft III: Reforged Release Date is January 28, 2020 https://wowhead.com/news=301323/warcraft-iii-reforged-release-date-is-january-28-2020
FREE TO PLAY FIESTA!
Overstep
A future sport of two 3-robot teams, entertaining the crowd on super-funded arenas. Combine acrobatic tricks with weapon mastery.
ALL REVIEWS:Mostly Positive (283) RELEASE DATE: Nov 22, 2019
DEVELOPER:Gamecan PUBLISHER:Gamecan
ABOUT THIS GAME
A future sport of two 3-robot teams, entertaining the crowd on super-funded arenas. Combine acrobatic tricks with weapon mastery. If you want high octane gameplay, look no further, tear through your enemies and earn the acclaim of the mega-corporations and fans around the world as you enter the arena. With highly mobile characters and weapons to suit all tastes, race through stunts earning Heat and kills to make your mark on the leaderboards.
More Details
- 3 versus 3 multiplayer- Practice mode
- One playable level
- One robot model with options for customisation
- One main Overstep game mode
- Freerunning movement mechanics
- Combat system with hitscan and projectile weapons
- In-game cosmetic purchases
Lore
Set in the year 2354, when humanity has spread to the stars, the vast, lawless frontier created by the rapid expansion has become uncontrollable. Civil unrest becomes too widespread for the G.S.O.P (Global Syndicate of Planets) to control. Joining forces with the galaxies seven largest corporations, they create a new type of game show called Overstep. A fight to the death, league-based system, Overstep is where the corporations battle to become top of the leader boards.
Using new advancements to artificial intelligence, the combatants in this new show use robots that can contain a human conscious. Called the Turing Automaton, these robots allow for the wars to rage with zero human casualties. Pro Gamers from all over the galaxy are sought to control these new machines and entertain the vast populations scattered across a thousand planets.
And this is where you, the player comes in. Take control of an automaton, choose your corporation (or not) and take center stage in a new sport for the modern citizen.
Current Epic Free Game
Free Period: December 12th-19th, 2019
The Escapists
You’ve landed yourself in prison again, and your only chance is to engineer an escape by any means necessary. How you do it is up to you! Why not cause a prison riot? Or dig a tunnel right under the walls of the prison? Or even steal a guard uniform to blend in with your captors?
The Wolf Among Us
This was added later during The Game Awards!
Based on the award-winning Fables comic books (DC Comics/Vertigo). As Bigby Wolf - THE big bad wolf - discover that a brutal, bloody murder is just a taste of things to come in a game series where your every decision can have enormous consequences.
MMO Watch!
Aima Wars: Steampunk & Orcs
You can save 40% off of this game right now so it only costs $5.99 on steam! It is normally $9.99 SPECIAL PROMOTION! Offer ends December 24
Game Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zZddhbDrSg
ALL REVIEWS:No user reviews
RELEASE DATE:Dec 17, 2019
DEVELOPER:DiP Online
PUBLISHER:DiP Online
Aima Wars: Steampunk & Orcs is the new standard in open-world and sandbox games. A world created by the civilization of the Ancients is filled with massive aerial battles between players, factions’ fleets and fire-breathing dragons.
Join the world of balloonists, explorers and adventurers. Create a character of one of the factions. Become a great commander of the Empire of humans or a mighty chief of the Union of orcs.
Unique airships and ships are at your disposal. They can extract resources and transport combat planes equipped with torpedoes, missiles and machine guns.
Capture the Bastions to tighten the grip of your guild on an area and use extracted and generated resources at your discretion.
Participate in a War event to earn some coins and get scarce resources or rare equipment.
Destroy enemy caravans. The holds of caravan ships are full of valuables.
Plan bold sorties into enemy territories using teleportation gates.
Level up your character and get rewards by unlocking achievements.
Build and upgrade own settlements or use production capacities of factional cities.
Become the best of the best, take the first lines in the rating and the whole world will know about your heroic deeds!
Community Spotlight
During my travels through the gaming community this weeks via social media, forums, and websites I have decided to share some of what I've Found with you! :)
Our failure of sin does not cause God to turn from us. He sent Jesus to redeem us from it. Yet often we run from him ashamed of our sin. He desires us to run after the connection with him and let Jesus work in us to make us NEW!
Three reasons artists often get stuck on a project:
1) We need to live more before trying to create more.
2) We don't feel 100% qualified or ready. No one ever is.
3) We approach our creativity alone when God invites us to enter into it together with Him.
Closing Thought
As we are going into our gaming realms this week, let us be intentional and mindful with our actions.
What’s something we can do to glorify God in and out of game?
Also, Lets keep our brothers and sisters all over the world in our prayers.
Send any prayer requests ( private or public) you'd like to share to:
AChristianGamingPodcast@gmail.com or tweet the show @A_CGPodcast!