Okay, I can see how someone might want to clean up GTA a bit, and eliminate some on the relatively unnecessary violence, and that'd eliminate a lot of the complaints by the Parents Against Everything That's Fun groups. And this guy obviously has the right idea - games should be fun. But to take the grand theft auto out of grand theft auto would leave us with... what?

Good idea !
I want to be able to burn people at the stake after a rapid trial where the judgment always ends up being "Guilty !".
I want to be able to catch thieves and chop their hands off (hear the screams and see the blood trail left on the sidewalk as the thief runs away hollering).
I want to be able to stone prostitutes and unfaithful women with a crowd of vindicative zealots (the more the merrier, right ?).
And, for five-halo glory, I want to overrun the heathen city with an army of Crusaders who cut down everyone with their Holy Swords, put the city to the torch, and leave God to sort out the innocent from the damned.

Yeah, I'd play that game too. Bring it on !

so good to see free thinkers... GTA is fun, cos you can do what you want... 

Religious GTA might advocate pedophilism. You won't have a good time!

Joey, it seems you forgot to take your medicine

' Whats the point instead of doing what you in GTA what happens when you steal someones car???'

Putting the gameplay elements aside GTA is at heart a city, pedestrian and traffic simulator using a number of advanced AI techniques to create the illusion of a modern urban environment in real time. 

Tom Bean in this article has referenced GTA just as most of the general public call mp3 players iPods, and vacuum cleaners hoovers. He is not referring to the gameplay elements (stealing cars, weaponry, etc) but the concepts that make the game attractive (city scape environment).

The challenge he has set out is creating a game in this context without mindless violence and fighting. A concept we, as gamers, often appear to miss.

Well, as a fellow christain, I see no reason to create a GTA-mock game. There's no place for it, and no replication. Saying you want to imitate something as "bad" as GTA is like saying you want to make an alternative to sin that isnt sin. Great work, but dumb idea..

In response to the post by “whybigotry?, 01 October 2008”


They should make a game on the Crusades, where you get to kill your enemy in the name of the lord almighty. Yeah, that would be great. It would be a real god loving fun time for the whole family. I can see it now, charging Islamic heretics on my steed while basking in God’s divine light. Second level you get to choose a suite of blessed armor and become sanctified with marvelous strength. The whole family will be smiling while getting their chance to slash the unholy with their heavenly sword. Characters will gain skill points for each wretched non believer they kill. With more skill points characters could learn moves such as smite, crucify, and pray. The family will jump for joy as new lands are taken over with force and God’s will becomes mandated across the earth. Don’t let this holy opportunity pass you by, repent now and ask for a chance to serve God’s will. For only $49.99, you can help obliterate those who oppose God and do your part to follow a path of righteousness. Order now, before it’s your turn to be judged. 


A game like GTA is all about free will. You are free to make choices for good or evil and you live with the consequences of those choices. Its a very moral game, much more subtle than many people realize (especially this type of "Christian"). The fact that most of us just bang the cheats on and go around causing mayhem is irrelevant -- unless we get deluded into thinking that real life has cheat codes, that is.

"Christian punters sometimes get distracted from the fun of a game by some of the content that’s in it."

So you take a fun concept- a sandbox/open-ended game where you can do almost anything- and start placing restrictions on what the player can do in order to make it a "christian" friendly game. So in essence, you remove what makes the game fun. What's the point of playing anymore?

What this company is trying to do is remove free will from games, just as christian groups often try to do in real life (banning gay marriage, gambling, alcohol, strippers, etc).

Figures.

How about making a sandbox-style game like GTA, only instead of restricting what the player can and cannot do (kill people, carjack, bang hookers, etc), reward the player for good behavior (I'm drawing a blank here). Like choosing the good path over the evil path. Not sure if that will be as fun as GTA (probably won't), but it will certainly be better than exploring a city without being able to do anything at all...

Yeah I can just imagine it -GTA 
-God Tries Armageddon.

Choose your destiny!!

Be an israeli, fight for turf on the seaside, until you get to mecca where you fight the big boss Mohamed

Or be a Holy christian brother going around to schools to seduce and sodomize the young.

Or you can be an Islamic warrior!! (fan favorite during beta)
be a 
- terrorist
- suicide bomber 
-or the wacky female circumcision guy.

Once your level up through this unholy trinity you can be god! 
Going around the virtual world and messing around with people.

- give that guy aids
- Start plagues that wipe out city blocks!!
- or the big favorite, lightning from above!! 

