A new Christian game company was formally announced last Friday showing that the Christian entertainment industry is moving forward. Digital Praise has a mission to battle the violent and sexual content of most popular games today by promoting virtues and values found in the Gospel like forgiveness and kindness through games equally exciting and engaging as secular best-sellers.
"Digital Praise is founded on the principle that fun, exciting computer games don't need to be flooded with violence, sex, hate or images of horror," said Tom Bean, president and CEO of Digital Praise. "Our goal is to produce top-quality gaming titles that promote positive values while providing hours of exciting game play that will keep players coming back for more."
Along with titles released under the Digital Praise brand, the company develops games for third parties. Currently the company is working on a series of interactive games based on Focus on the Family’s “Adventures in Odyssey” radio program. Digital Praise has secured the electronic rights to the world-renowned show which gets over 1.2 million listeners a day. The first two computer game titles based on the show is expected to be announced this week at the Christian Booksellers Association International 2004 convention.
The team of computer gaming industry heavy weights assembled by Digital Praise has released over 20 popular game titles among them including legends like Carmen Sandiego, Reader Rabbit and Oregon Trail. Peter Fokos, CTO of Digital Praise who has worked with industry giants The Learning Company and Disney Interactive, said, “We've pulled together a group of developers, producers, artists and audio engineers as fine as any I've ever worked with. This is the kind of group that will keep producing award-winning titles and best sellers."
Other companies such as Big Idea and N’Lightning along with Digital Praise are at the forefront of the Christian effort to debunk the idea that games need violence, horror, and sexuality for the players to enjoy.
"N'Lightning products have received enormous praise from all parts of the world for their challenging play, innovative stories, and overall creative quality -- proving that Christian titles can have you on the edge of your seat," said Ralph Bagley, CEO of N'Lightning Software Development. "Families, in increasing numbers, are saying no to entertainment products that undermine the values they consider essential. In the years to come, the current vanguard of Christian computer game publishers is certain to emerge as an important voice in the entertainment software industry."
