Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Playing Video Games With God

The last time I played video games regularly was in college. My roommate and I were addicted to strategy games and Tetris, and we played a lot of the early on-line MUDs. In fact, a friend of mine is now married to a woman he met playing on a MUD.

Since college, I've made a point of not playing video games very much. I haven't owned a game console, and only periodically try out free games from CNET on my Mac. One winter about six years ago I did purchase a game, Icewind Dale, and played it for a few weeks, but then bailed out on it because it was too addictive.

Now two things are inspiring me to reconsider playing video games. The first is Craig Detweilers new book
, Haloes and Avatars: Playing Video Games With God
(). It's made me start to think about video games theologically in the same way I already think about movies, novels, and music theologically.

Second, a friend is excited about the release of Starcraft II, and it's made me want to play it. It's the perfect kind of game for me to consider, I enjoy both the concept and the style of play.

My question is, do you play video games, and if you do, which are your favorites, what do you recommend, and how do you think about them in relation to your faith?

1 comment:

  1. I haven't played video games in a while, but back in the day the 'craft games, as well as Civilization were my bread and butter.
    I always thought the Civ series related to my faith in that you got a "God's eye" view of the growth of well... civilization, and that always got me thinking about he contingent nature of reality and the way things are. This in turn gets you asking that ol' Pastoral Care question, "Where is God in that?" Were trade routes through Israel a plan of God, or did a planning God come about because of trade routes? Why were God's chosen people always on the short end of the geopolitical stick, why did the philistines figure out better metallurgy first? etc
    As for the 'craft series I always preferred to be Zerg and Orc/Undead, I think that speaks to the Simultaneity of being saint and sinner.

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