Couch Podtatoes

Couch Podtatoes Episode 32: Religion in Gaming

Izlain9 Comments

CP4

Welcome back for another episode of Couch Podtatoes! This week we lured Jaedia and Roger back to the show to help us tackle a controversial issue. The topic at hand is Religion in Gaming, and/or how Religion can affect games. It’s the standard guest format once again, where we talk about what we’ve been playing and then dive into the discussion. We present our religious affiliations and then I ask some important questions of the group, giving my own feedback as well. I think it was done in a way that won’t offend anyone, but I was unable to get any diehard religious folk to take part in the show, so it may be a little one sided. You be the judge. Enjoy the show.

 

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Couch Podtatoes Epsiode 32: Religion in Gaming (runtime: 55:19)

What are we playing? (starts at 1:55)
Discussion: Religion Debate (starts at 7:58)

Host Contact information:

Izlain
Blog: Me vs. Myself and I
Twitter:@mevsmyselfandi

J3w3l
Blog: Healing The Masses
Twitter: @ausj3w3l

Guest Contact information:

Jaedia
Blog: Dragons and Whimsy
Twitter: @jaedia

Roger
Blog: Contains Moderate Peril
Twitter: @moderateperil

Music Credits:
“Level Up” by Cookie Monsta (from the Riot! EP)
“Taking Chase as the Serpent Slithers” by Rx Bandits (from the album The Resignation)
“Enchanted Rose” by Bury Your Dead (from the album Beauty and the Breakdown)

Couch Podtatoes is a podcast about gaming, though we might stray into other forms of media. Sometimes we use strong language, but we try to keep that to a minimum. All opinions expressed by us or our guests are our own and are in no way to be interpreted as official commentary from any companies we discuss. You can visit our official podcast page at http://couchpodtatoes.libsyn.com/. Be sure to follow us on iTunes, and/or Stitcher Radio.

Questions, comments and feedback are welcomed and encouraged!

#couchpodtatoes #podcast #gamesdiscussion #gaming

9 thoughts on “Couch Podtatoes Episode 32: Religion in Gaming”

  2. Heya Izzy! While I’m probably not the best spokesperson for it, I am a practicing Roman Catholic and decided to put up some thoughts for this one just so you have another point of view.

    “Is it ok to vilify religion in games? ”

    Personally, I don’t have an issue with that. Vilify away. I was quite chuffed in Assassin’s Creed 2 to actually be able to fight Pope Borgia. I laughed with glee as I ran around creating chaos in Postal. I look forward to that upcoming Hatred game and probably would try out that church burning simulator you had joked about. It really comes down to each individual and what they are comfortable with. For example I remember reading reports about someone who couldn’t take the baptism part in Bioshock Infinite.

    http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/16/4231064/valve-refunds-baptism-bioshock-infinite

    “Should there be a divide between what’s real and what’s fiction? Does making things too real = bad?”

    Again it comes down to each person. At what point do you draw the line of “real”? For me, pixel NPCs are not people so single player games have free reign on doing whatever they like. Enter a multiplayer game or MMORPG however and the values instilled in me come into play, because some of those pixels actually have people behind them now and they should be treated as such. It is also why I dislike PvP so much in games where you have an option for peaceful coexistence.

    It doesn’t stop me from playing shooters though, where the whole point IS to out perform the opposing team.

    “Are there any games that turned you off from playing because of their religious or anti-religious content?”

    I can only think of one. I noticed Roger mentioned he never played a game that tried to evangelize people, obviously he has never played Left Behind: Eternal Forces. Besides being a shitty RTS, the whole concept is that all the faithful got taken to heaven and that the remaining unbelievers are divided among the Tribulation force (people converting to God) and the forces of the Antichrist (who you obviously cannot play as).

    I stopped when I found that the musicians unit, a dude who plays rock music, was on the Antichrist side. 😛

    Anywho, you and Eri have a nice podcast going on here, keep up the good work!

    As a last note: be careful not to anger Odin either. ^_~

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/iceland/11385603/Iceland-to-build-first-temple-to-Norse-gods-in-1000-years.html

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    • Hey Joseph! Thanks for the feedback. I really wanted to get someone on the show to offer your type of commentary, though despite identifying as a religious person, you obviously don’t sound super fundamentalist. I’m not sure that anyone who is a gamer truly is, because the fundamentalists we referred to probably wouldn’t play video games at all, as it would detract from spiritual growth or something to that effect. Still, I appreciate you taking the time to answer some of these questions and it’s nice to see the semi-flip-side of the coin.

      Thanks for listening. Next week the discussion continues into the realm of politics, which can be an equally sticky matter!

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  5. Really great show! I’ve recently been consumed by the Bayonetta games, which are simply brimming with religious themes, and I’ve been utterly captivated by the games’ lore. I was brought up Roman Catholic, which is quite straightforward in its definitions of “Heaven” and “Hell” and “good” and “evil.” So to have those fundamental notions turned on their ears in games where you use demons to fight angels; where the worlds of Inferno (Hell) and Paradiso (Heaven), as well as their inhabitants, are ridiculously imperfect; where the idea of an afterlife is both a myth and reality, is just so exciting! I’m not very religious anymore, but the elaborate presentation of “religion” in Bayonetta is absolutely refreshing.

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    • I hadn’t played the Bayonetta games, and apparently no one else on the show did either. I’ll have to look into it, and see the representation for myself! Thanks for the comment!

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