And when your bored at making people as miserable as you possibly can, you get to start Armageddon, where everyone goes insane and the virtual world gets sucked into a black hole after an orgy of killing in the name of god.

But wait its not over yet!!
After armageddon comes judgement day!!

Where as god you can use the GTA new world editor to create suitable afterlives for your tormented souls, anything from angels to brimstone to getting medieval on their asses with pliers and a blowtorch, its your call!!

Your god after all :D



I think this guy wins the award for the stupidest video game-related idea of the decade.

Dear Tom Bean, go pray or something, but stop messing with games.

Would they change the game to "Borrow a Friend's Car and Return it in the Same Condition You Got It"?

The fundamental premise of the game is to engage in immoral behaviour. Trying to wrap it in platitudes cannot change that.

GTA is inappropriate for kids? Maybe if these parents would get off their ass and do some goddamn parenting, they wouldnt need to make everything "ok for kids." Kids shouldnt be playing games like this but its the parents job to monitor what their kids are playing and not allow them to play certain things. They are the ones driving the kids to the video game store and buying them the games. This is coming from a Southern Baptist btw.

Christian GTA, so that's the same only playing in the middle east and you steal the local's cars and club them to death for christ, perhaps with a wooden cross.


in GTA you can deal drugs, hookup with hookers then beat them and take their money, kill people, and all sorts of other things that i would not want my kids doing...

all this guy is doing is trying to make games that are just as innovative as GTA and guitar hero but for people who happen to like things wholesome - either for themselves or for their children. 

i am sure that world of warcraft is on his list... but still, those are imaginary characters - not close-to-realistic representations of HUMANS. your bigotry comment would make sense if he said "oh that game where you kill gay and black people is okay... but the one where only white people die is just so offensive."

besides... L'inq ran this story, it isn't like the dude was like, "i think i will write a story about how much i hate GTA." He picked one game title to focus on out of hundreds. And where did the guy even say WoW was okay? Ever hear of a strawman argument? = your statement.

i bet you are a moral relativist.... no such thing as an absolute truth... you know, your opine is just as valid as mine and what is true to you might not be true to me and visa-versa...

well guess what! this guy has an opinion that hundreds of millions of other people in this world share with him - so come on moral relativists, let him and other people like him hold on to their truth and you hold on to yours...

GOD Tosser Army ? now there's an idea. Beating back the the retarded zombies with a spade (PANG!!!) to reach the Boss at the centre. "Quick go for his wallet and when he bends over for all the scatered cash, BFG him/her up the BUTT "there go mofo""..
End level could be creating your chosen god and killing him to save all humanity from morronic servitude to a sadistic ponce in the sky.....

Please seriously its bad enough how religion was back in the dark ages them being called that for many reasons to do with religion, but seriously everyone has free choice and because they dont like something doesnt mean everyone should be denied their rights because some other say they dont like it and how can you make a GTA game without the symbolic stealing of the motor vehicles... seriously

no doubt it will end up like that old bible basher game back on the atari lol

Games are first and foremost a medium of entertainment. Games = having fun
Education is just a side effect of gaming. Once you switch these two priorities, it becomes something else. If you market it as that certain 'something else' and not as a game then it might have some marginal success. If you market it as a game however expect some really bad reviews from people who are used to games and expect it to behave like a game.
GTA was a huge success because it was fun.
All this 'anti-terror' & 'think of the children' doctrine is beginning to get really annoying. Let the child choose what he wants to play. They ARE human beings after all. Well outside the US anyways.

how can you have a religion based game without violence!!??

its hypocritical! ...but nothing new there

it would be immensely inaccurate not to include violence in a religion video game - read the history books!

clearly a case of christian bigotry: in world of warcraft you spend hours slaughtering endangered species, but it's ok as the enemy is "ugly"

But you can smite them! Smite them Good, probably the preferable implement would be a 32lb Medieval Bible with brass hinges. Who needs a baseball bat.

Efros

Whats the point instead of doing what you in GTA what happens when you steal someones car???

I could imagine it your character goes upto 1 person getting in his car and he asks errrr excuse me... (yes) .... errrr can U borrow your car for 5mins .... (before driver answers) .... oh sorry forget it I shouldn't of asked and walks away in discussed.

Or 1 mission (should you choose to accept it) deliver a pizza with 1min 45secs which is 2 streets away on a pink push bike.

I don't know am just making them up now?